Tag Archives: water

On a Deserted Bali Beach at Sunset

Posted on November 9th, 2015 by

Peaceful Wandering

It was peaceful on the beach in Bali. It was oddly quiet when I visited and I was so exhausted that I decided to spend the days I had sitting on the beach at the resort. That is an exceptionally odd thing for me to do…I don’t think I have ever done it before honestly. The ocean in my little cove was calm and the sun had retreated behind the clouds making for some wonderfully warm light. I was walking alone on a beach, halfway around the world for my home. Sometimes, I am in awe of where I have been.

On a Deserted Bali Beach at Sunset
On a Deserted Bali Beach at Sunset

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 17 February, 2015
  • Focal length: 25mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Shutter speed: 1/250s
  • Title: On a Deserted Bali Beach at Sunset

Gondolier at Sunset, Venice Italy

Posted on August 20th, 2015 by

Dark Shadows

I recently talked about the feeling of a photo, and trying to capture how a place felt. I don’t say things like this often, but today’s photo might well be one of the best I have ever done. I am not speaking of the technical aspects of composition or even timing. This is how Venice FELT to me this last winter. Dark shadows, muted, cold. I long to go back. I can’t begin imagine the place in the summer. Winter in Venice seemed to fit me perfectly. Hopefully I can visit again this January or February, wandering, a bit lost in the icy cold air, with a copy or Watermark in hand. Feeling the city that is not separate from the sea.

Gondolier at Sunset, Venice Italy
Gondolier at Sunset, Venice Italy

Photo Technical Info

Sunrise at My Favorite Spot

Posted on August 3rd, 2015 by

Favorite Places

Do you have a favorite place?

I usually have a hard time picking a “favorite” anything. Favorite country, favorite animal, I even find my favorite color problematic! There though is an easy answer to my favorite morning…Lanikai. I exist in a world of movement. I am constantly going places, most of which I will never return to, but I keep going back to Hawaii and specifically back to Lanikai Beach. If I have the morning in Oahu, I will always do the same thing. I hike up the Pillbox Trail, then go and swim at Lanikai Beach. One day, I hope Pamela and I will live out my remaining days on Oahu, watching the most perfect sunrise, knowing, there is no place on this Earth we would rather be.

Sunrise at My Favorite Spot
Sunrise at My Favorite Spot

Photo Technical Info

On the Waters of Lake Como, Italy

Posted on July 23rd, 2015 by

The Most Beautiful

I read a story recently about a man who’s wife was dying. She asked to be taken on one last trip before she passed, she wanted to be surrounded by beauty and love. He thought of all the places he had been (he was also a traveler like me)…he took his wife to Lake Como.

I can’t say I have a favorite place in the world. There is simply too much wonder and beauty…too much flavor. The one thing I can say about the man, he made a perfect choice.

On the Waters of Lake Como, Italy
On the Waters of Lake Como, Italy

Photo Technical Info

Island in the Columbia River

Posted on April 27th, 2015 by

Foggy Island

I sat in a car, riding through the fog. I would have preferred to fly…I always prefer to fly, but my colleague insisted. It was a long trek, but in the end I got to see part of the country I had never knew existed. The diverse landscape of Washington and Oregon is vast, it changes abruptly and in surprising ways. This stretch along the Columbia River was enshrouded in dense wisps of fog…not completely obstructing your view, only adding mystery.

Fog
By Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Island in the Columbia River
Island in the Columbia River

Photo Technical Info

Beautiful Sunrise Kauai, Hawaii

Posted on March 30th, 2015 by

Beautiful Sunrises

When I go places I end up being torn between sunrise and breakfast. Some of the most beautiful light is at sunrise and sunset. The secret is the hoards come for sunset, but sunrise is almost mine alone. The problem is that I get free breakfast at my hotel, but its time period conflicts with my capture of sunrise. Too often I get out early, but get caught up in photographing sunrise to make it back in time for breakfast! I always attempt to find balance in my trips, sometime the beauty of a place can easily makes me forget to eat, and too often I am so lost in the beauty, I don’t mind.

Beautiful Sunrise Kauai, Hawaii
Beautiful Sunrise Kauai, Hawaii

Photo Technical Info

The Sydney Opera House from the Park Hyatt

Posted on March 23rd, 2015 by

Down Under

I just returned from the most wonderful trip to Sydney, Australia! I also just celebrated my 40th birthday so I wanted to go someplace special that I had been putting off. I fly quite a bit, so I also had a wonderful surplus of Airline Miles to book a 1st class award ticket so logically Australia fit the bill! I had the wonderful fortune to get to stay right across form the Sydney Opera House at the Park Hyatt Sydney! The team at Hyatt is generally fantastic, but everyone at the Park Hyatt Sydney went out of their way to make my stay special.

Good Lines

I think I took 2000 photos of the Opera House alone. It’s not too often that a piece of architecture is SO spectacular you can just keep taking photos of the same thing and keep getting something different! Did you know the entire surface of of the exterior is actually cream and white tiles? I didn’t until I stated researching the trip. Don’t worry, there are plenty of detail shots in all those photos I took!

The Sydney Opera House from the Park Hyatt
The Sydney Opera House from the Park Hyatt

Photo Technical Info

Sepia Night on a Pier at St Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy

Posted on March 19th, 2015 by

Night in Venice

Venice is a city of many sides, but the setting of the sun turns the city of Venice into another other-worldly place. It is almost a magical transformation. Sunset seems to linger, bidding those that do not wish to see the cities darker side, go home…return to your hotel. Once the night takes hold, it becomes deathly quiet. The narrow walkways and close buildings bring a sense of extreme claustrophobia. Every path is a darkened alley holding the unknown. By day you are surrounded by visages of death…masks of the plague. These are gone by night, but their specter haunts you … as do the dead from that time still buried beneath the cobblestone streets. I didn’t stay long in the evening, but what I did see, told me it would make the best of photo projects.

Sepia Night on a Pier at St Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy
Sepia Night on a Pier at St Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/4
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 25 January, 2014
  • Focal length: 16mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Location: 45° 26.0117′ 0″ N 12° 20.4957′ 0″ E
  • Shutter speed: 6s
  • Title: Sepia Night on a Pier at St Mark's Square, Venice, Italy

Washington Water Power

Posted on March 16th, 2015 by

Random Travels

My travel locations tend to be to places most everyone has heard of…Tokyo, Paris, London, Shanghai. These are my personal travels, but I also occasionally travel for my desk job. These places tend to be smaller locations that fewer people have heard or, Berne, Friendship, Palmerton, Spokane (ok…most everyone has heard of Spokane, WA). I also take my camera on these trips because you never know what you are going to find. While we were visiting downtown Spokane, we found this huge hydroelectric power plant! It was cold and a bit of a walk to get to where I took this photo, but it was well worth the frozen fingers.

Washington Water Power
Washington Water Power

Photo Technical Info

Fiery Sunset on Waikiki

Posted on January 26th, 2015 by

Worth the Time

I know when I come back from trips, I have a huge number of photos and a good swath of them I label in my head as unusable for publication. Maybe you do too and I want to challenge you to think differently about those photos. Something originally grabbed your attention and caused you to snap the picture. It was worth taking and recently I have begun to believe there is value in working on these less than stellar gems. Experimenting in processing allows for a world of new results.

Today’s Photo

I was originally drawn to this fiery sunset on Waikiki, a subject I have looked at numerous times, but much differently today. I discounted this shot because there were so many people and so much clutter. Instead, I upped the contrast and rendered the bulk of the foreground in silhouette, all the while creating a surreal sunset giving everything an unworldly red/orange hue. The great thing is this was processed entirely in Lightroom 5! Try taking a fresh look at your unusable images. Focus on what drew you to take the shot in the first place, then find the photo!

Fiery Sunset on Waikiki
Fiery Sunset on Waikiki

Photo Technical Info