A New Website

My fine art photography website, www.tombellart.com hadn't seen a redesign in several years.  It was time for an upgrade.

I hope you enjoy the look and feel of the new design.  Please give feedback so that I can make the site even better.

The new website was designed using Adobe Muse software.

If you haven't visited the site recently, it's been updated with my recent photography in addition to the traditional favorites.  Thanks for taking a look at www.tombellart.com. 

Paducah Photo Exhibition

Four of my images will be on exhibition this summer in the Paducah Photo 2014 show.  My image, Gondolas will be in the international show, and three other images will be in the regional showcase.

Gondolas will be in the internatinal show.

Venetian Violinist will be in the regional showcase.

Cartwheel will be in the regional showcase.

Dog in Castrillo de los Polvazares will also be in the regional showcase.

The opening reception for the show will be June 7,  5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, Kentucky.  The show ends on July 27.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

6th EDITION POLLUX PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

I was surprised last night to learn that one of my images, Dog in Castrillo de los Polvazares (Spain), won first place in the Street Photography and Cityscapes category of the 6th Pollux Awards, an international photography competition that draws thousands of photographs from dozens of countries.  Winning works of the Pollux Awards will be exhibited at the 3^rd Biennial of Documentary and Fine Art Photography at the Municipal Museum in Malaga, Spain, opening on September 18^th, 2014.

Dog in Castrillo de los Polvazares (Spain).  First Place in Street Photography and Cityscapes.

Three other images were finalists:

Gondolas was a finalist in the Fine Art Photography category.

Cartwheel was a finalist in the Children category.

Bubble Man was a finalist in the People category.

You can view all of the winning images in the 6th Pollux Awards at:  http://www.call4artists.com/Gallery_6th_Pollux_Award.php.  Congratulations to all the winners.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

2013 -The Year in Review: My Best Photographs

Every year brings new opportunities for photography.

While I do photography throughout the year, certain opportunities afford greater rewards in obtaining images. For 2013, it was a summer trip to Spain and Italy.  Below are my favorite images of the year, broken down by category.  If you missed them in previous blog entries, they're here.

Portrait/People

This portrait was a spontaneous capture of a street performer in Venice. The violin player looked on as I took two frames. The rough brick wall and the old door covered in torn flyers gave the scene the texture that it needed to set it apart from the ordinary.  I think it's my favorite of all the European images this summer.

This is a spontaneous capture of a bartender at a well-know tapas bar. The photo was chosen as an Editor's Pick  by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).   The bartender is keeping customers satisfied at the Camarote Madrid Bar in León, Spain.

Children (even though they're arguably people, they get their own category.)

These children are playing at a park in León.

These children were busy at play in the plaza at Salamanca.

Places

Nothing says Venice better than gondolas.

The Gothic cathedral in León is a beautiful subject for photography.

A rainstorm added reflection to the cathedral.

Castrillo de los Polvazares is a tiny village in norther Spain.  It's one of the stops on the Camino de Santiago. The dog is one of its denizens.

The edge of Castrillo de los Polvazares.

Things/Sculptures

Perseus holds the head of Medusa in this famous sculpture in Florence, Italy.

A Venetian carnival mask.  Theyre everywhere in Venice, and a great subject for photography.

A sculpture in Bologna, Italy.

Selfie/Family Portrait

Our family self portrait.  It became the image for our Christmas Card.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

Making the Christmas Card Memorable

Since 2009, I've been designing and sending our family photo Christmas cards by email.   The cards always have a nice portrait of the family, but that's about all I can say for them. There's one big difference between my card this year and those of years past:  this year's card will be memorable.  Since there's no postage and no physical card to send, the only cost is an investment of a little time with Photoshop.  Here's this year's card:

Click on the image to see the entire card.

 When we were in Venice this summer, we decided to be silly and make faces in front of a mirror along the canal.  I captured a family "selfie" that became the image for the 2013 Christmas card.

"Wow," you must be saying, "he even takes his dog with him on a Europan vacation!"

Well, not exactly.

Mr. Watson, our lovable-but-brain-dead cairn terrier has been on the card every year.  It seemed a shame to leave him out this time.  Unfortunately, I don't have any images of Mr. Watson that would work with my plan.  The best I could do was search until I found the image of a dog that looks just like mine, one that was also taken at the appropriate angle.  Using the selection tool in Photoshop, I then extracted the dog from the image, sized it and pasted onto the vacation picture. It looks enough like Mr. Watson that my wife thought it was him, even though she didn't remember him going on vacation with us.

That's the story of this year's more memorable Christmas card.  I'll have to do something to top it in 2014!

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

More Venetian Carnival Masks

I've had time to look at a few more of the photos I took in Europe this summer.  I thought I'd share a few more of the Venetian Carnival masks I had the opportunity to photograph while in Venice.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

Ponte Vecchio, a great bridge to photograph

 The Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy is often on the list of the world's greatest bridges.  Crossing the Arno River, it's much as it was in Medieval times. There are jewelry shops and curio dealers all along the bridge.  Make you own photograph if you're ever in Florence!

You can visit my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

The Art is in the Details

Many photographers visit Pisa, Italy and focus on the obvious:  the Leaning Tower and other historic monuments.

Those who look closely will find the 12th Century bronze door panels on the Cathedral of Pisa by architect and sculptor Bonanno da Pisa.  There are 24 panels on the door that trace the lives of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

This bronze door panel depicts the Nativity. 

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

Illinois Girl Saves Historic Italian Landmark

At the end of June, my family and I traveled to Pisa, Italy.

This obvious photograph is the forced perspective view of  my daughter holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa (She should be given a medal by the Italian government for ensuring that this historic landmark didn't bite the dust).

Cristina, uprights a 500 year-old wrong in Pisa, Italy.

She corrected the lean so that the tower now stands straight for the first time in 500 years.  You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

Children are the Missing Element...

Often, I'm at a photogenic spot -- a historic building or scenic location.  I point the camera and get a stunning photograph -- but upon further inspection, something is missing.  Maybe the missing element is children.  Below are some examples of the child or children making the photograph.

This is a very scenic location in the central plaza of Salamanca.  It needed children to make it interesting.

This dramatic photo of the Arch of Santa Catalina in Antigua, Guatemala works because of the young soccer player in the foreground.

Children were jumping like crazy for the bubbles from this street performer in Bologna, Italy.

These active children were perfect subjects for a photo in a León, Spain park.

The accordion playing street performer was a good subject for a photography, but the little girl makes it a human interest story.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

Venetian Carnival Masks

Venetian carnival masks have been around since at least the 13th century.  In Venice, the masks are everywhere, with expensive masks in high-end shops and very inexpensive souvenir masks at vendors' booths and stands across the city.  They're also great subjects for photography.

Many Venetian masks are colorful.  However, in my opinion, they're perfect for Black and White photography.

These masks were in a very high-end shop in Venice.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

More Favorites

In my previous blog entry, I shared some of my favorite photos from my recent trip to Spain and Italy.

Here are a few more.

 A street performing violinist in Venice.

A poppy field between León and Salamanca, Spain.

Street Scene.  Castrillo de los Polvazares, Spain.

Stone building.  Castrillo de los Polvazares.

Arches.  León, Spain.

Accordion player captures the interest of a little girl.  Madrid, Spain.

Bubbleman.  Street Performer. Bologna, Italy.

Perseus with the Head of Medusa.  Florence, Italy.

Sculpture in Bologna.

This is one of my favorite photos from the trip.  It was the end of the day and my family and I were headed back to the train station in Venice.  We saw a mirror on the wall in front of the canal.  We decided to be silly.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

Favorite Photos

Those who frequent my blog will know that my family and I recently returned from a trip to Spain and Italy.  If you missed my articles and photos on tapas, you might want to go back and read my previous three blog entries.

Papier-mâché masks have been a tradition in Venice for centuries.

In this entry, I thought I would share a few of the photos I took on the trip.  Over four weeks or so, I took about 3,000 photographs.  Needless to say, I haven't had time to thoroughly review all of them.  However, here are a few that I thought turned out rather well.

Gondolas are everywhere in Venice. 

The Gothic Cathedral in León, Spain  is one of the most beautiful in Europe.  The city is great for walking at night.

Rain, clouds, and reflections make for a dramatic backdrop for the Cathedral.

This photo was chosen as an Editor's Pick this week by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).   The bartender is keeping customers satisfied at the Camarote Madrid Bar in León.

Children playing are always good subjects for photography.  I'll talk about this more in an upcoming blog entry.

I'll have some more of my favorite recent photos next time.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.