Yesterday, I made a promise to “Baldy” one of my blogging buddies I said that I would go through my archives and pull out some of my bridges…for i seems we both love bridges and I have quite a few.
I also promised to tie them all together with a poem. He said that he would also write one for me. Is there anyone among you who wouldlike to choose a bridge and tell me a story or write me a rhyme? Feel free to do so…I’d love to read what you have to say about bridges!
Next week will be our last conversation meeting of the old scholastic year. As we anxiously await for the weather to put on its summer clothing, so we can too, I thought that we might do a different kind of encounter. Instead of reading articles from a famous newspaper or an interesting post from one of the million bloggers who write over the world, I thought I’d as you my dears to write a few lines. Tell us about you, what you would like to do this summer, what you’d like to do with the knowledge you’ve acquired.
I’ll go first and you follow me!
This summer I’ve been thinking that it would be nice to go and visit places here in Trentino that I’ve never visited. The summer usually means a trip somewhere; Rome, Barcelona, Vienna, Puglia or why not Tenerife or the United States. We certainly don’t lack for beach resorts in Italy, from the Adriatic to Mar Ligure across to the Islands, places to wallow under the sun and just relax are no more than a few hours drive from our wonderful mountains. And yes, I think a week or two at the sea would be great! But for the most part, I’d just like to stay here in our beautiful region and enjoy it.
Soon summer activities will begin in Arco and Riva. The fairs, music festivals and sports events not to speak of firework displays are just around the corner.
We could go to Tenno or Ledro and that wonderful village of Pregasine. Our castle, how many of you have been up there recently, looks over the whole valley and from the top most tower, one gets the impression of being able to touch the sky! I personally love to watch the climbers scurry up the side of the wall, as I lay about at the pool taking in the sun, lazy lady that I am!
I may be lazy, but still once the sun starts shining I like to go to the lake with my bike…this year, I’ve decided to take advantage of the cities’ offer to use one of their bikes, so I needn’t come down from Bolognano, but above all I needn’t bike back up. In fact I’m not supposed to bike up hills! On the other hand, my crazy doctor also said it would be good for me to bike as well as swim and go Nordic Walking…mind all three! The best I could come up with was to take advantage of one of the bikes parked around town…one only has to pay a deposit, which is reimbursed once one returns the key they give you…et voila! Problem solved!
This is the new leg that has been added to the bike path from Arco to Torbole
And of course we have Lake Garda. Of course in the summer, it becomes as crowded as any beach does in Italy. But, biking down, there’s no problem with parking, even less walking. Carrying a picnic lunch and the necessary towel and beach shoes, one can combine sun bathing and a little sports. 🙂
Finally we can keep on biking or walking and go to Riva del Garda. Here the lawns await anyone who wishes to watch the surfers, or just sunbathe. The new bike and pedestrian paths are very useful indeed for both…no longer the problem of a cyclist running someone over!
And here we’ve just scratched the surface! The Castles to visit, the valleys to see and the refuges to hike up to. What of our museums, a day or two in Bolzano…or to the bathes in Merano. The medieval reenactments and pageants. Ah…and the week of the Notte di Fiaba in Riva del Garda (this year dedicated to Tom Sawyer!). So, I may go off for a week or two…but I’m happy I have our lovely region which offers me so much!
Now, I don’t say you have to write this much…I am after all your guide and so it was my duty to write a little more than you are expected to do. Just have fun, jot down a few notes and tell us your plans. Don’t forget to have a great day!
Just to take your breath away…this I will not be doing!
A few weeks ago for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture, I posted some pictures by the artist, Luciano Neri. They were photographs made by a professional photographer, Adriano Frisanco.
Since then, I’ve been asked to try to photograph some of his newer collages but this time on mirrors! Yesterday’s post for the Challenge was my first result…great photo, love it, but not what I wanted at all!
Here are three trials of another of his collages (some call them installations on glass, some call it minimalist art, he calls them “i quadri” or the pictures. By whatever name a rose, here are the trials:
This is with the flash mechanism…it has a white sheet on the floor and is slightly inclined to reflect the sheet.
This is the second trial without the flash, always with the white sheet on the floor.
And this is the third trial…reflecting the wooden floor.
What I’m trying to do is bring out the objects whilst showing the mirror as a mirror.
My question is: how would you photograph a mirror and keep its mirror like qualities but still show the objects that compose the picture? Could retouching work somehow to help keep the mirror’s quality?
I’d be much beholden to you photographers if you can find some time to send along some suggestions. Maybe you’ve already had the experience of photographing mirrors?
The weekly photo challenge this week is background. “In the Background: The places that we pass through day after day, or even once in a lifetime, leave in their small way, echoes and traces of themselves upon us. But so often when taking self portraits or pictures of friends, the places themselves become a soft blurred mush of indistinct semi-nothingness, the limelight stolen by our smiling faces. In today’s challenge, let’s turn the tables. Take a picture of yourself or someone else as a shadow, a reflection, or a lesser part of a scene, making the background, or — as in the example above — the foreground, the center of attention.”
Whilst trying to photograph one of Luciano Neri’s creations, this time his composition is on a mirror, I wound up having a picture of him and his atelier…not quite what I was looking for, but perhaps an interesting addition to this week’s photo challenge!
A Haiku comes to mind!
Reflections dancing
As the skier gets lost ascending
Artist is captured!
I someone has any suggestions as how to photograph this sort of creation on a mirror, I’d love to humbly learn from you…this is driving me mad! 🙂
Other links of participants where you can see many, many interesting contributions:
The weekly photo challenge this week is background. “In the Background: The places that we pass through day after day, or even once in a lifetime, leave in their small way, echoes and traces of themselves upon us. But so often when taking self portraits or pictures of friends, the places themselves become a soft blurred mush of indistinct semi-nothingness, the limelight stolen by our smiling faces. In today’s challenge, let’s turn the tables. Take a picture of yourself or someone else as a shadow, a reflection, or a lesser part of a scene, making the background, or — as in the example above — the foreground, the center of attention.”
Our local grocery store is as you can see a Coop! In front of the Coop we have the local elementary school. Here the lady is not reflected but loses importance because of the reflection…I particularly liked the bicycle!
Walking around Arco last Wednesday, I was attracted to plants and flowers (as well as lamps)…so I thought I’d share a few with you. Oh, by the way, that afternoon the temperature suddenly dropped and we’ve had 3 straight days of freezing rain…the mountains are white with snow again too!
Entering the center of town…
A small quiet plaza…
A composition of flowers near the church…
A young palm tree in the center’s public garden…
Arco and Riva del Garda (Trentino, Italy) have a special climate…although we are located in the foothills of the Alps, the lake has created a climatic pocket and we have vegetation which is unique this far north…in fact we have lemon and banana trees, olive tree, palms and some beautiful magnolias just to mention a few.
The weekly photo challenge this week is background. “In the Background: The places that we pass through day after day, or even once in a lifetime, leave in their small way, echoes and traces of themselves upon us. But so often when taking self portraits or pictures of friends, the places themselves become a soft blurred mush of indistinct semi-nothingness, the limelight stolen by our smiling faces. In today’s challenge, let’s turn the tables. Take a picture of yourself or someone else as a shadow, a reflection, or a lesser part of a scene, making the background, or — as in the example above — the foreground, the center of attention.”
Searching out backgrounds…this is our local bakery, and as I was going to the store I saw this reflection of one of my neighbors as he was returning to his home; he and the building in front of the store, became Background!
The weekly photo challenge this week is background. “In the Background: The places that we pass through day after day, or even once in a lifetime, leave in their small way, echoes and traces of themselves upon us. But so often when taking self portraits or pictures of friends, the places themselves become a soft blurred mush of indistinct semi-nothingness, the limelight stolen by our smiling faces. In today’s challenge, let’s turn the tables. Take a picture of yourself or someone else as a shadow, a reflection, or a lesser part of a scene, making the background, or — as in the example above — the foreground, the center of attention.”
A few weeks ago we went to the Harbor Café for an aperativo and I “happened” to have my camera with me and took several shots, which I then posted as: Cafè Al Porto Riva del Garda (TN) Italy
one of the photos had a fantastic ghost picture that I couldn’t figure out how to save…today I tried to capture that area with Photoshop…zooming and cropping…this is the result!
The weekly photo challenge this week is background. “In the Background: The places that we pass through day after day, or even once in a lifetime, leave in their small way, echoes and traces of themselves upon us. But so often when taking self portraits or pictures of friends, the places themselves become a soft blurred mush of indistinct semi-nothingness, the limelight stolen by our smiling faces. In today’s challenge, let’s turn the tables. Take a picture of yourself or someone else as a shadow, a reflection, or a lesser part of a scene, making the background, or — as in the example above — the foreground, the center of attention.”
I prefer landscapes to portraits, so for this challenge I had to take a photo that would enclude a person…me in fact. This was taken last night with lamplight to create a reflection on the glass of my cupboard. I decided then to transform it into a b/w photo.
A brief escape from looking at life from it’s ordinary perspective can be a rewarding experience…no longer tied to mundaity, our imagination can soar and look upon the everyday aspects of life in a new exciting way.
Through the Eye of Bastet 