View Post

Postcards from Vancouver Island

In News & Stuff, Postcards From..., The Craft, The Life Creative by David41 Comments

Every year, off the coast of Vancouver Island, the place I call home, the herring spawn by the millions. The usually dark green water turns a magnificent chalky blue-green as the herring do the reproductive dance that makes them a keystone species, while at the same time drawing in an astonishing number of animals: gulls, seabirds, bald eagles, sea otters, harbour …

View Post

Grizzly Bears: Big, Beautiful, and…Noise-Free?

In GEAR, Lightroom & Workflow, Postcards From..., Thoughts & Theory, Travel, Wilderness by David36 Comments

There is a powerful argument to be made for photographing what intrigues you, what you love, or that by which you are obsessed. Making photographs takes time, so that curiosity, love, or obsession serves you well when your best work demands not fractions of a second or even minutes, but hours, days, or—in the case of longer projects—even years.  Bears have …

View Post

Your Best Shot Isn’t (Usually) Your Only Shot

In Pep Talks, Postcards From..., The Craft, The Life Creative, Thoughts & Theory, Travel by David20 Comments

I traveled once with a photographer who would leap into a scene, press the shutter, and more often than not exclaim, “I got the shot!” Depending on whether you were there at the time or only heard of it after the fact, it was either really annoying or mildly amusing. If the direction into which he leapt to “get the shot” happened …

View Post

From “It’s Not Working,” to “How Can I Work It?”

In Postcards From..., The Craft, The Life Creative, Thoughts & Theory by David53 Comments

Have you ever spent time behind the camera working on that image you’ve got in your mind only to think (or mutter) to yourself some version of “this just isn’t working”? Have you ever been in front of one of those scenes or subjects about which someone has said, “You just can’t make a bad picture of this” only to …

View Post

Postcards from Socorro

In Postcards From..., Rants and Sermons by David19 Comments

  We have this astonishing notion as photographers that we just have to go to a cool place, put our cameras in front of cool things, and not screw up the exposure or the focus, in order to get compelling photographs. Deep down, though, I think we all know it’s not true, at least for us. Well, it’s rarely true …

View Post

Postcards from Varanasi

In Postcards From... by David21 Comments

Three weeks in Varanasi felt like a long time. Even the people that lived there kept shaking their heads in disbelief when I told them I was staying for 21 days. “Three weeks!” they’d exclaim, “In Varanasi? Why?” But they smiled when they did so and I think they were pleased that I was sticking around, if only to prolong …

View Post

Postcards from the Maasai Mara

In Postcards From... by David14 Comments

I left home just over 25 days ago now and am so thoroughly relaxed I think I’m ruined for life back in “the real world” when I return in a few days. I woke this morning to the sounds of birds and frogs and a troop of baboons loudly expressing their displeasure at a nearby leopard. Not a bad way …

View Post

Postcards from Lalibela

In Postcards From... by David10 Comments

I first went to Lalibela, Ethiopia, in January, 2006, arriving with some hundred-thousand pilgrims to a scene straight out of a biblical movie. Over ten years later, and having just finished my fourth time photographing this Christmas pilgrimage, the magic hasn’t waned a bit. Crowded with people in white robes, these ancient rock-hewn churches are a swirl of motion and …

View Post

Postcards from Lesotho

In Postcards From... by David13 Comments

After 2 weeks in the highlands of Lesotho I’m back in Johannesburg for a couple days to wash the dust off and get the bumps massaged out before beginning the long journey home. The highlight this morning was waking up in a bed that was not my sleeping bag, and getting a cup of coffee that was not powdered Nescafe. …