December 25, 2019 — Earth Every year, our holiday card features a shot from our travels and every year I use the same clip-art Santa hats and the same elements for an Easter egg or two — because what better time for an Easter egg than Christmas? And every year we come up with the most corny doggerel we can think up: When you go to the land of the Swiss There’s a view you […]
August 6, 2019; Vevey, Switzerland. I promised another shot from this dizzying, dazzling, drenching day and here it is. Looking south from Vevey, twenty-three minutes after the first shot posted on August 7, facing the same direction. As the weather speculators are fond of saying, “rapidly changing conditions.” Quite a few pixels had their lives subtly but permanently altered on this one — all for a good cause. (Canon G7X II. RAW processing in DxO […]
August 6, 2019; Vevey, Switzerland. While archiving shots from Europe, I came across this gem. It harkens back to the August 7 post. It was taken about two hours before the blue one near the bottom of that post. It pays to go back over old shoots: I’m still discovering work from that trip. There are more images of this magic two and a half hours and you may well see some in the future. […]
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 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 […]
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