Photography Blog
Quebec City - Day 1
After a long travel day and great night’s sleep in our hotel room, the first full day in Quebec City did not start well for me. We woke and dressed as planned, but I didn’t get 10 steps out the hotel room door before my stomach committed mutiny.
A European-Like Vacation for a Fraction of the Cost
When we arrived at Hotel Sainte-Anne on our first evening in Quebec City, Canada, it was already getting dark. Our room was cozy and inviting, so Jen and I had half a mind to stay in and call it a night. However, after the long trip, I was hungry, and there were a decent number of people still milling around the streets outside, so there was a small chance of getting a photo worth keeping. We were in a new country, and I wanted to explore!
Stand-alone photos from Canada 2025
Good photos, at least those I consider good, generally fall into two categories: they are either stand-alone or part of a story. Any time I’m fortunate enough to photograph new locations over long periods, I inevitably end up with a handful of stand-alone photos (if I’m lucky), a decent collection that benefits from being part of a story, and a bucketful of junk photos that will never see the light of day. What’s the difference between stand-alone and story photos? In my opinion, a stand-alone photo can interest someone who wasn’t there when it was taken. It contains something in the lighting, composition, subject matter, or a mixture of elements that makes it strong enough to bear the weight of scrutiny without the support of other images. Because of the criteria I listed, they are rare.
Busker Culture in Quebec Canada
After a hectic year, my wife and I finally got a small break, so we headed to Canada to beat the Texas heat. The trip was not intentionally planned this way, but we arrived in Quebec City on Quebec Day and left Montreal the day after Canada Day (something like Independence Day in the US). Of course, I have hundreds of photos to sift through and process before I can post any of them online, but until then, here are some of my favorite photos of the many buskers we encountered.
Between Ketchikan and Vancouver, a Day at Sea
One of the great things about cruising Alaska is that compared to other cruises, there are more port days and fewer at-sea days. For me personally, I’d rather be off the ship doing something than spending the majority of my time at sea. However, an at-sea day on calm water did provide time to stop, look, think, feel, and listen. Oh, yeah, and time to take some photos too.
Port of Vancouver, Canada
Docking at the Port of Vancouver marked the end of the cruise and the start of the journey home. I had never been to Canada before, and one of the things that I found interesting was an obvious effort to make the dense city more “green” with gardens and trees growing on the tops of many buildings.