Camera Talk: Madagascar

Madagascar is a photographer’s paradise. Its creatures and colors are so otherworldly, even an experienced photographer might have a difficult time capturing it all with a click of their extra powerful and super sensitive apparatus. As an armature photographer, it pained me to visit such a magical place and be held back time after time by the impotence of my pathetic photographic equipment and my own lack of experience... [Read more]

Travel Central America, Costa Rica Photos

Here are a few of my favorite photos from my visit to Costa Rica. To say that nature is one of the primary draws would be a wild understatement. By the end of my first day, I had seen four types of monkeys! Having said this, there is much more to Costa Rica than its nature and wildlife.

On a lark, I have been going through all of my photos and all of the specific countries I visited over the last several years and... [Read more]

A Few Photos of Aitutaki

I was told that if I were going to be visiting the Cook Islands, missing Aitutaki would be a crime. I was told “It was the most beautiful island on Earth!” These are big words. I have heard them before. However, I took forty photos just on the approach of the airplane. I was not alone. Shutters clicked all around. Here are a few photos that I just grabbed as I went to give a taste of one of the most photogenic... [Read more]

Rarotonga in a Few Pictures

Here are few of my favorite shots after my brief time in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. I am using a Canon Digital Rebel XT, but still thinking about the Canon 50D. This is mostly using natural light and no photoshop of any kind. That’s me looking disheveled and growing a second chin overlooking the impressive cliff side views on top of Rarotonga.

Tomorrow I am bound for Aitutaki. As I have been told this is one... [Read more]

Prague in Black and White

Call me old fashioned but when it comes to black and white photography, I like to use a film camera and my old trusty Canon AE-1 does the trick. I use a variety of lenses from wide angle to telephoto and Fujifilm’s Neopan stock, but that was my preference for the shots I planned to take on my trip to Prague. I highly recommend going by your trusted local camera shop and talk to them about what and where you are shooting.... [Read more]

Camera Talk: The New Coffee Table Book

I love my digital camera equipment. It took a while of adjustment, but I can now see its strengths and minuses and work with them. However, one thing has remained the same. Most of my photos never see the light of day. In the past several years I have made prints from exactly six photos, only four of which are actually on my wall. While I haven’t found a solution for my laziness. I have good news for those who identify.... [Read more]

Camera Talk: News 5/9/08

Montserrat hosts photographic workshops

Montserrat, West Indies – May 9, 2008 – Montserrat’s deserted sand beaches, green valleys and lush rainforests offer a picturesque backdrop for photographers seeking that one-of-a-kind shot. Canadian photographer Tony Hadley, up-and-coming American photographer Matthew Murray and Carolyne Colby, an expert landscape and travel photographer will be hosting two... [Read more]

Travel, Photography, and Joel Carillet pt2

Part two with Steve Peer’s intervew with Joel Carillet.

You do a lot of street photography, do you ever encounter hostility from your subjects?
Sometimes, but rarely. A recent experience: I took a picture of the hands of an illegal money changer in the West Bank town of Ramallah last month. I had tried to get his attention to ask permission first, but he was occupied. So from... [Read more]

Travel, Photography, and Joel Carillet

Joel Carillet is a master of street photography. His captures are a glimpse at places and faces most will never see. In 2003, he embarked on a year-long overland journey starting in China, and finishing in Turkey. His images from this epic trip are nothing short of stellar. Packed with emotion and insight, his images capture... [Read more]

The Context and the Kit

The best way to develop your photos into art is adopt a Zen philosophy, and awaken to the context that surrounds you. For instance, you may focus on the waterfall but fail to see the icicles hanging off a conifer limb nearby. Or you may set your frame to capture the magnificent Roman pillars, while totally missing the Bedouin and his grazing camel in the foreground

While I consider myself to be neither an artist... [Read more]

Wild Angle Photo Contest

National Geographic ADVENTURE and Adventures in Travel Expo Present
“Wild Angle Photo Contest” for Chance to Win PENTAX K10D Digital Cameras

For the person who’s always fancied him or herself good enough to be in National Geographic ADVENTURE magazine, here’s your chance! National Geographic ADVENTURE magazine will once again hold their “Wild Angle Photo Contest,” providing amateur... [Read more]

The Coolest Travel Gadget Ever Part 2

So now I have actually had the chance to travel with the iPhone, and I have discovered several features that make it great not only for the traveler bit also for the travel writer. The iPhone has a 2.0 mega-pixel camera. Does it compare to my Nikon FM2N with my fast prime lenses and Fuji Velvia film? Not even close, does it compare to your run of the mill consumer digital camera? Sure, as long as you don’t plan on... [Read more]

On the Road to Delphi

It became a game. I would zoom out my camera lens and try to get a good close-up of these odd little churches that sat on the road. When I say “little church,” I mean little churches. They say upon posts and were no more than a few feet high and less than that wide and they were everywhere.

I didn’t get too many good shots and the experience was more of a live video game than I desire to take a... [Read more]

Camera Talk: Tripod vs. Monopod

Tripods are great, but if you have had to lug one around for any length of time, you know what a hassle they can be. There are some pitfalls, however. In many places, you cannot use a tripod at all, as it classifies you as a commercial shooter; some places won’t even let you enter if you are carrying a tripod.

The workaround? A monopod.

There... [Read more]

Camera Talk: The HV20 and a Tripod

I finally had the opportunity to use the Canon HV20 in an actual travel setting while bouncing around Stockholm and then Copenhagen (ITKT readers can expect several articles and/or videos on each destination over the next few months.). In this addition, I look at the need for a tripod.

The camera performed well as both tripod mounted and hand-held. However, for pans I will still have to get either a tripod or monopod... [Read more]

Camera Talk: Picking Sides

I don’t know how it happened, but I have become a Canon person. True, I use Canon cameras — have for years. Actually, I had started with an old Rebel SLR. When I bought a new camera, I just took my old lenses and got a new camera bodies. I didn’t think much about it. Of course, then there were Nikon users, they had a rich and glorious photographic history behind them. As I recall, it was what the pros... [Read more]

Camera Talk: Going High Definition

In preparation for an upcoming trip to Denmark and then Sweden I wanted to bring a new camcorder with me. But not just any camcorder, I wanted a killer (think, something far more sophisticated than I would ever be able to fully use). Of course, a killer might cost a small fortune (think, more money than I have). I ended up going with the Canon HV20. It is a single chip (think, not great in low light and contrast), high-definition... [Read more]

Camera Talk: Dead Center

For years I have been lugging around expensive equipment. my SLR dangles from my neck, camera bag hangs on my left shoulder, filled with a couple of filters, an extra lens or two, an external flash, and probably a tripod — all things I want to have with me. As a traveler, I have become accustomed to carrying the essentials to get the shot I want. However, I have recently noticed how unconscious I can become when actually... [Read more]

Camera Talk: A New Perspecitve When in a Hurry

One of the tricky problems with most travel photography is creating a unique photo of attractions that have been photographed millions of times. The problem is not the attraction. It is the angle. Like most of us, when we travel we don’t always have time or the wherewithal to stop and consider all of our options. The sun isn’t right, the bus is leaving, the kids have to use the bathroom, and a host of others. We are... [Read more]

Camera Talk: Two Words

Recently, I wrote an article about some vague memories of Denmark. I attempted to shake loose the cobblestones in my mind and pulled down a musty, dusty shoebox filled with old photographs in the hopes of certainty.

I sat in the back of the closet and found the photos that captured the streets and images in my mind. I was grateful for having taken the photos. Spending the next hour shuffling through the old memories,... [Read more]

Camera Talk: Fleeting Moments

Historically, I am the guy on the tour bus saying, “Pull... [Read more]

Camera Talk: The Fear of Manual Focus

I love using auto focus, but sometimes some shoots just don’t work... [Read more]

Camera Talk: Digital Considerations

Last year, I broke down after many years of loyalty to my 35 mm camera and bought a digital SLR. The pressure from most of my photographer friends was relentless. I was spending a couple hundred dollars every time I returned from a trip on developing. Also, my apprehension toward digital quality and familiarity kept me at bay. Of course, digital quality became comparable, if not superior, and great cameras became more affordable.... [Read more]

Camera Talk: Shooting at Snowflakes

Snowflakes are one of a kind, beautiful, and there has always been something wonderful about crunching along the fresh new snow in the winter. However, snow can be a drag when trying to capture a landscape.

On a recent snowy trip, I found my digital camera’s auto settings using flash and 400 ISO, which left white blotches all over my shots during snow fall. Fortunately, after a combination of trial, error and a... [Read more]

Camera Talk: More Packing for Greenland

As I discussed in my last story about lugging a tripod to Greenland, sometimes the extra work is worth the effort. Along a similar line there... [Read more]

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