Obenchain

Here is a wrap up of the rest of the week with some Pictures!

Friday

Went to Ruins of an ancient town, that was buried and then built upon. They discovered it and have been excavating it for years. Lack of funds makes the process slow. There are so many ruins in and around Rome that it is hard to open them all up. Many are surrounded by scaffolding or fences but much of the work is done by volunteers so it takes a long time.
I only had three people on this tour so it was really interesting to be able to take my time and listen to the guide. We were there for about 1-1/2 hours and I took 350 pictures!

There were all sorts of wild flowers growing among the ruins, it gave them such an interesting feel. You really stopped and thought about the fact that many years ago people were walking through the streets living their lives in this now abandon place. The village was conquered and the people left and abandoned it. Then the materials were looted for other structures and then over time buried by dirt and gravel from the floods till it was forgotten. There are places in the road where you can see groves in the stones from the chariot wheels that ran over and over in the same place year after year.

Friday Night we went to a 200 year old villa that is situated on the highest point in Rome. It overlooks the city of rome and has spectacular views. We had to shoot each person with their guest with the city in the background balancing flash and daylight. We only had a short time before the sunset to do this. We wanted to make sure that the city was lit up by the sun below. We sorted the images that night, picked one of each, took them to a lab the next day to be printed (which was a challenge in that they spoke almost no english and in Italy the standard sizes did not match our frame). We then had to take a group picture of 80 people. It was pretty difficult in that Denis was doing the shooting and he was on the roof and we were arranging people. Not the best set up. They served dinner in the ball room and after dinner was a concert by the Three Tenors which was amazing.

To get a picture like this you have a short window of time after the sun goes down but the sky still has light to make this nice blue sky. I had no tripod, but set my camera on a ledge and bracketed. I used equivalent exposures to get a large depth of field so my time was between 4 and 8 seconds.

Here are some other pictures from Florance that didn’t come through yesterday:

Huge day got back super late and am leaving soon. Will make this short, but add more later.
Went to florance, saw the statue of david and amazing sights and then to a town that is built on an etruscan village at night. Amazing

The place is so beautiful, but packed with people. so crowded we walk in the streets I have to follow a group of people and take their photos by all the important sigths. had 8 groups and 6 photographers so had to run between groups. I have to go, but check tomorrow after noon and will writ e more, going to a burial ground today and a private tour of vatican sat night.

Mrs. O

Hi everyone! I am have so busy that I am not sure what day it is or what time it is anymore. I took what was suppose to be a 45 minute bus ride to Travoli Villa which at one time was home to many people over time including one of the popes. It was originally built by Hadrian and he had traveled the world and used many of the styles that he had seen in foreign lands as the base of the villa. It is on the side of a mountain with spectacular views.

Here a run down of what the shooting is like in a nutshell. I go out with a backpack holding my equipment, umbrella, extra batteries ect. We take a bus to a sight with between 16-36 people and we go on a walking tour and I take photos of the sights and people on the tour so that when it is all said and done there a total photo record of everything. This includes posing each couple and groups at all the highlights and good spots. You find a spot than as fast as you can move people in and shoot 3-10 pictures of each couple. You have to move fast. We are shooting out and in with a flash. We use the flash to brighten the people and fill in the shadows so they look good, but we have to balance that with the outside daylight so that the background is not too dark or light. You constantly have to be metering and adjusting the camera and flash back and forth. It is a lot to think about, plus making sure you get everybody in focus, looking good and not missing anything. I am pretty fried by the end of the day!

It was pouring down rain and the roads were all flooded. It is amazing that these giant buses travel these small narrow road with tons of cars. The traffic is incredible! We saw many flooded out cars and not too happy people.

The Villa is filled with beautiful frescos and luscious gardens and has more fountains that I have ever seen. However, because of the massive rains most fountains were off because of the aque-ducts. I had a small group with me so for the first time I was able to take some time to see the sights were I was. I just loved it. I could have spent hours there. We only had an hour–I shot 350 pictures though!

On the way back it took use 2 hours to go five minutes the roads were so bad! I had just enough time to come back, download and go to the evening festivities which was a private tour of Palazzo Colonna which is a Roman palace that has been in the Colonna family for 20 generations. The prince still lives there, but it is so huge they rent out part for receptions to help offset the cost. It was amazing!!!! These pics were where the reception was–huge and very ornate.

These are the people I am shooting with.

Tomorrow I head to Florence to visit a number of sights including the statue of David. I am not suppose to get back until 11:00 at night so I am not sure if I will get something on in time for class friday, but check anyways and if you have time check over the weekend. You all are probably busy with the art show anyways.
I love hearing from you, enjoy the photos!

This is what I do when I need to do a 8 second exposure and I don’t have a tripod!

Have fun at the art show!

Mrs. O

Yesterday’s post is below–Internet wouldn’t connect yesterday. Check them both out!Tuesday:
Today was unbelievable! I started off following a group on a walking tour of “renaissance Rome”. I had I back pack with two big cameras, 3 lenses, 2 flashes, 20 AA batteries, 3 camera batteries, and extra memory. The reason for all the equipment is that you want to make sure you have back up in case something goes wrong. The group walked while a guide spoke and our first stop was Trevi Fountain one of the most famous in Rome. It is fed by an aqueduct and originally built in 19 BC. As we started our walk it started to pour, not rain, but pour! So I am carrying an umbrella, while trying to shoot and keep all my equipment dry. I wanted to get everyone’s pic-ture by the fountain, and after the 10th shot, the camera dies. It is raining and blowing so I pull out my other one and that one dies too! My worst nightmare come true! Both cameras fried be-cause they got wet. I managed to cell phone another guy who took a cab to a the Pantheon which was a mile away and I RAN with all my equipment to meet him. By the time I got there under shelter I pulled everything out and dried it off and managed to get one camera working. So I ran back to meet up with the group and keep shooting. Needless to say my composure was a bit rat-tled. However, in that situation, you just figure out a solution and keep on going.

We walked through narrow brick lined streets with quaint shops and the sun would come out, and 5 minutes later it would start to pour. We ended up at the Pantheon which is AMAZING. You are walking down this narrow cobblestone street and turn a corner on to this amazing plaza with a fountain and the Pantheon.
We ended up in Novona Plaza where after just 5 minutes of shooting in beautiful sun it again just poured buckets. After lunch where I was too worked up to eat more than bread I headed out with a second group to tour St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City which is the world’s smallest inde-pendent sovereign state. The city is 108 acres and is completely self sufficient with its own civil and judicial systems, post office, bank, railway statin and much more. It houses the world largest collection of art and is home to St. Peters’. The basilica is the worlds largest church and took long enough to build that several architects worked on it including Michelangelo. It is also home to one of Michelangelo’s most famous works (and my favorite piece of art the world) the Pieta. It is hard to really appreciate because after two attempts to severely vandalize it, it is now behind glass. He was only 25 when he made it and it is the only piece he ever signed. It was extremely difficult to photograph in. while you can shoot flash, you are not allowed to take any posed pic-tures because it is so busy and crowded that they don’t want anyone slowing down., So it was quite a challenge to shoot people unobtrusively and also to get good exposures. As we were al-most out of the church I realized that I am so focused on shooting and making sure the exposures are good, I never really LOOKED at the church.
The most challenging part was that the tour guide wanted to keep our group moving, but it was my responsibility to take photographs which includes shots of each person or group in front of whatever, or wherever we were. I really had to work hard to grab the shots and take control of the situation. After 3 hours, of walking and taking photos we hopped back on the bus for the trip back to the hotel. Our guide pointed our sight after sight. Rome is amazing in that every block has a piece of interesting ancient history. Not just old, but ANCIENT! Amazing architecture, beautiful statues adorn plazas, fountains and building. My head was spinning just looking out the window and I realized you could spend a year walking the city and never see everything! It is truly hard to describe.
We I have bruises on my shoulders from carrying the equipment and my back is screaming, but the sights were amazing and I got some good photographs. Tonight we have more shooting to do and so I have had just enough time to down load pictures. This included the 1000 images I shot today. That’s 28 rolls! and between the five of us shooting we probably shot around 7000 images just today! So think about that the next time you guys complain how you have to “shoot a whole roll”!
I am sure I forgot a ton of stuff, but I want to get this posted. Drop me some comments and re-member to sign your name. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Obie

I couldn’t hook onto the internet yesterday–not to reliable! Here are two days of notes. Hope you enjoy!

Hi everyone!

It was so great to hear from all of you that commented yesterday. It actually made me miss you all! It made me smile to hear your comments, complaints and news! I wish I could answer each of you individually, but that just isn’t possible. The internet connection here is not very stable. Today the work really starts as we head off into Rome to photograph the different sights. I am going to be going to be shooting “renaissance Rome” which includes tours of Piazza Novona, the Pantheon, which is suppose to be one of the most impressive monuments in Rome and the best preserved of the ancient buildings. It Contains the tomb of Raphael, a famous painter whose work some of you saw at the Art Institute of Chicago. The last stop will be Trevi Fountain which according to legend, if you throw a coin over your shoulder, into the fountain, you WILL return someday to Rome. I’ll have to try that.
Had a relatively easy day today, took a group down to the spanish steps and saw what it was like in the day time. There are artisans set up doing paintings and drawings of Rome and selling their work. It is so amazing to watch them as they paint. It is also the location where the “Stars” such as Madonna always stay, because it is also home to the “best” (meaning most expensive) shop-ping in Rome. I have never seen so ma shoe stores in my life. It is fun to see all the different fashions that people are wearing here. Many people fly in to stay at the hotel at the top of the steps to shop for a day or to then jet off the parts unknown. No famous people sighted today tho….
The local people are very friendly and I have a great time taking candid photographs. Most are good sports and strike up a conversation with you. My Italian is limited, tho enough to get by. Most people here speak English.
Had another great Italian dinner here. The resturants all have outdoor seating which is so great. We had a fabulous waiter who brought us all sorts of fun food to try–deep fried olives, fried cheeze and other thing I couldn’t identify but were fabulous. He had great fun poking fun at one of the other photographers who is extremely finicky and would only eat cheese pizza!

Keep in touch! I really got smile from hearing from you all!

Mrs. O

Bon Journo from Italy!
After a 9 hour flight and two hours in customs carrying 50 pounds of camera equipment I was feeling pretty wiped out, but that was all cured by a wonderful italian dinner in a small cafe. After being up for 40 hours straight I can’t believe I actually had trouble falling asleep! I won’t really begin shooting photographs until Monday, so last night I walked around the streets of rome and ended up at the Spanish Steps which were built in the 18th century. From the top of the steps you have a beautiful panoramic view of Rome. The moon was out and there were tons of people and cars in the street. No SUVs here, the cars are all super tiny and park any which way and even on the sidewalk! It is amazing to see the mixture of old and new…mostly old, all mixed in together.
I am sure I will have a lot to relate in the days to come so check back!
Remember to leave me comments and sign your name!
Talk to you all soon!
Mrs. O

I am leaving for Rome on Saturday May 17th. I hope that you will check in, make comments and enjoy my blog! Talk to you soon!

Mrs. Obenchain