This spot in the Roman ruins was quite special. For one thing, the only restroom we found was right next to this statue! Sure beats going in the bushes :-)

This statue was in a little courtyard, and it was quiet and peaceful. It was a welcome break from standing in lines and being part of the massive tourist crowds in the ruins.

I use the channel mixer in Photoshop to make the black and white sections. The vines were left in color.

In mid-April of 2004, my wife and I took a long vacation to Italy and Switzerland.
We stayed in Rome and Florence for a total of 6 days, and had a wonderful time.

This trip was my first serious outing with the Canon Digital Rebel. I used the kit
lens (18-55mm) about 90% of the time and it did well! I used mostly f/8 for DOF
and sharpness, and I kept it at ISO at 100 for smaller file sizes (shooting JPGs)
and minimum noise.