The Ignorant Amateur Photographer
The pictures in this web presentation were taken with a regular $20 Point and Shoot Camera, and standard Kodak 100-400 film. Since film was so expensive at Rome, I was so cheapo I did not buy any, using only 4 rolls I had already from the States. Many great scenes I saw, but were difficult to frame with my little generic pocket camera. Also, the indoor shots were bad, darkened by inflexible shutter and mediocre film. I fixed them somewhat later using digital retouching, a service I'll tell you of later.
At the time, I did not know much about f-stops and lenses, but as a semi-trained artist, I knew about lighting and framing. Ever busy with my music and aerospace/electrical engineering studies, I didn't want to become a camera geek. However, with the limited film, I had to chose my shots extra carefully. Most professionals have at least a 10:1 or even 100:1 shoot ratio, meaning for every 10-100 shots, only one is considered a "good" marketable shot. I played the budding (poor) indie photographer/filmmaker, sticking to a tight 1:1 to 1.2:1 ratio--every one of my shots had to count. Considering it was a $2000 trip, next time I'll bring lots more film, possibly Fuji for richer colors, and professional cameras .
It is important to remember, this trip was a Pilgrimage, not just a tour. It was done over a 10-day period during a two-week semester break (actually, we were on insane Quarters). Every day was a regimented schedule: wake at 5AM, daily morning mass, bread & water breakfast, afternoon lunch at Delphinos cafeteria, and evening prayers and readings, full Rosaries each night, and as we were walking.
I didn't like the bread and water breakfast regiment, since I'm a morning-protein guy. Protien is my wake-up coffee. However, I think I was able to, sometimes, sneak some milk & sandwich rolls from corner streets, but that too was hard due to the fast pace of our sub-groups which we had to stay close to at first. By the time we got to the long line around the block and up the stairs at Delphino's at 1PM, I was miserable, dusty and ready to drop; but when I walked out of Delphino's, full of steak, gravy, corn, and more, I was a smiling young man, ready to take on Roman beautiful ladies myself.
When Father Jim (Jaime) told us what a memorable time it will be for spiritual growth, I had no idea what would come after. I think it did leave a mark on each of us as we returned to our grungy universities and rat-race jobs. There's nothing like studying history later after you've been there and met people who were noted makers of it, or been at Saints' tombs, for sure touched in ways you don't know about by their prayers above. When later reading the Bible, the Words all of a sudden jump right out at you, as the smells, the air, the cold mugginess of the Catacombs come back to you, the tired, heel-aching, endless cobblestone brick walks, the mockery at Christians by greedy commercial and government-sponsored porn industries everywhere. Needless to say, it's hard not to carry some seeds of apostulate with you to others after a trip like that, at least I think.
Nearly nine years later, I have brought these photos out again, and retouched them digitally. This was a very painful, long process demanding over a week of leave from my business. The scans present are from a low-cost scanner, direct from old prints, so you can see the grain and paper on many of them. That is hardly the best way to bring pictures onto the web. The full color range is nowhere near how I remember them.
This will be remedied to some degree later when I re-scan them direct from the negatives, a project that will be completed hopefully soon. Then the colors will be much more vibrant, and you will see far less grains. For the moment I apologize for these ugly, spotty pictures. Now I want to become a camera geek
Back to Rome Travel Guide
Legal notice: kindly do not copy these pictures or text without
permission or else I will breathe fire on you. You may print the text-and-small-pictures
version freely for your own private use. At a store, the guide (small picture
version only) might sell for $5 to $15. Printing the large blown-up versions
of the pictures for display or framing is a different story. You must show the
credit engraved on the bottom and send a minimum $5-10 per picture. If you find
this useful, feel free to donate accordingly to this cause, more if you are
rich. One way to support more projects like this and gain an excellent return
for yourself is the investment vehicle
I have set up.
The pictures and graphics are electronically watermarked, with hidden identification in the pixels. They can be traced on the web. I generally favor small, personal educational uses for free, and larger commercial or institutional uses for a small charge. If you use this to actually tour Rome, you will save money and planning effort through the custom maps and itinerary timing tips implied here. It is shorter and more direct than the Michelin's Green Guide to Rome, although I highly recommend getting that too. May yor spirit of charity flow with a proportional contribution as you are able, unless you are poor, so I can bring more of these to needy people and keep on updating whenever I feel like it. (just kidding...is should read, "whenever I'm able")
If we are uglifying a picture of a beautiful building you want to use, we can be digitally removed using my media company's computer-compositing resources. I have done just that in the Pincio-Napoleone gardens on Day 5 and my Top Gun pose elsewhere. There are imperfections, but it can be fixed with more time spent on it. We can do even better for your personal pictures if you like. We can also do all sorts of other fixes and special effects to your images, as I did on St. Mary Maggiorie's dark interior shots on Day 6. If you see any errors in private-domain pictures, sound, video-clips or artwork on any of my sites or its affiliates, and know the proper author, proof of ownership and where he should be written, please inform me right away so that I may execute the proper legal agreements. Otherwise, enjoy. You may contact me by e-mail found at www.SulitMusic.com.