David’s Blog
All About the Light in Kenya
One of the main reason I went on this trip to Kenya was to follow-up on the Luci Lights I had sent over to Konditi Primary School a year ago. Lucy Lights are small but very bright solar lights that my non-profit, All About the Light, gives away to people living without electricity. I gave lights to every 6th, 7th and 8th grader at the school to help them...
New York City from the Street
I know. This is not something I would normally be doing but, as the saying goes, when in Rome photograph from the street (this is not a well known saying). I was down in Manhattan recently investigating the possibility of a new project and I found myself in a horse drawn carriage through the city. This is not the normal horse drawn carriage ride that...
Oregon Coast Workshop in July
It is time to put your name into the hat and sign up for my Oregon Coast Workshop I am doing with Brenda Berry through the Santa Fe Workshops. I shouldn't really have to tell you how great it is to photograph on the Oregon Coast but just in case you have been living under a rock and don't know about the charms of the Oregon Coast here are a few- several...
Your Own Photographer’s Guide
When I first came to Vermont I wanted to reacquaint myself with the state that I had grown up exploring so I made a journal to record my travels and photographic discoveries. Everywhere I went to photograph, every place that I took a picture I recorded in this journal. Two years later this journal became The Photographer's Guide to Vermont published by the...
Two Beds of Tulips
Back at Keukenhof Gardens but without my tilt lens (I used my old standby- 24-120mm) so I cranked up my ISO to 2000 settled on a shutter speed of 1/30th and shot at f14 for a few hours.
Fountain Fun
...and so while I was waiting for my crowd to assemble in Amsterdam I amused myself taking pictures of people in a fountain... ...fast shutter speed, wide open, zoomed out, sitting on a park bench... ...and then cranking up the processing- maxed clarity, vibration, saturation and all the sharpness sliders... ...and then everyone showed up... and I...
Tulips of the Netherlands
Hello from the Netherlands! I'm across 'the pond' on a quick vacation floating the canals of Holland. I had hoped that the tulip season would be delayed a week or so because the timing of this trip was late but my luck ran out and the fields of color from the blooming flowers are all past. We did find color at the Keukenhof Gardens, the largest bulb...
Uganda Update
I wanted to update all of you who have expressed interest in my recent trip to Uganda and my efforts to continue to help the people I met. More than a month has gone by since my return and I remain committed to answering the question- How can I help? It seems like an easy thing to do to help people but it turns out it is incredibly difficult and...
Using a Diffuser Properly
Since it is now Spring (just barely here in Vermont) I thought it would be good to write about the proper use of a diffuser. For those of you who have suffered through one of my tiresome workshops you have probably seen me demonstrate diffuser use but for those of you who haven't here goes. A diffuser is nothing more than a semitransparent piece of nylon...
Processing Bad Light
In my previous post I wrote about the options I use and don't use when I am trying to photograph in less than ideal light. A vast majority of the time I just wait for better light to solve my bad light problems. If I am photographing something small I will most of the time use a diffuser and rarely use a reflector (I use a reflector when I have someone to...
Photographing Bad Light
One of the hardest things to photograph well are dark subjects in very bright light. This is because in bright , strong light the camera's meter is overwhelmed. It can't handle the range from brightest to darkest tonalities so it bunches all the very dark tones and all the very bright tones together resulting in an image that appears even brighter and even...