Image of the Day: Moon Shine

Not quite a full moon, shining through early spring tree branches, at twilight.

Image of the Day: Two Angels

Guardian Angels

This photo was taken at a small church in a small town somewhere in Umbria.  (If a church is open, I go into it -- you never know what treasures are inside!)  These two angels guard a metal compartment -- the door looks like bronze? --  where the host is kept.  I have always loved their sweet simple serene guardianship of the precious substance.  This piece is not very large - maybe two feet high from top to bottom.

I'm going back to Italy this summer -- if you too want to go to Italy this summer (and I highly recommend that you do so), check out the details of the Intuitive Italy Photography/Painting Workshop on my website, www.maryannglass.com, or leave a comment and I'll contact you.

Image of the Day: Orvieto Cathedral Interior

Interior, Orvieto Cathedral

Our first day in Italy during our Intuitive Italy Workshop will be in Orvieto, a fantastic city built on a tufa mound, particularly well-known for its spectacular cathedral.  I took this photo while standing near the entrance.

According to one of my guidebooks, the cylindrical columns consist of alternate rows of travertine and basalt. The windows are panes of alabaster.  In the lower right corner you can see the top of a large marble baptisimal font with lions and elaborate frieze reliefs. It is overlooked by a beautiful fresco, the "Madonna Enthroned with Child", painted by Gentile da Fabriano in 1425.  I can hardly wait to get back there!

For more information about the workshop, please feel free to contact me or check out more details on my website. www.maryannglass.com.

Image of the Day: Italian Mirror

This photo was taken in an Italian villa.  The scrolls on the wall are simply paint; the mirror is gilded wood.  For me, this image holds all of the allure of Italy. 

And it has something else.  Some cultures believe mirrors have spiritual power: some believe they ward off evil spirits; others that they attract such spirits.  This mirror definitely leads the viewer into another world.

I'm going back to Italy this summer, teaming up with painter Linda Richichi for our Intuitive Italy Painting/Photography Workshop, for a very special week in Italy, June 29 – July 7, 2012,  to be held in a villa near Todi.  Our goal for this  all inclusive dream trip is to add magic and depth to your work and joy to your life. Always wanted to learn to paint? To develop your unique artistic voice in your photographs? An upscale villa awaits your arrival in Todi for an extraordinary week at a special artist rate. Enhance your vision and techniques. Enjoy the sunflower fields. Visit the beautiful towns of Orvieto, Assisi, DeRuta, Spoleto and more.  Novice to advanced artists are welcome in either/both disciplines.   For more information, check out my website, www.maryannglass.com or contact me at shotglassphoto@aol.com. 

Images of the Day: 2 Takes on Sycamore Branches

This was shot Monday evening in Glenham, late in the day.

And this is a black/white version -- a very different feel!

One Image: Two Iterations

I shot this on my way to work.  This is what I typically would consider a good rendition. Strong blacks, weak highlights, pointillistic color.

In Lightroom, I used the low contrast option, making this a very different image -- it becomes more about the floating spray of yellow forsythia and less about the woods, which become almost translucent.  (The orange blurry things in the foreground of both images are weeds that were much closer to the camera.  The woods in the photo were about 30 yards from where I was standing; the weeds about 3 yards.   I usually try to shoot so weeds at the side of the road aren't in the photo, but I kinda like them here.)

Yet more fun with Lightroom

I took these photos yesterday, on the way to the store.  This one is, obviously, the color version.  I warmed it up slightly to bring out the colors and softened with the clarity slider.

This is something I haven't done before -- I used the low contrast setting.  I like that it looks like an etching -- by taking out the color, the photo becomes about the lines and the structure.

 

I can never resist sepia tones - bringing in the brown tones makes it look more like a photo and less like an etching.  Small change, but it matters.