Seen in Agrigento, Sicily.

Somewhat anachronistic - and one of the most romatic spots in San Francisco.

Seen near Ubud (Bali, Indonesia)

Granada, seen from the Alhambra.

San Giovanni degli Eremiti (12th century) is romantically situated in a very photogenic setting: a small garden that allows for many interesting angles.
Consequently, the entrance fee is a bit steep.
Those interested in the history of architecture will be baffled by the ingenious mixture of normannic and arabic styles.

Rice paddies on Bali (Indonesia)

Taken in Agrigento, Sicily.
Here, I had some difficulties. No technical issues, but as soon as I had mounted the camera on my tripod, a guardian appeared, telling me in Italian that professional photographers were not allowed to take photos without a special permit (needless to say that you would have had to go back to town and surely, the office wouldn’t be open at that time).
Pointing out that I’m not a pro didn’t help either. After all, I was using a tripod!
Fortunately, I had taken a number of hand-held shots before as well as some pictures on the tripod.

Still, if you are the proud owner of a professional looking camera and/or a big tripod, I’d recommend that when visiting historic sites at night you either enquire beforehand whether you would need a tripod, - or take as many hand-held pictures as you can and only then hurry up to use your tripod.

I have waited for such a scanner for a long time: wouldn’t it be handy if you could feed your scanner whole trays of slides and let it scan while you do something else.
How much time could this save us? And what an elegant way of saving all ones pictures on a digital medium.
Now, Braun and Reflecta offer such a scanner that actually looks very much like a slide projector - not really surprising considering Braun’s expertise in this sector.
Tests were mixed however and there seems to be a difference between the Braun and Reflecta scanners - although they are the same model! This obviously has to do with the software (Braun comes with Silverfast) and the drivers.
One test in a German photo mag was quite encouraging: although the Braun was not in the absolute top (Minolta took the top spot for scan quality) its scans were classified as good.
If you consider the time you spend staring at your monitor when scanning, the small difference in quality may not be worth it.
Don’t know yet whether I’ll buy this one though. It may be wiser to wait for the next (improved) version - after all this is the very first scanner of its kind.

Laurenz

A bear is fishing in Kyoto (Japan).

One of the few cost-free attractions New York has to offer: the Staten Island Ferry.
This photo was taken shortly before arrival at the terminal.

Small, cheap, not too comfortable but charming: bungalows on Tioman Island (Malaysia).

And here is the view you have from the upper town.

Monemvasía has been dubbed the “Gibraltar of Greece” - and there are definite similarities.
Only a small dyke links the Island-rock to the Peloponnese, in earlier times this strategic position was further fortified by a drawing bridge and a castle on top of the rock.
Looking at the town from this side it seems to be almost uninhabited, - only after passing through the city gate one sees the remains of a city that once had 30000 inhabitants.
Today, the lower city has been carefully restaurated and it is possible to stay there in an apartment that is several centuries old. Definitely recommended.
Although today only 400 people live here, there’s a regular bus to the other side. Please beware that on public holidays and sundays you may not be able to catch the earliest long distance bus from there, as the bus may not be running yet and taxis may not be willing to take you either. A good excuse to prolong your stay.
A must: going up the rock to the ruins of the upper city. This is especially beautiful at sunrise. You’ll be back in time for breakfast and the colours are amazing.

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Walking across it takes quite a while but is an unforgettable experience.

Currently, the weather is not at its best here, so how about a nice shot from this fall?

In the anteroom of a small church is one of Romes best known attractions, the Bocca Della Veritá .
The reason for this fame presumably is that, according to common belief, it will bite off the hand of everyone who isn’t truthful.
Of course, I passed the test. Really!
All other visitors did as well. So, mankind seems to be inherently good, after all.

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (USA) .

Window of an old house in Rome

Nerja, a very romantic place in Andalusia (Southern spain)

Fish, nicely decorated in front of a restaurant in Torremolinos, Andalusia (Spain).

A clock is reflected in the facade of a building near Times Square, New York.

In the Hida Folk Village (Takayama, Japan) one can visit traditional Japanese houses from various epochs as well as many almost forgotten skills.

Regardless of whether they have been taken directly with a digital camera or scanned from film:
Lots of images are saved onto CDs and DVDs every day.
But: how safe are they there.
Reading an article in a German Computer Magazine I realised that this may not be for eternity.
Prints and slides always have deteriorated over time - the same seems to be true for digital storage media.
Quite possible that we won’t be able to read them in a few years?

A loooooong time ago, I did not yet have a domain of my own. I already had a guestbook though.
The guestbook was hosted on Tripod and worked very well. It was surprising how many people left a message there.
So, I was not happy when the guestbook suddenly disappeared after the takeover of Tripod by Lycos.

A few days ago, I had an idea: there is a so-called Internet archive (Wayback Machine) that tries to preserve pages in their various stages. And indeed, my guestbook was there! One page of 170 kb, text only.
I saved it to disk, divided it into more digestible portions and uploaded it to
Travelphoto.net.
Thanks, “Wayback Machine”!

Laurenz

Travel pictures from Northern Spain at the main gallery.

The pyramid at the Louvre, Paris, France.

What is the real purpose of the Tea Ceremony? Philosophy? Zen? The perfect cup of tea?
Well, I would guess that, today, the answer is simple: money.
The event no longer takes place in a small garden house but in theatre-style halls.
Even so, one shouldn’t miss the opportunity to attend such a ceremony. It’s beautiful.
And you even can take photographs, which would not exactly be compatible with the traditions of Cha-Do - the way of tea.

Even on rainy days, the streets of Chongqing (China) are full of people.
The traditional way of transporting goods are sticks on which porters carry over their shoulders

A beautiful sunset in Kamakura. More on taking pictures of silhouettes.