More LA Harbor Night Studies

I’m trying to put together a gallery show and part of the show would include some long exposure night images of the LA/Long Beach Harbor unloading docks. I’ve decided on most of my faves but there were a few of the old images that are’t as powerful. So last night I was back out in the Nimitz Way section of the Long Beach docks…

The mountains are great… but the prairies will always be my first love

Originally posted on Dan Jurak's Alberta Landscape Photo Blog:
A few days ago was my first trip to the mountains in a few months. It was like coming home visiting the rockies. It always takes my breath away. Everything is grand. Everything is spectacular. But the best thing about going away I have always found is returning home. There is no more comforting…

Photographing Kauai Without a Net

The mountainous center of Kauai is a world unto itself, cliffs that drop into the mist below, endless waterfalls, pinnacles of weathered lava cloaked in green.  This hidden landscape can only be photographed from a helicopter or some modern Lewis and Clark. … And our intrepid enthusiast was there, with knees jammed against the seat in front to give a false sense of security.  I’ve…

Shooting LA Harbor

Now that we live in San Pedro, I’ve been wandering down to LA Harbor for the occasional photo shoot. It’s one of the busiest ports for container ships in the world and just over the Vincent Thomas Bridge. The scale of the place is amazing. And since they seem to work 24×7, the place is always lit up. So it’s great fun to work…

Kauai Photo Overview

Like all Hawaii, Kauai has plenty to offer: beachy stuff, the arts, music, hiking, shopping. But this is a photo blog. My focus is all about making photography and the creative experience an essential part of your travels. So here are some key possibilities for those of you with a camera (or phone cam) who are thinking of a trip: Waimea Canyon. This area,…

The lure of Kauai

Growing up an Army brat (and with parents who were brats), the Hawaiian islands were part of our family history, our travel DNA. My mother came here just before the war. And my Mom’s rendition of the old Honolulu show tune, “When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop,” seemed to capture the spirit of Old School Hawaii. I’ve often wished I had a recording…

Seljalandsfoss, Early Spring

Photo Road Trip to Iceland’s South Coast

I’d hoped the South Coast would be the highlight of my Iceland trip — and it was. This part of Iceland was extraordinary and not just because of the warm sun. There are several marquee photo locations along the coastal plain, Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls, Black Sand Beach, Dyrholaey Peninsula, Glacier Lagoon, Diamond Beach. But there’s also simple beauty along Route 1. The little pull-offs…

Paris, France : Rue Crémieux

Originally posted on Pierre P. Photography:
Paris, France – Rue Crémieux For those who take the time to wander in every nook and cranny of the city they visit, Paris is a place full of hidden wonders that will never cease to surprise them. Take Rue Crémieux for instance. This tiny street is well hidden near one of the most important train station of…

Wedding Moment, Florence

I’ve been adding more stuff to my Viewbug home page these days. I like the eyeballs and the feedback I get so posting there’s become part of my blogging/travel writing approach. The average Viewbug visitor is an enthusiast. And as a photographer, I’m intrigued by which of my images evokes engagement and why. As a writer I’ve figured out that when I talk directly…

The Search for Sky Rock

I like this blog post by Hank Cristensen, kind of a personal account of finding a “secret Native American petroglyph.” Plus, the picture of the petroglyph itself is quite lovely, taken at dawn somewhere in the Owens Valley. This is just the kind of thing I like to throw into my writing. In fact, my piece on searching for the “False Kiva” archeological site at…

Iceland Portfolio post production

I just posted my full Iceland Portfolio here. As with my last portfolio, of Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula, I used the process of post production to look at my work from outside in, as an artist’s self-portrait. That’s the value of process… looking at your new work, finding a few diamonds, polishing the facets with a hundred minute adjustments. Portfolio as self-portrait. I guess some folks think…

Photographing Iceland’s Snaefellsnes Peninsula

As a photographer, I treat a destination like Iceland with enormous respect. I research the place with as much depth as I can muster: do searches of tours (both enthusiast-oriented and general), read up on the culture, talk to friends. And mostly try to connect the best images I find (often on Pinterest) with logistical issues. And for me, the two areas that held…

Iceland, Landscape and Logistics

Iceland wasn’t what I expected. Not that I had any deep insights of how it might be: Bjork’s from there, it’s cold, vaguely Scandinavian, there’s fishing, volcanos that shut down Europe’s airports, eco-tourism. And of course, it’s world-class photo site. Iceland seems designed for photography. This place in the North Atlantic exists because here the tectonic plates came together and the volcanos did the rest. The island…

Land of Ice: Photographing the Golden Circle

Of all the tours out of Reykjavik, Golden Circle is the most popular (Blue Lagoon being a spa treatment pretending it’s a tour). In the space of 8 or 10 hours, you head up into the highlands and see Geysir, Gullfoss waterfall and Thingvellir National Park. My visit, in late March, was with my sister and her family and the key highlight was Gullfoss…

Julianne Kost’s Antartica Blog Post

Julianne Kost did a nice couple of blog posts on her photo expedition to Antartica. One post was her narrative and images, the other was devoted to how she does her Lightroom and Photoshop post-production. That one also shows the photos at the different steps of post work. They’re both worth a look. On her approach to photography, Julieanne says, “It’s important to know…