This is a long exposure panorama of the Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice Italy. It is usually the most crowded street in Venice, packed with tourists. If you look closly, you will see a blured mass of people streching from end to end in this photograph.

This was taken in February of 2015, from the square in at the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore just over the lagon. You usually see the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in images of the gondolas, which are just right in front.

Hope you like it!

Ah the smells of all of the tasty things cooking in this market are a memory that I hope I always remember. Mind you, not everything was tasty. i.e. the snails... eek. But, the atmosphere, and the variety of food available was just awesome. Also amazing is how this market just pops up every single night, while during the day there is no sign of it whatsoever. Yes you will get heckled to come into each establishment, often by being called a particular name. In my case, it was Ali Baba. I guess my beard was extra shaggy and long at the time. But I got used to it and even laughed it off with the people running the establishments.

This photo is of one particular establishment where if I remember correctly, we enjoyed a variety of grilled meats. I do wish I had taken a photo of the boiled goats head stall where we ate goat brains, tongue and cheek. Very tasty.

Italy in 2014. One of my fondest trips of all time. I feel so fortunate to have been able to be here, in this spot at the peak of the season. Probably the most amazing sea water I have ever had the pleasure to swim in. Sometimes it still feels like a dream. It's good to #travelthroughyourarchives

This one has been sitting on the archives since 2011... One of the most memorable trips we made was a drive through Normandy, with this famous and magical place as one of the final stops. Seeing it from a distance as we approached during the morning, was surreal. And even more so at dusk when this shot was made. For extra fun the tide was just starting to come in, and I could hear the water rushing into where I was standing. Got a few frames and got out of there just in time. It's good to #travelthroughyourarchives

It's hard for me to look back. I remember when I shot this. It was March of 2015 and the idea of going back to Canada was becoming more real by the day. I went out with my camera and tried to capture how I, at times, saw this beautiful city we lived in. I was often frustrated living there and how I couldn't find ways to capture Amsterdam in the way I saw it. These trips near the end were a final attempt to try and figure that. In the end I still think I wasn't successful, but this image cames close. Hope you like it. It's good to #travelthroughyourarchives

Once again back to Maui, this time at a Bamboo Forest just of the road to Hana. Wishing you all some green today. It's good to #travelthroughyourarchives

Does thing even work anymore?

Inspired by my good friend Adam Masterton Photography, I'm going to be sharing "new" photographs every couple of days from my archives. Starting with this one.

This is from the very top of the Haleakalā volcano in Maui, where back in 2017 we spent the night photographing the stars and sun rise from above the clouds at 10,000 feet. An unforgettable experience. It's good to #travelthroughyourarchives

Another experiment, this time a second take similar to the previous post. Taken during the last weekend of Carnival in Venice, Italy.

Field Notes

With my Lee filter system mounted and Big Stopper attached, I held the shutter open manually while blindly trying to frame what was ahead of me. It took a few tries to judge the exposure time and framing, but this one turned out well.

Processing Notes

Pretty simple. Just a little Lightroom with VSCO Film preset as a starting point, and some minor curve adjustments. I missed a couple of updates due to traveling, but hope to make it up this week with perhaps a couple of updates. Happy Liberation Day in the Netherlands!

This week, we have another of these experimental blurred/camera movement images. This time from a perhaps more recognisable place. This was taken during the last Carnival weekend in February from the side of a Vaporetto heading back to Piazza San Marco from San Giorgio Maggiore.

Field Notes

With my Lee filter system mounted and Big Stopper attached, I held the shutter open manually while blindly trying to frame what was ahead of me. It took a few tries to judge the exposure time and framing, but this one turned out well.

Processing Notes

Minor adjustments in Lightroom to even out the exposure, remove the lens vignette, and a bit of clarity. Then into Photoshop. In Photoshop, I cloned out a dark area in the sky and increased the contrast with a couple of curves layers + masks. For the colouring, this time I took it into Nik Color Efex Pro by Google, where I applied a couple of stacked filters to warm up the image, and give it a slightly cross processed look.

A little experiment begins. I've been playing with camera movement and long exposures for the last little while. Mostly because of this unintentionally blurred image I'm sharing with you today. I know this is not unique, and that there are several really good examples of intentional camera movement photographs, but that's not really the whole point is it? For some reason this image appeals to me, even if it was an accident, and that to me is the point. The exploration has been interesting even if it has just began. I don't quite get it as it such a departure from what I usually like to shoot and post. But heck, I'm going with it for a while :) Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some of these. I hope you like them as much as I think I do.

Field Notes

This shot was made in a terribly windy winter morning, in front of the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. I was attempting to make a long exposure of the area behind the Amsterdam Centraal Station, but the wind had better ideas. I think I accidentally triggered my remote shutter while moving to position the camera and tripod, while avoiding falling into the river.

Processing Notes

Initially processed in Lightroom, to bring up the exposure as it was very under exposed. This lead to a lot of noise being created, which meant I applied quite a bit of noise removal (again in Lightroom). Thankfully given the nature of the photograph, the noise reduction in this case, adds to the image rather then becoming an issue. It was then processed in Photoshop, where I adjusted overall contrast, and toned the image with a mixture of a curves layer, and solid colour layers to target the highlights and shadows. I finished by adding a dodge and burn layer, and dodging and burning particular areas of the image with a very large soft brush. Back into Lightroom where I added a little bit of clarity and exported.

Something a little different this week. Weeks ago in a cold winter day, I had the idea of making a long exposure of the flamingos at the Artis, the wonderful zoo in Amsterdam. I had hoped that most of them would be standing still and sleeping, and I got lucky, as they were. Long exposures of moving things are always a bit of a game of luck. I would say I got lucky this time :)Although not quite what I hoped for, I like how this one turned out as it is not the normal kind of long exposure you tend to see.Processing wise, it was Lightroom -> Photoshop -> Silver Fx Pro -> Lightroom. Shot with the Lee Filters Big Stopper with a 180 second exposure. Hope you like it, and please share it if you do!Thank you and see you again next Tuesday!John

When I first moved to Toronto, I was fascinated with the Subway. I used to make sure I would sit as close to the front car as possible, so that I could look out into the subway tunnels as the train moved from stop to stop. As the years went by, I stopped doing this. The novelty of riding an underground train vanished, it was more about just getting to work and back and dealing with the crowds during rush hour. But everyone once in a while, I would make my way to the front car, and once again stare out the window and onto the tunnel, and watched as each stop would come into view.One of those times, many years later, I made this photograph. It's an old one from the archives and it has been sitting in my publish queue for quite some time. I can't really tell you why today was the day I would publish it. It was processed in Lightroom and Photoshop. Lightroom for basic adjustments, and in Photoshop to achieve the final colouring and overall look.It is hardly original, but I think it conveys the feeling that I used to get when standing in the front car, looking out with wonder. Hope it does the same for you.Until next Tuesday,John

I've been thinking about Morocco and Marrakech the past few days. The landscapes of the Atlas Mountains and the desert are simply fascinating and have stayed in my mind. So I thought, why not post something from Morocco?This photograph was made from the balcony of a restaurant on our last night in Marrakech. I do not remember the name of the place, nor how we even got there, but it was lovely. You can see the Atlas mountains in the far left, and the wonderful colours of sun after it had gone down. Since this was in the old city, we of course became lost trying to find it. I believe we even walked past it at least twice before realising we were at the right place. You will do this a lot in Marrakech.Yes, Morocco should be on your bucket list.Processing wise, this image was "rescued". I hadn't intended to do much with it to be honest. I had underexposed to capture the amazing colours in the sky. But, nothing a good old shadow recovery can't help with. I did have to compensate with noise reduction, as shadow recovery on Canon 5D Mark II files just isn't great. For the toning, I started with one of the Velvia presets from VSCO Film Pack 4, and took it from there. Since this is pretty straight forward, I'm not posting a before or after, but if you would like to see it, please let me know in the comments below.As a side note, you may have noticed that I'm posting a new image here on this blog every Tuesday, and plan on continuing it. I am also thinking of starting to post once a week, a more general photography or travel post. I would like to ask you if you have any topics you would like to see me cover. I would love to hear your feedback.

Taken quite a few weeks ago when Amsterdam was covered in a thick winter fog. This area of Amsterdam is one of the most picturesque, as well as one of the oldest. Starting from the Brouwersgracht over in the Joordan, and stretching into the medieval core of the city, it is one of the most beautiful and most iconic locations of Amsterdam. An evening walk around here, will make you fall in love.

You have to be crazier than the rest of the people in Venice in order to get the best shots, which means getting up even earlier than what most people think is already an early time to wakeup. Waking up at 5am to capture the early morning scenes in Venice has its advantages. The main one being that you get there before anyone else, which means you get to pick your spots early :)This photo was an accident. I was photographing something in the complete opposite direction of this scene. Engrossed in my activity and listening to music as I often do while making photographs. I hadn't even noticed that models and photographers had arrived behind me, for the traditional shots of masked revelers at sunrise by the gondolas parked at Piazza San Marco.I turned around, saw the opportunity and quickly made two photographs before the lights went out!This is most likely the only photograph from this trip where I actively photographed the traditional costumes, and likely the only one I'll be sharing here.My intent this trip (from a photography perspective) was to make a few of the classic shots that I had missed previously, but also to try and do something different from the traditional and expected. I'm still working through those attempts, which I will hopefully share as a series with you.Processing wise, nothing too complicated, although I did have to remove a photographer and his tripod from the scene. But that was also kinda fun :) I took the two exposures and after basic adjustments in Lightroom, blended them with a gradient mask in Photoshop to increase the dynamic range. Made some minor colour adjustments using a curves layer, not to correct the colour, but to add to the overall mood and look of the scene. I did emphasise the light and how it falls off into the ground and models, with a feathered masked selection.Hope you enjoy it, more to come.

Before and After

[twentytwenty][/twentytwenty] PS. If you haven't already checked it out, I've started a dedicated FujiFilm project called the Fuji X Files where I am sharing photographs exclusively made with FujiFilm cameras like the X100 and X-Pro1. 

Taken in mid December, just before Christmas from the Top of the Rock with my FujiFilm X-Pro1 and the 23mm. Many people go to the Empire State Building, to take on the sights of Manhattan, but here's the thing. The view is mostly obstructed with heavy bars, and you need to stick your camera out through the bars to get any kind of good shot. Of course it is the Empire State Building, and it must be seen at least once.But, if you want great shots of Manhattan, the Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Centre is where you need to go. There are two levels in the observation deck, and the second level, has no obstructions. You also have two compelling vistas, south towards the Empire State Building, and north, towards Central Park.The X-Pro1 was a great companion during this trip. I was able to do take in the city without worrying about carry heavy equipment. I took only one lens, the amazing X23mmF1.4, and while I shot in RAW, I was seeing the world through a customised black and white picture style, which again, is one of the really nice things about the X-Series system. You get to see, what your image will look like. And I have to tell you, it is quite something to have.To process it, I used my own Lightroom preset based of a VSCO Film Tri-X preset, that approximated what I saw in the X-Pro1 viewfinder and applied it right at import time, resulting in a completely black and white workflow.Speaking of FujiFilm, I've started a small side project called the Fuji X Files over on Tumblr. Mostly I am posting only images I have taken using my Fuji cameras, but will probably expand it to include some articles and links around the Fuji X System world. Be sure to follow if you are curious.

I took this photo back in 2012 during the winter season. I remember this morning being one of those typical Canadian winter mornings, where its so damn cold that your snot freezes, but man was it a beautiful morning. I had just finished having lunch at the George Street Dinner, when I saw this scene.This is of course, an iconic scene in Toronto. Our very own "flat iron" building near the heart of the city. It's a distinctive building, dating back from 1892. From Wikipedia:

The red-brick Gooderham Building is a historic landmark of Toronto, Ontario, Canada located at 49 Wellington Street East. On the eastern edge of the city's Financial District (east of Yonge Street), it is in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood wedged between Front Street and Wellington Street, where they join up to form a triangular intersection. Completed in 1892, it was an early example of a prominent flatiron building. The Gooderham Building is the focal point of one of Toronto's most iconic vistas: looking west down Front Street towards the building's prominent rounded corner, framed on the sides by the heritage commercial blocks along Front Street, and with the skyscrapers of the Financial District towering in the background. The CN Tower is also visible from certain angles behind Brookfield Place. This vista frequently appears in imagery of the city.

On the geeky photo side of things, this was shot with my now classic Fuji X100, and still today what you can do with this little camera, is still impressive. The dynamic range on this photo is stelar, and there is no photoshop, and no HDR processing. Just plain old Lightroom and a great original RAW file.

Just before 2014 came to an end, I travelled to Amsterdam Noord and made this long exposure of the Veer Distelweg ferry stop. The weather was terrible and I did not manage to capture a log of cloud movement, but I am pleased how this turned out. I decided to process it in colour, and while I'm not sure yet, I think I will be doing more colour long exposures, rather than the traditional black and white treatments.I shot it using my trusty Lee Big Stopper, as well as 3 stop hard grad ND filter. Processed mostly in Lightroom, but I did take it into Photoshop to remove a few distracting elements, as well as the final colour treatment.  You can see the before and after below if you are curious.

Before and After

[twentytwenty][/twentytwenty]