isola tiberina

The light was amazing on the Tiber Island the other day.
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piazza mattei

the turtle fountain

The recently restored Renaissance fountain "of the turtles" was designed by Giocomo della Porta in 1581 and built by the sculptor Thaddeus Landini. The bronze figures are standing on four dolphins. Originally there were to be eight dolphins, but the water pressure was insuffiicent, so only four were installed. With the removal of the four extra dolphins, the upraised hands of the statues seemed to have no purpose.

So perhaps to correct this problem and balance the composition, in 1658 Pope Alexander VII commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini or Andrea Sacchi to cast an addition: the turtles.

When in 1979 one of turtles was stolen, the remaining originals were replaced by copies.

I love this piazza. I come here to sit and enjoy the water play, the silence of the adjacent streets. And the nearby Antico Forno bread bakery...

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mare d'inverno

Maccarese

Escaping the city for a morning at the nearby beach (25 Km drive) is my way of unplugging. This is where I come to break free from it all. A walk on the shore, sandy feet, a book, a nap. A light seafood lunch, and another nap. Waking up before driving back to the city makes it feel like perhaps the escape was a dream...

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sotto la pioggia

Steadicam shot

This is what it's like to shoot a 12-second segment in the rain with delicate technical gear mounted on a steadicam rig. Two umbrellas, a white bounce for lighting, and a whole lotta plastic wrap protecting the battery pack and remote follow focus device. Not to mention the number of crew members around the camera.

The boom swinger in the foreground is looking over his shoulder to see if there's anything left in the box of pizza bianca the key grip (big guy to the left) got to first.

Your average rainy day on a Rome film set.

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fontana dei cavalli marini

Circles and sea horses

How many fountains are there in Rome? A million dollar-question. No other city in the world, I believe, can compete in number of fountains with the Eternal City. Percy Bysshe Shelley–(1792–1822) English poet, and leading figure of the romantic movement famed for his radical political views–observed that, "The fountains alone justify a journey to Rome."
Water and the myriad fountains from which it spills are part of Rome's artistic and cultural heritage and have always been one of the city's prominent characteristics.

The Fontana dei Cavalli Marini, 'fountain of the sea horses,' was designed in 1791 by Cristoforo Unterberger, some say built by Luigi Salimei, others by Vincenzo Pacetti.
It stands in the middle of a round plaza, surrounded by trees and a pedestrian walkway at the Via Pinciana main entrance of Villa Borghese.

My son likes to throw pebbles in the fountain's wide basin, and watch the sun play with the circular ripples in the water.

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anatre

Female mallards gossipping

The surface of the pond looks oleaginous, yet very reflective. I played with desaturation here, but the monochrome hues of the birds helped to obtain this aged look.

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