Tuscan Farm Building, Italy, photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
TUSCAN FARM BUILDING, ITALY: I love shooting photos in Tuscany. This photo was taken in early July, late in the sunflower growing season. The Tuscan region is where the Italian Renaissance was born– home to Michelangelo, da Vinci, Botticelli and Puccini. And, of course, it’s also the home of Chianti wine.
Shot with a Nikon D300, 70-300 DX zoom lens at 155mm, ISO 1250, 1/250 sec., f32. Copyright photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
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Southern Italy Hill Town, photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
SOUTHERN ITALY HILL TOWN: Travelling through Italy, it’s hard not to fall in love with the beautiful hill towns– especially in Tuscany, Umbria and further south, en route to Messina. While they may look picture postcard– and many certainly are– they were built for far more pragmatic purposes. Hill towns provided a defensive position against attack. They also provided defense against raging rivers in the valleys below. In the Middle Ages Italian hill towns were protected by natural cliffs along with earthen walls, rough stone and wood. Later, masonry and cut stone were predominantly used. Watch towers, churches, and impressive residences were major architectural features. Because of their location and sometimes great distance to the next town, it was not unusual for people to spend their whole lives in such towns. While many hill towns in Italy have been lost, the landscape is still dotted with pretty little towns like this one in southern Italy.
Shot with Nikon D300 with 18-200 Nikkor lens at 28mm at 1250 ISO, 1000 sec, f/14, photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
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WWII Re-enactors, Ste. Marie duMont, Normandy France, photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
STE. MARIE DUMONT, WWII RE-ENACTORS: WWII re-enactors descend on Normandy in France each June. Community festivals are held. Battles on beaches are re-enacted. All kinds of military equipment is on display and on the roads. It’s been said that on these weekends, there are more jeeps in Normandy than during the D-Day landings. Swap meets are terrific places to see the re-enactors in their full gear. Most are French citizens, but many come over from England. I have even seen re-enactors from former Soviet-bloc countries participating. The small village of Ste. Marie duMont in one of the many communities in the region where celebrations are held with re-enactors out in force. Almost all take on the roles of American soldiers.
Shot handheld with a Nikon D40X with a Nikkor 70-300mm lens at 210mm, f6.3, 1/500 sec., ISO 800. Photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
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Tuscany, Italy, photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
TUSCANY ITALY: Tuscany and Tuscan inspired decor and colours became especially popular after the release of Frances Mayes’ book Under the Tuscan Sun in 1997 and released as a major motion picture in 2003. It seems every home paint manufacturer soon came out Tuscan inspired colours– typically in the red/ocher, orange, yellow/gold, green and– to a lesser extent, blue hues. I find the ocher colour of this farm building to be pretty typical of the Tuscan countryside. The Tuscan region is also where the Italian Renaissance was born– home to Michelangelo, da Vinci, Botticellie and Puccini. And, of course, it’s the also home of Chianti!
Shot handheld with a Nikon D3100, AF-S 10-24mm lens at 11mm, f14, 1/2000 sec. ISO 1600
Photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
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Flower Field, Northern France, photo by John Ecker, Pantheon Photography
FLOWER FIELD, NORTHERN FRANCE: Poppies dot the landscape of northern France. Their bright red colour and symbolism as the flower of remembrance can make them a compelling feature in photographs. As I composed this shot, I recalled something one of my photography professors shared years ago when I was in college. He believed that any photo that included a person became a photo of a person. His point was that the mere presence of a person in a photo established both its context and focal point. Applying my old prof’s maxim to this shot, the scarecrow is a person in effigy, thereby strongly drawing the viewer’s attention to it. What do you think– does the inclusion of a person in a photo establish a strong focal point? Shot handheld with a Nikon, D300, Nikkor 70 – 300 mm at 127 mm, 1/400 sec, f29, ISO 200.
Photo by John Ecker | pantheon photography
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