Photo Club trip to Taormina

This past Sunday photo club got together again for our monthly "field trip." This month we chose to go to Taormina, one of the most beautiful places in Sicily.  Some of the members of our group had never been to the Greek Theater so that was our first stop, and luckily it was open.

Although the conditions weren't perfect (hot, humid, lots of people, and direct mid-day sun) I did get a few pictures inside the theater.

Photography Tip: When shooting mid-day in bright and hazy conditions, most pictures will likely have areas that are over or under exposed.  The sky will often be over exposed, almost white, and areas where you want detail will be quite dark.  The trick to saving some of these pictures is to convert them to a high contrast black and white and dodging and burning the areas that are under and over exposed to bring out the detail. If you use Adobe Lightroom this can be easily done by choosing the high contrast B&W preset and then using the brush tool to fix problem areas.

The view from behind the theater, looking north toward Messina

After a bit in the theater I was exhausted from the heat.  Les and I took off and found a nearby bar to cool off in.  This bar had a charming little patio outback that was shaded by grape vines.

Somewhat refreshed, Les & I wandered some of the smaller street and enjoyed the scenery.

Isn't he cute?

Eventually we met back up with the rest of our group and headed to dinner.  We found a charming ristorante and enjoyed delicious food and great company! I'm so glad our photo club has such great members. Everyone is truly a joy to spend time with.