Thunder Storm in the Palouse

On one afternoon, we were out shooting when the cloud cover started darkening and we started hearing thunder and seeing a lot of lightning in the distance. The longer we were there the closer it got to us.  Finally, the decision was made to pack up and head to calmer grounds.  But during God's show, it made for some fun photography. That's Steptoe Butte rising up on the horizon.

A Lone Tree in the Palouse

I just got back home after spending a week in the Palouse region of Washington State on a photo tour with a couple of the best photography instructors in the business, John Barclay and Dan Sniffin.  Be sure to check out their websites.  We also had a wonderful and talented group of photography participants in the tour, which made it all the more enjoyable and inspiring.  It was a fun week.  

The photo above was taken off of Steptoe Butte of a lone tree off in the distance.  It was taken in the early morning in beautiful lighting.  It's a good example of the terrain in the Palouse. There are miles and miles of low rolling hills planted with a variety of crops including wheat, lentils, garbanzo beans and canola. 

Burano

Burano is another island city near Venice.  The main industry here, other than tourism, is fishing and making lace.  Most of the housing there seem to be painted in bright colors.  One of the locals there said it makes for a "happy city".  It also makes for some interesting photography.

One More From Venice

The canals and photo opportunities are endless in Venice.  This one grabbed my attention because of the red flowers.  You know they say, if it's red, you must shoot it.

Venice

We ended our trip to Italy in Venice, a very beautiful and apparently popular city to visit.  It was very crowded.  We were told that Venice averages 50,000 tourists a day!  Fortunately, once you got away from St. Marks Square,  there seemed to be plenty of room to move about and explore.  And if you got up early in the morning, St. Marks Square was occupied only by pidgeons.

The opening photo is of the famous Rialto Bridge.  I believe it was the very first bridge built in Venice.

More Tuscany

It seems like every where you look in Tuscany there's another beautiful scene to behold, not to mention take a photograph of.  This was another of many taken along the dirt road leading to Il Rigo.

Il Rigo

This is the main house of the agriturismo where we stayed.  It's called Il Rigo.  Where I was standing to take this picture is where the house was that we actually stayed (see photo below).  We would go down to the main house for a wonderful breakfast in the mornings.  We also went down a couple of times to enjoy some gourmet dinners that were prepared by the owner of the villa.  We were treated to such things as red wine and sausage risotto, rabbit cacciatore and tomato bisque.

Our room was there in the middle with the open shutters