During the summer of 2023 I went on an amazing trip to Europe with the goal of taking beautiful photos and enjoying the sights. But what gear did I take with me, and how did I choose what was worth taking up precious space in my bag?
All in Sony A7III
Europe Trip 2023: Brugge (Part 1)
After touching down in Europe I hit the streets of Brugge with the intention of using street photography to try to stay awake and reset my sleep schedule. Severely jet-lagged I was able to get some images in the early evening as the shadows grew longer.
How I Made a Cool Logo Out of Just Coffee
One day I was struck with an idea, what if instead of having my business cards be my logo over the top of an image I took, what if I took product photo style images like my business has been focused on in recent years, but the subject itself was the logo.
What it's Like Using the Brand New Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
After pre-ordering the newly updated Sony 70-200 F2.8 GM in mid December I was left waiting until mid February to actually have the lens in my hands. For my first shooting session with the lens I went to a local park and beach where dogs of all sizes and breeds frolic freely. I felt this would be a great opportunity to test out the autofocus speed and performance.
Great Photos Don't Require Crazy Locations
With many people struggling with finding ways to create interesting photos due to the current shelter in place, I decided to challenge myself with seeing what I could capture just in my back yard.
Photographing Scrubs on Seamless White
Inspired by the catalog images on the website for the company making her nursing garments my girlfriend wanted images on a clean white background, both traditional headshots, and catalog style full length images.
I Brought The Bare Minimum of Gear on a Hike
On a long hike such as the eight mile one I took on this day at the Briones Reservoir, I felt the weight of the singular lens and camera body, it was an extra burden I would have preferred to have left at home. But when the sun began to get lower in the sky there were images I just had to capture.
Hiking in the Woods with Only an 85mm Lens
While trying to get out of a creative rut I decided to give myself a bit of a challenge: go out for a hike in the woods with the intention of taking photos, but only bring an 85mm prime lens. While the weather wasn't the most cooperative for getting interesting images, I managed to find some inspiration amongst the trees and create a few compositions.
Midday Natural Light Portraits on a Hike
While on the trails one overcast day my hiking partner asked for me to take some photos of her for Instagram. Always up for a challenge and carrying my camera as usual I jumped at the chance to take some photos.
Revisiting an Old Location After a Snowstorm
Looking back through many of my images from the first half of this year I stumbled upon a series of images from an outing just after a snowstorm that I never posted while the images aren’t the best ones from my first Winter in New Hampshire, the story of revisiting a location I had previously photographed in the Fall made for what I find to be an interesting story.
Fantasy Product Photography
During a product photography shoot at the beginning of this last spring I was looking for exciting ways to create additional visual interest in some of the the shots. With the limitation of not being able to take the item with me out into the world I sought to create some beautiful images using a hand crafted sword.
Creating Coffeeshop Vibes in the Studio
I wanted to capture the warm natural vibes of this beautiful mug from Soul Pine Pottery while drawing attention to the texture of the clay’s surface.
Hidden Amongst the Ferns
One of the lesser known beauties of Berkeley is the Regional Parks Botanic Garden. While most people would go to the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens at the base of the Berkeley hills, this more relaxed and completely free experience is perhaps even more worth having.
An Afternoon in Muir Woods
As a child I remember looking up at the trees that seemed to scrape the sky while the sunlight lazily filtered to the forest floor. Visiting as an adult is a very different experience.
My Favorite Portrait Lighting Setup
To start off my year with making something new I decided to take a new self-portrait and take you along to see the whole process by showing how I take a portrait with my favorite lighting set-up from start to finish!
The Last of the Fall Colors
With Fall coming to a close and the last of the leaves falling off the trees I decided to go out and capture the color before it's gone for the year.
Photography San Francisco From a Car Window
Sometimes I will be performing a mundane task, in this case going to a doctor’s appointment in the city, and I will get a gut feeling that I just have to bring my camera. This was one of those days; a day where something about the air just felt like photography.