Our approach to photography is fairly straightforward. We try to record what it is that attracts us to a place in a complimentary yet realistic way. Our images are edited to make them look their best without adding unnatural effects. It is our belief that nature can do a better lighting job on site than we can do after the fact in editing software and this is the overriding principle that guides our photography.

Cameras & Lenses

We like to travel light but at the same time want cameras that will produce reasonably high quality images. For our requirements compact digital single lens reflex cameras and lenses designed specifically for them provide the best compromise between these criteria.

We have used the following bodies and lenses to capture the images on this site;

Canon 300D Canon 400D Canon 20D Canon 40D

Canon EF-S 10-22 f/3.5-4.5 Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS Canon EF-S 17-85 f/4-5.6 IS Canon EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 Canon EF 55-200 f/4.5-5.6 Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6

We no longer use the older bodies or a couple of the older lenses, but we so far have not felt a need to upgrade the 40Ds. Image files from these cameras will produce prints as big as our printer can handle and the file sizes are not so large that our 4GB, 32 bit Windows 7 computer can process them without bogging down.

Image Editing/Output

We shoot everything in RAW format. RAW captures more data, allows non destructive editing later, and frees us from dealing with a few camera settings in the field.

Our approach to editing follows our approach to photography. We start with, hopefully, a good image and only use editing software to polish it a bit. Our current editor is Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP). While DPP does not have the myriad features of other editing software, it works well for our minimalist approach. DPP has been regularly upgraded over the years and now has just about every tool we need to edit, print, re-size and convert our images for the web.

The images on this site have been converted to .jpg files, re-sized to 1500 x 1000 pixels at a resolution of 96 dpi, then scaled back to 900 x 600 pixels. This technique preserves high image quality with a relatively small file size that will allow images with different orientation to fit most computer monitors without scrolling.

A print is, in our view, the ultimate end product. A print has a visual ‘feel’ to it that just can’t be duplicated on a computer monitor. RAW files are printed directly to an Epson 3800 pigment ink printer using the appropriate .icc profile supplied by the paper manufacturer. We prefer the non reflective qualities of a matte surface and mount our prints to foam board using Scotch pressure sensitive mounting adhesive. The mounted print is then trimmed borderless and framed unglazed.

Web Design

This dynamic web site was created using open source software. The scripting language is PHP and the relational database management system (RDBMS) is MySQL. This tool set provides a great deal of flexibility and allows us to quickly and easily make changes to the site.

These processes are certainly not the only ones that work, but are the ones that seem to work best for us, at least for now. Cameras, printers and software are constantly evolving, as is our knowledge and skill in using these tools, so we continually re-evaluate what we are doing and how we are doing it.

Bruce & Patricia