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Internationally awarded, published, and exhibited photographer Kyle Adler creates new work as Resident Artist at Pedvale Open Air Art Museum in Latvia

https://www.kadlerphotography.com/Client-Images/Midsummer-Residency-Project-Pedvale-Art-Park

As a Resident Artist at Latvia’s Pedvale Open Air Art Museum, I spent the month of June 2024 creating new work that captured the essence of the Baltic Region’s Midsummer traditions. For centuries the Baltic people have celebrated the longest days of the year with singing, dancing, gathering wildflowers to make wreaths, lighting bonfires, swinging and playing games, eating and drinking, swimming, seeking love, and venerating the land.

My Midsummer project spans several photographic genres (fine art, portrait, street, event, landscape) and all three of the Baltic countries (Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania). I sought to discover ancient traditions honoring rebirth, rejuvenation, love, and fertility as well as new approaches to managing contemporary issues including climate change and geopolitical aggression.

The project also aims to help preserve and share the ancient Baltic traditions of Midsummer after decades of Soviet bans and forced Russification, followed by trends of commercialization and globalization, significantly eroded them. The present threat of further Russian aggression against the Baltic countries underscores modern Midsummer celebrations.

Midsummer
Celebrating the Land
Singing
Swinging and Games
Swimming
Dancing
Eating and Drinking
A Time for Family
.
Priec?gus J??us

Photographer Kyle Adler to Serve as 2023 Resident Artist at Pedvale Art Park, Latvia

Photo of Andreina Maldonado from a collaboration in San Francisco, 2021

Delighted to announce that I have been awarded a place as a 2023 Resident Artist at Pedvale Art Park in Latvia! I’m excited to join an international cohort of talented artists working across a wide range of disciplines for the monthlong residency themed around Latvia’s famous midsummer celebrations.

This program is especially thrilling for me because, as you may know, my creative practice is built around capturing the authentic spirit of each place and its people. Latvians and other people from the Baltic and Northern European regions have been celebrating joy, renewal, love, and fertility around the summer solstice for millennia. My project will be highly collaborative, forging relationships with other artists across the Baltic states, with the goal of co-creating with them as they prepare in both traditional and modern ways for these joyful festivities.

I’m also eager, for the first time in my seven-year career as a full-time professional photographer, to have the luxury of working exclusively on a personal creative project for a month without having to book back-to-back transactional photoshoots in order to make a living. Can’t wait!

Kyle Adler’s Solo Show, “Something Heroic and Distant”, is Now Live

Delighted to announce that my solo show featuring images from my pandemic passion project, “Something Heroic and Distant”, is now live. A huge thank-you to the Miles Nadal JCC in Toronto for hosting this virtual exhibition, which runs for the month of January.

I’m also excited for the virtual reception to be held on January 12 from 5-6 PM PST (8-9 PM EST). Joe Landini, founder of SAFEhouse for the Performing Arts will join me in a dynamic conversation about the dance community creating during the pandemic. We will share many of the images in the show and discuss dance and creativity in the era of COVID-19. The virtual reception is free and open to the public, but you need to register in advance.

Check out Kyle Adler’s exhibit Something Heroic and Distant from Jan 4-31 at mnjcc.org/visualarts

Sign up for a talk with the artist here: https://www.amilia.com/…/miles…/shop/activities/3644303

“As the COVID-19 pandemic closed most creative outlets for artists, I experienced first-hand the unprecedented upheaval this situation forced upon local artists. I looked to my local SF Bay Area’s vibrant and diverse dance community for inspiration. I then launched the Something Heroic and Distant Project as a testament to the resilient spirit of the creative community during these trying times.”

LABA/live: Art and live music inspired by ancient Jewish texts

During this tumultuous year for the arts, it has been my honor and great pleasure to be a LABA East Bay 2021 Artist Fellow. LABA is a lab for Jewish culture, using classic Jewish texts to inspire the creation of art, dialogue, and study. This year’s mind-blowingly talented cohort of Artistic Fellows–located in NY, Buenos Aires, and the SF Bay Area–has been studying texts and creating new work based on the theme “Chose(n)”.

Join us this coming Sunday, November 7, from 4-5:30 PM in Berkeley for a live public showing of the East Bay fellows’ projects. My project, “GOLEM: A Visual Exploration of Jewish Texts in the Era of Advanced Technology”, will bring the ancient legends of artificial humans into the 21st century, challenging us with questions such as, “When humanity chooses to play the role of its own creator, how do we keep the new technology under control?”; “Just because we have the technology to spawn a new form of intelligence, must we act on the creative impulse?”; and “How is humanity helped and hindered by playing the role of the divine?” My fellow artists in the cohort will be presenting their own amazing projects, including cutting-edge visual arts, a concert of new music based on the texts we studied, and a wearable AI device that can recognize your emotions. All this and more, in a live, fun, and Covid-safe environment!

Tickets are limited due to social distancing requirements, so grab yours today. They are available, on a pay-what-you-can basis, here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/labalive-tickets-187056931317

Photographer Kyle Adler Named as a LABA 2021 Artist Fellow

Shown here: Virtual meets reality as Carly Lave’s body floats through the physical world while her motion is informed by her interactions with the virtual world playing inside her headset.

Dear Readers,

I am excited to announce that I’ve been selected as a 2021 Fellow in the LABA Artist Fellowship. LABA is a house of study and culture laboratory which uses classic Jewish texts to inspire the creation of art, dialogue, and study. The program began in New York City in 2007 at the 14th Street Y, expanded to Buenos Aires in 2015, and more recently opened in the SF Bay Area. LABA was named one of the most innovative Jewish organizations. The goal is to present Judaism’s rich literary and intellectual tradition in a free and creative setting, where they can spark new thought and culture. The creative output from LABA pushes the boundaries of what Jewish art can be and what Jewish texts can teach.

Shown here: Arina Hunter presents a multimedia performance integrating projected moving images of her movement while simultaneously mapping the range of her motion in shape and color.

I am thrilled to be joining an incredibly talented cohort of fellow artists for the 2021 program! Check out their bios here: https://labaeastbay.org/fellows

This fellowship will allow me to reanimate and repurpose my ongoing passion project, “Human/Machine Dance Project”. Beginning as a collaboration with the infinitely creative choreographer/scholar/dancer Carly Lave, the project explores through visual storytelling the ways in which advanced technology may impact humanity. I’ve explored this theme in depth with Carly and also with a number of other culture makers and thought leaders. For the LABA Artist Fellowship, I will be adapting the concept of the Golem–an artificial person created by humans rather than by the divine–from classic Jewish texts into the 21st century via extending the stories to embrace advanced technologies such as AI and robots. Can’t wait to collaborate with the other LABA fellows and staff to spark new life (so to speak) into my passion project!

Shown here: Erin Yen and Liselle Yap block a dance piece with movement generated by a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) coded by Erin. This neural network learns and adapts in concert with human feedback.

Please Vote for TPOTY People’s Choice Awards!

Support Kyle’s work by voting for his photo in this prestigious competition

A few weeks ago, I shared the amazing news that I had been named a finalist in the 2020 Travel Photographer of the Year competition. One of the world’s most prestigious photography awards, TPOTY holds a special place in my heart, as their awarding me a prize for my reflective alligator photo in 2016 helped pave the way for my career change to become a full-time professional photographer that same year.

One of my series of four shortlisted images, this striking photo of talented professional ballerina Izabella Duran-Soriano, was also selected as a candidate for TPOTY’s People’s Choice Award. Only about 100 of more than 25,000 entries were chosen as candidates for this special award, which is separate from the regular juried competition still in process.

Please take a moment to visit the People’s Choice voting page and consider casting your vote for my photo! It is Photo #29, featuring a masked Bella leaping in a romantic tutu.

Vote for Photo #29 here: https://www.tpoty.com/vote/

Thank you so much for your ongoing support of my work!

News Flash: Kyle Adler named a finalist in prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year competition

Dear Readers,

I’m delighted to share that I was named a finalist in the 2020 Travel Photographer of the Year competition. One of the world’s most prestigious photography awards, TPOTY holds a special place in my heart, as their awarding me a prize for my reflective alligator photo in 2016 helped pave the way for my career change to become a full-time professional photographer that same year. With only a handful of finalists culled from more than 25,000 entries representing more than 140 countries, being shortlisted for this competition is a wonderful validation of one’s work. Please wish me luck in the final round of judging. While I can’t yet divulge the portfolio of my photos that was selected as a finalist in TPOTY’s People of the World category, I will share a few photos from the 2016 winners’ exhibition held in London.

Kyle Adler Awarded Honorable Mention in International Photography Awards (IPA) 2020 for “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching” Photo Essay

For visionary dancer Erin Yen, coding Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) in which artificial intelligence choreographs and then evaluates human movement is all in a day’s work. I captured Erin, improvising from some of her AI dance project’s themes, in the entry gate to her home.

Dear Readers,

I am delighted to announce that I was awarded an Honorable Mention in this year’s International Photography Awards in their Photo Essay & Feature Story category, Profession division. One of the world’s most prestigious photography competitions, the IPA receives tens of thousands of entries from professional and non-professional photographers in more than 120 countries and spanning all photographic genres.

The International Photography Awards’ mission is “to salute the achievements of the world’s finest photographers, to discover new and emerging talent, and to promote the appreciation of photography.” To accomplish this, the IPA “conducts an annual competition for professional, amateur, and student photographers on a global scale, creating one of the most ambitious and comprehensive competitions in the photography world today.”

This award is especially gratifying because the winning photo essay is comprised of a series of ten images from my pandemic passion project, “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching“, which I launched this past April as a testament to the resilient spirit of the creative community during these trying times.  The project adhered to the SF Bay Area’s strict shelter-in-place orders while allowing local dancers to create, inspiring others to keep the artistic community strong during our quarantine, raising funds for those most in need, and documenting this surrealistic period in our history. Scroll down to the end of this post to see more images from the project featured in the winning photo essay.

Thank you for your ongoing support of my work! And here’s to a safe, sane, and science-driven reopening of human activity on our planet over the coming months.

Warm regards,

Kyle

Part of SF’s Tenderloin resident Dwayne Worthington’s shelter-in-place experience is spent at the remarkable SAFEhouse for the Performing Arts, a unique and special place founded by Joe Landini to fund, produce, educate, and assist local artists during difficult times. Now, of course, is an exceptionally difficult time for most artists, especially in the expensive SF Bay Area. Here, Dwayne improvises in his signature style of beautifully athletic movement encompassing afro and contemporary dance elements.




What do you call an artist who performs a fusion of dance, gymnastics, and theater? I can’t come up with the words to capture the expressiveness, humor, and athleticism of the wonderful Marie Walburg-Plouviez except to call it performance art. But at least I was able to capture her artistry in images!




Professional ballerina Izabella Duran-Soriano fell in love with ballet at the age of 18 months and has been dancing ever since. Here we captured the surprising juxtaposition of Bella’s graceful classical poses and lovely outfits against the industrial setting of her father’s Silicon Valley workplace.




Pole dance artist Lily Hoshi practices her craft in her home studio. The SF Bay Area pole and aerial dance scene is vibrant and growing, and this community’s strength and momentum cannot be stopped by a pandemic.




“Dance Like Nobody’s Watching” Project: Photographer Kyle Adler Launches Quarantine Dance Photo Project

Dancer: Lena Alvino. Photographer: Kyle Adler

Award-winning professional photographer Kyle Adler launched the “Dance Like Nobody’s Watching” Project as a testament to the resilient spirit of the creative community during these trying times. The project adheres to the letter and spirit of the SF Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order while allowing local dancers to create, inspiring others to keep the artistic community strong during our quarantine, raising funds for those most in need, and documenting this surrealistic period in our history. Visit the work-in-process project’s web page at https://www.kadlerphotography.com/Dance-Like-Nobodys-Watching-Project, where you can view the photos so far and learn how participating dancers are creating while sheltering-in-place. Please also consider making a donation from the page: all net proceeds during the quarantine period will be donated to a nonprofit organization serving those most in need in the Bay Area, and you will receive a digital download of one or more images from this ongoing project. Dancers, there’s still time to participate in the project; check out the project web page for more details.

Now Offering Remote Portfolio Reviews for Special Price

Dear Readers,

Do you want to improve your photography skills?  One of the most effective tools for learning is the portfolio review.  Photographers at all levels—from beginners shooting with their phones, to devoted photo enthusiasts, up through seasoned professionals—participate in portfolio reviews to gain in-depth personalized insights from an objective working professional.  Some of my own most significant learnings and career turning points have resulted from having my work reviewed by other pros.

With my busy regular client workload currently disrupted due to the shelter-in-place order in California, I now have the time to offer 30-minute 1:1 portfolio review sessions, delivered by Zoom or telephone, at an exceptionally affordable price of just $50.  How does it work?  You sign up by email (to: kyle.adler.2@gmail.com), we schedule a time and discuss your goals for the session, and you send me a link to your portfolio of 5-10 images.  During the session we can focus on any aspects of photography that are most valuable to you, including but not limited to previsualization, composition, camera settings and capture technique, post-processing, storytelling and visual impact, and the business of photography.  Bring an open mind and be ready to listen to another photographer’s viewpoint about your work.  The method is not for me to criticize your photos, but to meet you where you are in your photographic journey and to explore together where you might go next.  I know from experience on both sides of the process that it takes courage to put your work in front of another person and receive their feedback, but it is an extremely valuable tool for learning.  While I encourage everyone to share a portfolio of their images during the session, it’s fine if you’re not at a point where you feel comfortable doing so; we can instead use the session to chat informally about any photography topics that interest you. 

I’m eager to see your work and to share my insights from a rich and diverse career as an award-winning professional travel, culture, and performing arts photographer.  Take the next step on your photographic journey by signing up for a portfolio review now.  Just email me at kyle.adler.2@gmail.com and tell me a little bit about your photography background, interests, and goals.  We’ll schedule our 30-minute 1:1 session, and you’ll be on your way to upping your photographic game.

Warm regards,

Kyle

Check Out my Patreon Page

Dear Readers,

I just launched a page on Patreon, an online platform that brings together creators and communities who wish to support their work.  Yes, this is partly a response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has made it impossible to earn a living as a full-time professional photographer for the next few months at least.  But even during more normal times, it is an expensive prospect to offer “free” travel photography expertise via a daily blog, a Meetup group, and the other forums in which I create content.  Furthermore, I am working on several long-term passion projects, including the ongoing international award-winning “Human/Machine Dance Project” (Human/Machine Dance Project) and two book projects.  These longer-term creative projects aim to tell the stories of people, places, and cultures that deserve to be shared and that will use the photographic medium to build connections among disparate groups of people around the world.  But unlike most of my work, these projects are not funded by specific paying clients and so do not generate immediate revenue.  Support from residencies, grants, and platforms like Patreon will help make this work possible.

One of the advantages of supporting an artist on Patreon is the availability of membership levels with certain benefits depending on the tier of support.  I’m offering four membership tiers beginning at just $3/month, with these benefits (which vary with the tier of support):

  • High-resolution (4K) downloads of selected favorite images
  • Access to posts sharing new work, exclusive behind-the-scenes info, and insights into how the images are made
  • One signed fine-art print (approx. 8×10″) mailed approximately every six months of membership
  • A 1:1 chat session with me, tailored to your interests, held approximately every six months of membership
  • Most importantly, your membership at any level will provide much-needed support of my creative projects as well as my instructional activities

My goals are broader than just making a living wage from my work: I aim to apply my photography as a tool to build bridges between cultures, shine a light on topics impacting people everywhere, and teach and inspire the next generation of photographers.  Your support will further these efforts, and for that I offer my heartfelt thanks!

You can learn more and, if you’d like, select a membership level, here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=31987692.

Warm regards,

Kyle

What Patreon Benefits would be of Interest?

Dear Readers,

I am in the process of launching a page on Patreon, an online platform that brings together creators and communities who wish to support their work.  Yes, this is partly a response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has made it impossible to work as a full-time professional photographer for a few months at least.  But in general it is an expensive prospect to offer “free” travel photography expertise via a daily blog, this Meetup group, and the other forums in which I create content.  Furthermore, I am working on several long-term passion projects, including the ongoing award-winning “Human/Machine Dance Project” (https://www.kadlerphotography.com/Featured-Images/HumanMachine-Dance-Project-with-Carly-Lave/) and two book projects; these longer-term creative projects aim to tell the stories of people, places, and cultures that deserve to be shared and that will use the photographic medium to build connections around the world.  But unlike most of my work, these projects are not for specific paying clients and so do not generate short-term revenue.  Support from residencies, grants, and platforms like Patreon will help make this work possible.

One of the advantages of supporting an artist on Patreon is the availability of reward levels with certain benefits depending on the level of support.  I’m considering offering benefits at various levels that could include some of the following:

1) Access to posts sharing new work, behind-the-scenes info, and insights into how the images are made

2) One-time or occasional mailing of physical prints of selected work

3) Group or 1:1 chats covering various topics of interest

4) High-resolution downloads of selected work

5) Others?

Please let me know what benefits you think would be of most interest.  I am eager to tap this community’s insights into what you would find most valuable.  Thanks for your help!

Cheers,

Kyle

Your Input is Requested

Dear Readers,

Now that many of us are under “house arrest” and can’t readily take to the trails, highways, and skies to seek our next photographic adventure, this is a great time to enhance our skills via remote learning.  I am requesting your input on topics of interest for small group online workshops and/or 1:1 distance learning sessions.  Last week I offered workshops on taking manual of your exposure settings and on post-processing in Lightroom.  Neither session was well enough attended to be able to continue that model.  I suspect there are topics and/or workshop formats that would appeal to a broader group within our To Travel Hopefully community, so please let me know your thoughts.  We can cover anything in the photographic process from travel and shot planning to capture techniques to post-processing and image sharing/publication.  In 1:1 sessions I can cover any topic(s) you personally would like to learn.  An obvious example is to do remote portfolio reviews, where you share a few of your key images and I provide a professional assessment of what works and what can be improved.  Portfolio reviews are a key learning tool for photographers at all levels.  Please share any other ideas you may have for topics.

During this time of serious financial challenge for may of us, I want to keep these sessions affordable, so I will continue to make the workshops “pay what you can”, and I will offer a reduced rate of just $50 for a 45-minute 1:1 session (a reduction by more than 1/3 of my usual rate).  This is an unusual opportunity to continue our travel photography journey from home during a difficult time in the world.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts and to working with you to improve your photographic skills!

Cheers,

Kyle

Remote Services Available for Photography Lovers

Dear Readers,

How quickly the world can change. I captured this image of the early days of Venice’s spectacular Carnival just a month ago, before there were any known cases of COVID-19 in Europe. Carnival was subsequently canceled and now Italy, Spain, and parts of China and the US are locked down.

The SF Bay Area is now under lockdown. No leaving our homes except for essential shopping or urgent medical appointments. This is the right thing to do to protect the most vulnerable among us, and soon I suspect the whole of the US will face similar restrictions. But as a full-time professional photographer specializing in travel, performing arts, and cultural events, I now have effectively no revenue stream. There are many people who are much worse off right now, including those who have been laid off and those who live from day to day; they need our attention most critically. I run a very lean business, so it can survive for a few months, but not longer. I’m excited to continue to collaborate now, with my clients old and new, to drive shared growth for after this health crisis has abated. And the absence of having a busy daily schedule of photo shoots and publication deadlines affords me the opportunity to explore some new business models, such as Tiktok (for short video content creation) and Patreon (a micro-finance/crowdfunding platform to connect patrons with artists). More is coming soon on those possible new directions.

In the meantime, I’m offering the following services remotely and would love for you to get involved:

1) Remote Learning: Are you a photography enthusiast looking to improve your craft? Want to learn how to hone your capture technique, discuss a particular photo project or issue, or practice post-processing your images? I am an experienced and highly rated instructor. While I can’t teach right now via my usual photo tours in destinations around the world or face-to-face classes and workshops, I am available to schedule 1:1 and small group remote learning sessions. Please share your thoughts about what topics you think are of interest to the photo enthusiast community, or PM me with your request for a 1:1 session.

2) Post-processing: Do you have a bunch of good images sitting around that you don’t have the time or skill to post-process? I can help. PM me to let me know what you have in mind and I’ll provide a very reasonable quote.

3) Fine-art Prints: I’ve exhibited my work internationally and won a number of major awards. Have a look at my portfolio (https://www.kadlerphotography.com/Featured-Images/Featured-Photos/) and, if you are so moved, purchase some prints or other photo products directly from my website. My prices are extremely reasonable, and wouldn’t your home look better with a few new art pieces hanging in it? Fine-art prints make great gifts, too, so consider cheering up your friends during this challenging time.

4) Book Me: This public health crisis will pass, and I want to be your photographer when we’re able to return to a mostly normal existence. Portraits, headshots, events, performing arts, commercial/corporate photography, travel and lifestyle work: I do it all (except for weddings). No need to settle for routine cookie-cutter photos when you can have distinctive artistic work for approximately the same price. I’m offering a discount for late April, May, and June bookings made during the next three weeks, with the understanding that they may be rescheduled with no penalty if the current situation persists.

Stay healthy, and thank you for your support!

Kyle

“To Travel Hopefully” is Taking a Pause: Please stay healthy, and see you on the other side!

Dear Readers,

For more than three years it has been my pleasure and privilege to provide daily content to inspire, educate, and inform on all topics related to travel photography. During these challenging times, as the COVID-19 pandemic brings most discretionary travel to a halt in most of the world, I’m feeling torn: on the one hand, it seems frivolous and a bit tone-deaf to continue publishing a travel photography blog when nearly all members of our community (including myself) are grounded for the foreseeable future; while on the other hand, I do hear from readers that these daily posts are enjoyable and informative even in the absence of imminent travel possibilities.

This is a challenging time for all of us. As a full-time professional photographer whose business consists primarily of travel assignments, capturing the performing arts, and face-to-face teaching, I am now effectively shut down and making no revenue. I’m relatively fortunate compared to many others: my business can survive for up to a few months, while many gig economy and other service workers will lose everything in just a few weeks or days. If you have steady employment and a regular paycheck, give thanks, but also please remember to help those who may be less able to weather this storm. Particularly for many in the travel and arts industries, the next few weeks will likely present an existential threat. I know we all want these industries to be strong still when we all emerge from the current situation.

For now, I’ve decided to give “To Travel Hopefully” a hiatus and resume publishing when the current public health crisis has subsided and normal travel can be resumed. We’ll be back, hopefully soon, with some all-new content based on my recent adventures covering the Carnival in Venice (just before the Coronavirus outbreak shut down the festivities) and travel in Slovenia and Croatia, as well as with some of your favorite pillar posts from our archives.

In the meantime, if you’re hankering for a”To Travel Hopefully” fix, just search the archives for some topics of interest or pick a random month or date to peruse some previous posts.

I would like to hear your thoughts about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your life and your relationship to travel and photography, as well as your ideas about where we can go with “To Travel Hopefully”. Please leave your comments at the end of this post.

I truly appreciate your ongoing enthusiasm for what we’re doing here at “To Travel Hopefully”–building a community based on a shared passion for travel photography and its power to build bridges between people and cultures around the world. Stay healthy, watch over those who are vulnerable medically and financially, and see you soon on the other side!

I’ll leave you with a few favorite images of Venice’s Carnival just before the first COVID-19 cases were diagnosed and the celebrations cut short.

Kyle

The Berlin Chapter [Encore Publication]: Updates on my ongoing Human/Machine Dance Project

Last summer I began a passion project in collaboration with choreographer, dancer, and Fulbright Scholar Carly Lave with the goal of exploring how the human body moves and how we humans will be transformed by increasing immersion into advanced technologies, including virtual reality, robotics, and interconnectivity.  I was delighted when one of my images from this project was recognized by my being named one of three Emerging Pros in Digital Photo Pro Magazine’s biannual awards.  The image was the overall winner in this international competition’s “Fashion & Beauty” category.

In an earlier post I shared a few favorite images from the California-based photo shoots that Carly and I conducted last summer.  In today’s post I’ll share a few new images from our recent photo shoots conducted in Berlin, Germany, where Carly is spending the year as a Fulbright Scholar.

Der Temporaum in Berlin: Flug

“Der Temporaum in Berlin: Flug”.  Carly takes flight while exploring a virtual world. The very real world she inhabits here is a shared workspace for artists in a Soviet-era neighborhood of the former East Berlin.  To capture the fast action of Carly’s leap, I used a fast prime lens nearly wide open so as to achieve a fast shutter speed while shooting at a relatively low ISO.

 

Der Temporaum in Berlin: Tanzen

“Der Temporaum in Berlin: Tanzen”.  Carly dances within a shared workspace for artists in a Soviet-era neighborhood of the former East Berlin.  To create the soft, intimate feel of this portrait, I used a prime portrait lens (85mm) at a wide aperture (f/2.0) to allow the lovely light streaming through the window to illuminate Carly and to throw the background into soft focus.  Composition is very important to the success of intimate portraits, so I was careful to frame Carly’s body within the lines of the window casement and using the soft white curtains to provide a pleasing and non-distracting background.

 

Tempelhofer Feld I

“Tempelhofer Feld I”.  The virtual and physical worlds collide on a defunct runway at the pre-WWII airport of Tempelhofer, now a recreational space in the south of Berlin.  Working on location in outdoor settings can be tricky and success may be dependent on weather conditions and other factors.  Carly and I conducted this shoot during a gathering storm, making for a dramatic sky that complemented our theme and the industrial setting very nicely.  The accompanying challenges we experienced were very high winds, shifting light, and very little time to shoot before the sky opened up in a barrage of pelting rain and hail.  Fortunately we were able to “get our shot” before getting soaked to the bone.  I framed this image to give prominence not only to Carly but also to the old airfield’s runway and to the stormy sky.

Der Temporaum in Berlin: Schwarz und Weiß

“Der Temporaum in Berlin: Schwarz und Weiß”.  While I liked the way this image looked in color, my visual concept of the scene called for high-contrast black-and-white to give it an antique graphic-arts feel that seemed to suit the historically drab East Berlin setting.  During post-processing I converted the image to monochrome and increased the contrast, adjusting the tone and color curves until I achieved just the effect I was seeking.

Der Temporaum in Berlin: Virtuell

“Der Temporaum in Berlin: Virtuell”.  Carly explores a virtual world. The very real world she inhabits here is a shared workspace for artists in a Soviet-era neighborhood of the former East Berlin.  Using a fast prime lens at a very wide aperture setting, I intentionally limited the depth-of-field to such an extreme that Carly’s hands as well as the background were thrown into soft focus.  I like the effect this has on leading the viewer’s eye from the outstretched arms to Carly’s head and upper body, then around to the bleak industrial background.  The view thereby experiences some of the sense of exploration in the space where Carly is feeling her way.

Tempelhofer Feld II

“Tempelhofer Feld II”.  This image was made in a similar fashion to the previous one at the same location, except that here I gained a different perspective by backing further away from Carly as well as crouching down to the ground.  The resulting effect is one of precariousness rather than one of steadfastness in the earlier image.

I hope this behind-the-scenes peek at my ongoing passion project will help inspire your own creative process.  It’s important to be personally and deeply invested in a project before you begin.  Select your partner(s) carefully and plan thoroughly.  Then the process becomes joyful and exhilarating as you begin to bring your concept to life!

Have you carried out a photography project?  Please share your key learnings–positive and otherwise–here!

Want to read more posts about what to photography while traveling or near home?  Find them all here: Posts about What to Shoot.

 

Focus on Tourettes without Regrets [Encore Publication]: Adventures shooting a long-running underground performance event in Oakland

When I’m not traveling, I am fortunate to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where there is never any shortage of amazing photographic subjects.  In a typical week I conduct about 3-4 shoots and I’m always on the lookout for new experiences that will enhance the diversity of my portfolio.  Recently I was invited to shoot the latest monthly show of Tourettes without Regrets, a long-running underground performance held in Oakland, California.  Attracting an extremely diverse and hip young audience, Tourettes presents a completely different variety show each month that can be described as equal parts comedy, poetry slam, circus, battle rap, and burlesque.  While the show is remarkably edgy and raucous (this is a PG-13 rated blog, so you’ll have to visit my main portfolio website to see many of the edgier images), in true Bay Area style it never puts anyone down and instead celebrates all of our differences.  A hot, smoke-filled, jam-packed warehouse, entirely dark save for a few bizarrely colored LED spotlights, is not an environment that is particularly photography-friendly, but I was able to make some nice images through perseverance and creative post-processing.  In this post, I share some of my favorite images along with a bit of discussion about how they were made.

Emcee and Tourettes without Regrets curator, Jamie, introduces the show.  The warehouse was so packed with young spectators that I had to shoot around them with a moderate, fast telephoto lens.  In post-processing, I cropped the image to remove unwanted elements and adjusted the shadow tones to darken the background.  Buy this photo

This month, the show’s theme was “F*** Valentine’s Day”, so each act consisted of a pair of performers.  These two ladies presented an aerial act that was mesmerizing but challenging to shoot due to the long distance to the subject, low light conditions, and strangely colored LED spotlights.  I cropped the image in post-processing and converted it to black-and-white to avoid the strange color cast.  Buy this photo

This skit depicts a woman breaking up with her boyfriend, who then tries to win her back with tears, money, and even a marriage proposal.  Nothing works, until he begins to treat her poorly, at which point she decides she wants him, after all.  The image captures an apt moment in the drama.  Buy this photo

A Crocodile Dundee-style knife thrower and his lovely assistant prepare to terrify a volunteer from the audience.  To capture this act I had to use a high ISO setting and fast lens due to the low lighting and the requirement for a fast shutter speed.  During post-processing, I converted to black-and-white, increased the contrast and adjusted the color channels to enhance the dramatic feel, applied noise reduction to reduce problems associated with the high ISO setting, and cropped to remove extraneous elements.  Buy this photo

A hip hop dancer amazes the crowd.  A fast shutter speed was essential to freeze the motion.  Obviously, to achieve a fast shutter speed, I needed to use a fast lens and high ISO setting.  Shoot lots of frames in situations like this one, because you can never be sure when the best exact instant will present itself.  Buy this photo

This scene from a battle rap, where two freestyle rappers trade insults, captures the essence of their interaction.  Note the shallow depth-of-field places the emphasis on the performer not rapping at the time, with only the outstretched left arm of the other rapper in focus.  I then converted to black-and-white to remove the color cast and cropped tightly using a square aspect ration to achieve an edgy Instagram-style image.  Buy this photo

What are some of your favorite subjects to shoot in your neck of the woods?  What events epitomize for you the area in which you live?  Please share your thoughts here.

Want to read more posts about what to shoot while traveling or near home?  Find them all here: Posts on What to Shoot.

The Berlin Chapter [Encore Publication]: Updates on my ongoing Human/Machine Dance Project

Last summer I began a passion project in collaboration with choreographer, dancer, and Fulbright Scholar Carly Lave with the goal of exploring how the human body moves and how we humans will be transformed by increasing immersion into advanced technologies, including virtual reality, robotics, and interconnectivity.  I was delighted when one of my images from this project was recognized by my being named one of three Emerging Pros in Digital Photo Pro Magazine’s biannual awards.  The image was the overall winner in this international competition’s “Fashion & Beauty” category.

In an earlier post I shared a few favorite images from the California-based photo shoots that Carly and I conducted last summer.  In today’s post I’ll share a few new images from our recent photo shoots conducted in Berlin, Germany, where Carly is spending the year as a Fulbright Scholar.

Der Temporaum in Berlin: Flug

“Der Temporaum in Berlin: Flug”.  Carly takes flight while exploring a virtual world. The very real world she inhabits here is a shared workspace for artists in a Soviet-era neighborhood of the former East Berlin.  To capture the fast action of Carly’s leap, I used a fast prime lens nearly wide open so as to achieve a fast shutter speed while shooting at a relatively low ISO.

 

Der Temporaum in Berlin: Tanzen

“Der Temporaum in Berlin: Tanzen”.  Carly dances within a shared workspace for artists in a Soviet-era neighborhood of the former East Berlin.  To create the soft, intimate feel of this portrait, I used a prime portrait lens (85mm) at a wide aperture (f/2.0) to allow the lovely light streaming through the window to illuminate Carly and to throw the background into soft focus.  Composition is very important to the success of intimate portraits, so I was careful to frame Carly’s body within the lines of the window casement and using the soft white curtains to provide a pleasing and non-distracting background.

 

Tempelhofer Feld I

“Tempelhofer Feld I”.  The virtual and physical worlds collide on a defunct runway at the pre-WWII airport of Tempelhofer, now a recreational space in the south of Berlin.  Working on location in outdoor settings can be tricky and success may be dependent on weather conditions and other factors.  Carly and I conducted this shoot during a gathering storm, making for a dramatic sky that complemented our theme and the industrial setting very nicely.  The accompanying challenges we experienced were very high winds, shifting light, and very little time to shoot before the sky opened up in a barrage of pelting rain and hail.  Fortunately we were able to “get our shot” before getting soaked to the bone.  I framed this image to give prominence not only to Carly but also to the old airfield’s runway and to the stormy sky.

Der Temporaum in Berlin: Schwarz und Weiß

“Der Temporaum in Berlin: Schwarz und Weiß”.  While I liked the way this image looked in color, my visual concept of the scene called for high-contrast black-and-white to give it an antique graphic-arts feel that seemed to suit the historically drab East Berlin setting.  During post-processing I converted the image to monochrome and increased the contrast, adjusting the tone and color curves until I achieved just the effect I was seeking.

Der Temporaum in Berlin: Virtuell

“Der Temporaum in Berlin: Virtuell”.  Carly explores a virtual world. The very real world she inhabits here is a shared workspace for artists in a Soviet-era neighborhood of the former East Berlin.  Using a fast prime lens at a very wide aperture setting, I intentionally limited the depth-of-field to such an extreme that Carly’s hands as well as the background were thrown into soft focus.  I like the effect this has on leading the viewer’s eye from the outstretched arms to Carly’s head and upper body, then around to the bleak industrial background.  The view thereby experiences some of the sense of exploration in the space where Carly is feeling her way.

Tempelhofer Feld II

“Tempelhofer Feld II”.  This image was made in a similar fashion to the previous one at the same location, except that here I gained a different perspective by backing further away from Carly as well as crouching down to the ground.  The resulting effect is one of precariousness rather than one of steadfastness in the earlier image.

I hope this behind-the-scenes peek at my ongoing passion project will help inspire your own creative process.  It’s important to be personally and deeply invested in a project before you begin.  Select your partner(s) carefully and plan thoroughly.  Then the process becomes joyful and exhilarating as you begin to bring your concept to life!

Have you carried out a photography project?  Please share your key learnings–positive and otherwise–here!

Want to read more posts about what to photography while traveling or near home?  Find them all here: Posts about What to Shoot.

 

Focus on Lisbon, Berlin, and Barcelona [Encore Publication]: History, architecture, and cultures yield boundless photographic opportunities

My wife and I recently returned from two weeks of travel in Europe to fulfill several of my photography assignments. I’ll publish separate posts in the coming weeks covering some of those professional assignments. In today’s post we’ll explore the vibrant capital cities of Lisbon, Berlin, and Barcelona. While each of these three cities has a personality very much its own, I’m hoping my images will demonstrate that photographing cities, like photographing people, is all about looking for what we have in common even as we celebrate our differences. Urban photography is special to me because cities are the places where history, architecture, and culture often align most dramatically to paint a full picture of how we live today. Note that all of these images and many more are available to view and, if desired, to purchase; just click on any image to view the gallery. Enjoy!

On arrival in Lisbon, we are treated to an early morning view of the old Moorish quarter of Alfama. I like to underexpose by 1-2 stops when shooting sunrises and sunsets to bring out more intensity in the colors. If in doubt, bracket your exposures and choose the one that best captures the scene as you experienced it, or combine the different exposures into a composite high dynamic range (HDR) image.
I loved the look and feel of the old streetcars plying the streets of Lisbon, so I found this picturesque spot and waited until the next tram came into view.
If you had told me one of the most amazing experiences in Lisbon is visiting a tile museum, I’d have answered it’s more exciting to watch the grass grow. But it turns out the National Azulejo (Tile) Museum is absolutely incredible from start to finish. This ornate chapel, decorated in azulejo tiles, is entirely contained within a part of the museum. When shooting interiors it is often advantageous to use a wide-angle lens, but it’s important to keep the camera level to the plane of the ground and avoid shooting upward or downward in order to avoid the severe proportional distortion that can occur in these situations. While it is possible to correct for this sort of distortion in post-processing software like Lightroom, it is preferable to get it right in-camera.
A nighttime street scene in Lisbon’s old Moorish neighborhood of Alfama. When handholding the camera in a low-light situation, especially when a small aperture is required for depth-of-field, it’s a good idea to boost the camera’s ISO sensitivity setting in order to achieve a relatively fast shutter speed.
We spent a full day exploring the Sintra region about an hour west of Lisbon, at the very far western edge of the European continent. Quinta da Regaleira is a wonderfully eccentric estate including a palace, a chapel, and several strange features adorned with symbols of alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians. Our favorite feature was this stone tower. I’m always on the lookout for repeating geometric patterns that often make for compelling images. It’s important to compose such shots carefully to enhance the power of the recurring pattern. I converted this image to black-and-white during postprocessing to give it a high-contrast graphic arts style look.

The Alfama neighborhood is famous as the birthplace of fado, a form of music typically performed by a solo singer accompanied by two Portuguese guitars. Fado is essentially a Portuguese version of the blues, with lyrics and melodies emphasizing the melancholy side of the culture. Most fado clubs feature extremely dim lighting to set the mood, and flash photography is strictly prohibited. This results in a technical challenge trying to capture good images. Here I used a very fast (f/1.4) prime lens almost all the way open and also boosted my camera’s ISO sensitivity setting to 6400 (as high as I like to go in order to avoid excessive digital noise), but still the required shutter speed was a rather slow 1/15 second. Instead of trying to capture the moving singer in tack-sharp fashion, I leaned into the mood of the place and allowed some motion blur to occur.
On our final day in Lisbon we explored Belem, an historic Medieval parish most well known for its medieval tower. Again, when shooting architecture with a wide-angle lens, try to shoot with the camera parallel to the ground to avoid distortion of the vertical lines. I also underexposed this image a bit to make for a more dramatic sky, recovering some of the shadow detail in post-processing.
Enjoying the Lisbon obsession, the sublime custard pastry known as Pastel de Belém, at the cafe that invented them (well, the recipe was probably borrowed from the Jerónimos Monastery next door). Food is a key part of any people’s culture, so I like to capture food scenes as part of every urban shoot. Insofar as possible, I try to arrange the various elements on the table so they tell a story in the frame of the image. Here I removed some of the items that cluttered the background, including just the pastries and the local coffee drinks. I try not to shoot straight down onto the food, as that usually results in unappealing shots. With food photography, some work is usually required in post-processing to adjust color temperatures and remove distractions like dirt and shadows.
After our stay in Lisbon, we enjoyed an unforgettable two days on assignment shooting the annual Mardi Gras Carnival festivities on the Poruguese owned island of Madeira. Those images will be featured in a separate post. Then, onward to Berlin. Our hotel was right next to the infamous Checkpoint Charlie section of the old Berlin Wall, shown here.
No visit to Berlin would be complete without passing through the stately neoclassical Brandenburg Gate. It can be very challenging to get a clean shot of very crowded iconic urban sites. Here I fitted a wide-angle lens, composed the shot looking straight toward the gate without pointing the camera up or down, and waited until nearly all of the tourists had left the frame. Some straightening of the vertical and horizontal lines still had to be done in post-processing to avoid the perspective distortion introduced by the very wide focal length.
Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial takes up a large city block and requires some time to take in and explore. To capture this large, powerful, and rather imposing monument, I composed using a moderately wide lens stopped down to a small aperture for maximum depth-of-field and keeping the horizon line with the background buildings completely straight. I converted to black-and-white in post-processing to achieve a stately, somber feel.
On our way home from Berlin, we had an overnight layover in Barcelona. With time in town for only one dinner and a bit of nighttime and morning sightseeing, we enjoyed Catalonian tapas for an authentic local dining experience. I arranged the stuffed pasta and wine glass in a pleasing pattern against the simple background of the wooden table and cropped the image to emphasize the food and wine without distractions. The color temperature usually needs to be adjusted during post-processing to give the food and beverage a realistic color.
Exploring Gaudí’s masterpiece, the cathedral known as La Sagrada Familia, at night. When shooting really iconic sites, I like to seek out unusual perspectives to avoid the dreaded “postcard shot”. Here I composed looking up from near the base of one of the towers, allowing the background to be filled by the dark night sky. This composition cleaned up most of the busy urban scene’s clutter and made for a dramatic capture of the basilica bathed in several types of light.
We had only 90 minutes to visit the interior of La Sagrada Familia before heading to Barcelona’s airport to fly home to San Francisco. I shot this self-portrait (Mary is also included) using a mirror positioned so visitors could view the soaring interior space of La Sagrada Familia.

I hope you enjoyed these favorite images from three great European cities, along with my descriptions of how the images were made. To view more images, or perhaps to purchase a few, just click on any of the photos to go to the gallery.

What are your favorite techniques or images from your urban photography? Do you have urban themes you like to document wherever you travel? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Want to read more posts about travel photography destinations? Find them all here: http://www.to-travel-hopefully.com/category/destinations/.

Travel Photographers of the World, Unite!: Join my Meetup group

Dear Readers,

I have organized a new Meetup group, Travel Photography Workshops, as a forum to connect and learn in a variety of different ways. Whether through photo walks, hands-on workshops, classes, exhibitions, and photography tours to locations around the world, our goal will always be to fuel our passion for travel photography as we grow our skills. Please join us! Details at: http://meetu.ps/c/3Yl63/vbccL/f.

Love to explore the world through a lens? Do you strive to capture authentic images of the people and places you visit? Excited about using your camera to build bridges across diverse cultures? Want to continually improve your photography in all genres? Then this meetup is for you!

Travel photography is thrilling because it’s about discovery and adventure. Whether we’re halfway around the world or a few short blocks from our home, our camera is a tool to capture the spirit of the places we visit and to share that spirit with our community. The travel photographer must be versatile, switching effortlessly among many genres including landscape, wildlife, cityscape, portrait, performing arts, nighttime, and street photography. Share your passion for travel photography with other like-minded enthusiasts, and build your skills in a supportive community.

We’ll connect and learn in a variety of different ways. Whether through photo walks, hands-on workshops, classes, exhibitions, and photography tours to locations around the world, our goal will always be to fuel our passion for travel photography as we grow our skills. Please join us!

“Peripheral Vision: Divergent Travel Photography” exhibition remains open until January 12

Dear Readers,

There’s still time to check out the juried travel photography exhibition at Santa Cruz Art League: http://ow.ly/LSRU50xMTw4…/peripheral-vision-divergent-travel-phot…/. It runs through January 12. Come see some striking contemporary photography from a variety of artists representing a wide range of subjects, styles, and regions. And two of my pieces are still available for purchase, including the signature “Reflective Gator” image that hangs with pride of place under the sign at the entrance of the show :-).

Resolve to Improve Your Travel Photography in 2020: Please share your thoughts about the future of To Travel Hopefully

Dear Fellow Travel Photographers,

I want to thank you for joining our community of travel photography enthusiasts and for coming along on the wild ride during 2019.  During its first three years, our group has grown to several hundred active members.  We shared a variety of experiences together, including three photo tours in amazing destinations around the world (Myanmar, Chile–including the total solar eclipse, and Morocco); several fun local SF Bay Area photography walks, classes, and workshops; and of course dozens of posts filled with practical tips on how to improve your travel photography.

This year I was honored to be named one of three Emerging Professionals by leading international trade publication “Digital Photo Pro Magazine” in their 2019-20 search.  While my professional life has become much busier as a result of this and other recent awards and publications, I remain committed to offering our To Travel Hopefully community a wide range of fun and practical learning experiences in 2020.  But I need your help!

To Travel Hopefully is not currently meeting its financial goals. While readership is up, engagement–including interaction with the daily posts, sharing your favorite articles with fellow enthusiasts, and click-through on the ads and Amazon affiliate sales–is low. Let’s make 2020 the year when we grow not only readership but also engagement. 

Please reply to this post and let me know what topics most interest you.  I want to make this group relevant to your interests and goals.  Tell your friends about To Travel Hopefully and encourage them to join. Check out interesting links for affiliated photo gear and advertisements. Your actions can help ensure our community continues to grow and thrive. As always, To Travel Hopefully will be dedicated to helping us all improve our travel photography skills and learn to use our lens as a tool to build bridges between cultures and to give back to the people we encounter around the world.

Thanks for your feedback and ongoing engagement!  Looking forward to sharing some wonderful experiences in the coming year.

Cheers,

Kyle

A Panama Panorama!: My professionally published 2020 Panama wall calendar is available now

Dear Readers,

A professionally published 2020 wall calendar featuring 13 of my images from Panama is now available for sale online and in select bookstores. If you or a friend love Panama or just enjoy inspiring travel photography, this calendar will be a big hit. I’ve included images from all over Panama that represent many elements of the country’s natural beauty, history, and cultural diversity. Panama Canal fans will find a couple of photos documenting the operations of this marvel of engineering.

Please order soon to ensure timely delivery. The calendar should be available soon on Amazon, but for now it can immediately be ordered at a discounted price and with free US delivery from reliable British bookseller Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/search/9781325514359. Thanks for supporting my work!

Kyle

Focus on Lisbon, Berlin, and Barcelona [Encore Publication]: History, architecture, and cultures yield boundless photographic opportunities

My wife and I recently returned from two weeks of travel in Europe to fulfill several of my photography assignments. I’ll publish separate posts in the coming weeks covering some of those professional assignments. In today’s post we’ll explore the vibrant capital cities of Lisbon, Berlin, and Barcelona. While each of these three cities has a personality very much its own, I’m hoping my images will demonstrate that photographing cities, like photographing people, is all about looking for what we have in common even as we celebrate our differences. Urban photography is special to me because cities are the places where history, architecture, and culture often align most dramatically to paint a full picture of how we live today. Note that all of these images and many more are available to view and, if desired, to purchase; just click on any image to view the gallery. Enjoy!

On arrival in Lisbon, we are treated to an early morning view of the old Moorish quarter of Alfama. I like to underexpose by 1-2 stops when shooting sunrises and sunsets to bring out more intensity in the colors. If in doubt, bracket your exposures and choose the one that best captures the scene as you experienced it, or combine the different exposures into a composite high dynamic range (HDR) image.
I loved the look and feel of the old streetcars plying the streets of Lisbon, so I found this picturesque spot and waited until the next tram came into view.
If you had told me one of the most amazing experiences in Lisbon is visiting a tile museum, I’d have answered it’s more exciting to watch the grass grow. But it turns out the National Azulejo (Tile) Museum is absolutely incredible from start to finish. This ornate chapel, decorated in azulejo tiles, is entirely contained within a part of the museum. When shooting interiors it is often advantageous to use a wide-angle lens, but it’s important to keep the camera level to the plane of the ground and avoid shooting upward or downward in order to avoid the severe proportional distortion that can occur in these situations. While it is possible to correct for this sort of distortion in post-processing software like Lightroom, it is preferable to get it right in-camera.
A nighttime street scene in Lisbon’s old Moorish neighborhood of Alfama. When handholding the camera in a low-light situation, especially when a small aperture is required for depth-of-field, it’s a good idea to boost the camera’s ISO sensitivity setting in order to achieve a relatively fast shutter speed.
We spent a full day exploring the Sintra region about an hour west of Lisbon, at the very far western edge of the European continent. Quinta da Regaleira is a wonderfully eccentric estate including a palace, a chapel, and several strange features adorned with symbols of alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians. Our favorite feature was this stone tower. I’m always on the lookout for repeating geometric patterns that often make for compelling images. It’s important to compose such shots carefully to enhance the power of the recurring pattern. I converted this image to black-and-white during postprocessing to give it a high-contrast graphic arts style look.

The Alfama neighborhood is famous as the birthplace of fado, a form of music typically performed by a solo singer accompanied by two Portuguese guitars. Fado is essentially a Portuguese version of the blues, with lyrics and melodies emphasizing the melancholy side of the culture. Most fado clubs feature extremely dim lighting to set the mood, and flash photography is strictly prohibited. This results in a technical challenge trying to capture good images. Here I used a very fast (f/1.4) prime lens almost all the way open and also boosted my camera’s ISO sensitivity setting to 6400 (as high as I like to go in order to avoid excessive digital noise), but still the required shutter speed was a rather slow 1/15 second. Instead of trying to capture the moving singer in tack-sharp fashion, I leaned into the mood of the place and allowed some motion blur to occur.
On our final day in Lisbon we explored Belem, an historic Medieval parish most well known for its medieval tower. Again, when shooting architecture with a wide-angle lens, try to shoot with the camera parallel to the ground to avoid distortion of the vertical lines. I also underexposed this image a bit to make for a more dramatic sky, recovering some of the shadow detail in post-processing.
Enjoying the Lisbon obsession, the sublime custard pastry known as Pastel de Belém, at the cafe that invented them (well, the recipe was probably borrowed from the Jerónimos Monastery next door). Food is a key part of any people’s culture, so I like to capture food scenes as part of every urban shoot. Insofar as possible, I try to arrange the various elements on the table so they tell a story in the frame of the image. Here I removed some of the items that cluttered the background, including just the pastries and the local coffee drinks. I try not to shoot straight down onto the food, as that usually results in unappealing shots. With food photography, some work is usually required in post-processing to adjust color temperatures and remove distractions like dirt and shadows.
After our stay in Lisbon, we enjoyed an unforgettable two days on assignment shooting the annual Mardi Gras Carnival festivities on the Poruguese owned island of Madeira. Those images will be featured in a separate post. Then, onward to Berlin. Our hotel was right next to the infamous Checkpoint Charlie section of the old Berlin Wall, shown here.
No visit to Berlin would be complete without passing through the stately neoclassical Brandenburg Gate. It can be very challenging to get a clean shot of very crowded iconic urban sites. Here I fitted a wide-angle lens, composed the shot looking straight toward the gate without pointing the camera up or down, and waited until nearly all of the tourists had left the frame. Some straightening of the vertical and horizontal lines still had to be done in post-processing to avoid the perspective distortion introduced by the very wide focal length.
Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial takes up a large city block and requires some time to take in and explore. To capture this large, powerful, and rather imposing monument, I composed using a moderately wide lens stopped down to a small aperture for maximum depth-of-field and keeping the horizon line with the background buildings completely straight. I converted to black-and-white in post-processing to achieve a stately, somber feel.
On our way home from Berlin, we had an overnight layover in Barcelona. With time in town for only one dinner and a bit of nighttime and morning sightseeing, we enjoyed Catalonian tapas for an authentic local dining experience. I arranged the stuffed pasta and wine glass in a pleasing pattern against the simple background of the wooden table and cropped the image to emphasize the food and wine without distractions. The color temperature usually needs to be adjusted during post-processing to give the food and beverage a realistic color.
Exploring Gaudí’s masterpiece, the cathedral known as La Sagrada Familia, at night. When shooting really iconic sites, I like to seek out unusual perspectives to avoid the dreaded “postcard shot”. Here I composed looking up from near the base of one of the towers, allowing the background to be filled by the dark night sky. This composition cleaned up most of the busy urban scene’s clutter and made for a dramatic capture of the basilica bathed in several types of light.
We had only 90 minutes to visit the interior of La Sagrada Familia before heading to Barcelona’s airport to fly home to San Francisco. I shot this self-portrait (Mary is also included) using a mirror positioned so visitors could view the soaring interior space of La Sagrada Familia.

I hope you enjoyed these favorite images from three great European cities, along with my descriptions of how the images were made. To view more images, or perhaps to purchase a few, just click on any of the photos to go to the gallery.

What are your favorite techniques or images from your urban photography? Do you have urban themes you like to document wherever you travel? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Want to read more posts about travel photography destinations? Find them all here: http://www.to-travel-hopefully.com/category/destinations/.

“Peripheral Vision: Divergent Travel Photography” exhibition remains open until January 12

Dear Readers,

Two of my pieces are included in a juried exhibition of travel photography opening today at Santa Cruz Art League. More info can be found here: https://scal.org/exhibition/peripheral-vision-divergent-travel-photography/. If you live nearby, please plan to drop by to see the work of several talented photographers any time the gallery is open between now and Jan. 12. Thanks for your support of local artists!

  • This gator laid out in the middle of the bayou as we sailed by. I love the symmetric image he and his reflection made. #gator #bayoujeanlafitte #louisiana #kyleadlerphotography
    Reflective Gator