When I began to get serious about taking good pictures with my phone, I realized the days of simply opening up the camera app, clicking away, and posting whatever picture resulted were behind me. Over the past 6-8 months, I’ve tried a wide variety of photo taking, photo editing, and photo modifying apps for iPhone. […]

I often browse Instagram for inspiration, because you can find some really cool photos and then try to create something similar on your own. It can be a great source of ideas, and a way to improve my own skills. Recently, I’ve seen a number of awesome images that use blur effects with great success. I […]

On the drive home from Thanksgiving, Erin and I decided to stretch our legs with a short hike in Crowders Mountain State Park in North Carolina. We’d heard from a friend that it was easy to access…

Ever see professional shots of waterfalls, where the water is nice and smooth, and wonder, “How do they do that?” Well, a technique called long-exposure is how they do it.

There are really two parts to making a great photo: taking the shot, and editing the shot. I’ve been on a journey to improve my skills in both, and occasionally I’ll be taking you through the exact steps I used to take a photo from the composition to the original shot to the final edited version. […]

During my first stint in Richmond, VA, I didn’t spend much time in the Shenandoah National Park, Blue Ridge Mountains, or any of the beautiful parks in Virginia. Not this time.

Last August, I had the opportunity to visit Cinque Terre for the first time. For some reason, these tiny villages were never very high on my list of places to travel, despite hearing so much about them (or maybe because of hearing so much about them). But Erin suggested it, so we went, and I’m […]

After moving from Germany, but before returning to the US, Erin and I spent a full month in Nice, France. We spent most days either at the beach or exploring the nearby towns along the French Riviera. The water of the Mediterranean is bluer than any natural water I’ve ever seen, and it was sunny […]

During a 30-day stint in Nice, France, I had the opportunity to take multiple day trips into the French Alps, which were just an hour or so by bus away. While not as renowned or as tall as the Swiss Alps, these mountains can be just as stunning. In the summertime, the relatively lower altitude […]

Simply, the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. A friend once described this place thusly: “Each time you turn a corner you think, ‘No. That is not real.’” And that’s really how it was. Lauterbrunnen sits in a valley of steep cliffs and tall waterfalls, and is surrounded by some of the highest peaks in […]