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Art on the Go: Photography Light Trails – Lights on Lombard
Playing with light trails is one of the most gratifying photography tricks out there. An unexpected, spectacular shot can actually be quite easy to achieve. You only need a little technical information, and the rest is all luck! This past summer, I headed to San Francisco for a fabulous night photography class. One of the exercises was to photograph car lights on the crookedest street in San Francisco, Lombard. The street, although lit up with lamp posts, is pretty dark. To see the zig zag of the car lights driving down the curves really captures the feeling of the street. It also provided a creative view of one of the…
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Culture: Cassoulet in Carcassonne, France
When the late afternoon sun started getting low, and the tourists all began to file out of the fortified city gates, that is when I started to fall in love with Carcassonne. Located in the Languedoc-Roussillon southern region of France, Carcassonne is reminiscent of a scene out of a Disney movie. The walled city sits high upon a hilltop. It’s impenetrable citadel and imposing towers have incredible historic charm, yet the mid-day crowds meandering through the tiny Medieval streets can get a bit overwhelming. I was advised to book a room within the city walls to really experience the town and was definitely not disappointed. There are only a few…
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Travel Stories: The Bouquinistes of Paris
I can still vividly remember the first time I visited Paris. I flew solo as a teen from San Francisco to Charles de Gaulle to meet up with my parents who had already been traveling in Europe for 2 weeks. We took a cab back to the hotel to drop off my bags, and then they whisked me to the Seine for a classic boat tour down the river. They hoped I’d get a good overview of the city but in actuality all I got was a wonderful nap instead. The sticky summer heat, and motion of the boat was the perfect cure for jet lag! When the boat ride…
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Palette+Place: Sunsets at Lake Tahoe
This New Year in Lake Tahoe, California we were treated to quite a show. Night after night we were dazzled with pure visual entertainment. Jaw dropping colors magically changed before our eyes and in a matter of minutes it was over. No this wasn’t some marketing stunt put on by a glitzy casino, or a laser light show at the local high school, this was just Nature doing her stuff. With 4 decades of trips to Lake Tahoe, and a 2 year stint living there, I’m convinced Lake Tahoe sunsets are some of the best in the world. Night after night the sun dips behind the Sierras and the sky…
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On Location: Machu Picchu After the Tourists Have Gone
The bus careened up the narrow one-lane switch back road. The densely forested road made visibility almost impossible, but at each turn, the driver somehow managed to narrowly miss the oncoming buses filled with tourists just like us. I was convinced our driver possessed some ancient Incan secret for predicting oncoming traffic. At the top, we unloaded and filed into line to enter the historic site that ranks high on most travelers’ bucket lists. After paying the fee and getting stamped, we headed up the crowded trail to get our first glimpse at the Lost City. We formed a single file line and followed a path along a meticulously built…
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Art on the Go: 50 Urban/City Photography Themes
I’m heading to the Big Apple in only a few weeks, and I am so excited! I have only been back for 2 short visits since I lived there almost 20 years ago and oh, how I miss it. The crowded streets, soaring skyscrapers, busy subway, tasty restaurants, incredible people watching, it really doesn’t get much better than New York City! In preparation for my trip, I started to think about the millions of photos I want to take. Soon it became clear, I have a very extensive list of urban photo themes just waiting to be shared. Since so many of these photos are only in my mind’s eye,…
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On Location: Bauhaus Design on a Random Munich Street Corner
Tucked off the main thoroughfare, in a maze of alleys far from foot traffic and cars to admire, three gleaming cylindrical pillars stand tall and proud against the corner of a modern building. They prominently flank the clean lined siding as if performing a function that we should all understand. At the top of each pillar is a black accordion detail, adding another unknown function, yet graphic element to the entire look. In front of the cylinders is a street pole, disseminating important information to anyone who cares to read. Einbahstrasse states the blue arrow pointing right, signaling the start of the one way street. Feuerwehranfahrtzone labels the red x…
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On Location: Gas Works Park, Seattle, Washington
An Industrial Past Adds Modern Whimsy to this Popular Park Rising above the verdant lawn, in the center of an open park lies what many would say an eyesore, 2 large brown cylindrical towers, scarred with graffiti and surrounded by a barbed wired fence. These defunct gas generator and processing towers by most urban planning standards would have been removed as soon as the plant shut down and the city bought the space to use as a park. Most city parks I’ve seen try their very best to conceal the visitor of any urban plights it may have once faced. In fact, many cities strive to provide greenery, vegetation and…
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Culture: German Pretzel (Bretzel) Love
And they say it’s just a snack. I’m here to say they are quite wrong. German pretzels (called bretzel in Germany) are definitely a meal. Trust me. There is one in my family who survived several days on bretzels alone while in Munich, Germany. And, who could blame him, they are quite tasty! As in most of my vacations, mealtime usually happens at odd times. My husband and I have been known to skip breakfast, forget about lunch and finally break down in utter hunger and grab the closest food available when exploring. In Munich, although we kept well fed, there were just too many pretzel vendors tempting us as…
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Art on the Go: Create an Infographic of Your Trip
Infographics (or information graphics) are all the rage these days. We are very visual people, and it’s clear that we don’t want to read much, so an infographic is the perfect way to relay a lot of information in one quick shot. There is an infographic for almost everything these days, infographics about social media, infographics about a movie, infographics about food pairing, there are even infographics about infographics! So, why not join the trend and create an infographic about your recent trip? Your friends and family will want to know what you did, and how your trip was, so whip up an infographic and share to all. Here’s how……
