Orvieto 27 Dec 2007
Isn't this a beautiful view, a belvedere, so to speak? We saw this view out of the car window as we were descending to the valley containing Orvieto, one of the best preserved central Italian hill towns. I fell in love with this view at first sight. My love was so substantial, that I demanded that we stop the car so I could capture it. Easier said than done. I found that, to avoid having the frame cluttered with trees, I needed to perform some rather dangerous acrobatics. As it turns out, the best vantage point was from a bridge. The road we were on had no berm to speak of. Due to the unpredictability of Italian drivers, I found it necessary to climb on the outside of the bridge's guard rail - one handed - in order to capture this photo. Although I was only about 15 feet above the ground, a fall would have, nonetheless, been a bad thing. I was genuinely in danger of personal injury. At the same time, of course, I felt that I was less in danger than I would have been had I remained on the road side of the barrier (as opposed to the drop side). I feel a great degree of accomplishment from this photo, as a result.
Sadly, about a quarter mile down the road, the local park department provided an "official" belvedere, so I risked life and limb for no good reason. (It was still fun.)
The Montanaros
Katie and I. I am not being coy. We were being photographed by two cameras and I was smiling for the other camera. There are precious few photographs of myself among my photographs, so I decided to include this one. Judging by the amount of time that it is taking for me to go through all of my photos (granted, I took 2,250), I expect that it will be some time before I get the chance to view others' photos, which might include yours truly. Onward to Orvieto!
1 comment:
Oh, but official belvederes are no fun! It's like "scenic routes" here. There's all this gorgeous stuff you can see randomly around and going up to di, and suddenly you hit a sign calling it a viewing spot or scenic or something and you're in the land of government approved viewing and beauty. Stop deciding that for us! It's nice in theory, but now everyone's pictures who come back will have a sort of uniform to them, this is where you're supposed to take pictures.
I applaud your commitment to art, and would hardly call it no reason. It should be about that one shot you saw in your head and just had to have. It makes it more personal. There's a nice story with it, an emotional connection to the photographer.
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