Cliché, to many photographers this is a dirty word.  Photographs of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, the Tetons from Ox Bow Bend, the Watchman in Zion from the bridge, Delicate Arch – all are considered by many to be clichés.

What exactly is a cliché?  Something that has lost its originality, ingenuity, impact from long overuse.  In other words, it’s been done before – and many times.  Some have gone so far as to suggest that there are no photographs left in Yosemite Valley that are not clichés.

Not all of us agree.

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I finally got a chance to work on a few more Eastern Sierra workshop photographs from June.  It’s amazing how many things barge to the front of the line.  But I finally got to these.  I hope you enjoy them.

Alabama Hills Vignette

This one was taken before the workshop started.  It’s just one more wonder to be found in the Alabama Hills.  I get a very quite feeling from this one.

Lone Pine Creek 2

One of the exercises we did during the workshop was to photograph the chapter, paragraph and sentence on Lone Pine Creek at Whitney Portal.  This was my sentence photograph.  The water is swirling around the rocks going every which way.  This image captures the whole turbulence of the cascade in this little microcosm.

Bristlecone Dusk

I keep coming back to this bristlecone pine in the White Mountains.  And each year the interpretation is different.  It was somewhat overcast this year and as night was coming on the clouds created subtle patterns in the sky.  One of the things I like about this tree is how it grows high above Great Basin.  It’s been here for thousands of years.  On this evening it softly glows as the day turns to night – one more time.

Half Dome Storm

The Tioga Pass road opened just a few days before we arrived in Lee Vining.  So there was no doubt that we would photograph sunset in Yosemite.  Olmsted Point provides a unique view of Half Dome from the back side.  As luck would have it a storm was rolling across the Sierra and we were there.  I love the power in this photograph.  When I look at the image I can’t help thinking how good it would look in a Southern California arts and crafts style house.

These will be up on my website soon but I wanted to give you a preview.

Join me on an upcoming workshop.

To see more of my photographs click here.

Our vacation is over and we’ll be departing for home from Amsterdam in a couple of hours.  I must confess; it’s very much of a blur right now.  But to recap our ports, we departed Basel, Switzerland last Sunday  (7/11) with the stops in Breisach, Strasbourg, Rudesheim, Koblenz, Cologne and last but not least, Amsterdam.    Side trips took us  to Colmar and the Alsatian Wind Road (Breisach), Heidelberg castle and city(Speyer), and Marksburg castle (Koblenz).

With the factual stuff out of the way, what were the highlights? First on the list was having dinner and attending a magnificent concert with our friends in Rudesheim.  I got to meet the rest of Andreas’ family and was proud to introduce mine to him.  Other memorable events were spending an enjoyable evening in a Koblenz beer garden with new friends from the boat, the unbelievable gothic cathedral of Cologne of course, a similarly magnificent but much smaller gothic cathedral in Strasbourg, the Alsace village of Colmar and a first hand introduction to Alsatian wines, Marksburg castle,  the university in Heidelberg, and the castles along the Rhein to name the first few that come to mind. 

Basal memories include the expensive meals (breakfasts was $100 for three), the cathedrals and art museum, sitting at a sidewalk cafe enjoying fondue and walking back to the hotel in the rain, and getting lost on the way to the boat.

My original intention was to publish a post on the blog every day.  But although the boat was advertised as having WIFI, it was spotty and when we did have it, there wasn’t enough bandwidth to upload photographs.  And besides, the days were so busy that there wasn’t much energy left at the end to upload photographs, work on them, write a blog and publish it.  I was able to get quite a few images on Flickr.  There are still more to publish so you might want to check back in a few days.

The WIFI situation not withstanding, there are a lot of great things to say about Uniworld, our  cruise line, and the experience they provided for us.  We loved the staff, the boat and the guests. Because of the size of the boat and the small number of guests the entire cruise had an intimate, friendly and warm feeling.  We’re already talking about which Uniworld cruise we’ll take next.

Well, it’s time to pack up and head off to the airport.  See you back in the states.

Last night the angels sang for us.  We joined our friends here in Rüdesheim for dinner and a concert that they arranged for us.  The diner was on the grounds of Closter Eberbach, a monastery that dates back some 800 years.  We had a dish that is traditional for this part of Germany, a dumpling stuffed with goodies and covered with a sumptuous mushroom sauce.  We drank the local Rheingau wine and had a chance to get to know my friend’s family better.

Then we walked across the grounds to an 800 year old Romanesque basilica where we were to enjoy the concert.  The basilica held several thousand people and it was full.  The clean, unadorned simplicity of the massive columns and arches formed the perfect setting for what we were about to experience.

The concert was part of the Rheingau Music Festival and was attended by political leaders and dignitaries from all over Germany.  And we know of three concert goers that came all the way from California.  Our seats were off to the side and we couldn’t even see the performers but that was of no concern.  The music we were about to hear filled the hall to the very ceiling and surrounded you in beautiful harmonies.

The program consisted of three pieces – the Vivaldi “Gloria”, Bach’s cantata “Wer Weiß, wie nahe mir meine Ende,” and Shubert Mass Number 2.  The Munich Chamber Orchestra was joined by four soloists.  The opportunity to hear this wonderful orchestra was exciting in itself but the reason everyone had come from so far away was to hear the Windsbacher Knabenchor.  It would not be an exaggeration to say they are one of the finest if not the finest boys choir in the world.

When the music started I knew I was listening to the voices of angels.  The boys range in age from seven to fourteen and give concerts to rapt audiences all over the world.  Their pure voices filled the hall with with moving, inspiring perfection.  The Gloria was sun with joy and exuberance.  The Bach cantata was given to us with that depth of profound human emotion for which Bach is the undisputed master.  And all I can say about the Shubert Mass was that I wished it would never end.

Yes, too soon the concert came to an end and we walked out of the basilica greatly moved and profoundly grateful for having had the opportunity to participate in such beauty.  We are grateful to Andreas and Barbara and their son Juan for making possible this memorable evening of friendship, food and music.  It is and will remain the highlight of our vacation in Germany.

Out last day in Basal ended up being a bit of an adventure, not that it started out that way.  On the way to dinner in old town Saturday night we walked by another beautiful cathedral.  So we returned Sunday morning for a visit.  And it was well worth the effort.  The Elizabethenkirche is another towering cathedral with a vaulted ceiling and wonderful beautiful stained glass windows above the alter.  We were surprised there wasn’t a church service on Sunday morning so we were able to wander around inside.

We returned to the hotel in time to get all cleaned up and head for the boat that was going to be our home for the next eight days.  I had no idea of how futile our  efforts to make a good first impression were going to be.  We got directions to the dock from the hotel front desk.  They asked us if we wanted them to call a cab.  We asked if it wouldn’t be possible to take the trolley.  They said it was and told us what line to take and where to get off.  With maps in hand we set off to catch the next trolley.  You see, we like to take as many different modes of transportation as we can when we’re on vacation.

We road the trolley to the end of the line – the stop they told us to get off on.  From there we walked down to the river, carefully following the map they had given us.  We didn’t know it but we had the wrong map.  When we got to the  river we turned upstream and walked for about a mile.  I believe I mentioned yesterday that the weather here is like a Midwestern summer day – hot and muggy.  We all worked up quite a sweat.

When we got to the place marked on the (wrong) map there wasn’t anything like a pier in site.  In fact, it was a public bathing beach.  We called the cruise line, told them where we were and they had no clue.  So we got the phone number for, you guessed it, a taxi, made the call and got a ride in a Mercedes taxi.  The pier was not more than a quarter of a mile downstream from where we had come out on the river. 

I had a pocket full of Swiss franks which were not going to be any use to us in Germany so I tried to give them all to the taxi driver.  She wouldn’t take them.  The taxi ride was 20 franks.  She insisted on giving me change.  I tried to give her a 20 frank tip and she shook her head and said, “Too much.”  She begrudgingly accepted a 10 frank tip.  Can you imaging a New York taxi driver saying, “Too much?”  If we did that in New York, they’d be thinking “Sucker.”  Not in Switzerland.

The cruise boat is beautiful.  It’s very long, narrow and low.  Our cabin is incredibly small.  We have a huge bay window looking out on the water and being on the lower level the water surface is not five feet below our  window.  It’s really vey cool.

We got settled in, enjoyed tea time followed by the mandatory orientation talks by the staff.  Then we sat down to a very nice dinner.  After dinner we went up topside and fed bread crumbs to the swans.  No, we’re not at Disneyland or a zoo.  They actually have beautiful swans all over the river.  It’s like walking through a Grimm Brothers world.

We’ve already made new BFFs.  And with such a small boat with only 125 guests we’ll quickly make a lot more.  The atmosphere is so friendly that you’d have to be a total grump not to.

So our adventure continues as we move into the next phase.

Ok, enough talk.  Here are the photos.

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I have a bit of catching up to do.  The wifi connection on the boat has been spotty.  But not to complain, we’ve been having a fantastic time.

Monday we toured the Alsace region of France, visited the old parts of the cities and drank the local wine.  We enjoyed Colmar very much.  It’s a city of major significance in Alsace but not the largest one.  That honor goes to Strasbourg.  Colmar is often referred to as the “Venice of Alsace” because of its beautiful canal. 

Colmar was our first taste of a European village and specifically a Alsatian village.  We experienced first hand the timbered buildings in architectural styles that date back 500 years and more.  The villages are clean and inviting now but during the Middle Ages the streets and waterways were open sewers with the wretched odors that went with them.  It would have been very unpleasant to say the least.

Today the old town of Colmar is, well there’s no other way of describing it but  charming.  Window boxes filled with flowers are everywhere.  The buildings are painted in bright colors.  And canal is nothing short of beautiful.  What a perfect place to sit in a riverside cafe and enjoy the local cuisine and beverages.

The photographs tell the story best.  So enjoy.

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I didn’t know what to expect in Basel, Switzerland and therefore didn’t really have any expectations.  But after spending all day yesterday exploring the Old Town, the magnificent Münster Cathedral, the street market, the art museum, supper at a sidewalk cafe and a walk back to the hotel in a gentle rain, well, it’s very simple.  We all love Basel.

I wouldn’t say Basel is clean.  One big surprise is the amount of graffiti everywhere.  But it’s a city where you feel safe walking around in the evening because everyone seems to be out walking around in the evening.  There’s a very active night life in Basel on a Saturday evening with couples and groups of friends enjoying a beer and conversation at the many sidewalk cafes.

The city has a rich cultural history and presence.  The art museum has one of the oldest collections if not the oldest collection of 16th century paintings in all of Europe.  And entering the museum you are greeted by a copy of Rodin’s “Burgers of Calais.”  What a fantastic start.  One of the free wings has an amazing collection of ‘modern classics’ that include Picasso, Braque, Miro, Matisse, Klee, Mondrian and more.

The Münster Cathedral was under restoration so the exterior photographs show a huge scaffolding on one of the towers.  But it is still magnificent.

So, enough talk.  Here are the photographs in no particular order.

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The thunderstorms predicted for last night didn’t quite materialize.  Instead we had to retreat from our sidewalk table to inside the cafe last night as a gentle rain started to fall.  And we had the pleasure of walking back to our hotel in the same gentle rain.  It was really very nice.

Today we’re going to catch a few more sites in Basel and then we board the ship this afternoon.  The weather forecast is for temperatures in the high 80s with a 50% chance of precipitation.  The weather is like the Midwest as the humidity  is also quite high.  But no one is complaining.  We’re loving it here.

It’s 5:00 AM in Basel, Switzerland.  I’m looking out of the window in our hotel room and see the first signs of dawn in the eastern sky.  We arrived in Basel yesterday after a fairly typical journey from the West Coast of America – about 24 hours of travel from door to door.  We had two plane transfers – the first in Philadelphia and the second in Frankfurt.

We were about an hour late departing Philadelphia.  As we boarded we notice about a half dozen law enforcement officers at the entrance to the jetway.  They were pulling individuals aside and talking with them.  It was pretty clear they were looking for someone.  When the plane was boarded and ready to push back we got word that customs was going to have to go through all our checked luggage.  So we waited about 45 minutes while they opened the luggage hold and did their job.  I wonder if they  found what they were looking for.  Finally we pushed back, had a bit of a wait in line to take off and eventually were airborne.  Fortunately we had a long enough layover in Frankfurt that the delay didn’t cause any problems.

I carry my Canon Powershot G11 with me wherever I go in case there are any G11 moments.  When on vacation there are a lot.  I’d like to share some of those moments with you beginning with our wait for our plane in LAX and extending to a remarkable discovery we made on our walk back from dinner last night.  By the way, dinner was in an Asian restaurant a few blocks from the hotel.

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I have some favorites.  I especially like the boarding photographs in Philadelphia.  We were boarding as the sun was setting and the passengers cast silhouettes on a Plexiglas screen.  I think the resulting images captured a bit of the human side of travel.

Today we’re going to explore Basel.  From Basel you can easily get to three countries – France, Germany and of course Switzerland.  It is situated in the northwest corner of Switzerland where the river Rhein leaves Switzerland and becomes the border between Germany (Baden-Württemberg) and France (Alsace).  We will walk from our hotel to old town where we will enjoy the sites. 

I’m particularly interested in visiting the Münster cathedral.  Construction started on it in 1019 and wasn’t completed until 1500.

Basel has a proud history as a center of printing.  The Schwabe printing house was established in 1488 by Johannes Petri, an apprentice of Johannes Gutenberg.  It is still in operation today making it the oldest printing house in Western civilization.  The writings of Erasmus and John Calvin were first published in Basel.  Other notable publications include the first anatomy of the human body written by Andreas Vesalius and the Joachim Meyer’s Kunst des Fechten ("The Art of Fighting").  I think my wife, being an avid reader, will really relate to this part of Basel’s history.

Basel is also the home of the first public museum in Europe.  The collection became the core of the current-day Basel Museum of Art.

So I think we have a wonderful day in store for us.  The weather is going to be hot – 96 degrees.  And thunderstorms are forecast for tonight.  This could get very exciting.

Well, the sun is about to rise and it’s time to get started on another stupid wonderful day in paradise.

We’re leaving tomorrow for a family vacation in Europe. We’ll be eight days on the River Rhein with a little extra time at the start and the the end. And yes, I’m taking my camera with me.

I just read a great email from Brian Peterson, founder of The Perfect Picture School of Photography.  He ran an unscientific opinion pole on whether photographers felt it was OK to dramatically alter photographs in Photoshop.  Now, by ‘dramatically alter,’ Brian means to add major elements to an image that were not present in the original scene or make other major changes that alter the content of the image. 

He has a provocative blog post with the title that starts, “Every photograph is a ‘lie,…’,  In it he raises the excellent point that even those photographs that aren’t altered in Photoshop are still an abstraction of reality and thus a ‘lie.’  I recommend you read it.

What were the results of his opinion pole?  Brian reports that 41% of photographers felt that it is OK to dramatically alter images in Photoshop and NOT tell anyone unless asked.  And if asked, some would say, “It’s none of your business.”  The reason photographers felt this way boiled down to two words – Artistic License.

I have my own thoughts on “artistic license” and would like to share them with you.

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