Photography and slide shows

I always loved pictures. When I was young I liked very much to take and to develop black and white pictures (I guess this was also due to economical reasons, since color was too expensive...) I specially liked to print high contrast, high key pictures, just like the one to the right. When this picture  was taken, PC's still had to be invented, and this means that a long procedure was required to get such images (some of you may recall the Lith film...). Black and white pictures were nice, but my main purpose when I took photographs was to communicate feelings and impressions, specially when I came back from my trips.
I then gradually moved to color pictures and, since my goal was to show them to many people at the same time, I found that color slides were ideal. There was just one problem: it is well known that, when the host at any social gathering announces that he/she will show the slides of their last gorgeous trip, panic spreads in the crowd, and every guest tries anything for avoiding the torture of two hours of tasteless slides always accompanied by the usual trivial comments.
Instead, I found out that slides can be really pleasant and well accepted if a proper slide show is set up. This means avoiding the three basic errors of any amateur photographer: not all slides must be shown, slides must last not more than ten seconds each, not two minutes, and, last but not at all least, slides should dissolve into each other, with no black intervals between them. The latter point of course implies having some special equipment available.
Furthermore, an appropriate sound track helps keeping the audience interested.
This is something that can be hardly shown on a computer, and surely not on the Internet, unless very sophisticated means are employed. But if you want to get a hint (just a hint: the actual quality of a side show is light years better!) you may check here or here.

Clearly, some of the pictures (not many) are good enough to be shown alone, and here you may find some samples. The picture to the left was taken in the famous St. Tropez, in France, one night in December, when all the houses on the harbor are illuminated with light pastel colors... really a dream sight.
If you complain that there is something strange about this picture, well, you are right... but I'll let you find out what it is. Hint: it's something about the moon... Anyway, no computer nor darkroom tricks were employed in this picture. So, you'll also have to figure out how it was done...

Most of my pictures were taken while traveling. The three that follow belong to cruises in the Aegean sea. It's amazing to note that the one to the right and the next one were taken in the same place and at the same time... a polarizing filter and a careful exposure made all the difference...
The church is in Skinousa, a small island that belongs to the group of the Lesser Cyclades, a small archipel just in the middle of the Aegean sea.
These islands are heavenly: untouched by the mass tourism, they have very little to offer besides uncontaminated blue sky and crystal-clear blue sea. Ant the inhabitants, too, are much friendlier than one might expect... but you should better go to my "sailing" section for more detail on these places... From the "photography" point of view, the only thing I can say is that taking pictures in these islands is often challenging, because the contrast is always so high: buildings are all white, the sun shines high in the sky and during the day the light is really strong and hard. If one combines this with a low sensitivity film, unreal results such as these should be expected. But finding the correct exposure is mandatory, and I am very happy to be the owner of a professional exposure meter...

If you wonder where does the light that illuminates the ceiling of the bell tower comes from, just remember that everything there is painted white, including the roof of the church!

The last "Greek" picture was taken in Pathmos, the famous sacred island that hosts a monastery, a place of pilgrimage for the whole Orthodox community. I could never really understand what is about this picture that makes it appealing to many people... no background, no faces, no action, no nothing... yet it attracts the attention.