Sky control is fundamental to landscape photography. The term refers to ways in which a photographer manages the disparity in exposure values between the sky (which is often bright) and the foreground (which is often dark). The “balancing” is necessary because film can’t record the full range of tonal value (dynamic range) that the human…
If you have been tracking the development of RAW image processing programs, then it should be getting increasingly more clear that the need to generate derivative .tiff or .psd files of your master RAW files is getting increasingly less necessary. In the beginning days of processing RAW files, it was cumbersome, slow, and in general…
I’ve seen pictures of Machu Picchu over the years, but none of them really prepared me for the first hand view. This “lost city of the Incas” is a commanding site, filled with mystery, and perched in the most spectacular mountain jungle location. I shared a few pics on a post a while back, just…
The Waved Albatross, sometimes called the Galapagos Albatross, breeds primarily on Espanola Island. Like other albatrosses, it comes to shore only to breed and rear young. In the Archipelago, this happens in response to food availability, which is generally in early April, and we were fortunate enough to see the very beginning of their arrival…
South Plaza Island was our first shoreside visit, and it was perfectly timed with sunset, which happens quickly along the equator. The gentle afternoon light was warm and luminous accent to a landscape rich in green and yellow, due to recent abundant rains and the short-lived blossoming period of the portulaca plant. Plants in general,…
There was a news headline back in 2009 that excitedly reported a female tortoise, paired with the famous Lonesome George, laid a clutch of eggs. Unfortunately, the eggs were infertile, and it appears that the possibility of offspring is grim for this last remaining of the Pinta Island subspecies of Tortoise. George continues to play…
The Galapagos Islands are the only place in the world you will find a marine iguana. The color variation differs from island to island among the archipelago, and on Espanola Island, the iguanas have a red and green hue. They are as bizarre to watch as they look, and like most reptiles, don’t move unless…
The enchanted islands of the Galapagos are appropriately named. Located about 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, they are uniquely situated at the convergence of warm and cool water currents, a contributing factor to the amazing diversity of life found among the archipelago. After a week exploring the region both above and below the…
Saturday morning was my only early morning photo opportunity at Machu Picchu and I woke at 5:30 to thick fog and rain. It made for a disheartening morning greeting, high in the Peruvian jungle, but afforded time for coffee and breakfast. The crowds arrived at 6AM, and I ventured out after them and long after…
Having just spent the day trekking around the lost city of the Incas, or better known as Machu Picchu, it is clear why it stands out as Peru’s primary tourist attraction. The mystery surrounding much of the ruins leaves one to imagine all sorts of purpose or reason for many structures and objects. But mostly…