For a while now I’ve had a list of photos that I want to re-work.  This list grows and grows, but rarely shrinks.  For instance, I have in my to-do list “Re-work Europe Trip HDRs.”  That represents a lot of work, not only that I did back in 2008, but that I have ahead of me.  That might be why that line item on my to-do list has been sitting there for over 8 months now.  Every time I prioritize, it moves up, but then as I add things it slowly moves to the bottom.

Last night as part of my move from SmugMug to Flickr, I spotted this photo.  Instantly I remembered how disappointed I was in the photo when I took it.  We were in a hurry, for some reason, and as I was about to snap the photo, there were groups of people coming at this scene from behind me, and some coming down the alleyway toward me.  I knew this had the potential to be a good shot, so I fired off one frame with my Canon G9 before the people got into the shot.  When I got back from Europe, this was one of those images that I was excited about.  When I opened it up on the computer, it fell flat.  The colors were muted, the shadow of the alley went away, there’s some motion blur in it, and in general it just stunk.  One of the many lessons about photography, especially travel photography, is that it’s always cheaper to take good photos while you’re there rather than pay for a re-do.

Luckily for me, with the new software that’s out there now, and more editing skills on my part, I was able to work on this photo for 20 minutes or so last night and get a usable image from it.  The edited image leads off at the top of the post, and I’ve decided to show the original down here.  I think you’ll agree, the re-work was worth it.

Yet another photo from my European vacation.  This one is also from Croatia… also from Dubrovnik… but from an island just off the mainland called Lokrum Island.  You can read more about Lokrum Island if you want to, but really all you need to know is this:  it’s beautiful.  The view back to the mainland is fantastic, and a short walk to the other side of the island and you see nothing but the sea.  Beautiful sea.  Then again, if you walk to the left when you get off of the boat docks, you might get to see more than you bargain for.  I’ll let you look that one up on your own.

I’m sure this boat has a story to tell, at least it looks like it does.  I’m glad I stumbled across it while we spent our day on Lokrum Island.

If I could spend two weeks of every year on a vacation where I took as many photos as I did during the two weeks I spent in Europe…  well, I wouldn’t have time to edit anything else.  I took over three months just to do my initial edit on the photos from Prague, Croatia, and Italy.  Looking back at the way I edited them just two years ago, I want to go through the process all over again, but time just doesn’t permit right now.  Sometime soon, when I have more free time, I’ll go back and work on those photos again.

This harbor is in Dubrovnik Croatia.  Going to Dubrovnik was a game-time decision and replaced Florence, Italy in the trip itinerary while I was on an un-planned 6 hour layover in London.  That change, in my opinion, was the decision of the trip.  Croatia, and Dubrovnik especially, is truly the “Gem of the Adriatic.”  The people were nice, and the photos were even better.  I could easily spend just two weeks in and around Dubrovnik, not to mention the rest of Croatia.

The photo above is from the shore of the Vltava river, looking back at the Old Town in Prague.  It’s an HDR photo, and I’m lucky to have gotten it.  Before I left for the trip, I purchased a small imitation Gorillapod that wouldn’t even hold my Canon G9 stable.  It was shaky, and the weight of the camera caused it to slouch. I donated it to a hostel in Rome.  Regardless, the best part of having the bittypod was as I was taking this photo, a group of teenagers walked by and had quite the laugh at my expense for using such a small tripod.  “It’s so tiny!” and “look how small it is!” did nothing for my confidence.  The shot, however, worked out… who’s laughing now kids?

When we talked about where we were going with some people, I heard a lot of comments about our first stop, Prague.  Prague, they said, had been too westernized.  It was a tourist trap now on the scale of Venice, Italy or France.  Having spent a few days in Prague, not nearly enough mind you, I beg to differ with that assertion.

Yes, there were a lot of Americans and western type folk there.  But the Old Town in Prague was beautiful, and to get away from the tourists all you have to do is walk a block away from the main square and main roads.  The buildings and architecture are beautiful, and the people beyond friendly.  The last thing you want to do in Prague, however, is try to cross the street when you don’t have the “walk” sign.  You might as well just put a gun to your head.  The citizens of Prague do not mess around when it comes to driving.