BH Neely's Photography

Enemy Scarves, Athens, Greece

On a recent photo shoot at the airport, I stumbled across a souvenir shop catering to everyone. Seeing these football (soccer) scarves next to each other so casually is like seeing Red Sox & Yankees gear side-by-side, only with the possibility of blood spillage if drunk fans are nearby.

Cliffs, Meteora, Greece

Wow. Sometimes even the verbose are reduced to monosyllabic exhortations. Wow.

Heaps of Hillocks, Meteora, Greece

Looking down into a valley at Meteora I was struck by the odd shapes and the beautiful shadows the hillocks made on each other. The cliffs throughout Meteora have a look to them that always makes me feel as though I'm the first human to walk over a rise to see them, even though I just stepped out of my car, carrying an electronic camera.

An Atheist's Photo of a Monastery, Meteora, Greece

Although for many people, the monasteries are the big draw to Meteora, for me it's the cliffs themselves. Sixty million years ago, this was a lake bed. The lake drained in a cataclysm, and over the ensuing 60,000,000 years, wind and rain and rivers scoured the incredible layer of sediment, until we arrive at today's view.
Look, for just a moment, at how many layers of sand and rock and boulder and silt there are in that cliff! Your viewpoint is from several hundred feet below the lake's floor...think about how long that took to lay down before the drainage occurred. The crumbling wall of a monastery that's a couple hundred years old pales in comparison.

Goats II, Meteora, Greece

See? Goats! This was shot with the Nikkor 500mm f/8 reflector lens. On the D200 its relative focal length is 750mm. It's a small telescope, essentially. I promise the rest of the Meteora pictures you'll see for the next few days will be much better photos. I just couldn't believe there were goats on the cliffs. Also, I like to show off the 500mm.

Goats I, Meteora, Greece

This is a rather unremarkable picture of Meteora, but for one thing. The goats. See the little dots near the cave in the middle of the shot? Come back tomorrow, it'll be a closer picture.

Do we really eat this?, Athens, Greece

The caterers were asked to include American junk food in their selection of delicacies for the July 4 party. I think it's telling that it was ignored, except as an art project by a tired, bored, overheated, checking-his-watch-because-10-pm-is-in-about-three-minutes-photographer.

I know why the caged peach sings, Athens, Greece

The caterer for the embassy's July 4 celebration had these odd installations at several of the serving tables. I couldn't ignore this abuse of peachiness. Okay, they're nectarines, not peaches, but "nectarine" wouldn't fit in the title.

Roses, Corfu, Greece

In the lawn at the front of the Achilleion Palace in Corfu is a small rose garden. Down below, 14-year-old Achilles looks at his ankle.

The Triumph of Achilles, Corfu, Greece

So Achilles killed Hector and was dragging him around the plain in front of Troy. This dramatic painting by Franz Matsch is huge, spanning the landing of a grand staircase with wings. But what makes it most interesting is that the horses' manes are flying, people are falling, dust is rising in the air, and yet, somehow, the chariot's wheel is utterly still. The hazards of painting from a set.

Zeno the Stoic, Corfu, Greece

Zeno was the first existentialist. But unlike Sartre, the void didn't make him sick, it made him thoughtful. Essentially, if you accept the universe as it is, it leaves you free to think deep thoughts rather than worrying about what you can't change. He did a great deal of his teaching in the Athenian Agora, at one of the stoa, thus earning him the title Stoic.
This is at the Achilleion Palace in Corfu, a giant summer home (5 stories tall) of an Austrian princess who was obsessed with Achilles.

Ashtray, Corfu, Greece

Idle hands are the artist's playground. Sittin' around, waitin' for the meeting to start (or end), staring at the ashtray, I got to wondering about whether that's a tuna can. This is a 5-star hotel (well, they had 15 euro club sandwiches and cool chandeliers, anyway) and yet it looks like a tuna can in there, doesn't it?

When the road truly belongs to you, Corfu, Greece

The plane finally lands, the hands are shaken, you jump in the cars and go. The police have blocked off your route so the 30-minute drive from the airport can be done in 12-15 minutes. People take pictures of your car going past, even when you're trying to be a little subtle and don't put Old Glory all over the cars.

An artist in their midst, Corfu, Greece

People look at me strangely all the time. I'm frequently on my knees or against a wall or looking the opposite direction from them. When I have to stand around and wait for a plane to land or a Senator to come out of his hotel room or the motorcade to start, I take such pictures. Like this one, of a couple drivers planning the order of cars.