Enjoy, John

Classic Route 66

A random church along Route 66

The beautiful combination of a red filter and great clouds.

The Post Office

The Ocotillo in Joshua Tree National Park

The Swtich

Union Pacific near the Salton Sea

Simple living in Amboy, California

A random shed during a quick break

Like all well-intended camping trips where you dream of open blue skies and brisk fresh air, it rained the entire time. But we made the most of it and I found myself gravitating toward the things I loved photographing in Northern Michigan. Door County is very similar to Northern Michigan, but without a quickly growing town like Traverse City there seemed to be fewer people and less tourism on the western side of the lake.

My two grey-haired girls in our Aliner camper.

Beautiful blue flowers in bloom near our campsite's fresh water source.

Ephraim's historic Anderson Dock

Graffiti up close.

An old dairy vehicle parked alongside the road.

Gus Klenke Garage in color

I rarely do this but I loved this location so much I decided to shoot in both color and  black and white. I shot the black and white versions with a slightly wider angle lens.

Gus Klenke Garage in black and white.

Where I grew up many of the views are populated with abandoned farm houses from a time long gone. I've always found solace in photographing these farms and imagining how much it strength it took to survive, let alone thrive. My guess is they weren't spoiled by $6.00 cupcakes.

Door County farm house

And old farmhouse door in Door County.

The Faith II at Gil's Rock

A real drive in theater. We didn't have time on this trip, but next time for sure!

The famous winding road of Door County.

Not to be missed, but the famous Ford Truck sticking out of the garage along highway 42

The quick road trip was an amazing time even given the bad weather. It actually provided some nice active skies and a bit of a moodiness for my photography. I'm not sure I'll give up my creature comforts any time soon, but the trip was a nice reprieve from our daily lives and allowed us to break away from the minutia and spend some quality time chatting, laughing, photographing, and connecting with the wonderful people of Door County. Next time we go I'm told not to miss the fish boil at the old Post Office. We'll be going back for sure.

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This was our awesome team from last year! They walked thousands of steps and took thousands of photos, and I'm pretty sure we had thousands of laughs.

Venice is a great place to photograph people. The pace is a little slower and people are always on foot or spending time in the squares.

The gondoliers with their old fashioned striped uniforms and hats provide many photo opportunities.

I thought texting and driving was a problem. I guess in Venice texting and rowing is the equivalent.

The small, quiet canals create many reflection opportunities of the old colorful buildings and boats.

I can never resist this classic Venice image of the gondolas parked near San Marco square. When the sky is active with clouds at sunset, this is the first place we go to set up for that timeless shot.

While trying to find our restaurant for dinner, we passed this little boat being lit by a small open doorway across the canal. We passed it many times during the day and never gave it a second look. But at night with low light and the glow from the doorway, it became a magical scene.

I love the colors of Murano. The buildings there are more colorful than Venice, so it's fun to walk down the back streets away from the glass factories to find these little gems.

Can you have too many photos of the laundry on lines above the quaint streets and canals? I know I can't seem to get enough.

The seafood market is held in this building and when it rains I like to hang out under the cover of the roof and watch for people entering the light.

Navigating these streets is a bit tough for outsiders, but the locals always know the best routes to take through the tiny, winding alleys between canals. This is probably one of my favorite film shots taken with my Leica M6 using Portra 160.

Since there are no cars on Venice, boats are the only real form of transportation. You'll see the ambulance boat, the “truck” boats, the fishing boats, and the fast boats among all the gondolas.

See what I said about the laundry?

I hope you enjoyed this mini-tour through Venice. It is one of the best places to photograph in the entire world if you ask me, and I just can't wait to go back.  Hopefully you'll join me there!

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In celebration of possibly the most romantic day of the year, here are a few stolen moments….

Now for those of you who think I'm a hopeless romantic and a public affection aficionado, the real truth is that I happen to love birthday cake, and Valentines Day is the one day of the year I get to have my favorite kind and eat as much as I want. But I thought a bunch of photos of people snuggling their birthday cakes might be weird, so I went with romance instead.  

My trusted Monochrom

I spent most of my time in New York wandering around Manhattan, and what I quickly learned is there's nothing typical about a day in New York City. There is so much to see and so many images to capture. The only thing typical about a day in New York is there's never enough time in the day.

I decided to spend a day focusing on my black and white street photography, so I headed out with my Leica Monochrom kit which included a 35mm, 21mm, and 50mm. Generally I shoot with my 35mm, but I love my 21mm for architecture and hip shooting. The 50mm is a challenge for me, but I have come to embrace it's constraints in framing and adore it's efficiencies.

I had recently upgraded my Monochrom to the 246 model and heard the battery life was fantastic, but I thought I would put it to the test and make it my goal to just shoot until the battery died. I planned on about 5-6 hours of shoot time, but this new battery just wouldn't give up the ghost.

Thankfully those roasted peanuts from the street vendors provided the fuel for this journey since the Frosted Mini Wheats were not cutting it after about the 15,000th step. While I was slowly losing steam after 9 hours, the Leica battery seemed like it would never die, so I finally started heading back. The bugger did eventually give in about 5 blocks from home so I can say I did meet my goal. I'm happy for the new longer battery life, but next time I'll pick a more reasonable goal. I ended up shooting for ten hours straight, putting 39,000+ steps on my pedometer, and hitting the shutter over 700 times.

Oculus Rush

Most of the 700 shots were blurry hip shots from playing around, but I got a few keepers too. What follows is a short slideshow of a few of my favorite shots from a day in New York with just me, my Leica, three lenses, and a battery that wouldn't quit.

I hope you enjoy.

p.s. If you received this post via email then you'll need to visit the blog to see the slideshow below.  

The Arno river runs through the center of the city. You can't visit Florence without taking hordes of photos of the Ponte Vecchio and the reflections of the buildings in the river.

Florence is known as a destination wedding location. Here newlyweds embrace on Ponte Vecchio.

We found fun viewpoints in the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Uffizi Gallery.

Bicycles are a major form of transportation for people of all ages.

I spent much of my time exploring the city with my M6 and roll of Portra. Here, a local artist makes brass bracelets with a pair of pliers and a hammer.

There is nothing like exploring the markets of Florence. A dog stands guard as his owner sets up shop for day.

I think all the workshop attendees were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of interesting artwork and graffiti around every corner.

Street photographers can be so annoying.  This young man gets very close to two nuns taking photographs of Cupola del Brunelleschi, a famous domed church in central Florence. Portra 160

I will admit I enjoy people watching from a distance. Here, locals gathered to chat at the carousel in the Piazza della Repubblica. Portra 160.

Much of street photography is about patience and finding a location that provides opportunities. I liked the dark red mailboxes and the red floor tiles, so I waited until the proverbial “woman in red” appeared. Portra 400.

It wouldn't be Italy if there wasn't high fashion. This young woman was modeling clothing from her boutique. Taken with my M6 and Portra 160.

I don't know the story behind these fun drawings, but this artist's work could be seen throughout the city.

Door buzzers were even fun to photograph. The graffiti artists in Florence are a whimsical bunch.

Florence architecture is amazing with its beautiful arches, doorways, and classic old plaster adding a textural element.

A local artist takes a smoke break while enjoying the view from Piazzale Michelangelo.

Lastly, I need to thank Carl (a long time client and workshop attendee) for this opportunity. His friend is related to this extremely talented violin maker who invited us to view her workshop. She makes the finest violins in all the world, and we were able to see her working on guitar for a few minutes.

For me Florence is most of all about art and workmanship. In every detail and around every corner in this city you find gorgeous architecture, leather workers sewing purses and shoes or making belts, artists painting or sculpting, jewelers creating one-of-a-kind jewelry, tailors making custom clothing, and more. Being in Florence I am reminded of the value of working with one's hands to make beautiful things. I can't wait to go back!

My dad and I hanging out on the river together.

A few years back I wrote a post with lots of Father's Day gift ideas for those of you who have photography-loving dads. It's been a long time, so I thought I would update it for this year's Father's Day gift seekers. Everything I'm recommending is something I've either owned myself or something my clients use and love, so I feel very comfortable recommending these as great gifts for Father's Day. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to share your ideas in the comments below.

Photo Accessory Gift Ideas

• Think Tank's Pee Wee Pixel Pocket Rocket for the organized dad. If he uses the Compact Flash (larger cards), then he'll want that one, and if he uses the SD (smaller cards) then he'll want this SD Pixel Pocket.  It's a great way to keep track of all those SD cards.
• A Hoodman Loupe to help view the back of his camera's LCD.
• A Hoodman LCD Protector will protect the back of the camera from scratches and dirt.
• Eneloop rechargeable battery set. These are a huge improvement to the old school rechargeables and they work great with an external flash that requires AA batteries.
• A lens pen kit is a super handy way to keep lenses and filters clean. While I'm on workshop I always have a lens pen in my pocket. These are wonderful for removing smudges off the lens.
• Think Tank's newest Urban Approach 15, updated to fit a laptop computer. I was so happy when they came out with a small backpack that also fit a laptop that I had to get one. I love it and highly recommend it!

Creative Father's Day Gift Ideas

• Create a Blurb book for your dad with some of your fondest memories. Use BATDORFF25  and get 25% off your next order.
• If your Dad loves taking panoramas then print one of his favorites under Whitewall's acrylic. I have two in my office and the quality is a amazing.
• Formatt Hitech Filter kits are a great gift to take dad's photography to the next level. The ND Starter kit is a great place to start.

Techie Father's Day Gift Ideas

• An Eye Fi card will bring your dad into the 21st century and allow him to send his images from his camera straight to his Bluetooth enabled portable device such as his phone or tablet.
• Digital Photographers always need backup devices. Checkout a 2 TB Wireless WD Passport drive and make sure Dad is backing up all those images properly! The newest version of these drives allows you to connect wirelessly… pretty amazing!
• Give dad the gift of efficiency with a list of the Keyboard Shortcuts for Lightroom. It doesn't cost much, but he will thank you for sure!
• A subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud bundle for photographers. Dad will get Lightroom and Photoshop, the top tools on the market for managing and editing digital photographs.
• Wacom Tablets are excellent for editing photos. I use the medium tablet at my desktop and love it. It's even a decent size to pack in my bag for working with my laptop. It takes a little getting used to, but once you use one then you'll never look back!
• Is your dad an organizational freak? I own several Think Tank cable management pouches. These things are great for separating batteries, cables, filters, and so on.

Fun Father's Day Gift Ideas

• A Lens Mug. Every photographer wants to drink coffee out of a camera lens!
• If your Dad loves Star Wars and is constantly traveling then he'll love this  Star Wars charger and think of you every time he uses it! Hint Hint Anna…
• Does your dad have a sweet man cave? He'll want a Film Canister TP roll for sure!
• A gift card to BorrowLenses.com so dad can check out that new camera or lens he's had his eye on.
• Who doesn't need an ultra lightweight jacket that weighs only 3.6oz and will fit right inside a camera bag to have in case the weather picks up while dad is out shooting. I never leave home without my Patagonia Houdini jacket!

The Gift of Learning

• A  gift certificate for one-on-one photography instruction with yours truly…I couldn't make a gift list without including myself! We can work together in the studio for local dads, or online using WebEx to mentor your dad to get his photography to the next level.
• A photography workshop is always a great gift for shutterbug dads. We also happen to offer those too.

Rome is known for it's fashion. The people there are definitely dapper dressers!

Italy is known for it's classic streets and storefronts…

…as well as the artisan community. This man builds his frames one by one using a little glue, a hammer, and some nails.

It's “nunsense” to think you're the only one who enjoys shopping for Italian shoes!

It wouldn't be the Vatican if there weren't a naked statue with a personal guard around every corner.

The only way to truly take in St. Peter's Basilica is to sit back and enjoy it's grandiose beauty.

The streets of Rome are gritty and colorful. Frankly, some people just blend right in there.

There's a hidden treasure around every corner in Italy and our workshop crew milked every photo opportunity!

Rome has over 900 churches! A young person sketched Jesus from a pew in one of them.

There's something very magical about night photography in Italy. A big shout out to Jon for catching this one along our walk.

Rome had so much to offer in terms of travel and street photography.

Who knew rollerblading and drinking beer was big thing on a Saturday in the park?

The Italian kids were the best. Since I have a 15 year old daughter, nothing was lost in translation.

There are some places that I just prefer to photograph in black and white. The Colosseum is absolutely one of those places.

The vast size of the Forum was incredible. To add drama to this image I used a red filter on my Leica Monochrom.

We walked nearly 8 miles every day. I know it's a lot, but I'm a big believer in getting around on foot and public transportation when it comes to visiting a city like Rome. When you walk that much with a camera in tow you're bound to get a few shots of the ground. The image served as a reminder that we really did pound the pavement and we were rewarded for our hard work. Once I get to the end of the series, I'll share some work from our participants as well so you can see more than just my perspective. I hope you enjoyed Rome. Next up…Florence!

The tools I love

Tonality has a host of tools that I love and which have become the backbone of my workflow. These include basic tone adjustments (exposure, contrast), clarity and structure sliders, and tone curve and color slider adjustments.

The user interface is very similar to most image editing software programs with an easy to follow, top-down approach to editing. If you're familiar with Lightroom or Silver Efex Pro then this workflow will feel very natural. But, what's great about Tonality is they didn't stop with the basics. They have provided us with a host of other creative editing tools including lens blur, glow, texture overlay, and more for artists who want to create a very unique style.

Presets

For the preset lovers out there, Tonality comes with a ton of presets already loaded. If you'd like more you can visit their Tonality Preset Page  and download presets from some of your favorite artists, including your's truly. I created a Travel preset series while on our Italy workshop, pulling inspiration from my amazing surroundings while fueled by good food. I'd like to say that these presets are sponsored by Italian pizza and gelato. The Presets are incredibly easy to install: simply sign up and download them, then drag the file onto the Tonality icon at the bottom of your screen and the presets install themselves.

Another cool feature is the ability to dial back the opacity of a preset's effects simply by moving a slider. You can also stack presets and effects in layers.

What about Silver Efex Pro 2?

I love Silver Efex Pro 2, and while the program is still functioning on most operating systems, it’s been made clear by Google  that future developments will be limited to updates to guarantee compatibility with the latest operating systems. Frankly, this isn’t news and is simply a confirmation of what many of us had suspected for years. Google needed Nik's algorithms and technology for other projects (e.g. Google Plus and Snapseed). PC users: Nik is still is probably one of your best bets outside of Lightroom because Tonality only works on Macintosh computers.

Looking Ahead

If I had to envision a future for Silver Efex Pro then Tonality would be it with only one caveat: I wish it was available for PC users as well. However, I respect a company that sticks to its core competency and creates great products. Tonality has a rich feature set that perfectly melds the tools we love in Photoshop with a user friendly interface that is intuitive too.

Here are a few images processed using one click of my Travel presets for Tonality

Classic BW Preset

Gritty Preset

Deep Shadows Preset

My nit picks

An honest review of Macphun Tonality wouldn't be complete without a few constructive criticisms, so I have some small complaints, but they really are nit picking if anything. There is a small lag in rendering the after-image when you resize the screen. Importing presets is extremely easy — simply drag the presets onto the Tonality Icon and they’re installed — however, adding presets to already established categories (or folders) is less intuitive and appears to be done at the system folder level. But, these are far from deal killers and if anything they're just fixes to look forward to in future releases.

Conclusion

For Macintosh users, Tonality is the future of black and white processing. Its algorithm creates beautiful black and white images and is supported by a strong suite of tools. But, like with anything, I always recommend kicking the tires first. You can download Tonality for free HERE to try it on for size. Check it out and let me know what you think by leaving a comment here on the blog. I have a feeling you're going to truly enjoy it.

Badwater basin is normally all crystal white with dried salt, but this year it was filled with water and the reflections were some of the best that I can ever remember. I guess we weren't  alone in our thinking as another photographer rode his bike out to the basin to capture an amazing sunset.

Personally I could have spent the entire week at Badwater just photographing the reflections of the mountains on the salt flat. As the sun went down it cast the most beautiful light on this desert lake, creating an otherworldly scene.

Despite our salty and wet feet, I don't think anyone from our team really wanted to leave as the light was simply unreal, and the colors amazing. 

It wasn't just the presence of the water and light that made Death Valley so different this time around for us, it was also the fun and interesting people we met along the way. Meet Sierra, a very vibrant, sweet, and sincere guy from California. He and his crew of teachers were on the flats practicing some yoga poses and enjoying the photography. I heard him say he needed to get wider, so I walked over and loaned him my Zeiss 15mm so he could try it out. Meeting new people and sharing a beautiful location with good souls and swapping stories (and lenses!) are the moments that define a memorable trip. (Sierra, if you're reading this, how did those photos turn out? We'd love to see them!)

Sierra with his friends enjoying a beautiful sunset at Badwater.

The rains didn't stop international travelers either. We arrived at Devil's Golf Course, which admittedly isn't my favorite location to photograph in Death Valley because of it's harsh conditions and drab colors. But, like I said, the desert never ceases to amaze me. This fellow photographer was visiting with friends from Vancouver to photograph Death Valley as well, but if I hadn't known better I would have thought she was a model shooting a camera ad.  She was a good sport and even provided the group with some fun photographic opportunities beyond that of Devil's Golf Course landscape. 

The sunrise at the dunes is hard to beat as far as epic photo ops go, and while the hike takes a little bit of time, the reward is worth it. This year I decided to step back from my digital camera and spend more time shooting with my Pentax 6×7 loaded with Kodak Portra 160. The team was all set up and shooting away, so I took a step back and watched the sun slowly peak up over the horizon. How a place so desolate can be so beautiful will always inspire me.

I have yet to see a bad picture from the dunes as the lines and ripples morph and change as the sun moves overhead.

And for me this year the dunes were about shadows, shapes, and texture of the landscape. I wanted to break it down to it's simplest forms and see if I couldn't maximize the impact of the small things.

People always ask me why I love Death Valley so much. There's simply no other place like it on earth…

And, I'm a sucker for long shadow shots!