Continuing my review of the the past decade…

2003 marked the year that I moved solidly to digital. I still had my F100 and shot film on assignment for publications that hadn’t themselves transitioned to digital yet, but for my stock work — and especially international travel — I was 100% digital.

The images in this post come from a trip to Greece and Turkey in May and June of 2003. I had a Nikon D100 and traveled with a Mindstor portable storage device and a 12″ Powerbook for back-up. I remember it was startling how easy it was to pass my entire camera bag and laptop through the airport x-ray equipment without a worry of images being fogged. I was done flying with film and I’ve never looked back.

I loved Greece and only wish I’d had more time there. With just a few days in Athens and Delphi, then a short cruise to the islands of Crete, Patmos, Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini, and a quick stop at Ephesus in Turkey, it was a lot packed into a short time and there was never time to wait for good light. I took what I could get and considered it to be a great scouting opportunity. One day I’ll go back and spend a few days each in one or two places but I now have a much better idea of where I’d like to spend that time.

Of the Greek islands, I think the Cyclades were my favorite. Mykonos and Santorini belonged to this group of rough and rocky islands and I found them to be endlessly photogenic with their whitewashed jumbles of blocky houses and shops.

These two are from Mykonos. My research had told me that there were a row of windmills on the far side of town from the docks so I made my way immediately in that direction to catch sunset. There’s no direct route to anywhere on Mykonos but wandering the narrow streets was half the fun. The shot looking up through the balconies was taken on the walk back to the boat.

One other lesson learned on this trip: it was during this time that Athens was gearing up for the Olympics and that meant that everything was under construction or renovation. Probably not the best time to visit a place for stock photography. There was scaffolding everywhere. The construction also meant that many images would be dated almost immediately. Still, there’s so much to see in Athens that I wasn’t short of things to photograph. The highway construction that was going on between the city and the airport did make for some nervous moments before catching the flight home, though.

One more from my Puerto Vallarta beach session. I was beginning to feel like I was shooting greeting cards — sunset over ocean surf, footprints in the sand, etc. — so I decided to play a little. Call it a game of “don’t drop your camera in the water”. As the waves would pull back from the beach, I would follow them out. Then, as they came rolling back in, I would hold the D700 down almost to the sand and run backward in front of the waves firing off exposures all the way. I wanted to capture some motion and convey the feeling of the waves coming in. I experimented with several shutter speeds — this was f/6.3 at 1/13th of a second. Strong sharpening in Photoshop helped bring out some interesting texture in the distant wave. Technically, I doubt there is much that’s “right” about this photo but I do feel that it captures the moment better than a static shot. At least that part of the moment that I was shooting for. In the end, whether it’s a success is up to the viewer.

Just down the beach from (and a couple of minutes after) the last shot, I spotted this couple walking along the surf. The two figures added a sense of scale to the landscape — just imagine this shot without them and the beach would seem much smaller. Here it looks endless and as though the two have the entire coastline to themselves. Even with my Nikon’s white balance set to cloudy for more warmth, I ended up adding a warming filter to this image in Photoshop to create a more dramatic, monochromatic look.

On our third night in Puerto Vallarta we were treated to a dinner at the incredible Dreams Resort & Spa. The sun was setting as we toured the grounds so I took every opportunity to take advantage of the light. The rugged coastline, a wedding party dining on the beach, a band on stage overlooking the ocean… it was a productive few minutes that I truly appreciated after spending a fair amount of time in meetings for the past two days. Here’s one from that evening. More to follow.

To say that this was a challenge to shoot would be an understatement. It’s a three-hour trip and you’re not encouraged to linger too long in any one place. In my case, I was with a group which added the challenge of getting time exposures without other’s flashes going off. Still some nice images were made. Here the guide shines his hand-held light behind a frozen ice flow.

It’s a great trip and I would highly recommend it. Just be aware that it is exceedingly slippery in places and it pays to follow the advice of a good guide to get the best footing and avoid a wet and chilly surprise.