Pack your shot list along with your underwear

Fishing Boats - Lake Bled, Slovenia
Fishing Boats – Lake Bled, Slovenia

Let’s see, what am I forgetting?  Packing is not my favorite thing to do in the whole world, but traveling may be. Of course camera gear is the second priority right after underwear and socks. I love photographing almost everything, but travel photography is probably the most enjoyable, especially when it’s a new destination.  So I tolerate the packing chore to make sure I am ready to explore a new world.  

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A remarkable image is a remarkable story

Nancy, Indian Harbour Beach
Nancy, Indian Harbour Beach, FL

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”  ― Ansel Adams

This Ansel Adams quote echoed in my mind for days after reading it several years ago. I always loved photography even as a young boy but I had never thought of photography as an expression of how I feel in the “deepest” sense. As I looked through an old photo album, I began to realize that every photo I have ever saved in an album or shared with others were photos expressing feelings about what was being photographed.

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The Cinque Terre – a magical place of peace and tranquility

Vernazza, Italy
Vernazza, Italy

My wife and I have had the good fortune to travel to some of the most interesting and peaceful places. However, Italy’s Cinque Terre  is a place like no other we have visited. “The Five Lands” is the most relaxing and tranquil places we have ever been.

The Cinque Terre is composed of five little unique villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza,  Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore are located on the rugged coastline known as the Italian Rivera on Italy’s West Coast.

I think the peace comes from the quaint little terraces and houses built into the steep cliffs that overlook the Ligurian Sea.  It is so refreshing and peaceful to see no corporate development or large hotels.  And no cars. Just hiking paths, trains, and boats to connect the 5 villages that reside inside the Cinque Terre National Park.  The serene hiking trails perched on cliffs high above the sea was so relaxing, we wished we could have stayed forever.
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Seven tips for remarkable smart phone photography

Cristin and Kristin - iPhone Photo, Natural Light, Rule of Thirds, Effects added in Camera +
Cristin and Kristin – iPhone Photo, Natural Light, Rule of Thirds, Effects added in Camera+

According to Yahoo!, 880 billion photos will be uploaded to the Internet in 2014. Facebook suggests that over 6 billion photos are posted every month on this popular social media site. With all this photography going on, all of us should be experts by now!  But have you seen some of these images?  Not always a pretty picture.  

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