This is me at Palazzo del Quirinale, which is on top of one of the seven hills of Rome. The palace is the official home of the President of the Italian Republic. It is funny that the President isn't the decision maker, but rather the Prime Minister. In the background, you can see the dome of San Pietro al Vaticano (St. Peter's at the Vatican).
Aaron in front of the actual palace. It was open that morning for tours, but we didn't go in. There were lots of Italians in line to visit though.
Next we went to the Fontana di Trevi. This is Aaron in front of the fountain, but I messed up the shot (way too much white in the fountain...oh well...at least you get to see a picture of Aaron, right?). Anyway, the Trevi Fountain is one of the most famous tourist sites. The saying is that if you throw a coin over your shoulder and into the fountain, you will return to Rome.
Here's the fountain from the front. I had a hard time getting a good shot of the whole thing because of the shadows and the number of tourists. We'll have to try again when we have less sun.
A close up of the fountain from the side.
Next up was the Pantheon, which is the oldest dome built in Rome (125 BC). It is an amazing building, and my favorite time to visit is during the rain. It rains into the building, but the floor is slanted and has holes, so it doesn't get everywhere.
We were taking some pictures, and a horse pulling a carriage walked up and parked close to us. Here's the horse...
And here is my reaction when the horse made the farting noise with his mouth while Aaron was taking my picture. It was pretty funny!
This is Aaron in front of the Pantheon. The right side of the photo is a little hazy. The pollution was really terrible, and the sun was highlighting it. It looked similar to smoke...yuck! Anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with sun and pollution in photos (hint...hint...Nha...). I could probably fix it a little with post-processing, but I would like to improve with the camera, too.
This isn't a terrible attempt except that I cut off the top of the obelisk. Whoops!
I think this one turned out well. It is the little fountain at the bottom of the obelisk in the previous photo. I like the pigeons the the fish and the man's head. I think it gives a not so special fountain some character.
This is a picture of Pincio from Piazza del Popolo (Square of the People). Pincio is another one of the seven hills of Rome, and Villa Borghese is on top of that hill. The balcony that you see up there has a great view of the city. We walked that way to get home from Piazza del Popolo, but the sun was in an inconvenient spot for pictures. Maybe next time we'll get it.
Here is Aaron in Piazza del Popolo with the famous camera. Yes, we carried a pocket size and the big one. Yes, we are nuts. Yes, the new camera is great, and it will be better once we learn how to use it :)
After spending some hours being tourists, we returned to our apartment and cleaned a little. K came over later in the evening for dinner. Aaron made tuna noodle casserole, which actually wasn't bad (I would have eaten more if not for the tuna...with chicken it would be awesome). We played a little Wii and watched the early football game (well, the first half until Aaron fell asleep).
If you like this format of me posting my random thoughts and ramblings, leave me a comment. It won't show up right away because I have moderating turned on, but it will get there eventually (if I like it...if you tell me I am lame, it probably won't make it in there...hahaha).
Roma, Sunday, January 20, 2008
5 comments:
I'm so jealous of the blue skies and green grass I see in all these photos! Plus, you guys actually have something decent to photograph. In the voice of Borat, "It's nice!"
As far as back lighting goes, it a tough (and common) problem. You have a lot of contrast between the sky and the shadows. One way to solve the problem is to wait for better lighting (cloudy skies). If you can't wait, then reduce the amount of light coming into the camera (fstop) and then use the flash to fill in your subject (Aaron).
Very cool blog, I must say.
Gotta try the pigeon shot again... Maybe with the zoom or just nail it and crop it.
I love your blog and wish you would add more and more of your adventures. The pictures and descriptions are entertaining. Even if you feel that you are not the professional photographer that you want to be. At least I get a much more up close and personal education of Rome. It is probably the closest that I will ever get to the Fontana di Trevi. Grazie!
I love this format. And the pictures are really great. I agree with Nha - you have a lot of cool things to take pictures of... Do the Italians appreciate the beauty of their country - or do they just take if for granted because they live with it all the time? Mom
Yeah, no kidding. It's always sunny over there. It definitely beats cloudycuse!
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