Amalfi Coast - Furore - Italy

June 3, 2020

After Rome we headed for the hills above the Amalfi Coast to a little place called Furore. It was a hell of an adventure in itself just getting to the place. (Some people may not remember it as adventurous so much as tumultuous!). The fast train to Naples was the easy part. The two buses to a town near Furore proved to be a bit more challenging, with a detour that found us dropped off in the middle of god knows where , where no one spoke English and there was very little wifi and Google maps was as confused as we were. With a walk up a steep, windy, cobblestone road with suitcases in tow, we perched ourselves nervously by the side of the road and hoped like hell there’d be a bus come by at some point, and luckily it did. Then the bus trip of horror movies through narrow, winding and breathtakingly steep roads, we were at least headed in the right direction, but had no idea where to get off. Eventually we took a punt and luckily were only one bus stop shy of where we were to meet our Air BnB host. Then we had another long walk along winding roads and endless steps and supposedly amazing views that we couldn’t see for the storm clouds closing in. Our knees were about to give way by the time we arrived and we were too stuffed and somewhat traumatised to do anything. We were treated to a fantastic lightning show over the Tyrrhenian Sea and that somehow made it all worth while.

We had a recovery day and the next day tried to catch a bus into town. That didn’t work out so we checked Google Maps and decided to walk down to another bus stop rather than wait for ages for the next bus on this route. Sometimes Google Maps has been invaluable in getting us out of a tight spot, sometimes it’s led us right down the garden path. Or in this case, right down thousands of steep and uneven steps for a 3 hour trek to the next bus stop to Amalfi.
Luckily for us, it was an absolutely gorgeous day and a wonderful glimpse into the Italian lifestyle living on the side of a hill. Our knees haven’t really recovered and fortunately we figured out how to catch the closest bus the next day. And we are eternally gratefully we didn’t have to walk back up to get home!

Amalfi Coast Storm

Villa d'Este Gardens. Italy

June 2, 2020

While Rome and I had a patchy relationship, it was love at first sight with Villa d’Este. You never know what you’re going to get when you visit a highly publicised tourist attraction and I’d been disappointed a few times already. So I guess my expectations were low. But let me tell you, this was one of the best days of my trip.

A train trip out of Rome and into another world. A 16th Century villa in the town of Tivoli with amazing terraced gardens and an abundance of fountains, I spent ages just wandering through the Villa enjoying the architecture and the art. And then I ventured outdoors to the garden. It was breathtaking.

The weather went from sunny blue skies to thunder storms and I had a wet dash back to catch the afternoon train back to Rome.

An absolute must see if you’re anywhere near the area.

While I was walking... I met Michael, Wendy and Harriet

June 1, 2020

Now that the Alphabet Challenge is completed, I’ll get back to blogging my Europe photos from last year soon. Firstly though, I’m feeling a real connection with my neighbourhood. It’s been such a delight to wander the suburban streets with my camera and no time pressures. I can forget about what’s going on in the rest of the world and focus on what’s right in from of me. Mindfulness at its best.

I love the gardens and the details and the architecture. I dream of living in a nice cottage with a garden. Steve and i were walking last Sunday and I’d stopped to inspect a garden. I liked the way it was designed with no lawn and no fence and integrated so well with blurred boundaries and nice curved paths. I stuck my head around a tree to see if I could get a photo but only had my 60mm lens with me so couldn’t fit the scene in, when the owners walked in. I gave a sheepish look, complimented them on their garden design, and we spent the next half hour chatting about all sorts of things, from garden design to live music to kids and schools. I took the photo of the giraffe in his tree. He thinks one of his adult kids brought it home one night but none of them can remember it so it’s a mystery giraffe.

While we were chatting to Michael, a lady walked up and asked him if she could leave the groceries she was carrying in front of his car because she’d parked hers somewhere in the area but couldn’t find it. We took her number in case we discovered it on our walk and bumped into her in a few different streets. Wendy eventually find her car and all was well.

After grabbing a few supplies in Fairfield Village we bumped into Harriet, who lives in our nest of flats somewhere. She was lamenting that her arts trip to the red centre probably wouldn’t be going ahead due to Covid-19. We chatted on our way home and she told us about the house for the blue tongue lizard that Craig had made. Craig lives at the top end of the flats and sure enough, there was a little rock structure nestled in the garden for Bluey. Steve had put out a saucer of water for him (or her) a few weeks earlier. So it seems it is a safe haven for blue tongues in our neck of the woods.

Really just a simple Sunday walk around the neighbourhood but very nourishing for the soul.

Anticipation. This beauty is growing on a fence just down the the road from me. i’ll be going back regularly to check on it. (one of the Hardenbergia’s)

Not much further down the street there this little patch of Cosmos that I covet. One of my favourite flowers

The combination of large and small autumn leaves and the textures and colours are a delight. Maybe more so for me because I come from a climate where Autumn colour is non-existent. Maybe less delightful for those who have to sweep them up!

Can’t really beat a bee on a lavender. Just a timeless classic.

While I was walking...

June 1, 2020

Social distancing while waiting for coffee at Mr Wednesday.

The bear hunt continues with many people sharing bears in their windows for kids to spot. A lovely idea to give the kids something to do with all the playgrounds closed.

One foggy morning last week, my partner Steve and I walked over to the next suburb, Fairfield to Alphington. He’d read a notification on the neighbourhood nextdoor website from a lady who had sourdough bread starter. I just went along for the exercise and took a few photos along the way.

I wore hiking boots I bought from Aldi last year (in Ljubljana, Slovenia of all places) that I’d never quite broken in. (My daughter will probably accuse me of name dropping Countries and she’d be right. It’s still pretty exciting to have travelled when I never thought it would happen) . I now have some sizeable blisters from the morning walk.

We get to the ladies place and she invites us in and gives us a detailed run down of what to do with this sour dough starter. Steve and I both thought pretty quickly that she must have been a school teacher and turns out we were right. Sue invited us to sit down and we chatted about some in depth life stuff over a short period of time. A very interesting person and turns out she’s also into photography.

The bread making seems a lot more complicated than Steve was anticipating so we don’t have any bread to show for it yet. He’s collecting bits and pieces like digital scales and the right sort of flour and god knows what else. i’m staying out of it, other than to offer to be a taste tester when we finally get some bread.

On the way home I was late for a Zoom meeting so dialled in on my phone and by this time the sun was shining and blue skies overhead. The meeting is a fortnightly check in with two photographer friends and I was supposed to have made significant progress on a book I’m putting together. I had made no progress what-so-ever so tried to distract them with the scenery as I was walking and talking. I have since made progress on ‘The Book’ and will have a lot more to report at the next meeting.

I wanted to share this post as a way of remembering what the time in a Pandemic was like. Pretty ordinary in an unusual way sums it up.

The Camelias on the table at Sue’s place where we got the bread starter.

A flower from the front of Sue’s place that I will eventually email her to ask what it is. (I’m waiting for some bread to photograph before I email!)

With the rest of the world quite chaotic and horror stories on the news every day about abuse and neglect and murder and mayhem, it can get quite distressing and overwhelming. It’s reassuring and comforting to be able to connect in simple, neighbourly ways and swap stories. Life seems simpler at the moment., if you don’t look too far.

I was coveting the space at Sue’s house as we live in a two bedroom bunker with a teenager. I crave a space to create. Just before the lockdown I had started looking at hiring studio space for 3 or 6 months to work on a number of projects that are bubbling along like sourdough starter that’s been placed in the fridge and just needs to be brought out and nurtured in a warm place so they can grow and be kneaded and made into something mouth watering like fresh bread. Or maybe they’ll be a stodgy old loaf but the making is still a good thing to do. I was hoping I’d qualify for Jobkeeper payment so I could utilise the down time to be creative but apparently RMIT don’t qualify. I’ve applied as a sole trader but you have to show a 30% loss of income. Well, the business ran at a loss last year so nothing from nothing is nothing, so no luck there either. But I’m ok, food on the table, roof over my head, not about to be evicted! The next project is a to put books together. I’m learning the Book Module in Lightroom. It’s a toss up between InDesign and Lightroom. Both have pro’s and con’s. And I have lot’s to keep me busy.

Z is for...

May 29, 2020

Zippers and Zebras

Whilst I’m relieved to get to the end of the Alphabet, I’ll also miss it. Photography is a great form of mindfulness for me and something as simple as having a letter to focus on can give your mind a direction. Something to look for. A means to take more notice of your everyday surroundings.

There’s been a few people complete the challenge now and a few still working their way through. There’s no time limit. If you want to see what others have done just search the hashtag #debsisolationalphabet in Instagram. I’ve posted one photo per letter on Instagram but shared many more on my personal facebook page.

I’ve finished off with a Zebra that lives in a pot plant in the kitchen of our little two bedroom bunker in Fairfield in Melbourne where I am locked down for the pandemic with my partner and his teenage son. It’s a small kitchen with a big pot plant which seems a bit incongruous, until you remember that living without plants is like living without photography. Just not something you want to do.

24 of the 26 photos were taken in the bunker in either the lounge room or the kitchen. Most with window light, some with lamp light. None with flash as most of my gear is locked down at RMIT and I can’t get access to it. One photo (U) was taken in the driveway. And X was taken in a park as the restrictions started to lift and we were allowed out for recreation and not just exercise.

I’ve also included a self portrait of me with a zippered jacket. I’ve included my phone in the shot as I was using that to operate the camera. I think all of the photos were shot with my Fuji X-T2 but there might have been a sneaky shot with my partners Olympus camera. I’ll have to check the metadata to be sure. The Fuji is now going to get packed up and sent for repairs and a sensor clean. The LCD screen on the back isn’t working, which was a bit frustrating but not insurmountable. It got a lot easier once I got the wifi connection working and could operate the camera from the phone app, which is what I’m doing here. That made life a lot easier and a lot more fun. And I now know by heart that if I press the menu button, scroll left, down two, across one, down 6, it gets me to the wireless communication without having to look through the viewfinder to view the menu. Which is handy when the camera is on a tripod, wedged in a corner because I’m shooting with a 60mm lens on a crop sensor camera in a small space.

Now the goal is to keep keywording my files in Lightoom. Put some books together, enter some competitions and update my teaching materials ready for when Short Courses kick off again at RMIT (looking like September at this stage).

Cheerio
Deborah

PS. Special thanks to Steve and Tommy for letting me taking over the corner of the lounge room that gets the best light for the last several weeks and for being in some of the photos too.

Y is for ....

May 28, 2020

Yolk.

The penultimate post.
Feeling a bit lacking in inspiration.
I couldn’t find a Yak around the neighbourhood so here is a yolk.
ISO 200 60mm f/4 1/4sec Tripod
Backlit by the kitchen window.
Converted to Black and White to subvert the dominant paradigm (?!) (a yellow yolk is so obvious). So I use a cliche to explain avoiding a cliche.