Gate to Burg Eltz Castle – Germany

PHOTO TIP – BLENDING: for a dreamy sky, bracket your exposures and use the darkest one to mask in the sky. Try a selective color adjustment layer in PS to remove color from the clouds to make them pop.

LIGHT PAINTING IN TUSCANY! I love finding old textures and setting up a scene like this. And Italy has so many great light paintings just waiting to happen!

So when I saw this old blue Vespa at the B&B we stayed at…I asked the owner if I could arrange it by a stucco wall and move some flower pots to the scene. Of course I had to use Google translate because he did not know much English. When I showed him some example photos in my photobook he understood what I was going for! He was so excited when he saw the final result!

PHOTO TIP: OFF-CAMERA LIGHTING – Try off-camera lighting angles with a flashlight for more interesting shadows! Start off with a completely dark exposure by using ISO 100; F16. Use a tripod and a 30-second exposure while you use a halogen flashlight to paint light on your subject. Be sure to leave some shadows so it doesn’t look like you hit it with a flash or headlights! —

MORET-SUR-LORING: This is a magical village outside Paris where you can swim and explore charming medieval buildings with water wheels, Waterfalls and swans appear out of the blue!

PHOTO TIP – GET WET – Look for water to get light and color reflections at blue hour and be prepared to wade in the stream to get the best low angle with your tripod. —

Golden Hour Reflections! This Village outside Paris is a great place to stay and swim and take photos! Then just catch a 40 minute train ride into Paris.

PHOTO TIP – GOLDEN POND LOOK: First shoot into the sun with an aperture of f16 to f22 right when the sun is going below horizon. Next open the image in Photoshop and add the selective color adjustment layer. Choose the WHITES and move the color sliders to add more yellow and magenta! —

Violet Hour:  One of my favorite chateaus! I had to pinch myself several times at this magical place to see if it was real. That perfect moment when #goldenhour meets #bluehour

PHOTO TIP – DOUBLE THE MAGIC WITH A REFLECTION: I looked online for a chateau surrounded by water, then planned a night in a town near this Sully-sur-Loire chateau. It’s worth the drive when you can double the color and light with a perfectly still body of water to reflect the magic. There were closer, very captivating castles but none with water like this. The moat is not as large as it looks, but with just the right angle and a wide angle lens, I was able to achieve a complete reflection. This is when is pays off to drive and not take the train. Trains don’t stop for perfect light at perfect locations. —

TUSCANY SUNRISE: On my last morning in Tuscany, Italy, I drove around and found this hilltop overlooking the medieval village of San Gimignano, or as I like to call it.. “The City of Towers.” I can’t get this incredible skyline out of my head. It is forever etched in my memory. And the mellow, golden colored light of Tuscany is unlike anywhere else I have visited.⠀

PHOTO TIP – COMPOSITION: With a layered landscape and outstanding skyline like this one, try to find leading lines that point to the focal point in the distance, where the towered city meets the unusually golden sunrise. —

Moret-Sur-Loing:  This place is a delightful and picturesque place to stay if you like rivers, swans, ducks, and swimming!⠀

PHOTO TIP – PICTURESQUE VILLAGES: When visiting a large city like Paris, I prefer to stay out of town in a small village within an hour train ride. You can save on hotel costs and you don’t have to drive or park in the city. Further, you can often find less crowded, awesome places to photograph. So I usually google search something like “best small towns near Paris” and then look at the images to see what and where the hot spots are. Then I put the name of that location in my Google maps to find it when we arrive in the town. This is how I discovered Moret-sur-Loing and it was a winner! I would stay there again. It was a short walk to the train station and a simple 40-minute ride to the Eiffel Tower. –⠀

SMOOTH RIDE – A gondolier guides his eager passengers through one of the many Venetian canals. ⠀
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PHOTO TIP – LENS COMPRESSION BOKEH: For portraits, you would normally use a prime lens (such as 50mm or 85mm) with a wide aperture (f/1.8 or 2.8) to achieve background blur (bokeh). However, in this case I used a zoom lens to zoom in on the subject, which creates a lens compression effect that also produces bokeh. –⠀

TELL YOUR STORY WITH CREATIVE PHOTOART: Photography is art and I believe photographers have the right to be creative, just as an artist who paints a scene from memory. Swans and ducks were swimming everywhere and this is my memory of the scene. I observed and photograph them for hours, then I merged a few different images together to create this piece and tell my own story of this magical place.

PHOTO TIP – INSPIRED BY REALITY: I enjoy many types of photography. As a college visual communication professor and practitioner, I feel it is important to stay up on changing trends and all types of visual comm. My sister was a well-known professional watercolor artist when she died of breast cancer in 2002. As a photographer I found it frustrating that she could use her imagination and creativity to paint the scene, while my photography only showed realism. So I taught myself Photoshop and started trying creative photoart. Now I find it equally fulfilling to capture an image that is SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) without editing, as I do to use auxiliary lights and post production techniques to create art. —

NOALE, ITALY – I love to find small villages outside of the famous European destinations to use as a homebase. For example. the town of Noale is a 50 minute train ride to Venice but it’s a charming place to discover in its own rite, with a castle, sidewalk cafes, and shops to explore! This is the bridge over the moat that surrounds the charming castle.

PHOTO TIP – HUMANIZE: In the past I might have worried if a few people were in my sunset shot like this, but now I look for ways to include a person or two in the background of my landscapes to add the human element… or “humanize” the scene. It also helps to add scale or in this case add interesting lighting features. —

BERGEN, NETHERLANDS: Yvonne de Dreu is a wonderful hostess! She and her family hosted us for a delicious dinner and gave us a vintage leather suitcase to expand our souvenir space. They took us to an awesome antique store where we found a Dutch clock, along with brass and copper treasures. The de Dreu family are just like family to us since Jip came to live with us in Idaho as an exchange student for her senior year in high school.⠀

PHOTO TIP – BACKLIGHTING: When possible, try adding a fill light in the back of your scene. In the case, the natural window light lit up the dining table nicely, but opening a door in the back left brought in some nice backlight to help define and separate the subject. Without that background light, Yvonne would have blended into the dark background with her dark clothing. If you don’t have a door or window to let in natural back light, you can use a lamp, or speedlight to achieve the same effect. –⠀

Operai del Cimitero. (Cemetery workers) outside La Chiesa di Santo Spirito a Vipiteno were laying a new monument stone. This church cemetery is unique because each gravesite is surrounded by its own 4′ x 5′ garden plot where families keep beautiful flowers and groomed plants to pay respects to their loved ones who passed on. Spending time at cemeteries is an important part of Italian culture.

PHOTO TIP: PEOPLE & CULTURE – To photograph people in their environment.. use the Google Translate app for your phone while traveling to communicate with people and show you respect their lifestyle before you start taking photos. If you show interest in their way of life people are more likely to let you photograph them in their natural environment. Some will invite you in their homes or work areas and show you how they live. —

SAN GIMIGNANO – TUSCANY, ITALY…This is Day 13 of my 40-day Enlighten photography tour through Europe. It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment to turn around a bend in search of the perfect #sunrise capture and find this #scene. I could not believe my eyes when I saw this bright orange hot air balloon launching from a #Tuscan #field right below the medieval walled city of Sam Gimignano. So I scrambled out of the car to set up my #tripod while it was still in the scene. One of my objectives for this Enlighten project is to capture images that combine People Culture and Landscape. This is what I call “humanizing the landscape” and I love combining the old and the new.. which seems to be what Italy is all about.

PHOTO TIP: BE READY! — 

ST. PETER’S BASILICA, ROME:  This place is so inspiring. My favorite piece here is the Pieta sculpture by Michelangelo. When I was 11 years old my parents brought me here and they told us it is the only statue Michelangelo signed. He was a new artist and people were attributing this sculpture to someone else. So he brought in his chisel and hammer and added a sash across Mary’s chest with his name on it!

But seriously his work is incredible. He carved his marble statues out of one piece of stone and the detail is perfect. I believe he was inspired of God to create his art to inspire us with more loving feelings about Mary and Jesus, etc. At that time we could walk right up to it and see it close up. I will never forget the feeling I had. When I arrived here after all these years, I remembered it was on the right side as you come in the front door.

So I hurried in that direction and it’s still in the same place! However now it is all protected behind a large glass wall. That is because a crazy man came in with a hammer and broke off Mary’s nose and her arm the year after we saw it, all those years ago. When I saw it this time…emotion took over and I couldn’t stop crying. It was a wonderful feeling of joy and love for all the pain and sacrifice that Mary and Jesus endured while in this mortal existence. And that’s what good art can do.

PHOTO TIP – POCKET CAMERA: Smart phone cameras are the best option when touring cathedrals and museums with famous art..because you can’t use a tripod or flash in many of them. —

French Riveria: On the way to Cap Canaille, the highest point in Europe directly above the sea.

PHOTO TIP – RESEARCH: Do some Google searches to find the best photography spots in a new area. For example, search for “How to – where – best photos Cassis France” then click on IMAGES. When you find an image you like, open it to get the name of where it is. Type that name in Google Maps and drive there! We drove into this town on the French Riveria only 30 minutes before sunset so I texted my Enlighten teaching assistant in Rexburg, Idaho, USA…Alex, to do a quick search because he had a better internet connection and voila’ he said this was the best spot… and he was right! —

Vintage Tuscany Bike: I saw this old bike and just had to come back at golden hour!

PHOTO TIP – FOREGROUND / LOW ANGLE: When composing a landscape, look for something you can position in the foreground and then try a low angle to see if it improves the composition. —

Cassis! The quaint harbor village on the French Riviera with a castle on the hill, a beautiful beach and secret coves to discover around the bend. #favoriteplaces

PHOTO TIP – COOL & WARM: Try combining warm and cool lighting in the same image for a pleasing #complementary #contrast. For example the #bluehour light makes an image very #cool…but if you wait until the surrounding #warm city lights turn on at #dusk you get both cool and warm! —

Stone Mason: This happy fellow is a stone mason helping to build a castle with only medieval tools and techniques.

PHOTO TIP – WIDE APERTURE: When taking portraits use an f-stop (aperture) of 2.8 or 3.5 to give nice background blur. (Bokeh) This allows your subject to be the main focal point. You can also achieve the same effect with an iPhone 7plus (and some other smartphones) using the portrait mode. (Depth effect). I used my iPhone 7 Plus to capture this portrait. Let me know what you think? —

Brugge, Belgium: The colorful row cafes provide great repetition and visual interest. ⠀

PHOTO TIP: NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY – One of my favorite times for photography is at night. You not only get interesting lighting, you don’t have so many tourists in your scene, haha! So don’t put your camera away after the sun sets. Just grab your tripod and walk the city!

OH THE SOFT COLORS OF TUSCANY! San Quirico d’Orcia⠀⠀

PHOTO TIP – WISPY CLOUDS CARRY COLOR: Watch for semi translucent clouds right before #goldenhour because they are often just the type you need to spread the sunset color across the sky! 7605–⠀⠀

TIZIANA: Tiziana operates a bed and breakfast through Airbnb with a breathtaking view of Pieve di Cadore, Italy. —

PHOTOTIP – AUXILIARY LIGHT: To capture a well exposed environmental portrait, you should consider adding auxiliary light. In this case Tiziana would be in silhouette without the off-camera flash I placed to the left side. If you only shoot portraits with natural light you have a constant problem: If you expose the scene so your subject’s face is well lit, then the sky will be blown out in most cases (unless you are lucky enough to have a dark stormy sky in the background.) Setting your exposure a bit dark so the sky is a rich color and background looks great will require you to use a light on your subject (from the side aka: “off-camera” for more interesting shadows) Them use an off-camera speedlight (from the side) to make your portraits so much more professional. Getting it right in the camera saves so much time in post, so keep a speedlight in your bag! —

PIEVE DI CADORE, ITALY: Airbnb is a great option to find affordable lodging with views like this right outside your window. I sat on our balcony and watched the clouds swooping around these peaks.

PHOTO TIP – GOOGLE IT: To find the location of an upcoming overnight stop, I like to google the name of various towns, them click on “images” to find the most intriguing vistas. I also click to the sites and read about the area. It also helps to Google “best places to photograph in Pieve di Cadore” or whatever town you are thinking your might stay in. You can often find great articles or blog posts that give you all the best photo spots and how to get to those places at the right time of day to get the best shots from that area. —

SCHERMERHORN – The shape of a windmill has a certain fairy tale quality to it.. unless of course you live in Holland and see them on a regular basis. It is interesting how we overlook the romantic icons in our own backyard. Our Dutch friends thought it strange I wanted to photograph windmills in sunset and sunrise. What do you think?

PHOTO TIP – SILHOUETTE: If you set your exposure settings for the sky, it often shows more interesting light and colors than you would notice with your eyes. Plus it creates a silhouette out of a large foreground shape like this. So meter the light on the sky, but focus on the subject to keep those lines tack sharp! —

CASSIS, FRANCE: This is one of my favorite spots in all of Europe! I teach Visual Communication in the Comm Dept. at Brigham Young University-Idaho and I want to thank BYU-I administrators for sponsoring my 40-day project to study the people, culture and landscapes of Europe to develop course materials for our students all around the globe! —

PHOTO TIP – RESEARCH BEST SPOTS: While in Europe this summer I found it to be very helpful to spend a little time doing research online to find the best locations in a given area. We arrived right before sunset to the town of Cassis, France. But I had a poor signal on the way to this spot. I could text though, so I contacted my TA in Idaho, and asked him to send me directions to the cliffs above this town so I could get this viewpoint. Within a few minutes he directed me up the right road to get this shot! Thanks, Alex! Check out his amazing work @calexbrown —

BRUGGE, BELGIUM: This was my very favorite town in Europe this summer while I was on an Enlighten photo tour for BYU-Idaho, where I teach Visual Communication and Professional Imaging courses.

PHOTO TIP – WATERSCAPE: There is something magical about water! So I try to include it whenever possible. As the locals where the famous bridges and iconic water feature locations are. Then position your tripod so you can get a nice reflection. —