As we progress as photographers, reflecting on our past work is always interesting, especially as the years pass. I say interesting, but what I mean is partially nostalgic, a little bit of satisfaction, a good deal of considered deletions, and probably some choice words about previous creations. It’s a good thing no one will see these.

It is a 20-minute drive from where I live to the airport. I’ve done that drive often, to and from, dropping off and picking up. The route there isn’t exclusive to the airport, as it’s the main route from Nova Scotia to the neighbouring provinces. But those first 20 minutes always remind me of travelling. Passing the airport, the cargo planes are visible from the road, and if I’m lucky, some arriving or departing flights.

Travelling to Barcelona, I wondered what and how I wanted to capture. First, I wanted to be able to capture everything as sharply as possible, and that meant I had to sacrifice something. As I wanted a minimum shutter speed in all conditions, the ISO would inevitably need to increase based on the lighting conditions. Second, I wanted to shoot “blind.” The X-H2 has an articulating screen that makes it easy to shoot without looking at your subject.

While exploring Barcelona last month, we experienced a variation of weather. Initially, I was worried. Would I not experience Barcelona in what I imagined—beautiful weather and a favourable climate I love? After capturing only around 100 photos from the first 24 hours, I remember thinking, “I’m not going to get anything from this trip.” I was patient. I pushed that frustration aside and enjoyed what was before us regardless of what was to come.

As you probably guessed from the title, Barcelona was our destination for an impromptu trip. We had some fun choosing where to go. I listed each option on small pieces of paper, and we each chose our top three. If one location matched, that was our choice. Only after that would we look at accommodations, flights, and the weather. Travelling at the last minute is exciting, but something so close to embarkation time can get expensive.

Sometimes, I feel motivated to photograph with every chance I have. Other times, and this is especially true in the winter, my motivation declines as the bad weather, sometimes bitter wind chill, and overall inconvenience of going out to shoot take over, and nothing is captured. Taking each opportunity to photograph is essential as it will help with the progression and improvement of photography and the enjoyment of doing so.

My travel season is heating up, and I will be in Barcelona until early next week. I did have plans in January to escape the cold weather of Atlantic Canada, but unfortunately, things were not meant to be, and that trip never happened. I like to travel light, as minimizing what’s available benefits my photography. The restrictions allow me to concentrate on getting the photo instead of considering what camera or lens to use.

Planning travel is essential to enjoying our limited time in our destination of choice, but minimizing those plans can have benefits and make the entire event surrounding our trip more enjoyable. It has been said that the planning portion of a trip is a significant part of the enjoyment of the event. Before the trip, we have the advantage of discussing it with others: those coming with you, friends, family, and co-workers, for example.

I’ve always been fascinated with minimalism in photography, especially since I started travelling more regularly. Minimalism can transform a scene perceived as busy or chaotic into something focused. With a compositional change, the entire mood and impact of a photo are altered. Minimalism in photography is a style focused on simplicity and essential elements.

Over more than ten years, automotive photography has allowed me to capture a diverse range of vehicles of different types and values. Whether an expensive exotic or an everyday commuter, I believe each car deserves the same attention to detail to showcase its unique character through photography. With thoughtful planning and strategic execution, virtually any vehicle can be a captivating photographic subject.

Most modern cameras allow you to shoot RAW and JPEG simultaneously, capturing your subject’s uncompressed and unedited version and a compressed and processed version of the same file. You can alter the JPEG capture with Fujifilm, giving your JPEG file various treatments by choosing a predetermined film simulation or creating and using your custom recipe.

When travelling in different, unfamiliar locations, taking the necessary steps to be as safe as possible for yourself and your camera gear is essential. Travelling can be tiring and stressful, and when travelling with camera gear, it can be worrisome that your camera gear will be protected for the duration of your travels, both from damage and theft. Based on my experience, here are five tips to help you travel safely with your camera gear.

I’ve written numerous posts discussing automotive light painting. That includes the techniques and tips I believe will make your light painting most successful and the tools I use for light painting cars. Most of my light painting tools, including the Westcott Ice Light 2, my primary light source, have been in my repertoire for years. With the imminent release of the Ice Light 3, I thought it would be a good time to look back on the current Ice Light 2.

It’s been over a decade since I started travelling more regularly, and Lisa has been there for almost all of it. It all started with our first trip across the Atlantic, which took us to London at the end of 2012 and Paris in early 2013. Since then, there have been dozens of destinations, events, and shows, with countless restaurants, concerts, and many others. With the accumulation of these events, we have many photos and videos to look back on.

I was looking through my photo archives from 2023 and realized I had a great travel year. London, New York, Mexico, Chicago, and South Africa. I’m more than happy with the opportunities I had last year and the content I produced from those destinations. London was an entire week, New York was three days, and Chicago was only one day to shoot.