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Podcast Interview on Help Start My Small Business
Really enjoyed being interviewed by Neil Kristianson of the Help Me Start My Small Business podcast. In the interview we discuss how I went from being a restaurant owner out of college to taking a round-the-world trip, then entered the real estate market, opened another restaurant, and eventually got into the financial services industry, and finally how the financial crisis forced me to reevaluate my future and plunge full time into my own photography business that now includes … Read More...
Participant Showcase: Zoe Caplan in Cuba
BIOGRAPHY I'm from Johns Island, South Carolina. I am a teacher at a montessori preschool as well as working one on one with children with autism. I have recently found my passion in photography and look forward to it continuing to grow as my basic knowledge of photography grows as well. CONNECT WITH ZOE ONLINE See more of Zoe's images from Cuba and elsewhere by visiting her FACEBOOK profile. RALPH'S TAKE Zoe was a real surprise to me. When I first met her in Miami on our … Read More...
2012 Challenge: Spend Time, Not Money – Part 2
So this is Part 2... To reiterate, I want to challenge you in 2012 to spend time learning your gear, not money on buying more equipment and software, and if you have the budget, spend your money to get a destination that interests you and work it well. Are you having trouble with a particular photographic topic? Want to learn how to read a histogram? Need to figure out what the difference between shooting RAW or JPEG is? Have you spent any time to understand what the Rule of Thirds … Read More...
A Challenge for 2012: Spend Time, Not Money – Part 1
This year I’d like to propose a challenge to you. Instead of spending a lot of money on chasing megapixels and worrying about what the latest and greatest next new camera to buy is, or even what lens to rent, I’d like you to spend time learning the craft of photography. If you’ve already budgeted cash this year to buy new gear, I’d like you to consider targeting those funds towards a trip to a really interesting destination instead of sinking them into the next upgrade of hardware … Read More...
Announcing New Photo Tour to Copper Canyon, Mexico
I'm really happy to announce a new tour that I'll be leading to Mexico's Copper Canyon through Jim Cline Photo Workshops! Join me on one of the great train rides of the world as we take El Chepe train from the town of El Fuerte, near Los Mochis, up and back down the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua State, Mexico, we'll ride it both ways. The photo opportunities are virtually endless as we wind our way among 3,000 foot cliff walls that are a cross between Yosemite National Park … Read More...
Interview About iPhoneography on iSee iShoot iPhone Podcast
Smart phones are coming out of the box with higher quality cameras and easy-to-use features that allow for immediate uploading to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other social media sharing sites. Hugely popular apps like Camera+, Instagram, Hipstamatic, Snapseed and others allow us to post-process our images right in the phone, plus add interesting filters and effects, different crops and a variety of frames. Little by little the point-and-shoot category of the camera market is … Read More...
Participant Showcase: Carol Livingston in Egypt
IN CAROL'S WORDS This vendor at Giza was a lucky shot and, like so many others, I wish I could go back and try this shot again. The haze of the sky and the parched desert background described most of Egypt. This was my first day shooting there and I was drawn to the scarves hanging above. I didn't even notice the man sleeping until much later. Looking at all of my photos almost a year later is a nice task; it reminds me all over again what a great trip that was. Hard at times, but … Read More...
Is It Safe to Travel to Egypt? Part 2
In Part 1 of my two part series titled Is It Safe to Travel to Egypt, I gave my personal experience of the Egypt I encountered on my recent trip to Cairo and Alexandria. Here in Part 2 I'd like to share a video that I made with our tour guide, Maha Mahmoud. In it I asked Maha about the current situation in her homeland. She was a fantastic guide who was incredibly knowledgeable about the sites she took us to, as well as mature beyond her 28 years. Sure, tourism is down by a high … Read More...
Is It Safe to Travel to Egypt?
This is a question I received more than once when I told people I'd been invited to speak in Cairo. The IOETI (International Organization of the e-Tourism Industry) 4th Annual E-Tourism & E-Marketing Conference was held December 18 & 19, 2011, and it was certainly an honor to be asked to present at this event with such short notice, but thankfully my schedule allowed for the weeklong visit. The presentation I gave was entitled "Better Photography for Enhancing Your … Read More...
Participant Showcase: Neil Kristianson
BIOGRAPHY I'm from the far west suburbs of Chicago where I own a remodeling company. I have only recently started photography as a hobby. I enjoy traveling and recording my adventures in bits and bytes. SEE MORE OF NEIL'S EGYPT AND OTHER PICTURES On Flickr by clicking here CONNECT WITH NEIL ONLINE Via Twitter @the_nak RALPH'S TAKE I really enjoyed traveling with Neil and his wife Jennine. Both had an interest in photography and I saw their skill … Read More...
Travel Tips for Reducing Jet Lag
According to Wikipedia, "Jet lag, medically referred to as desynchronosis, is a physiological condition which results from alterations to the body's circadian rhythms; it is classified as one of the circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Jet lag results from rapid long-distance transmeridian (east–west or west–east) travel, as on a jet plane. The condition of jet lag may last several days, and a recovery rate of one day per time zone crossed is a … Read More...
Photo Tips: Capturing History in Old Cairo
As I write this blog post, I'm still in Cairo, Egypt, but unfortunately I'm on a homeward bound plane in just a few hours. Before I leave, however, I wanted to share with you an intense and somewhat emotional experience I had with a door in Old Cairo...yes, a door. In November of 2010 I led a photography tour to Egypt, and on that trip we visited Old Cairo, also known as Coptic Cairo, as it's really a must for any visitor to this country of 80 million inhabitants. The group was … Read More...
Photo Tips: Previsualization Part 2
This is Part 2 of my short series on the technique of pre-visualization (I've seen it with hyphen and without). I spent a great deal of time pre-visualizing before my recent assignment to shoot for a cookbook throughout Mexico. During the 35 days we were in-country, I ended up having to shoot in over 40 distinct locations, and so I didn't have a lot of time to figure it out when I arrived...I had to have a really good idea of what it was I wanted, and more importantly, what the client wanted … Read More...
Photo Tips: Previsualization Part 1
Previsualization is a technique that many professional photographers use and highly recommend. What it means in a nutshell is to have a good idea of what it is you're going to photograph before you even arrive at a destination. There are a number of ways to accomplish previsualization, but they all pretty much come down to doing quality research in the days, weeks and even months leading up to a trip. Even if you're shooting around your own area, practicing previsualization is a good … Read More...
Participant Showcase: Chris Christensen
BIOGRAPHY I live in San Jose, California. I am a Director of Engineering for TripAdvisor.com by day. By night, I am also the host of the Amateur Traveler. The Amateur Traveler is an online travel show that focuses primarily on travel destinations and what are the best places to travel to. It includes both a weekly audio podcast, a video podcast, and a blog. The blog features my photography which is often the only souvenir I usually bring back from my travels and one of the reasons I … Read More...
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