Sunday, August 21, 2016

Favorite Photos from Serbia and Romania

I spent several hours sorting photos from my trip to Serbia and Romania. As I did so I revisited all those special moments.  Yet, a handful of photos really caught my attention, and not because of the memories to which they were attached.

These photos appealed to the artist in me. Each captured something I felt was unique. Lighting had a great deal to do with this. How the light falls has a great impact on photos, which is often why photographs take pictures in the early morning or just before dusk.

These first two photos that caught my eye were taken in the town of Sremski Karlovci in Serbia.  I aimed upward to catch the church steeples around sunset and these amazing shots are what I got.



Given my camera is a simple digital 14 Mega Pixels Kodak, the kind that can fit in your pocket, I was impressed by what I was able to capture.














This next picture startled me when I saw it. While at the Romania National Museum I snapped many shots of manuscripts. Since a flash was not allowed, all the photos were taken with the lightning that the museum provided to illuminate the objects. When I looked at this particular manuscript it didn't look much different than the others, but the photo revealed something very different. See for yourself.


Hopefully you see what I do, that some of the writing is in gold and jumps off the page almost in a 3-D effect. Naturally I am curious what the gold lettering reads.




This picture, also taken at the Romania National Museum, I had help creating.  My friend Cristy posed for it per the suggestion of our friends. We took two shots, but this one really looks like he could be holding that staff. Though I do wish I had noticed the water bottle at the time and had him set it aside.





The final picture I will share I took on my flight home out the window of the plane. According to the flight plan provided on the screen the plane was just reaching Canada at this juncture. The way the window ended up angled at the bottom of the picture accented the island. This is one of the better photos I've ever taken out of an airplane window.





Though I like the benefit of being able to take photo after photo with a digital camera and being able to discard all the bad shots (which I had many), I still miss my old, heavy Nikon film camera and the days you had to wait until all the film was developed to see if you had any good shots at all. Yet, given suitcases are now weighed, it's a good thing I can get some great shots with a light pocket-sized camera.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Architecture of Bucharest, Romania

Photographing architectural features such as buildings, archways, and gates is something I enjoy doing when I travel. While in Bucharest I took over 300 photos, most of them of buildings.

Bucharest has some very old buildings and wonderful statues throughout the city. Yet, I did find it distracting that some of these glorious pieces of architecture often had advertising banners hanging off them. Those ads often kicked me from my thoughts of what the place was like in former decades to the more modern age. In addition businesses like Pizza Hut screamed America to me and not Romania. While these historical detractors exist in Bucharest, I avoided photographing them and focused on the ancient (by American standards), unique, and beautiful.

As I walked, rode a tour bus and in my friend's car, I often focused my camera, occasionaly with some nice results. Here are a few of those photos. The buildings I know the name of I labeled.

This building is across the street from the Romania National Museum

Detail from building above






Local friends called this pair of buildings the Twin Towers of Bucharest

Parliament Building or The People's House

Inside the Parliament Building
Parliament Building
Parliament Building
Bucharest as viewed from Parliament Building
Inside Parliament Building

From the roof of the Parliament Building



Monday, August 8, 2016

Return from Adventures in Serbia and Romania

My adventures in Serbia and Romania are now in the past. With the exception of a non-working air conditioning in a hotel and the delays on the flight home, the trip went smoothly with many delightful and surprising moments. I never found the Serbia mafia or the Romanian Gypsies, but I did see a hairy Serbian man and say Serbian Gypsy houses.  In fact, based on the Gypsy houses, I think there are more Gypsies in Serbia, then Romania.
Example of Gypsy House

Apparently the Gypsies in Serbia go to countries in the EU, collect money, and then come back to Serbia where it is cheaper to live and build big houses.
Another Gypsy House

The best part of my adventures where all my friends. They made my trip fun and easy. Lots of details I wouldn't have been able to take care of due to the lack of my language skills, they dealt with for me. In fact, I let them set the agenda for most places I visited, and I left impressed with what I was shown.

Milan, Ana, and Adam took me to the Millennium Tower by the Danube in Belgrade

The stocks Adam and Ana put me in at the Belgrade Fortress

Cristina, Adam, Me, and Cristy outside the Parliament Building (The People's House) in Bucharest

As with most trips, I took hundreds of photos. Many more I will share as I expand on my adventures over the next few weeks, but for now, enjoy one more of my most special friend, Crni.

Crni, My Serbian Prince