Monthly Archives: March 2012

Jefferson, Texas

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I  just had to write this. A bit embarrassing but hopefully you, the reader, will find it helpful.

I’m still an new photographer and I make a lot  mistakes. But mistakes can be learning experiences right?  Here’s the story. I was driving home from a business trip and took a detour to a town called Jefferson.

Big Cypress Bayou in Jefferson, Texas

Big Cypress Bayou in Jefferson, Texas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’d heard a lot about Jefferson, an east Texas town near the border of Louisiana. The topography is much more like Louisiana than Texas, swamps filled with cypress trees dripping spanish moss.  Cotton and other goods were shipped from Jefferson via the Red River to the Mississippi River. Pre-civil war, Jefferson, was a major inland port and, a hub for culture and refinement in the area. The old historic area is composed of buildings from the 1800′s,  many reported to be haunted.

So here I am in this charming, quaint town, it is early morning, not many people on the streets, all the trees and flowers are blooming and,,,, here comes the inspiration for this page. I don’t have a camera. Well, I do but, the battery is dead. And it’s Sunday and, it’s Jefferson, population about 2,000. No chance of finding a battery on an early Sunday morning for a five years old, Olympus point and shoot. I didn’t take my DSLR because the trip was business, just a quick overnight trip. I didn’t think I’d need it. Stupid.

Jefferson Historic District

Jefferson Historic District (Photo credit: Wikipedi

You get it right? If travel photography is a hobby or passion, always have an extra battery and, I’d add a couple of memory cards. Depending on how much you plan to shoot maybe several, large memory cards. And don’t forget your camera. You never know when the travel bug is going to bite. Since I’m not your mother maybe you will listen?

The Roman Forum

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I’ve been surfing the net, reading articles about Italy and checking out the photographs on other sites. I’m feeling very sentimental and decided to share a photograph I took in 2010, my third trip to Rome. Who can look at photographs without recalling the people they met, their favorite restaurant, or a special day at a monument or museum? One of the most special places in Rome for me is the Roman Forum. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s where civilization as we know it began.

Reading about the Forum in history books or guide books, in no way prepares you for the awe and beauty of being there.  Most people, whether they’ve been to Rome or not, have seen the Forum. It’s featured in thousands of travel photos on blogs and travel websites. Any film about ancient Rome is going to show the Forum, at least as background.

Honestly, nothing compares to seeing it from the Capitoline Hill.  It’s a very meditative place to me, and a feeling of  peacefulness and rightness comes over me every time I see it. I feel a little like a magician when I take someone there. It’s like taking the drape off the bird cage and there the bird is but , you’re sure that the cage was empty the last time you looked.

A friend who has lived in Rome for over thirty years told me that when she first arrived, you could walk through the Forum at any time, day or night.  As amazing at that would be I still can’t enough of the view from above.

If you only have one day in Rome, which I can’t imagine, add the Capitoline Hill and the Forum to your list.

Walks of Italy offers a nice tour that includes the Colosseum, the Palantine Hill and the Forum.
If you’d like to read more on the history of ancient Rome, check out this article on the top 5 non-fiction books on Rome.

Have you been to the Forum? How do you feel there?