Photography Blog

A European-Like Vacation for a Fraction of the Cost
When we arrived at Hotel Sainte-Anne on our first day 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.