March 25, 2014
Early one morning I hid in some lush old ivy near a decaying corner in Trastevere, one of my favorite places to shoot. For 15 minutes I shot Romans and tourists coming and going. Then I had a little fun with the Posterize effect in Photoshop.
What’s your favorite place to photograph in Italy or elsewhere? Do you use Photoshop (or something similar)? What are your favorite “effects”?
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Jan. yours is one of my favorite sites. Thank you for your hard work. i am wondering what has happened to so many other blogs that have just disappeared. I know it takes work, but some really good one, including podcasts seem to fall of the edge of the earth. Whats your take on this? ( 28 days to Sicily!)
Hi Greg, thank you for those sweet words. Well, you raise a really interesting question… As you know from your own beautiful site, blogs are fairly high maintenance. So, I don’t know…People get busy? Get other interests? Run out of steam? There seems to be more of an economic cost these days, too, to maintain a site–more costly security measures and so on. And if a blog gets hacked w/ no backup, I imagine it could kill the blog. (The technical side of blogging can get pretty frustrating sometimes, don’t you think?) BUON VIAGGIO & HAVE A WONDERFUL TRIP!!!!
Well, if I was in Italy, I think just about anywhere would be a favourite place to take pictures. But I did love the sights of Calabria, especially Tropea where we stayed. I am devoted to Photoshop. I like to attempt what I call a “faux-Orton” effect on most of my pictures to give more glow and drama to a scene. (secret formula: duplicate image, apply 20% Gaussian blur, use Overlay or Soft Light blending mode).
Ah, Lynne–thanks for your secret formula. I’ve never even heard of this effect, but can’t wait to try!
Is everybody gorgeous in Italy or what?!
Love the photos. I would have enjoyed sitting w/ you while you took photographs & drank wine!!
XXXXXX LOVE.
I guess Italy is such a gorgeous backdrop that everyone appears beautiful! Especially after drinking wine. I’ll be waiting for you at the wine bar, Kim. xxxxx
O Jann! How I’d love to hide out over coffee with you and snap our unsuspecting passers-by. Love the posterize effect. What else have you been playing with I wonder……. I have become a big instagramer of late (for work reasons) and so I spend far too long selecting the right filter to use. I only wish I was in Italy and could instagram all day long from there, preferably while sipping coffee and nibbling brioche 😉 xxx
Janine, we’d have so much fun on a photo shoot. I think we’d aim at lots of crumbling walls. And frequently stop to nibble. You could teach me instagram (still don’t have a smart phone, tho!).
I’m not speaking from personal experience, mind you, but it kind of looks like a hallucinogenic day in Trastevere.
Sam, shooting in Rome is WAY better than drugs!!
I love the photos technique you used here. wonderful. Trastevere is a great spot in Roma. Being an amateur, I only tend to play with the Picasa editing programme and recently used focal black and white on my post,”Travel Theme- Pink” highlighting the pinkness in the robes of the monks at Myanmar.
Francesca, I’ve heard lots of people say they like Picasa for editing. Thanks so much for stopping by!
I’m pretty much SOTC! I do love ocean scenes and fiery sunsets!
Hey Nan–fiery sunsets are awesome!! xxxx
Cool photos, Jann! Do you wear camouflage?
It’s been a while, but I used to love snapping photos with B&W or Kodachrome film. Ventimiglia, Nice and the Côte d’Azur were my favourite places to photograph for over a decade. The quality of the light and colour in all 4 seasons is amazing. Photoshop isn’t required.
Anitre, you make me very nostalgic for those days of real film. I loved it too, though it was so expensive to develop. And you didn’t dare experiment quite as much for that reason. xxx
You KNOW I’m going to comment on photos of Rome! Loved them, Jann. Trastevere is definitely a special place to observe/record moments. I like anything around the river area to shoot, but I’ll take most everything. I love Italians framed by the older areas’ architecture. I prefer natural lighting and no effects. Probably because I’m not as good as enhancement as you are!
Hi Rosann–can’t wait till you get back to Rome so I can see more of your shots! Yes, I think effects can get tiresome, though they’re sometimes fun to play around with. Re natural lighting–it’s often amazing in Rome, isn’t it? The evening golden hour is really really GOLD.
What fun! From the looks of these people, you’re having MUCH warmer weather than we are in the Heartland — we woke up to a dusting of snow! That said, I prefer taking photos on warm days (kinda hard to manage a camera with mittens on, ha!)
Ha, you’re so right, Debbie. On cold weather days I have no incentive to get out. I try to force myself out on rainy days because the reflections are so lovely then, and who doesn’t like people with umbrellas…
I spent 5 weeks in Trastevere and agree it is a special place to hide out and try to capture on film/digital or otherwise …and I think I got my best shots there in Trastevere. Ahhh Piazza San Cosimato, right adjacent to market. Ahhhhhh…ROMA. Great blend of old, new and in-between.
Ah, yes, I used to walk through that market on San Cosimato early every morning, Jane. I bet you know Trastevere well after 5 weeks there. It’s small enough so that you can get really intimate with it.