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During the winter I drove down to Boston with my pregnant girlfriend and we walked around the charles river area while I dragged around my tripod and took a bunch of photographs.

I had been trying to capture some car trails when I was visiting my parents in Maine, but this was a far more dynamic photograph.  I love the various lines leading your eyes through the photograph as well as the few bright streetlights up above.

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I took my last trip to Italy in March and April of 2009. I also quickly took a 2 day trip to Istanbul, Turkey in the middle. (Thanks to a super cheap round trip flight out of Rome, $125!!!) Whenever I travel, I try to get as much out of it as I can. Sometimes I overdo it, and I did on this trip. I was in Europe for a total of 17 days, and I visited 6 cities, and one required a 1.5 hour flight! Part of it this time was that I wanted to introduce Merri to alot of Italy, but some is just me. I always get worried about doing as much as I can, because I never feel like I have enough time. That’s why I am trying to work my way to a location independent lifestyle. Someday, I’ll be able to visit the Flavian Amphitheater anytime I want!

Anyway, I took this picture on our second to last night in Rome, which was our second to last night in Italy. The Flavian Amphitheater was so well light up, and the moon was just over it, I had to try to get this shot. I took about 15 blurry shots, and 3 that I thought were decent. When I got back to the hotel room, a tiny room overlooking Termini, I uploaded them to my laptop, and realized I only had one good shot. But man is it a beauty. Everyone I show this picture to seems to love it, and I do too!

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Over Columbus Day weekend, I went to visit my parents up at their place near Acadia National Park. While there not only did we build a bocce court, but we went out to Mount Desert Island and went to Acadia. The weather didn’t cooperate with us much all day, but occasionally, like in this picture, I was able to get a good shot! I love the way the light hits the buildings and the shore on the other side of the harbor.

This is from the dock of Northeast Harbor on Mount Desert Island. My father explained to me that the ship on the right is a “mission” ship, that goes around to the various islands off the coast, and provides various religious services for the people who cannot get off the islands very often.

My great aunt and uncle, and a few cousins live on one of the islands. My great uncle was a lobsterman for many years, and in WWII he was in the merchant marines, operating in the english channel as the Nazi U-boats were sinking ships. He was quite a man. I have never spent enough time on that island, but when I was younger, I did get to go out lobstering with my uncle, it was a great experience!

The Maine coastal photos I took that weekend varied wildly in quality. There were so many pictures that, if the weather and the light had been better, would have been fantastic. Thankfully, there were some great ones, and this is one of them.

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On a sunny Sunday morning at my parents house on the ocean near Acadia National Park, I got up in time for sunrise. The sunrises are so beautiful there. The sun crests over the mountains of Acadia, and shines across the bay. This shot was taken probably 20 minutes after sunrise. The sun was getting a little higher in the sky. I had jumped down onto the marshy area next to the bay, and saw these bright red oak leaves. I took a few shots of it from in front of the leaves, then I saw the light filtering through them, and took a few shots, getting progressively further behind the leaves.

I love the way you can see the structure of the leaves with the sun shining through them. You can see the bay behind the leaves, and the sun shining to the right. The mountains aren’t visible in this one of my Maine coastal photos. The brilliance of the color however is what steals the show. The red just pops off the blue sky and blue water. It was a long and tiring day, but getting up that early was worth it.

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Vernazza is the fourth town in the Cinque Terre. They have a nice breakwater to create a tiny harbor, it is from this that I took many Vernazza photos. This one is by far the best that I took that day, back in June of 2007. You can see how the hills just rise up quickly out of the Mediterranean sea, and are all terraced, to provide little gardens and vineyards for all the villagers. Nowadays many of those gardens and vineyards are overgrown and unused, as most kids move away to the bigger cities and towns of Italy.

I love how you can see that water has worn away the underside of the church over the centuries, and I wonder what that archway was originally used for! This is my overall favorite of all the Vernazza photos that I took. Although I do like a couple that I took looking down onto Vernazza from the trail high up above to the third town, Corniglia. Vernazza is definately the most picturesque of the towns. The train station is about midway up the town, and so it doesn’t interrupt the natural beauty of the cinque terre coastline.

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I took this one of my Manarola photos while on my trip to Italy in June 2007. My parents and I were hiking from Vernazza to Riomaggiore, and as we came from Corniglia I saw this view. I took a few pictures, and lucked out with this one! The hike from Vernazza to Corniglia is a little difficult, but the hike from Corniglia is basically all downhill, a very smooth and easy hike. My poor mother hated the stairs up from Vernazza to Corniglia. She forgave me when she saw the views, but for a while there, I was sure she would never forgive me.

I definately lucked out with this shot, all of my friends and family love this one of my Manarola photos. It captures a great moment in time, the clouds in the sky, the way the waves are breaking over the rocks in the foreground, it all works well. Everything cooperated with this shot. This is one of the photos that convinced me to try my hand at doing photography as more than just a hobby. Everyone comments favorably on this photo, and that gives me alot of confidence to move forward with this website!

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This Cinque Terre church is near the top of Manarola, you first get off the train, pass through a tunnel to the main street, and then hike up the street. I took this on my trip at the end of March, and beginning of April of this year. We had walked from Riomaggiore on the Via del Amore to Manarola, then when we got to the top, I just had to stop and take this photo. I love the way the lamppost juts into the frame from out of nowhere. This is indeed one of my favorite Manarola photos that I have taken, although my absolute favorite is still the landscape I took of the whole town in 2007.

We spent about 30 minutes in the little square in front of the church, looking down over the town, and watching a stubborn dog elude the grasp of it’s owners. It had no desire at all to go up the hill, when one of the owners was going down, so it kept slipping from it’s collar, or pulling the leash out of the hands of the person taking it uphill. Whenever it found its way free again, it let out a little bark as if to say “I’m Free!”

The views down over the town were spectacular, I also spent some time watching a man tend to his vineyard up on the terraces above. It felt as if it could have been 300 years ago, the town hasn’t changed much at all. The only hint of modernity was the sound of the trains passing by every 15 or so minutes.