Category Archives: Travel

hipstomatic, Iphone, Iphone 5, location, personal, photography, Snapseed by Nik, Travel

Take the Road less Traveled

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I was coming home from a two day job in Santa Maria the other day by myself.  It’s a 300 mile drive.  One thing you quickly notice is not only how tired you get but also how beautiful and different the area is than southern California.  My original intent was to drive straight through.  Counting LA traffic nearly a 6 hour drive.

Then something wonderful happened.  I remember seeing an old steel structured bridge spanning a valley along the coast near Gaviotas.  So, I decided to become an explorer and see what surprised awaited.  A short drive down a narrow winding road opened up and I found myself at the Gaviotos State Beach parking lot and the structure I had seen the other day.  An added treat was that right between the iron and steel beams was a pathway to an empty beach.

After shooting for a half hour and enjoying my new found subject I remembered I still had a long trek home.  I reluctantly left but content with my discovery, refreshed to continue the drive and the desire to look for new places to explore.

techy stuff:  Iphone5, capture in Hipstamatic app and processed in Snapseed.

Iphone, location, personal, photography, Travel

The Big Kahuna

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Lumihana Beach in Kauai.  My wife’s favorite beach.  Last Thursday it was mine.  Lumihana as the beach Hollywood used for the old WWII movie the South Pacific featuring Lana Turner.  Normally there is a gentle surge in the beach area but this day a western swell hit creating 12 – 20 feet waves.  As we were walking about 100 yards down a secluded path we could increasingly hear the roar and pounding of the waves on the volcanic rock ledge surrounding the beach.  I’ve never heard anything so intimidating and violent at the beach.  We sat down in our beach chairs and just watched the show nature played out for us.  Needless to say we didn’t go into the water.

techy stuff:  shot with the Iphone5 on the regular camera mode and processed in the Snapseed app.

career, Lightroom 4, location shoot, photography, Travel

Getaway

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We all need that special place.  Be it close by or halfway around the world we all need a place that has a hold on us.  The place that feels good, has the mojo to help recharge us, that make you feel safe, that you don’t forget and often return to.

Kauai, the northern most Hawaiian island, is our special place.  We’ve been coming here on and off for 24 years, since our honeymoon.  We have experienced the island go through many changes, a hurricane, an abundance of water, a drought, the effect of the economic collapse,  the death of a beloved local surfer and the resiliency to survive, never forget and move on.  We’ve also seen a kind, compassionate, caring culture  of the people that love their home.  The “aloha” factor.

This is our special place, it is a part of us.  No matter the situation we alway have a unique experience.  I try to share what we love about Kauai with our friends through my photography of our travels and adventures.  Every person has to find their own “special place” .  Kauai, just saying it warms my heart, it will always be our special place that keeps calling to come back.  What does it for you?

techy stuff:  all images shot with the new Nikon D600 and processed in Adobe Lightroom 4.  My website is www.zwink.com

hipstomatic, Iphone, location, personal, photography, Travel, work

Is it Art?

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I was in SF last week on an extensive corporate photo shoot for Swinerton.  When I was leaving I decided to take the Treasure Island exit on the way back to the airport.  The last time I was on TI was in 1975 when it was a Navy Base and I was a naive young seaman in Electronic Warfare school.  So many memories……  I first decided to do a quick photo shoot of the skyline which was etched in my memory.  I first shot it with my Nikon D3 and then decided to try my iPhone on Hipstamatic mode.  Ugh…… it looked as flat and hazy as the skyline.  So then I opened my new favorite app. Snapseed.  With a few adjustments and then a frame adjustment the above photo is what I ended up with.  I know, it looks grainy and it does.  But, the end result is that I’m going to print it on watercolor on my Epson inkjet printer.  A few years ago I did a similar series that I printed on the watercolor paper and it looked great.  Now, we’ll find out how IPhone photos hold up.

The techy stuff:  camera:  iPhone 4 (the 5 is on order)

Apps:  Hipstamatic and Snapseed by Nik

My real work is at:  http://www.zwink.com

View of San Francisco from Treasure Island
friends, hipstomatic, Iphone, location, personal, photography, Travel

Is it Hip anyMore?

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I love my iPhone (did I say that before?). I just saw a post on another forum questioning whether the Hipstamatic look is relevant any more. Has its extreme popularity diluted it’s value as art? It was a pretty good argument. One side led by my good friend Pat Downs argued that it’s style, similar to the Diana (a cheap plastic camera), has become so prevasive and overused that there is so much trash being posted/published by the Histamatic app. that its now becoming boring (my words). Then Pat added a great analogy that the popularity is similar to certain forms of music (techno to name one) that had their day and then people gravitated back to “normal” sounds.

Will people with cell phones start shooting “normal” photos again? It is a good argument but I think it comes down to the argument about digital photography in general. There is a lot out there, but it’s not all boring. It a great way for a lazy person to make a photo or a creative person to just play and stimulate their senses when they hit on a good one. As someone famous once said, “I’m not an artist but I know art when I see it”. I think the “hip” look is here to stay till the next great app shows up. The crowd in general is trendy……… follow the leader.

btw, I use Hipstamatic…… Thanks to Kevin Lock and Patrick Downs for the inspiration for this post.

my other blog: http://poppaz.wordpress.com, website: www.zwink.com (no there’s no iPhones photos there)

family, Kansas, Lightroom 3, location shoot, photography, Travel

Can You Go Home?

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Images from 2012 Macksville Journey

  Someone once said you can’t go home and have it be the same.  So true.  I’ve been going back periodically to visit and documment my home town of Macksville, Kansas for several years.  I become melancholy after being here for a short while, knowing the town I grew up in will never be the same.  The town viewed and experienced through the eyes of and 18 year old are long gone.  As time has passed the town has decayed.  Gone are the stores and restaurant I worked in and sat end talking endlessly with friends.  Many have closed and buildings have be shuttered or torn down.  I still love to explore as my curiosity is greater than ever.  As a photographer, I try to capture what was, but I never will.  Life was simpler then.

More of my visit: http://zwinkftp.com/Macksville_2012/

More of my work, my vision:  http://zwink.com

The techy stuff: on this trip I only took a Nikon D700, 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200 nikkor lenses.  Processed in Adobe Lightroom 3.

Lightroom 3, location shoot, photography, Travel

Don’t throw it Away

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  I couldn’t sleep last night.  So, I worked on another blog, decided to look at some old photos and came across these images from a day trip to China many years ago.  I was not very good back then, and the slides showed it.  And to make it worse when we first started scanning slides there was not a lot of info about how to do good scans, let alone to anticipate the need for larger files later.  A couple years ago I would have just closed these files and put them away.  But now with the advent of Adobe Lightroom and the use of some great WOW Presets I was not only able to restore colors but to also use it (LR) to see different renditions of the same files.    While not advocating it as a replacement for creatively looking while shooting I do think it helps open your mind to new ideas.  Now it’s time to get some shut eye……

more of my travel photography can be seen at:  www.zwink.com and wwww.bigstudioz.com

friends, hipstomatic, Iphone, location, personal, photography, Travel, work

I C U……..

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What a stupid title……  This is my first post in this blog.  I have another cool blog (at least I think it is) that is a little more serious look at how photography interacts with my life.  I have used my Iphone regularly since they first came out.

I love to shoot, to capture life around me.  Everywhere I turn I see photos ready to be shot or created (a big difference).  I want to use this to showcase some of my more interesting images shot in different situations.  Some I’ll explain and some will have to speak for themselves.  Hope you enjoy.

My other work:  website, www.zwink.com  blog: poppaz.wordpress.com

Fishing, GMR Works, Lightroom 3, location shoot, music, San Diego, Travel

THE MORE YOU KNOW……….

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………. THE MORE YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH MORE THERE IS TO KNOW

  Striving for a high level of success in any profession is a quest of all passionate driven people.  As you get better you start to separate yourself from the pack and the growth becomes part of the process.  It becomes easier to learn as your experience and education builds.  Knowledge becomes gold.  The more you have, the richer you are.

  BUT…. you eventually realize that even as you get better  there is so much more to know.  You may be good at what you do but you can get better.  Once you accept this premise your growth will continue.  No matter how good you are you will always be learning.

  I’m pretty good at what I do.  I feel I can compete with about 90% of the other architectural shooters out there.  I want to be part of that other 10%.  It will be hard as they are constantly improvising and improving, growing in their craft to make their work more amazing.

ABOUT THE PHOTOS:  taken at an Asmp-SD underwater photography workshop in San Diego.  Taught by local master diver and underwater photography expert Al Bruton.  All images shot with a Nikon D70 camera in a Nexus underwater housing.  Model:  Rachel

More of my images are on:  http://www.zwink.com

Cruise, Lightroom 3, location shoot, photography, Photoshop, Travel

Cruising to recharge

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Patti and I have two different agendas when we go on a cruise.  She loves to chill, dress up on Formal Night, try new culinary dishes, go to the shows and nap, nap, nap.  I like to read books, go diving if we’re in the Caribbean and just spend time alone with Patti.  But, and here come the photog in me, I like to take long walks around the ship while she’s napping and work on my vision.

We’ve been on a lot of cruises and I never get tired.  I love the colors, design and the people.  Each ship is it’s own unique subject and has a story to tell.  It’s just my chance to share it.  When I’m traveling I go for the boldness of the color and the shadows displays at different times of the day.  It’s a time to play with new techniques or rarely used ones that are almost forgotten, that somehow are pretty interesting.

One key approach I’d suggest to someone that wants to make good images on a cruise ship is to slow down and look first.  Don’t get overwhelmed by all the color and people engaged in all the shipboard activities.  Stop, watch and see what really grabs your attention.  Then start shooting.  Be selective, you don’t need twenty shots of a the same subject.

And the most important thing…….. don’t neglect the person you came with.

The Techy Stuff:  I only take one camera with me on cruises lately.  This was a D7000 and the primary lenses I used were a 12-24 mm nikkor and a 80-200 2.8 nikkor lens.  All images processed initially in Adobe Lightroom 3.  This was our 10th trip on the Carnival Cruise Lines.  The cruise was from Long Beach to Catalina to Ensenada, Mexico.

More of my work can be viewed at:  www.zwink.com