August 17, 2019; Caplela de Nossa Senhora de Peninha, Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais. How could I be near a coastline and not do a horizon shot? The sea called and I answered. The unusual thing for me was looking west over the Atlantic. But not that unusual, because the sea, sun, clouds, and fog bank worked the same here as they do on the northern Sonoma County coast in California, which shares the same latitude. […]
August 18, 2019; Estoril, Portugal. Just starting the third cup of coffee and another pastel de nata. Back to the conversation. I had put the camera away. Then I looked up and got it out again. (Check yesterday’s post to see how this started.) (Nikon D500, Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
August 18, 2019; Estoril, Portugal. Balmy morning on the balcony, enjoying coffee with my wife’s brother and family. It had been a sunny morning, but as we got into the second cup, the fog came in. This is different. Where I come from, a second cup makes the fog go away. (Nikon D500, Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
August 12, 2019; Northwest of Locarno, Switzerland — September 6, 2019; Silicon Valley. It was a turbulent night. I awoke at 4:00 a.m. and stared at the ceiling, thinking, “it’s too dark.” But it wasn’t the ceiling I was thinking of. It was the image I’d just posted on the blog afew hours earlier. And there were other things too: Was the foreground too severe? Does it focus the viewer’s attention enough? The tones, tones, […]
August 12, 2019; Northwest of Locarno, Switzerland. It was a dark and stormy day; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the valley (for it is in Italian Switzerland that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the water-logged photographer who struggled against the torrent. But then, a break in the clouds, which was of benefit, […]
August 9, 2019; Totensee. The sky was subject to rapid mood shifts: this was shot just fifty-two seconds after the image in the last post. It was post-processed after arriving home following a week in London immersed in Constable, Turner, and Monet. Rothko too, of course. Inspired by Constable’s clouds, Turner’s unfinished landscapes and seascapes, Monet’s monochrome* winter scenes, and a good dose of minimalism from Mr. Rothko, this is one version of what came […]
August 9, 2019; Totensee. And yes, the sky was moody. (Canon G7X II. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2, Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
August 11, 2019; East end of Stellisee, Switzerland. Think of Switzerland and you think of the Matterhorn. Probably when you think of a mountain you think of something like the Matterhorn. The quintessential mountain. And this is the quintessential shot between two rocks at the end of the lake. The Stellisee is about ten miles — line of sight — from the Matterhorn. People line up to get their shot from this exact spot. This […]
August 7, 2019; Brienz, Switzerland. Shortly after our arrival in Brienz, Oliver took a few of us on a walk to Wildpark Brienz. Two of the species shown here are native to Switzerland. One is not. Your guess. Chamois Common Blue Butterfly Blue Hairstreak Snowy Owl (Nikon D500, Tamron 100-400 f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD zoom. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
August 18, 2019; Lisbon, Portugal. A quick break from the photo workshop in Switzerland for a jump to the next part of our trip: Portugal to visit family. Sunday night’s dinner was at Povo, a restaurant and Fado house in old Lisbon. The food was excellent traditional Portuguese fare but the main event was Fado. Fado is a traditional music genre native to Portugal. It is most commonly thought of a music of sadness, loss, […]
August 7, 2019; Above Vevey, Switzerland. After our day at the Fête des Vignerons, we spent a few early pre-breakfast hours in the vineyards above Vevey. The sky was still shaking off its storminess. And when I turned around, wine on the vine. Stay tuned… (Nikon D850; Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2. RAW processing in DxO Pro; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
August 6, 2019; Vevey, Switzerland. One of the highlights of our trip was the sixteenth Fête des Vignerons (Winegrower’s Festival.) We’d never heard of the Fête and had no idea of its magnitude and importance. The first clues we got were in the week before the photo workshop while we were visiting friends near Lake Neuchatel in northwestern Switzerland. Every time we mentioned that we were going to the Fête, the response was a more […]
August 6, 2019; Vevey, Switzerland. Our first week in Switzerland was spent visiting old friends and meeting new ones. Wonderful in all ways, and proved just how friendly Switzerland really is, but not terribly productive photographically. On August 5 we began our workshop with Oliver Klink. It was a great day, and I learned some valuable lessons, but no keepers. August 6, however, was different. It was special in many ways. You’ll see how the […]
February 17, 2018; Big Sur Coast, California. What do you do when Mother Nature serves you a blah sky? Not a cloud. No fog to speak of. Just boring blue sky. You improvise in post-processing, that’s what you do. This is one of two treatments of this frame. Many pixels’ lives were forever changed. (Nikon D750, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR zoom. RAW processing in DxO Pro, Editing in Adobe Photoshop. More fine-art photography at […]
May 31, 2016; Big Sur Coast, California. After having a really bad day, we drove down to the Big Sur coast — one of the most spiritual places in the world — for much needed soul cleansing. Long hikes, good food, and photography provided the thorough rinse-off we needed. This is one of five treatments of this one frame. Many pixels’ lives were forever changed. As were ours. (Nikon D750, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR […]
