The Carey Adventures

Free 5×7″ Fine Art Prints For A Limited Time

Peter West Carey — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:43:13 PDT

A fresh batch of printer inks? A 25 count box of Moab Entrada Rag Bright Matte 190 5″x7″ paper?

It’s time to play! Or, more precisely, run some test prints. And that’s where you have a chance to pick up a free print.

I am giving away 15 of the test prints I will run with this new (to me and my printer) paper. Free to those in the USA. Fill out the form below and in the comments section let me know if you have a preferred image. If not, I will pick one to test with and that will be your print. I can’t guarantee you will get a particular photo (other than the general Preferred Subject Matter selection), but I will try.

The print will be mailed in a standard 5×7″ envelope with first class postage next week.

If you are one of the first 15 respondants, I will require a mailing address, but please don’t send it now. Filling out the form is just to reserve your spot in line and orders will be first come, first served. One per person. I’m not going to type lengthy rules: you try to game the system, I will ignore you.

Photo Of The Day – Lazy Afternoon – Steve Cook

Peter West Carey — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:57:05 PDT

Title: Lazy Afternoon

Description: Lazy afternoon in the sun of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Photograph Copyright Steve Cook

Catch up with Steve in his many forms on his blog, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Bonus Photo Of The Day – Wild Tiger

Peter West Carey — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:38:35 PDT

Title: Wild Tiger

Description: There are wild animals on our planet worth protecting even if you don’t see them every day.

Location: Ranthambhore National Park, India

Photograph Copyright Peter West Carey

You may order this image as a 5″x7″ fine art blank greeting card or fine art print here.

Kids In The City – Expedia’s Useful Tips For Family Travel This Summer

Peter West Carey — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:25:45 PDT

I love planning. I don’t like random email pitches from PR or product companies.

Today the two worlds collide. That’s because Expedia pitched me something I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT AND WILL USE! It doesn’t happen often.

It’s their Kids In The City program and you might be able to guess what it’s about. Kids. Cities. Doing stuff (with their parents).

The site offers up individually picked attractions and fun-things-to-do in a dozen major cities across the USA. The individuals doing the picking are parenting and traveling experts by the likes of Debbie Dubrow, Jen Miner, Mara Gorman and Kara Williams. These are people I know, personally, in real life, and trust their recommendations. Heck, before this program, I was even going to be asking Jen what might be fun to do with Sabrina in LA as we will be taking two trips there this summer. Now I don’t have to because she tells us in a video!

Expedia will be highlighting 12 cities over 12 days (and it started yesterday, so you need to catch up!) on the site to help with your summer planning.

If you have kids, give it a look-see. Yes, eventually it has links to be able to book things on Expedia, but there is no hard sell and the picks are genuine points of interest moms in those cities think you will find fun. They have first hand knowledge of many of the attractions and have tested them with their own kids. Humanely, I hope.

It’s a resource I have already found useful and will be checking out Portland as well for two trips this summer with Sabrina.

Photo Of The Day – Shepherds – Steve Cook

Peter West Carey — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:57:02 PDT

Title: Shepherds

Description: Shepherds in the mountains near Lalibela, Ethiopia.

Photograph Copyright Steve Cook

Catch up with Steve in his many forms on his blog, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Photo Of The Day – High Priest – Steve Cook

Peter West Carey — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:56:57 PDT

Title: High Priest

Description: High priest at an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Lalibela, Ethiopia.

Photograph Copyright Steve Cook

Catch up with Steve in his many forms on his blog, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Photo Of The Day – Water In Malawi – Steve Cook

Peter West Carey — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:19:49 PDT

Title: Water In Malawi

Description: I formed a non-profit in 2007 called Equitas that provides orphan education and community development in remote areas of Malawi. This is the first well we drilled in the village of Kuntonda.

Photograph Copyright Steve Cook

Catch up with Steve in his many forms on his blog, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Guest Photographer

Peter West Carey — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:14:15 PDT

Here he comes, Steve Cook! Steve’s photos will be a change of pace of sorts. I picked Steve as a guest photographer precisely because his photos weren’t sunny or happy travel shots, but reality as I often see it (and forget to photography because I am looking for something shiny).

1. Tell us about yourself and the type of photography that interests you most.

I enjoy editorial photography, respectfully and honestly capturing the essence of someone within their environment. Candidly telling the story of interesting individuals is what motivates me most.

2. If you could have a paid trip for 4 weeks anywhere in the world just to photograph and report back, where would it be?

My photographic dream is to spend a significant amount of time in Nepal. I am fascinated by the mountains, architecture, and religious culture.

3. Name two of your photography inspirations.

David DuChemin has influenced my international photography perspective greatly. And Steve McCurry’s images have always been a great source of inspiration.

4. What do you hope to convey to others through your photography?

Since a lot of my work involves marginalized people groups, it is my hope that my images raise awareness of the living conditions of my subjects, but also convey a message of hope and dignity.

Catch up with Steve in his many forms on his blog, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

UPDATED – Reader Question: Advice On Shooting The World’s Tallest Building Before I Try It

Peter West Carey — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:50:47 PDT

Genevieve asks

Do you have any suggestions on taking an unique photo of the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world in Dubai, UAE)?

Thanks for your question. I’ve never been to Dubai but I do plan to visit in about two months, so this question has been in the back of my head.

My first thought is to find what has already been shot and get an idea for the layout of the area. Don’t trust Mission; Impossible to give you an accurate representation. It’s a tall, tall building (until they build something taller, then it’s just kinda tall) and will stand out. The trick is to make it stand out.

You can either get extremely close and look up, exagerating it’s tallness or get further away to show it dominating the skyline of Dubai (if it in fact does, which I believe is the case). I would suggest trying to get a shot even from out to sea to crop out the foreground and the clutter of ‘smaller’ buildings. I saw a shot of the Sears Tower in Chicago like this once, taken from about 2 miles off shore and it was impressive.

Or maybe head into the desert to show nothing but sand and then the building rising out of it as if a mirage. Or possibly line it up between two other buildings or something of large scale by getting down on the ground to look up with foreground objects to compliment the view.

I hope that helps. And let me know how it goes as I’ll be giving this shot a try in April.

UDPATE: I have since visited Dubai and gave my shot at getting a unique photo as Genevieve requested above. I went with two options. One was a panorama further out, away from downtown as seen below (click through to experience a zoomable version).

The second attempt was a spontaneous shot with my iPhone while wandering around.

Reader Question: Looking For A Day-Long Trekking Backpack To Hold A DSLR.

Peter West Carey — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:19:41 PDT

Andrew writes (edited to remove personal information)

Hello Peter,

I want to branch out and try my hand at some landscape photography. I might be taking a trip out west this summer to do some shooting in Nevada and then San Fransisco and I was looking to get a comfortable backpacking pack that will hold my camera. I’ve done quite a bit of east coast hiking and climbing before, I’ve actually done Mt. Washington twice, but I’ve never brought my DSLR kit up a mountain. The backpack I have now (LowePro Pro Runner 200) is much more of a day pack and is not nearly qualified enough for a day long trek. Any suggestions on alternatives?

Thanks for the email. I’ve been partial to the f-stop brand since stumbling upon them a year ago. Until then I used LowePro (and I still like certain packs of theirs, especially their rollerbags) like the one you linked to. For what you mention, I would suggest the f-stop Loka http://fstopgear.com/loka . It’s more spendy than a LowePro of comparable size, but the expandability is very useful. Depending on the amount of photo gear you want to take, you can get a smaller or larger ICU (Internal Camera Unit) and the rest of the space is available to hiking gear and the 10 essentials. The packs are meant to be backpacks first, then camera bags, so the fit and comfort on the trail is paramount. Also, the internal organization is useful, with spots for cards and filters on the opening flap.

As for comfort with a DSLR, I use the larger brother of this pack, the Satori EXP and while it is not the same pack, the suspension system is essentially the same. Weight is kept mainly on the hips as a good backpack should and the stability is what you would find in a dedicated Dana Design or Osprey pack made just for hiking. Not only that, having the door of the bag be on the back side helps keep the pack clean (at least the part that sits on your body) so I find I use it more as I can just drop it in the dirt and not worry about where I set it. It might sound little, but it was after using the EXP that I converted over to this style of pack as I am not often near a nice clean surface when I want to access my camera.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to follow up if you have other questions.
pwc