Ciao from Roma! We spent this evening walking through Rome in the rain, the shadows and reflections of this ancient city bounced back at us on the glistening cobbles, as we passed boutiques and wine bars, music and light pouring out of the wine bars. This morning we walked over to Vatican City, and yesterday it was the Colosseum, …
Postcards from Lucca
I’m sending these postcards with a heavy heart from Lucca, a night after the new attacks on Paris, hoping someone out there needs a reminder that there is still good in the world, that beauty remains as imperfect but undiminished as always. That our ways of expressing grief and compassion and empathy for others may, like beauty, not be perfect, …
Postcards from Venice
Ciao from Venice! I shared this last week with 3 new friends in Venice, all here to do the first in what is, for me, a new kind of workshop. With just three students, all here to see Venice, of course, but also to work on a very specific body of work, it was a very intimate workshop. The week …
Postcards from London
Some things are over far too quickly. 3 nights in London has gone by like a shot. But the days were packed with long walks and sights I haven’t seen since I was 15 years old, juxtaposed by things that weren’t even here 30 years ago. The city remains terminally cool – in fact it just seems to get cooler. …
Postcards from Skye
We arrived in London a week ago and, jetlagged and a little confused about driving on the left and how exactly one determines the speed limit, we made our way to Scotland’s Isle of Skye. It’s beautiful here – almost magical. It has some of the remoteness and magic of both Iceland and Newfoundland’s Fogo Island. We’ve spent our time …
The Great Bear Rainforest
There’s a patch of land on the coast of British Columbia that’s become known as the Great Bear Rainforest. Humpback whales make these waters their home, rising from the black water to throw their breath into the fog before diving again, their massive flukes, crusted with barnacles, seem to wave goodbye as they do. The labyrinthine islands, low, shaggy emerald …
Learning Mastery
Facebook did it to me again. A headline promised me I could master photography easily. It sent me (I couldn’t help it, I was curious) to an infographic about apertures and shutter speeds and focus modes and rules of thirds. I read it all. And when I was done I knew exactly what I knew when I was 15 years …
It’s the Vision Is Better Show!
Today we launched the Vision Is Better show, a mostly-weekly 10-15 minute video podcast about photography. I’ve pre-recorded the first 6 of them and they’re live now on You Tube and I’m hoping that you’ll do 2 things for me – the first is subscribing. The second is asking questions in the comments. I’m hoping these questions will become the …
Back in the Khutzeymateen
Three days is not enough for these adventures, even less so when Air Canada loses your luggage en route to Prince Rupert and you’re socked in by fog the first morning, but when we finally flew into the Khutzeymateen Inlet in British Columbia’s wild west coast, and began sitting with the grizzlies from our inflatable zodiac, it’s like time just …
New Ideas, New Directions
Today is one of those days. And this is one of those rambling posts. Feel free to skip it if you’re looking for something with a single coherent point that’s easy to follow. We’ve just said goodbye to my mother at the airport and I’m settled on the couch in our new place in Victoria, surrounded by light and birdsong …