Light in a Box

A mountain laid before me in 2019 with years of travel yet to be edited. Determined, the goal was to level that mountain by 2020. I didn't get close! But I did manage to put a solid dent in that massive pile of photos. Some of these trips have been collecting dust for years and some were taken a few months ago. To give a quick sample of all the long hours of editing throughout last year my next list of 10 is my favorite photos edited during 2019. (The list doesn't contain photos on or coming to the gallery) 10. Manarola In the spring of 2018, I spent the better part of two weeks sprinting around Italy. From Milan to Venice, Tuscany and the Cinque Terre to the Amalfi Coast the wheels kept moving. By the end of the trip, there were thousands of photos to edit. Finally, last year I closed the folder on that epic journey and was left craving cliff side pesto and wine. Coming in at #10 on the list is this photo of Manarola, one of the Cinque Terre. This photo is perfect for a...

As a traveling photographer with a travel agent for a wife, there is no shortage of trips in the works. Between my interest in jam-packed road trips and her love for jet setting vacations, the two of us have to make a lot of decisions every year. To give you an idea of what could be in store for the coming year I've made my 10 possible photo excursion list a staple of my 10 lists of 10. As usual, we countdown from least to most likely to occur. So without further ado let's see where the camera could be heading in 2020. 10. Oregon You can never rule out a spontaneous trip to the Pacific Northwest. Sarah has been dying for a return to the Oregon coast so much that we've discussed a month-long vacation. With that on the back burner for another year, a brief refresh of the lush Oregon wilderness may still be in order. When you find a place you love, it's hard to fight the urge to go back. 9. Yellowstone National Park One of my 10 road trips from last year, Yello...

This list has been part of every 10 lists of 10 and it's only fair to keep the tradition going in 2020. My goals for the coming year can range from personal aspirations to professional wishes. This year's list is primarily photography related with high hopes for 2020. To accomplish all of the goals on this year's list would be a huge boost to my photography career even though some items aren't personally appealing as you will find with the first goal on the list. 10. Come to Terms with Social Media Some of you may have noticed my absence from Instagram and Facebook to close out 2019. I have a poor relationship with social media, always have. As it's morphed into a narcissistic landscape of attention-seekers I've wanted even less to do with it. Unfortunately, after months of neglecting my accounts, I still don't feel any desire to be active. However, there are hundreds of you that have clicked my follow button in order to keep up with my whereabouts, even ...

The best thing about artists is we all see the world differently. Half the fun of shooting with another photographer is seeing how they compose their images. I've been on photo walks before where the other photographer and I shot back to back most of the day just because our eyes led us in different directions. My eye loves details, lines, and textures whereas others may love a wider crop to show the grand scene. Over the years of traveling, there are specific places that personally stand out for their photographic inspiration. Here are my 10 favorite places to photograph. 10. New Places I know, cop-out! I love traveling to new places and as a photographer, I try to approach them with fresh eyes. It's so easy to research new locations and enter with unconscious inspiration. I prefer to enter a new location as blind as possible and let my eye guide me. After an initial visit, the temptation to recreate a shot is always there and the depth of observation is reduced having seen...

There's only one way to kick off 2020's 10 lists of 10, with 2019's most popular list, the 10 most popular photos from 2019. That was a lot of doubling up but it's 2020, the year of repetition. This list consists of the 10 most popular photos from 2019. I've taken into account sales numbers, social media statistics and personal interactions and randomly assigned values to each in order to rank these photos. How many likes equals a complement? How many compliments add up to a sale? Does it matter? Let's start the countdown! 10. Great Sands 2 After adding the "Sands Study" to the Long Shutter Project last spring, I couldn't help but pepper Instagram with photos from that series. While #10 here didn't make the actual series, it was shot on one of the excursions taken for that project. Narrowing the series down to 20 was challenging and a lot of great photos got cut. Had Instagram had their say, this one would have been on the website. Of al...

Here we are again, the annual clean slate. A fresh calendar means a fresh outlook on the coming 12 months. In prior years I, like you, opened my eyes on January 1st focused, motivated, and optimistic. Behind all of that positive energy, however, was the memory of the failed goals and forgotten resolutions of a year ago. For the previous 365 days, I'd molded my ball of clay into the person I wanted to be but come January 1st, that creation would get mashed back into a ball in pursuit of a new vision. Once again I started this year focused, motivated and optimistic. Rather than staring at a freshly balled up pile of clay, I like what I created in 2019 and I'm going to continue to mold it. Welcome to 2020, the Year of Discipline Part Two. Every year I feel like I talk about building a foundation or laying the groundwork for next year to build upon. It's during this time of year that I reflect and realize there's a new section to develop or another area needs to be rework...

To begin every year I sit down and plot a course for the coming 12 months. 2016 was the "Year of Establishment" where the foundation for this dream was constructed. 2017 was the "World Tour" where dreams of travel and building my name were the priority. 2018 was the "Year to do Better" where my previously low expectations were raised dramatically to the level of "better". If this were a mission to the moon all that would've been accomplished in those first three years was a pair of scrapped test rockets and a sketch of the Earth with an arrow pointing to the moon. 2019 started just as the previous three years had started, with a goal. 2019 was the "Year of Discipline" and the goal was to develop exactly that. For too long I'd taken things slow thinking my head was in the clouds when it was really somewhere physically impossible to reach. Distractions became my favorite thing behind excuses. The word "busy" got thrown...