Ristorante
San Quirico D’Orcia is a small medieval town located between Pienze and Montalcino. The town is encircled by fortified walls and walking through the tiny streets throws you back to a time long forgotten. The historic city centre is home to about 2,500 inhabitants and there are 4 entrances into the city along the wall. All roads lead to the Piazza della Libertà which is the heart of the town.
As with all small, Tuscan town today one can find stores selling cheeses and pasta, leather goods and of course small restaurants offering homemade delicacies that one can only dream of at home.
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The Daily Special
I know it’s Halloween and this isn’t a very Halloweenie picture but I just finished processing it last night and was very pleased with the way it turned out.
It was late afternoon and the sun was streaming down on this small street in Montepulciano when I saw this gentleman diligently writing out the evenings specials on the menu board. What a perfect street photography scene. I quickly took the picture and checked my histogram on the back of the camera to make sure that I haven’t clipped my highlights and everything looked fine.
Once I started processing the image I realized that the waiter’s jacket was a bit too bright for my liking so I toned it down a bit and then used Topaz B&W Effects to convert the image to black and white. I loved the way the shadows popped in the B&W as well. I just participate in a 5-Day Black and White Challenge on Facebook and it just renewed my love for Black & White. If you’d like to see the images I submitted for that challenge you can see them on Facebook page here.
You can get a 15% discount on all Topaz Labs products by using the coupon code elphoto.
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Happy Halloween everyone!
Un Tableau Vivant – Patisserie
I’m sure that you can tell by some of the pictures that I’m posting that I’m attracted to these type of scenes when I travel. This is another one from Paris and I love capturing a scene of everyday happenings in a place that I’m visiting. I was visiting Andy’s LensScaper blog the other day where he posted some images taken from a train. Someone made a comment that described one of the images as a Tableau Vivant and then it hit me….those are the scenes that draw me in.
A Tableau Vivant is a “living picture”, an image that forces the viewer to stand back and take in all the details of the tableau. This type of photographic art draws you in to the picture and holds you’re attention as you studying the individuals at the tables. I know it makes me ask certain questions or make certain assumptions. The gentleman in the forefront is checking his mobile phone. Is he on a break from work? Who is he chatting with? What are the two ladies in the far left talking about? Look at the body language of the man and the woman in front of the restaurant. Did they just have an argument?
Question for you….does the image elicit the same types of questions from you?
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The Bistro
When I come home from a trip and first download my images I always look at each image quickly to get a sense of how I would process the image to truly bring out the essence of the scene. Some are quite simple and others just call for a more artistic interpretation.
The Bistro is one of my favourite images from Paris.
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Night Colours
The central square in Old Jaffa is a lively spot at night enjoyed by both tourists and locals alike.
On Friday I shared an image of the square with the bell tower of St. Peter’s Church as its centre point. You can see that post here. Next to the church is a restaurant with a fountain in front of it that is beautifully lit at night. You can see the lights of the restaurant in Fridays post but I wanted to get in closer so that I could capture the fountain and the colourful display.
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On another note I was out volunteering at Toronto Animal Services last weekend and I’ve just posted images on my PhoDOGraphy by Edith site of all the wonderful animals up for adoption. Click on the link and considering sharing the post. You never know you may be helping one of these cuties find a forever home.
Eat Lotsa Lobster
In my last post I posted an image of Stearns Wharf at sunset. I think I mentioned that I was standing behind a restaurant near the end of the pier to take that picture. I thought it only appropriate to show you the restaurant in question, The Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. This is a HDR (3 bracketed images) processed in Photomatix. I decided not to “de-ghost” the flag as I wanted it to be fluttering in the wind.
Have a great weekend everyone.
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Edith Levy Photography 