I find myself taking a lot of travel photos that are just for me.  It's the little moments that catch my eye while traveling. Patterns broken.   A leading line.  Something unexpected.

The first shot that I took for me is in Ljubljana Slovenia.  This is one of the last projects that the famous Slovenian architect, Jose Plecnik, designed.  Formerly a monastery, now a venue for theater and music.  

I am in the courtyard and had noticed the statue with the figure playing the flute.  The reason why this shot is for me is I also noticed the wonderful pavement and the lone leaf.  The pavement makes a great leading line and I wanted an image that captured the leaf, the pavement, and the flute players silhouetted in the window.

Monastery near City Museum, Plecnik's Late Work now for summer theater

Another image that is totally for me.  A night time image of Preseren Square in Ljubljana.  I walked by and then double backed.  Usually the square is filled with people, but we ate an early dinner and were walking when others were settled down for their evening meal.  The square was basically empty, although I am glad that there are a few people there to give it perspective.  I actually like the three figures that are sitting on the steps of the cathedral and the silhouetted figure of a man near the end of the square.  Initially, the play of darkness and lights were what caught my eye.  The lights of the triangular building, in particular, were attention-grabbing. As well as the lights that are embedded in the pavement of the square.  

Night Views of Ljubljana, Preseren Square

Another image that is just for me is this photo of the bicycle against the wall.  I have two versions of this:  one that doesn't include the cat and one that does.  The image that is just for me includes the cat as part of the overall look. It was common in Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro to see feeding stations for cats at various parts of the city.  In Montenegro, there was a cat museum whose proceeds go to feeding the cats in the city.

PAD Oct 13 Walking around Perast
 

And, for reference, here is the photo without the cat.

PAD Oct 13 Walking around Perast

And here is another bicycle photo.  This time from Rovinj.

Bike outside a cafe in Rovinj

We were coming to our hotel home in Dubrovnik on one of the last days of our vacation and the light was very dramatic with the lone sailboat in the Adriatic close to Dubrovnik and lots of golden color.

PAD Oct 13 Yellow Waters at Sunset, TWO, Dubrovnik

Its not that I don't take the typical shots.  I take those as well.  While walking around Lake Bled, I found these two shots with differing reflections and a slightly different vantage point during the walk.

I was attracted to the first image because of the clouds and how they reflected in the water.  The clouds in my mind "framed" the famous castle.  Plus the blue skies made for a great background and made the castle seem all the more remote as it sits on its rocky site high over the water.

Castle at Lake Bled while Walking Around the Lake

The second image was also influenced by clouds and reflections.  This time it included the castle and the church spire.  Plus a little color.

Castle at Lake Bled while Walking Around the Lake

For me, it's great to take a blend of photos that you want to show others of your travels.  And then there is the special moments that perhaps only I would understand and appreciate.  Those photos are for me.