New Blog Home

PatitucciPhoto's blog has moved.

The new address is: http://blog.patitucciphoto.com

And our all new DolomiteSport is online; Connecting Mountain Sports Athletes with the Italian Dolomites

We apologize for any inconvenience in having to redirect RSS feeds or editing bookmarks.

Thanks,
Dan and Janine Patitucci

Backpacker Magazine: The Dolomite's Alta Via One

We were ecstatic when America's Backpacker Magazine contacted us a few months back looking for photos and information about the Dolomite's Alta Via One trail.

This, after Trail Runner Magazine featured an article written and photographed by PatitucciPhoto on running the Alta Via One in 2007.
Now, in just the last couple of years, two of the US's major outdoor sport
magazines have featured the region. Worthy praise for the trail and mountains we figure are as good as it gets. And these are just from our contributions, in the current issue of Rock & Ice Magazine, they feature the Dolomites as a destination for climbing.

The Alta Via One is the premier trail of the Dolomites, it has been profiled as such by Trail Runner and Backpacker Magazine, feeling curious as to why?
For the summer of 2009, along with Holimites, we are offering a trail running tour of the Alta Via One. For complete information, including links, hut information and an itinerary for the trail, visit our DolomiteSport site.
To get information about pricing, dates, and to sign up for the running tour, please visit our partners at Holimites.

The March 2009 issue of Backpacker includes a cover photo by PatitucciPhoto as well as interior photos of both the Alta Via One and Sardinia's Selvaggio Blu tour we hiked and photographed in the summer of 2008.

Trail Runner November 2007, cover photo and feature article on running the Alta Via One

A month of absence in one Blog entry

Yes, we are still alive.
Like every year, we tend to disappear during the month of December. This year was no different, but don't expect any fun tales of exotic travel. Only tales of keywording and building a searchable stock website: www.patituccistock.com is ready for 2009.

So, fun stuff, getting caught up - allow me to ramble...
Winter in California seems to have been canceled. Instead of snow and skiing, we have sun and bikes.
For all my Italian friends who have been so kindly sending beautiful skiing photos; powder, huts, good meals, etc... I can only say I have tan lines and many kilometers already in. Training in Bishop seems a good program as there is little food to temp me, instead I dream of the pizza, pasta, weissbier and bombardino I will return to.

Janine and I hopped in the car after finishing our stock site and did the Giro d'Amici. First up was mom in my hometown of Sacramento where a family reunion was in order. I discovered my cousin Mike's oldest son is on his way to becoming a photographer - he was a bit upset about PatitucciPhoto being taken. Seeing Marko and Mike... wow, all grown up and so very cool to have as family.

Being in one's hometown is an odd feeling after so many years away. I was anxious to get on the Sacramento bike trail where I learned to ride as a kid. So without delay, I kitted up and rolled out.
There I discovered my memory of nearly every turn, every tree that overhangs the trail and each way I took turns, was still intact. The trees were taller, older, and somehow more mature. Some things had changed, some not. For me it was the same, I didn't feel one day older than those days 20 years ago when I used the trail to bike commute to my first job. Then, like now, I just loved being on my bike. I remember sitting on the wheel of adults as a kid, following my dad as he trained for his marathons, then getting to ride alone to school. Finally my first race bike became a reality and soon I was riding to junior high, then high school and even just for fun as a teenager. Later it was for work commutes and more often than not, fast, in a paceline, riding as hard as I could while falling more and more in love with this sport that still consumes me.

As I approached one turn on the trail I remembered once leading a paceline into it. Being young and careless I was going much too fast and did not have the skill to make the turn. I ended up falling off, hard, landing on my face and shoulders, destroying my jersey and having road rash on my chin.
Immediately I was back on the bike, dripping blood and chasing to get back on. In my mind, no longer in Sacramento but Bernard Hinault chasing a dangerous break. Maybe that was a defining moment, riding was no longer just commuting, no longer innocent, it hurt. But it made me realize it was for me in whatever form it took.  Now, at 40 years old, I took the turn at probably the same speed and was able to pedal through.

Next up after Sacramento was a quick ski up Mt. Shasta before heading to Bend to visit Jonathan Kingston. There we ate good food, geeked out with our iPhones and reminisced about our trips to India. We split and Jonathan left for his first assignment for National Geographic. Well done JK!
Jon Larson in Portland was the next stage. Like Jonathan, Jon was in my first class at Brooks and the three of us became best friends. Jon just bought a new house and we dropped in to see if he really does have four taps for homemade beer in his wall. He does.

Leaving grey skies and raindrops behind, we headed for Tahoe and Kimberley Elliot. Yet another night laughing and catching up with old friends. Special thanks to Kimberley for analyzing our palms and determining I have Zeus nature while Janine is Buddha. We needed new nicknames and I like the sound of Zeus.
The next day Janine and I skied Castle Peak where I, while skiing corn in January, ran straight into my very first room mate as he was skinning the peak. Getting caught up after 20 years while standing in a couloir is not so easy.

Back home now and preparing to get back to real work. Italy is rapidly approaching where I am building an all new base of friends whom one day I hope to have such great memories with as I look back once again 20 years down the road.

NEW PatitucciPhoto Portfolio

In the event anyone has been concerned about our whereabouts... we are holed up in our office in Bishop, California preparing our business and lives for what will be in 2009. Each December we disappear to the office and our glowing blue displays. It is also the month of training preparation for the coming year's activities, right now that is Sci Alpinismo (Ski Rando) racing and a mountain time trial on the bike - both in Italy. So, much time is also being spent getting base fitness levels dialed in.

After a year away from Bishop, it has been fantastic to see friends, get caught up and feel a part of the community. Thanks to Meghan, Pablo, The Dittli's, Ms. Castle, and of course the mighty SP for helping me to re-adjust to the American way of life. Homemade chocolate chip cookies seem to do the trick.

There are numerous goings on and changes coming, but the first, is a new Portfolio Website.
This is the first step to many updates - we hope you enjoy some new images, a much larger presentation and a fun look. Comments welcome.
Also, please spread the site's URL as you like.

Ideas and Blogs to Be are brewing, patience...

! Happy Holidays !

India : The Results Are In

“Biglietti per favore”.
Startled, my eyes pop open. I am not in India, in fact the train home from Innsbruck has crossed the border and I am back in Italy. Outside the window everything is white. Large, flowerlike pedals of snow drift lazily down like a Christmas scene inside one of those snowflake balls.
I pull out my ticket to hand to the conductor and then settle back into my seat. As the door to the passenger cabin closes behind him, the train slows and we pull into a station.
There is no garbage, there are not thousands of people rushing forward to board the train, vendors do not appear at the windows and most notably of all, it is nearly silent. In Europe the platforms are orderly, relatively empty, and without a mélange of horns, sirens and screeches to wake both people and livestock that may be napping on the tracks ahead. Two minutes after stopping we are off.
A comment from an Indian we met in Jaipur comes to mind. Describing his first and only visit to Europe, he explained that what he felt outside of India was, “loneliness amongst the people and order”. I wonder if what he meant was that he felt isolation.

My world has drastically changed. Twelve hours before, I was sitting inside a Boeing 747 at a departure gate in Bombay. Janine was returning to California and had departed earlier. The airport’s computers were, of course, not functioning. This prevented flights from taking off for a time, three hours to be exact. Had they allowed us to sit inside the airport we would have been far more comfortable, and given that we boarded the plane at 3 a.m., maybe we could have slept.
Inside the airplane temperatures were approaching 90 degrees with no air systems turned on. Having no computers meant seat assignments could not be generated for many people, so the decision was made to let the passengers just have at it, sit where you please. The chaos that ensued forced airline staff to direct traffic and break up the many territorial disputes that were rising throughout economy . For whatever reason, while doing so they kept the doors to the plane wide open, letting in more hot, stale, humid and polluted air. The added bonus was that it also allowed the cabin to fill with mosquitoes.

I knew then that this was a Blog in the works. With my sweaty brow resting against the window, soaking in sweat, and exhausted, I closed my eyes and valiantly fought to fend off the stomach spasms I was also enjoying. It felt as if I had swallowed a handful of razorblades, but I knew it was only a small slice of cucumber I had ignored on a sandwich at lunch. I was paying the price and hoped and prayed that at least the airplane bathrooms were functioning and unlocked.
Of course the question kept repeating in my head, “Why do I come back here?”

To quote several reliable sources, “Arriving to India is an amazing experience, but leaving India is even better”. I propose to take this one step further and say that looking back on the experience is better yet.

Finally home and scrolling through our images, it all comes flooding back. The remarkable scenes one happens upon, the unique beauty, and of course the energy. I edit 4000 images down to a few hundred for stock, then down to the best 30 for portfolio. The sum is India for the masses; edited, cleaned up, cropped and neatly presented for those curious.
It strikes me that this is much the same as the travel ads one sees for India. You know the ones, the canned tourism phrases to sell the destination; Come experience the magic and romance of India. Explore majestic and colorful temples, shop the bazaars, sample spices and exotic dishes, stroll through ancient cities and imagine yourself in a time long passed. Etc.
In a sense, this is much the same as our 30 best images. Yes, India edited. The reality is quite different. While all of those descriptions, and our 30 best images, are of course true – there are so many other little details that one only finds when actually going to India. These details are best left out of tourism ads.
Yet, it is these details that are the reason why we go, why we laugh, why we have countless stories and for us what makes India, well, India.

For the photographer who enjoys shooting this sort of thing, India is the Motherload. Everywhere you look… images, little scenes ripe for composition. When you view your own results, your efforts are measured in how fast you were, how bold, how much you anticipated something and of course the quantity of patience you shelled out. And all the images you saw but missed are the bait to lure you back.

Our images represent how we see India. On this page, both the lighter side and a few of the less glamorous scenes, like it or not, the real India.

And here, India Edited : Our 30 Best

Janine showing photos

Janine taking dance lessons

Reality

Getting assaulted doesn't really seem like such a good ad slogan

Maybe you'll need Camel Dung Paper after trying the ice cream

Large public gathering, mixed cultures & religions, and readily available weapons ...perfect

These boys don't seem so relaxed

India

Incomprehensible.
For the western tourist in India, this is the word one keeps coming back to when considering India as a player in the modern world. Incomprehensible - incredibly so.
Staggering poverty, disease, filth, toxic pollution levels, and an infrastructure bordering on the absurd - in India even the new buildings seem to be ready for the status of "ruins".
Amongst all of this is the knowledge that the same country governing this hopeless mess is the same body preparing to send a man to the moon, producing some of the world's great thinkers and technology, and of course possessing the ability to generate nuclear energy.
The western mind witnessing all of this is left baffled. The extremes one finds in India are the source of endless confusion for how it could all possibly function, let alone coexist.
While considering all of this amongst friends, the point was made that while these facts are true of India, the same points may be made for the US. South Central LA, Appalachia, the attitude of the southern states - the US health care system - are these issues also not incomprehensible in a modern era and country of wealth?
Traveling, while often difficult and uncomfortable, seems to be necessary for understanding something about ourselves and our world. It is not always the differences we should pay attention to when studying another culture.
Perhaps more importantly we should pay attention to things we see that first disgust us, only to later realize that due to some disguises or a blind eye, are more similar to our own world than we originally realized.



-- Post From My iPhone