BLOG

This is the blog of Steve Burkett of Italy, Our Italy

The Results Are In: Part 20

“My goodness gracious, me sakes alive!”

That’s what my dear mother would say when something happened that surprised her in a pleasant way. And, that’s what I uttered when I opened the latest issue of Black & White Magazine. This is the premier publication for black and white photography. You’ve seen recognition related to this publication in some of the past articles beginning with the words, “The Results Are In:”. However, the honor of today’s award is greater than just having a photo recognized amongst all of the others in a particular issue. Read on to see why.

2021 BLACK & WHITE SINGLE IMAGE CONTEST

This is the contest for which I a submitted photos. Six months from now, you would see awardees for the “portfolio” contest, where several photos with similar theme are grouped into a portfolio of more than just one image. I’ve garnered recognition for portfolio submissions, also…like here, where you see a portfolio of 5 images in New Orleans.

The awardees for the 2021 Single Image Contest were recognized in the January, 2022, issue of Black & White Magazine…the cover of which you see here. Note the words at the top of the cover, “SPECIAL ISSUE 2021 CONTEST WINNERS”.

But alas, my winning photo was not in the issue with the rest of the awardees.

It turns out that it was set aside for special recognition in the now published April 2022 issue (I know, strange how these magazine issues work, isn’t it? It's the first day of March, yet the April issue is out).

So, why was my winning photo held back for publication in the April 2022 issue?

2021 SPOTLIGHT AWARD

When my latest issue of Black & White Magazine came, Ellen was the first to open it and was surprised to see this photo on page 35…a mug shot of me.

[I’ve published this photo twice before within my articles. 5 points if you can identify an article with this photo…that would be 10 points if you get both!!! Well, to be honest, which is a trait for which I strive, the previous versions showed a glass of wine that I was enjoying in my hand…that is not to say that I was enjoying the fact that it was in my hand, but that I had the glass of wine to enjoy, and it happened to be in my hand. I think you get the drift.]

And, there was the write-up, which you can see here, that I had submitted explaining my winning photo.

“Many photographers are aware of the beautiful Upper Antelope Canyon on the Navajo reservation of Arizona, with beautiful light rays streaming through. But there are other slot canyons in the same Antelope Canyon wash. ‘Never’ was captured in the seldom accessed Rattlesnake Canyon. On my fifth Antelope Canyon trip, the formation of ‘Never’ immediately captured my attention. Though the two walls of sandstone were obviously fused together as one for millennia, that joining is NEVER to be repeated – that’s just the quality of geologic time in a seldom-flowing river’s progress.”

That’s when I had my own utterance of those memorable words of old, “My goodness gracious, me sakes alive!”

THE WINNING PHOTO

OK, that’s enough buildup. Right? Here’s the photo that was recognized as the 2022 Single Image Winner in the Landscape/Nature category.

The Whole of Page 35

You don’t need to rush out and purchase the April 2022 copy of Black & White Magazine to see the page of honor…here it is. If it tends to not fit your whole screen, click on the image to get a ‘fill-screen’ version.

I’m sorry that you had to endure a non-Italy photo, but that’s just the way it is.

I have a hope for you, and here is that hope: I hope that if you are in the northern-Arizona area of Antelope Canyon (just outside of Page, AZ), you will arrange a visit to Upper Antelope Canyon. Tours are readily available. And, there is much, much less crowding than in the past, as the Navajo have installed a one-way system by creating an up-and-over-return system that takes you back to your guide’s vehicle. In the past, there we groups coming and going at the same time, and congestion was the rule of the day. And, I would suggest skipping the Lower Antelope Canyon…just not as adventure worthy.

I’ve used more than one tour outfit, and I highly suggest Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours.

If you happen to be on a tour in the Antelope Canyon area, perhaps I’ll see you in the less-visited Rattlesnake Canyon, or Mountain Sheep Canyon, or even Owl Canyon. We can say ‘hello’ and compare photos. Until that happens, I say…

Ciao for now,

Steve

p.s. Oh hey, if you want to see the other photos I submitted for this particular contest, here are the other five, which did not receive recognition. From left-to-right and top-to-bottom they are: boulders lodged within Mountain Sheep Canyon - a side canyon in the Antelope Creek wash; hot-air balloon from our own hot-air balloon drifting over the vineyards of Napa Valley; ‘slurred’ bicyclist in New Orleans; abandoned drive-in theatre in central Nevada; and, the underside of a highway interchange in New Orleans. Click the first image and then arrow through the photos.

Not already a subscriber to these Italy, Our Italy articles? Subscribe here!

Transforming to a Foggy Night

Index of Articles

Who doesn’t enjoy a romantic gondola ride? Probably no one, right. We always work in a gondola ride whilst we are in Venice, and you can read more about these adventures in the previous article titled appropriately, Your Romantic Gondola Ride.

But today is not about riding in a gondola, but a gondola-ride-captured snapshot and its transform it into a more fine-art photo. The transformed photo was published in the 2014 Black & White Magazine as an award winner. Here’s how I did it…and it will be short and sweet.

Click on an image to see it full-screen

First Sighting

We had just turned a bend in the Rio di San Moise canal when something up ahead caught my eye, that being the small calle up ahead that terminated right into our canal. You see it there on the left.

The Snapshot

As we approached the right turn of our route, I took this photo. I had a vision.

Funny thing about this photo. Do you see it? The blue and white sign says ‘Senso Unico’, or one-way street (or canal in this case). But we are turning right, against the sign. We’ve turned right every time we’ve taken a gondola ride. Go figure.

The Crop

Here I’ve cropped the photo to a 1:1, or square, format.

Black & White Conversion

As I was submitting this photo to a magazine that publishes in black and white, I converted the image to…you guessed…black and white.

Let There Be Dark!

I don’t want it to be day time. I want night time. So, I made it darker. I think it’s much more moody this way.

The Final Image

I like the night-time look, but let’s give it just a bit more drama by making it not just night, but a night with a bit of fog. That’s what I did to get this final photo.

As promised, short and sweet.

A Dangerous Calle

I’ve mentioned acqua alta (high water) in the past. This is an occurrence primarily in the late fall when tides and winds push up water from the Adriatic Sea and Venetians get their feet wet as they go about their day…and their calves, and sometimes their knees and thighs.

There are several places in the labyrinth of Venice where a calle will suddenly stop at a canal, like this one. If one were to be trudging through water and turn to this short calle, and if one were not familiar with this particular situation, a swim might be in one’s future, as you would not realize that the water in front of you is a canal, rather than another flooded calle.

I see the stone post in the photo. I’m guessing that this is a clue as to the fate of this calle, though I don’t remember seeing them at other dead-end calle. At any rate, if caught in the acqua alta situation, be mindful of your route.

I hope you enjoyed today’s transformation from blah, to ahh. Until next time, I say…

Ciao or now,

Steve

If you didn’t get here through a subscription, please subscribe here

The Results Are In -- Part 15

Index of Articles

I’m really excited to let you know that Black & White Magazine has once again elected to publish some of my photos as award winners. The “Special Issue 2019 Contest Winners” for single images was published in February, 2019. The term ‘single image’ is in contrast to recognition for a ‘portfolio’ of several images (like the New Orleans portfolio I previously showed here).

In this current issue, the editors selected three of my photos for publication. And one was even a photo from Italy!

Laundry Day

The photo from Italy is found on page 80 and is titled ‘Laundry Day, Isola Burano, 2012”.

Burano is a lovely and colorful island in the Venetian lagoon. Almost every house is painted in bright colors, though you could not tell that from the photo above. The wall in the photo is a nice lemon yellow. You can see a color version in my print store here.

I love this simple composition. And, I like that the laundry is from the toddler's room...complete with baby-blue, bunny-rabbit sheets and pullups. You may have seen this photo before, as the judges for the International Black & White Spider Awards liked this one, too, as they gave it a 2nd Place - Merit of Excellence Award in their 2014 contest.

Sunset Gospel

On page 40 you will find a familiar photo from “The Results Are In — Part 14'“. The photo is titled “Sunset Gospel, Grenville, New Mexico, 2014”. To find out more about this photo, see the aforementioned article.

Rapid Transit

Finally, here is an old favorite that I captured on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Pedicabs are a great way to negotiate the streets of New Orleans, and I had fun ‘slurring’ many photos as they passed by, using a very slow shutter speed as I panned my camera. This one was my favorite. The color version was nominated in the 7th Annual International Pollux Awards back in 2015.

On page 189 you can find, “Rapid Transit, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2012”

OK, consider my horn as tooted! Now it’s time that I got back to thinking about, and writing about, good times in Italy. I’ll fill you in on that sort of thing very soon!

Ciao for now,

Steve

The Rialto Market of Venice

One of the pleasures of Venice is the Rialto Market. Located near a ninety-degree bend of the Grand Canal, and just a bit northwest of the Rialto Bridge, the market offers both fresh produce in the erberia (vegetable market) and caught-the-night-before seafood in the pescheria (fish market).

All of these photos were taken at the Rialto Market.

[click on an image for a larger view]

One should plan to go around sunrise if you want to see the stevedores unload crates from barges which traveled up the Grand Canal in the early-morning hours. Or, if you want to sleep just a bit longer, plan to arrive around 8:00am to see the market in full swing. But, don’t bother to go in the afternoon or on Sundays or Mondays, as the market is closed.

Is this a working market? With over 100,000 visitors and locals in Venice on any particular day, this is the main source of food for the islands which make up Venice. If you show up early, you will see chefs from virtually all of the Venetian restaurants gathering items that you will find on their menus later in the day.

So, how is the Rialto Market different from the typical farmer's market in the U.S.? There are three main differences. For one thing, there is an abundance of seafood -- like fish, octopus, squid, crab, scallops and several mollusk types.

Second, the produce that is brought to your farmer's market most likely did not arrive by boat -- virtually everything arriving in Venice comes by boat.

The last difference is that your local farmer's market did not exist until the Rialto Market was about 800 years old. The Rialto Market has been serving Venice's food needs since 1097!

Produce of the Erberia

Talk about fresh produce! Just like our farmer’s markets, fruits and vegetables arrive daily fresh from the farms of Italy and surrounding countries. The photos you've been looking at are examples of this veritable cornucopia.

Seafood of the Pescheria

Though I really like the produce that’s in abundance at the market, the seafood is what I find the most interesting, as we just don't have access to such a fine market as the Rialto where I live. There are ‘creatures’ in this market that I’ve never seen in the U.S. seafood markets. Here are just some of the tasty denizens of the sea that you will find at the Rialto Market.

So that's the Rialto Market in Venice, Italy. If you have a chance to visit, I'm sure you will be as wowed with the seafood and produce as I have been. And by the way, all of the photos above can be found in the Food+Wine section of my website...just click on 'Print Store' below for easy access.

I'll close with a photo that was published in Black & White Magazine as part of a four-page spread on Venice a couple of years ago. This photo was taken during the daily cleaning-up-the-seafood-market event each afternoon. And yes, they still use stick brooms in Venice. The photo at right shows that sticks have been delivered, ready to be attached to broom handles. Amazing, isn't it?!

Thanks for visiting. Feel free to leave comments, below.

Ciao for now,

Steve

The Results Are In! Part 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

Have you ever been going through your email, with the intention of cleaning up old emails, and then way down the list, you find a whole batch of emails that you had overlooked and they were never opened?

I did that recently. What I found was more good news about the results of photographic competitions I had entered. I want to present those decisions to you in this blog…a bit belated, I know. Also, I have had some photos accepted for gallery exhibition recently and I’ll show you those, too.

“‘...your work received a high percentage of votes overall. Certainly an achievement, well done!”

On July 13th, I filled you in on the 7th Annual International Pollux Awards in a blog titled, “The Results Are In”, so I’ll continue in that same heading for this an any future horn-tooting blogs. So that previous email was Part 1 -- so now you get Parts 2 thru 6 of recent accolades.

Note: Even though this web site is generally about things Italian, please don't be disappointed as you will see many recognition photos below which are not related to Italy.

Part 2: The Neutral Density (ND) Awards for 2014

This notification came from an email sent last November – I really need to try to keep up with emails, don’t I?

This is another one of those big contests, which they describe as follows: “The judges reviewed thousands of images submitted from 76 countries. The nominated photographers were selected by highly acclaimed industry professionals, including: gallery owners and curators (Greenaway Art Gallery, Valid Foto Gallery, Susan Spiritus Gallery, Emon Photo Gallery, Immagis, Gilman Contemporary, Tokyo Arts Gallery, Galeria Chroma, Strother Fine Art, McGaw Graphics, Editions Braun), publishers (Kehrer Verlag), editors (Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoBulletin, Soura Magazine, Asian Photography, Art World Magazine) and renowned photographers (Michael Levin, Hengki Koentjoro, Sudhir Shivaram, and Laura Zalenga).” As I look at the photos from the other competitors, I’m very pleased and humbled to be within their midst.

Though a good number of photos were nominated for further consideration by the judges, I received the following four ‘Honorable Mentions’:

[click photos for larger image]

Honorable Mention for Fine Art: Abstract

Honorable Mention for The Environment

Honorable Mention Nature: Landscape 5-Photo Series - 'Beached Bergs'

Honorable Mention for Architecture

Part 3: Black & White Magazine’s 2015 Single Image Contest Issue

I am fortunate to have been published in this high-quality photography magazine a number of times, both for single image and portfolio submissions – and even once for a couple of color images when they use to have an occasional companion color issue. Two photos were recognized in this year's single image contest issue as follows,

Architecture/Interiors

Flowers/Plants/Fruits

Part 4: 9th Annual Black & White Spider Awards

Another interesting contest name. No idea how ‘spider’ creeps into the name (and that in itself sounds creepy, doesn’t it). But I did read on the internet recently that spiders have begun to take up photography – at least the black and white spiders are doing that. Everything on the internet is true, isn’t it?

This one was actually announced in October of last year and was in the same email batch as the Neutral Density Award email that I had missed – what was I doing last fall instead of reading my emails? I can’t remember, but I’m sure it was more fun than reading emails.

With 8,508 entries from 75 countries, this is another one of those huge contests. Their notification email said, ‘...your work received a high percentage of votes overall. Certainly an achievement, well done!’ Regarding the jury that judged the photos, they indicated that ‘the Jury represented the industry's biggest names and tastemakers’, including The Royal Photographic Society, FoMu Fotomuseum, Fratelli Alinari, Stockholm City Museum to Torch Gallery in Amsterdam and more. Nice to have tastemakers involved…I think maybe they were from the Food Network.

Three photographs either placed or got honorable mention and there were others that were nominated for judging. Here are the main three, and then I’ll just put the nominations in a gallery just in case you want to click them to see larger versions of those, which fell into the categories of Fine Art, Nature and Wildlife.

[Note: I just want to say about the first photo that I was particularly pleased about the recognition. This has been one of my all-time personal favorite photos (because of the texture and simple composition), and it’s really nice to see that someone else thought highly of it, also. You may not be able to tell because of the size of the photo, but the laundry on the line is kid’s clothing and bed linens, complete with bunnies on the sheets. You can see the color version of the photo, taken on the island of Burano in the Venetian lagoon, here.}

2nd Place - Merit of Excellence in Still Life

Honorable Mention in Nature

Honorable Mention in Architectural [a repeat from above]

Nominated Photos from the categories of Fine Art, Nature and Wildlife

Part 5: Vermont PhotoPlace Gallery

Your trivia question: In what state is the Vermont PhotoPlace Gallery? OK, you got it – I’ll have to think of a harder question next time. Earlier in the year I had a photo accepted for exhibition for their ‘Traces Left Behind’ show. Here is that photo, which I titled, ‘Education Might Help’ – I think you will get the irony. If not, then education might help.

In September, another of my photos will be shown in their ‘Black & White’ show. This is one of the beached icebergs that I photographed in Iceland last summer. I had not thought to convert the original color photo to black and white, because the colors in the original version are so vivid. But, I think it worked out quite well because of the brilliance of the crystal-clear ice. You be the judge.

Part 6: Carter Gallery’s North Valley Art League 2015 Photography Show

OK, here’s another trivia question: In what city and state is this gallery showing held? OK, you got it again!!! How did you know it is Redding, California!?

I think you will be intrigued (and if you aren’t intrigued, then amused) at what the judge said about this photo, which was a ‘Gold Award Winner’ and received a ‘Merit Award’ – I have the ribbon to prove it. Here is his quote:

“What we see, and how the camera records it, may be far off the mark, and it is up to the artist to render the medium to best effect. Forbidding and exquisite at the same time, Beached Berg #2 fully utilizes the range of colors available to photographers today. Careful framing and juxtaposition of near and far bring us in close contact with an aesthetic experience made from the elemental forces of air, water, earth and fire.”

— JUROR – Thom Sempere

Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I had no idea I was doing that…but I’m glad it worked out that way.

Here is the forbidding and exquisite 'air, water, earth and fire' photo, which I’m happy to say sold during the show.

The horn has been tooted and I’ll put it back in it’s case until some other form of recognition might fall my way. Until then…

Ciao for now,

Steve