All "Travel" Features
Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Mason
My goal was to take two shots while I was in San Francisco last week. One of the San Francisco skyline at night and another of the Golden Gate Bridge from the the quintessential money shot location at Fort Mason. Unfortunately I was not able to get the skyline shot from my target location because [...]
Photoshop HDR Plus Photomatix Tone Mapping
When did life get so complicated? The pursuit of visual perfection in photography has never been so achievable so confusing at the same time. Just look at the jargon we have to deal with! JPEG vs RAW, 16-bit vs 32-bit, HDRI, tone mapping, EV bracketing, tone compression, and more. The digital SLR camera and its [...]
New York City in HDR
One of my goals this year is to improve my photography skills so I can create better photographic references for studio paintings. I have read over and over again that cameras are not equipped to capture the true essence of a scene like our eyes are, and that painting from life is the only real [...]
2010 Travel Preview
A few weeks ago, I sent a picture of the Swiss Alps to Donna at work with a message that simply said, “Next?” She replied promptly with, “Looks good!” Although we have been near the Swiss Alps, we have not gotten a good look at them due primarily to weather. During a trip a year [...]
Boston’s Long Wharf and Old North End
Every time I stay Boston while on business, this beautiful city always reminds me that I need to come back for a longer visit. After flying in on Monday afternoon and having a great Italian dinner that evening, I got up at sunrise the next morning to snap a few pictures near my hotel. I [...]
Two Days at the Palazzo Rosso Farm in Vicenza, Italy
While in Italy, we had the good fortune of staying at the Palazzo Rosso Farm, which is a sprawling 400 property 15 kilometers south of the historic city of Vicenza and 1 kilometer from the beautiful Colli Berici Hills. We were the guest of one of Donna’s long-time friends from high shool who recently decided to [...]
The subtle charm of Siena and San Gimignano, Italy
While in Florence, Italy, we took a day trip to the Tuscan hill towns of Siena and San Gimignano. Not wanting to rent a car and attempt to get out of Florence in one piece, we elected to take a tour bus to both destinations. We stopped in Siena first after a 90-minute bus ride, [...]
Venice, Italy Photo Series
I have a few things to say about Venice beyond this post but I think I will wait for them and focus on this Venice photo series, which is a compilation of a few of my favorites from our visit. Venice is all about walking, which gave me a great opportunity to shoot and reshoot [...]
A Peaceful Escape to Portovenere, Italy
After the hustle and bustle of Florence, we made our escape to Portovenere, Italy. It took about one and a half hours by train to get to the port city of LaSpezia, where we took a 25-minute cab ride to Portovenere. We really did not know what to expect. Our primary mission was to visit [...]
Climbing the Duomo of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore
It’s tough to take a picture in Florence without a crane or scaffold somewhere in the frame. Go figure, the buildings can be over 1000 years old! Although the view of the Duomo of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy can be easily photographed with a long lens from the Piazzale Michelangelo, there [...]