[Copyright Andy Richards 2022]O N THIS last day of 2022, it seemed fitting to reflect on this incredible photographic year, as well as looking forward to what 2023 will bring. When I wrote this same year-in-review post 12 months ago, I could hardly have imagined it could be an even more eventful year. But as good as 2021 was, 2022 has been amazing. It seems like I always used to do some kind of a wrap-up/thanks type piece. Last week, I posted my “favorites.” This is more of a revisit of some of my experiences in this eventful year – both traveling and at home.
FIRST THOUGH, I want to say not only HAPPY NEW YEAR!, but also THANK YOU to all that read this blog. Looking back, we have had some big travel years. And we have had some that, though they were not so big, were very fulfilling, photographically. 2022 was full and fulfilling. May 2023 only be better! I think maybe 2022 yielded some of my best ever images.
Messina, Sicily [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]TRAVEL INSPIRES most of my shooting these days. A quick look at my portfolio over 40-plus years has revealed to me that a high percentage of my images were made during our recent travel years; and are travel-oriented. I have been revamping my archival tagging system and was surprised (though not shocked) to see that my digital archives number just under 50,000 images. My lifetime count is certainly higher than that. My “tracking” is not completely accurate. I began the more serious endeavor of photography in 1977 and for the first 25 of those years, I had a less than optimal archiving system. Since moving to digital, I have archived everything. By my calculations, I have made an average of about 2,000 images per year over the past 21 or so years. Part of that increase was no doubt the fact that we could shoot with relative impunity, once we no longer had to purchase film and processing (I have actually tried to make a concerted effort over the past few years to make fewer images and be more thoughtful in the field about what I shoot). I once had file boxes of color transparency slides, of which I only scanned and saved a few. And, sadly, that was mainly only from the mid-1990’s on (I know I made some nice photographs in the earlier years – 1978-1982, especially. I didn’t do a good job of archiving. I have only one or two of my slides from the 70’s – 80’s, and virtually none of the work – mainly B&W – I did while on the college newspaper and yearbook staff). I think they call that “young and dumb.” 🙂
EVEN when I am out around home these days, I am spending more time on street shooting and cityscapes these days. So, it stands to reason that my roundup of this year will be mostly those subjects. Still, I did get some time behind the lens for just landscape shooting, and those opportunities were pretty special. A combination of increased travel (4 trips outside the U.S. and one dedicated trip in the U.S.), playing with some new photographic gear (purposed for travel), and perhaps some pent-up, post-Covid attitude, mean more images for me than usual this year (just under 7.000 images). This year’s take was by far the second biggest number I have accumulated over the past 20 years. The biggest (just over 8,000) was the year of our first cruise and our trip to Alaska. I had just acquired my first “full frame” Nikon DSLR, and I took many photos during the Alaska trip (too many).
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved
THE COVID Pandemic of 2020-2021 put a serious damper on things for all of us. I don’t think we are alone in our sentiment that we could not wait to get back out there. We started “gently” in October-November of 2021. This year we hit the ground running, with 3 cruises, a 20-day land-based trip to Portugal; and I made a week-long trip to Maine in April to photograph lighthouses. I also spent some time kicking around my “backyard,” here in the Tampa Area. I will post some “highlight” photos of each trip. There were so many. As always, they can all be seen at my photo website,LightCentricPhotography.com.
JANUARY
IN JANUARY, we took a cruise in the western Caribbean. This one wasn’t a long cruise, but it marked our first time in the Caribbean in several years. It was also our 4th trip on what has become a favorite ship: The Celebrity Reflection. It was fun, and relaxing. We made stops in Nassau, Bahamas; Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Belize City, Belize. Interestingly, all but one (Belize City) were on small islands off the mainland of these countries.
From our Cruise Ship, we could see the familiar sight of the Atlantis Resort Nassau, Bahamas [Copyright Andy Richards 2022] All Rights Reserved]OUR FIRST port of call was Nassau, Bahamas. I didn’t do a huge amount of photography during this cruise, but I was trying out a new “travel” camera system, so I did carry it around and make a few images. My expectations were not high. I was mostly checking it out for usability and image quality (more on that later). There were at least 5 cruise ships in the port, including The Disney Fantasy, Royal Caribbean’s Fantasy of the Seas, and two Carnival Cruise Line ships. Busy port.
We were in “heady” company while docked at Nassau [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]THE NEXT stop was Cozumel, Mexico. A place I had never been to. We did not plan any excursions at all on this cruise (a bit unusual for us, but perhaps less so in the Caribbean). Our “plan” was to get off the ship at each port, walk around a bit, and then re-board. This cruise was really more for the cruise ship atmosphere than anything else. I am sure the beaches, snorkeling, diving and those kinds of beach-sports activities are wonderful in Cozumel. As far as the cruise port and immediate vicinity is concerned, I don’t care if I never see it again. There are vendors in every port in the Caribbean, both in the port area itself, and usually in other parts of the city. I have been to many ports in the Caribbean. The vendors are pretty forward and vocal. But usually if you politely say: “no thanks,” they move on. Not in Cozumel. They were aggressive to the point of harassment. They just would not leave us alone. I couldn’t wait to get away. Ironically, I did buy a T-shirt in Cozumel (one of the few times I have bought anything on any cruise other than food). 🙂
Cozumel, Mexico [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]BELIZE WAS just kind of underwhelming. I think I only processed two shots from there (one of which, it shouldn’t shock you, was the local Sen’or Frog “monument”). In Roatan we didn’t even get off the ship (that is probably the first and only time we haven’t at least walked off and looked at the onshore activity. I was able to make some shots from the ship and with some cropping, make them look a bit “nicer.” I am really not trying to be elitist here. I think there is plenty to do there, if you do your homework before you leave (and we really didn’t on this one). I also think getting to know the people, island and culture would be interesting and fun. But it looked very run-down where we docked, and I don’t think just getting off and walking around was really going to gain us anything. If we ever went back, I would certainly want to find some kind of tour. I really would have liked to do something related to the cigar-making industry, but I think that is mostly done on the mainland of Honduras. My take-away from all of the western Caribbean stops was that they were very beach, snorkel or diving-oriented. I have a friend (who is apparently more adventurous than me) who did Roatan’s version of “Hop-on-hop-off busses” (by his description, “ancient, recycled Toyota mini-vans with doors removed”) and took a river boat to a Mayan Ruin in Belize. Maybe we should have planned a little better. 🙂
Belize City, Belize [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]Roatan, Honduras [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]
MARCH
IN MARCH, one of my sisters (one of 5 sisters and a brother) and her husband came to Florida to “thaw out” (they live in Traverse City, Michigan, where we all grew up) for about a week. They did their own thing part of the time, but we did a few things together, too. Have you ever noticed that when people visit, you tend to go places and see things locally that you either do not do, or never have done? St. Petersburg, Florida has a small, but very cool glass/glass-blowing art museum. We visited it one day, and because I knew it was inside, I took only my Samsung S21 Smartphone. I have remarked numerous times here that – for myriad reasons – smartphone cameras are “not ready for prime time” for most serious photographers. But I have also noted that I am impressed with them and for me they work particularly well in an indoor setting with challenging lighting. I made a few images I liked. I even had some fun playing with a couple to make a composite.
Composite from Images made at St. Petersburg “Imagine” Glass Gallery [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]
APRIL
IHAVE had coastal Maine on my horizon for years now. In 2009, my buddy, Rich and I and our wives spent a week in October in Bar Harbor. Our primary destination was Acadia National Park, but we spent a fair amount of time driving to other spots in the area. I got my first glimpse of the Maine Coast that year, as we photographed several Lobster Fishing harbors and the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. These are my kinds of landscape scenes and I really wanted to get back. Having now finally done it in 2022, I want to go back again soon. I have posted only a couple here. There are many more images, including 5 lighthouses and several lobster harbors on my Maine Galleries,here.
Portland Head Light Cape Elizabeth, Maine [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]TIMING IS everything. Rich works for a company in Michigan that owns a subsidiary company based out of Freeport, Maine (very near Portland). He travels there frequently, and I “piggybacked” on one of his trips (he worked earlier in the week and then took a few days off) and our base of operation was in Portland. But the only time we could mesh schedules was in April (May or October would have been preferred, because of Spring blooms and/or foliage). But we made the most of it. Because of the time of year, we knew our best bet would be to concentrate on lighthouses. And fortunately, there are some really picturesque light houses along mid-coast Maine. We also knew there would be some limited opportunities to shoot lobster harbors.
Lobster Boats Southport, Maine [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]WEATHER WAS not our friend that week, for the most part. That is unusual for me. I seem to be blessed with good weather most of the time. This trip yielded mostly overcast to cloudy skies, which make photography much more challenging. But there was really only about one half-day complete rainout, and so we got out and took advantage of what we did get. And with what I think is the most photogenic light of the group, at Pemaquid Point Light, we lucked out one afternoon. It had rained all morning and had been cloudy with some showers the balance of the day. We had planned to head back to Pemaquid just to see what happened. Our weather apps predicted partly sunny by late afternoon to early evening. Eventually, we could see signs of clearing to our west. But temperatures were also dropping. This created fog at the seashore, which is a double-edged sword. We could either get some “cool” foggy images, or it would be completely “socked” in. We would see. As we pulled into the parking lot, we could hear the waves pounding (which was quite different from the still, but cloudy morning when we were there a day or two before). And then, almost suddenly, the cloud cover broke and late afternoon blue sky and sun pierced through. We got some great images of the lighthouse and reflection. I also made some nice images of the violent wave break, down on rocks we had climbed on the prior morning.
Pemaquid Point Light Bristol, Maine [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]
MAY
JUST BEFORE I left for my Maine Trip, our friends and neighbors, Bruce and Joyce, invited us to join them on a 20-day trip to Portugal later that Spring. Portugal was one of the few significant countries in Mediterranean Europe that we had never been to, and with our love for travel, we jumped at the opportunity. Flying into Lisbon on May 18, we spent the next 4 days there. Our hotel was right in the center of the Baixa (a low, flat part of Lisbon – probably the only flat part, LOL – kind of a valley between two mountains). Our hotel was a perfect location, within easy walking distance to many of Lisbon’s popular spots. Out our front door was a grid of walking-only streets. During the afternoon and evenings, there was outdoor restaurant seating, which we frequently availed ourselves of. During the day and at night, the streets were busy. In the mornings, they were often nearly deserted. Nearby, there were plazas and fountains, and the riverfront. Of course, I was out every morning. Again, so many images. Shots of intimate small street settings, Towers. And the Jacaranda Trees were in their glorious purple bloom everywhere. See many more very cool Lisbon images on my LightCentricPhotography photo site, here.
Lisbon, Portugal [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]LIKE MANY European cities, Lisbon is very mass-transit oriented. Probably the most popular of their public transportation vehicles is their well-developed tram system. This includes the rather well-known “Tram 28” which makes its circuit through many of the city’s most popular areas. All-day and multiple day (often combined with other transportation forms like subway and bus) fares are available at really reasonable cost. It is a good way to see central Lisbon. The only downside is that if you do so during the main hours of the day, it may be very difficult to get back on if you get off. We waited in line for about 4 trams before we were able to get on one at the beginning. Then, they fill them up. But a fun and interesting ride, anyway.
Tram; Lisbon, Portugal [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]DURING OUR stay in Lisbon, one day we traveled out into the eastern part of Portugal, to Sintra. It is best known for its two famous Castles, Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle. Unfortunately, our tour did not include (and we did not know better) the Moorish Castle. I have vowed that on the next trip to Portugal we will go back there. But Pena Palace is pretty spectacular and very colorful. Again, my one image here does not do it – or the area – justice. To see the rest of the Sintra and Pena Palace shots, gohere.
Pena Palace Sintra, Portugal [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]FROM LISBON, we traveled North to Porto, (probably the “namesake” of Portugal, and one of the most photogenic cities in Europe, in my view). This city is special to me on a number of levels. First, I fell in love with “old city” feel. I also loved the food. But most of all: the photographic spots there! Because we were there for so long, I felt comfortable going off and doing something just for me on this trip. 🙂 I found a nighttime photo walk in Lisbon and signed up for it. It was a good outing and we did some pretty nice photography. It was very reasonable in cost. But probably the best thing that came from it was our guide’s suggestion that I contact another photo-tour guide in Porto and spend a day with him. It was my good fortune that he had a time available for me – and that I was his only customer that day! He took me to spots that I may never have found on my own, and certainly not within the time frame of a couple days. What a day. Perhaps my best city photographs ever. I think that, among other things, has convinced me That Porto is perhaps my favorite European city (maybe tied with Barcelona). Choosing a favorite is impossible. So again, I encourage you to look at allmy Porto Photographson my LightCentricPhotography photo site.
Porto, Portugal [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]WE MADE a couple side-trips from Porto, including the Douro River Valley, and Aveiro.
Aveiro, Portugal [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]THE SECOND night we were in Porto, I walked down to a researched site about 10 minutes from our hotel, to set up and shoot a nighttime image of Porto, along the Douro River, with one of its prominent bridges. I would like to get back there someday earlier and try to make a sunset image. But this one will have to do for now.
Porto, Portugal [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]WE SPENT another 4 days there, before heading south. On one of those days, we traveled out to the famed, Douro River Valley, where Port Wine was originally made, and where many of the grapes are still grown. The large, famous Port makers have mostly moved closer to Porto. As you can see from my gallery, The Douro Valley is spectacular.
Douro Valley Scenic Overlook Portugal [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]MY WIFE and I also traveled by train one day to nearby Aveiro. Once known for its fishing industry, and its unique and colorful, gondola-style boats, which were used to gather seaweed brought in for fertilizer for its farm fields, Aveiro today thrives primarily on tourist trade and the local university. Down near the waterfront you can take one of the above boats for a cruise around the canal. The waterfront itself is fronted by some wonderful, art nouveau buildings. It was a short walk from the very modern railway station and there were some very colorful photographic sites. You can a few more of my Aveiro shotshere.
WITH A stop in the ancient walled city of Evora for two nights, we then finished our amazing time there in the Algarve (a pretty popular and even famous ocean beach area) in Lagos, Portugal. Evora was once the center of Roman and then later, Ottoman control of the region which eventually became Portugal. There are ancient castles, churches, a wall surrounding the old city (our hotel was inside the walled city), a huge aqueduct, and many examples of the architecture of the times. See more Evora pictureshere.
Evora, Portugal [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]THE ALGARVE is a region in the south of Portugal, that mostly borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. Particularly along the southern tip of the peninsula, there are several very popular beach communities. Tourism and summer residents are a large part of the economy there, but there is also fishing, agriculture and other related vocations that contribute to the economy. It is so very different from what we saw in Lisbon and Portugal. But picturesque, if not touristy, and very fun. And the seafood was wonderful. The rest of my Algarve Pictures are inthis gallery.
Lagos, Portugal The Algarve [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]THE PHOTOGRAPHIC opportunities in Portugal (especially Porto, in my opinion) were as good as I have ever experienced. We haven’t done a lot of extensive land-based trips, so this was an uncommon experience for us. And for me, a welcome change to the travel routine. The one real negative for me with cruising – as a photographer – is that you only very rarely get to experience a location in the best light (early morning, late afternoon-evening) and almost never at night. Shooting cities at night can be pretty fun for a photographer. Here, I knew there would be several such opportunities, and some pretty nice landscape shots. I was not disappointed, and I am certain there will be another visit to Portugal in my future!
JULY
AS WE have customarily done since moving to Florida, we spent 2 weeks back in Michigan visiting family and friends during the 4th of July holiday. I don’t usually spend much time “behind the lens” on these trips. But this year, my sister and brother-in-law took us on a drive to the Lake Michigan Lakeshore – some of Northern Michigan’s prettiest scenery along Lake Michigan and some inland lakes. One of our stops that day was the Point Betsie Lighthouse on Lake Michigan. In my view, not one of the most photogenic of lighthouses, which we were at in rather harsh lighting conditions, I still made a few images.
Point Betsie Lighhouse Frankfort, Michigan [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]
AUGUST
WE WEREN’T done yet. Not by a long shot. At the beginning of September, we left for Amsterdam. We were scheduled to cruise the Baltic Sea on the Celebrity Apex. A “makeup” cruise of sorts. In 2020 we were scheduled for a cruise in Iceland, Ireland and the U.K. Covid shot that one down and we then went through a series of 3 or 4 “re-bookings,” one after another, they cancelled as Covid hung on longer and stronger than the world had anticipated. This one finally “took.” It actually had me kind of excited because the overnight stop was St. Petersburg, Russia. What photographer wouldn’t be excited at that prospect? [Warning: soapbox speech 🙂 ] In the past century, we have had two narcissist, power-hungry, and just downright insane characters who fancied themselves “world leaders.” Both obsessed with nothing but their own power. Neither had any common sense, sense of morals or decency. One of them was the prime mover in perhaps the worst and least – justified war in the world’s history (certainly modern history). Thankfully, (though only after much horrible death and destruction, including the attempted extermination of a whole race of people), the first one is dead (presumably at his own hand in the face of defeat in WWII). The other one is – to the world’s detriment – still alive. Much of the world saw, after the fact, the horrible atrocities Hitler wrought, but confoundingly we either cannot see history repeating itself, or we are just too complacent to address it. Vladimir Putin is, in my (ever so 🙂 ) humble opinion, Hitler reincarnated. The parallels are stunning. I ask myself every day how one man can have so much evil influence worldwide? [O.k. I’ll climb down off the soapbox]. Needless to say, St. Petersburg was scratched from the agenda after Putin’s War began.
Wind Turbines Amsterdam, Netherlands [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]WE WENT anyway, even though nearly 50% of cruisers on this one cancelled. Yeah, St. Petersburg was a big deal. But not enough to cancel a cruise that turned out to be a pretty interesting part of the world. We spent a couple days in Amsterdam, and then cruised up into the Baltic, stopping in Germany, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and Denmark, before returning to Amsterdam. Amsterdam had a kind of “been there, done that” feeling to me as far as photography was concerned. We did some really interesting historical tours though. One of the most impressive parts of the beginning of that cruise was the sail away through the northern passage from Amsterdam out to the Atlantic. I expect to see windmills in Amsterdam. The old-fashioned kind. But I was surprised at the number of modern wind turbines around the Netherlands (and other parts of the Baltic).
Warnemunde, Germany [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]O
UR FIRST stop was in the northern part of Germany, in a seaside, beach-vacation town of Warnemunde. We had no high expectations from this stop, and I think the best photos were right from the top deck of the cruise ship. There are just a few other “Warnemunde” imageshere. We cruised northeast across the Baltic over the next couple days, and landed next in Helsinki. One of the really fun aspects of cruising for us has been meeting new friends from all around the world. In 2019, before the world shut down, we met two fun couples from the northern part of England. We spent some time with them during the week, both on and off shore, and have kept in touch. This time, we met several more couples from the U.S. and Canada. One of the really fun couples is Mike and Elaine, from upstate New York. We spent a fair amount of time with them, also. I had breakfast nearly every morning with Mike. We actually have plans to cruise with them again in February, 2023 in the Caribbean. In Helsinki, neither of us had hard plans, so we got off the ship together and boarded the Helsinki “Hop on – Hop Off” bus (which stopped right in the cruise port, just steps away from the ship). We had a fun day. Helsinki is geographically fairly small and I think we probably saw most of it from the bus. We only got off right down in the downtown area, where most of the historical sights were. In my research, I learned that Helsinki was probably going to be the closest we would get to a St. Petersburg experience. Czar Alexander had a fondness for Helsinki after the Russian occupation and authorized some pretty extensive building, including Senate Square and the Helsinki Cathedral. There is also a beautiful Russian Orthodox Cathedral nearby. The waterfront is fun and impressive. I made just a few nice Helsinki images, which can be seenhere.
Helsinki Cathedral Senate Square Helsinki, Finland [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]THE REPLACEMENT port for St. Petersburg was the medieval town of Visby, on a small island which is part of Sweden, called Gottland. We took a walking tour through the old walled city, learning some history, and seeing some very old buildings. It is a pretty and photogenic city, as can be seen in my Visby Gallery.
Visby, Sweden [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]WE NEXT sailed to Tallin, Estonia. Tallin is a small, walled medieval city. It is known as the oldest such city in the Baltic. It is unique in that it was at one time two separate walled cities that abutted each other so closely that the walls formed a narrow walkway between them. The inhabitants did not trust each other, and gates were closed during the night. Estonia was occupied by Russia (and later the USSR) for many years, and the Russian influence can be seen there. Estonian Citizens are also very independent and proud of their own heritage. Tallin was once an important and strategic port on the trade routes (an important part of The Hanseatic League). Today, it is a favorite vacation and nightlife spot – especially for the Finns and Swedes. There was a lot to photograph there, as you can see from the Estonia gallery here, on my website. The Russian Orthodox Church is probably the most impressive church I have ever photographed. There were many other good photographic opportunities here, as you can see from my Estonia Gallery.
Russian Orthodox Cathedral Tallin, Estonia [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]IN PLACE of the overnight in St. Petersburgh, Stockholm became our overnight destination. But even that changed, as, during our stay in port, the ship captain announced that we would be leaving port in the early evening the night before to avoid some bad weather conditions (so we missed our overnight – and our visit to the ABBA museum). One thing I didn’t realize prior to the cruise was that the sail into Stockholm from the Baltic involves a narrow waterway that it takes several hours to navigate. I think that was the highlight of Sweden! We got to see much of rural Sweden with some pretty nice landscape opportunities from high up vantage point of the upper ship deck. As you might guess, I spent a good amount of time on the upper deck for the sail in and back out. My numerous shots can be seen in mySweden Gallery.
Sweden [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]STOCKHOLM ITSELF is a major city, with very large, impressive municipal buildings and an old medieval part of the city that was very touristy and crowded. My favorite photographic subject in the city was the Riddarholmen Cathedral.
Riddarholmen Cathedral Stockholm, Sweden [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]THE FINAL port was Copenhagen, Denmark. If I were “king of the (Celebrity) world,” I would have made Copenhagen the overnight stop. A bit like Helsinki, Copenhagen is a compact and very walkable city. And it has some wonderfully photogenic buildings, as well as a great waterfront. We had arranged a walking tour with our friends Mike and Elaine. It started fairly early in the morning, so we took a taxi from the ship into the downtown area, where we met our guide. After spending a few hours with her, we did a bit more walking and exploring on our own, including climbing (thankfully mostly by elevator) into a tower that gave us a great panoramic view, including the cruiseport and our ship. I thought the port area was also very photogenic and made a few images from the ship as we came into the harbor in the nice morning light. You can see my Copenhagen images here. There was a great Royal Palace Compound, the Government Palace, a University and Churches. I went there with one spot high on my agenda: Nyhavn. You can see from the photo why. I would love to go back there at night.
Nyhavn Copenhagen, Denmark [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]
OCTOBER
WE STILL weren’t done. 🙂 We had made plans earlier in the year to go on a cruise with some family members. Some of them had never been in Europe, or parts of the Mediterranean before. Some had been some places, but not others. Having been to the area at least three other times, there was a lot of familiarity for us. But there is always something different; a different spin; a different agenda, and different photographic opportunities. We made the best of some pretty great spots. We started in Rome, where we spent a few days before boarding the Celebrity Edge in Civitavecchia. We then cruised to La Spezia, Cannes, Toulon (Provence), Barcelona, Sardinia, Sicily, and Naples. On our return to Civitavecchia, we flew to Venice for a few more days, before returning home. Whew! Long, and at points exhausting trip. Photographically, there were some really high points!
Piazza del Popolo Rome, Italy [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]ROME IS a city we had been to two times before. But each time, only for the day. Having the luxury to stay for 3 nights in a VRBO right in Rome was special. And it meant I would get out in the morning light. I did not get any nighttime shooting in there, though. But during the days we got to see the Vatican (perhaps because of post-Covid and maybe the early morning tour, we got a much more intimate view of the place – on our last visit there were shoulder to shoulder crowds everywhere we were in Vatican City). We also had a much more thorough tour than our previous walk-through on our own, of the Roman Forum and the Coloseum. On the day we arrived, our driver took us to a couple impressive spots, including a fountain we had never seen before. And, of course, the Trevi Fountain (that was every bit as crowded as it was on our first visit). Having spent 3 plus days there, it would be impossible for me to choose a photo or two that would be “representative.” And everyone has seen the Colosseum, The Vatican, The Trevi Fountain, the Royal Palace, and the Roman Forum. All my images of Rome, including a number of new ones from this trip are inthe Rome, and Vatican Galleries, on my photo website. The image here is just a very short walk from our VRBO, taken just after sunrise one of the mornings we stayed there. It is probably my favorite Rome image.
Riomaggiore Cinque Terre, Italy [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]IWAS “laying in the weeds” for La Spezia. On our Mediterranean cruise in 2019, we had stopped in La Spezia. I knew about Cinque Terre back then, but I really wasn’t prepared to do it justice. And to add to that, we had a mostly rainy day. I got to just one of the 5 villages (Manarola). But it was a learning experience. Among other things, we learned about the commuter train from La Spezia through Cinque Terre, stopping at all 5 of the villages. There is an all-day ticket for 18 Euros. The time between stops is between 5 and 15 minutes. It is possible to do several (maybe all) of the villages in a long day. With a large group (we had 6) it is not always easy to get organized and going. Especially without a tour or specific plan. And especially when all in the group aren’t especially early risers. So, I made it known to everyone that I would be off the ship as soon as we were cleared and would meet them in one of the villages once they got going. That worked for me. I got to photograph what I wanted of 3 of the 5 villages, which I had concluded were the most photogenic of all: Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Vernazza. Those images can all be seen inmy Cinque Terre Gallery. The consensus of photographers whose accounts I read was that Manarola was the best of the 3 to photograph. I don’t know that I would agree. It is certainly photogenic. It is also, by far, the easiest of the three to get to, with the train station being very close to “the action.” And I do think it would be the village of choice to stay in for an overnight or two. But I really likedRiomaggiore!
Monaco [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]CANNES, OUR next port, is supposed to be a playground for the rich and famous. It seems like that is a common theme along this stretch of the Mediterranean known as the French Riveria. But we didn’t spend any time in Cannes, but instead 4 of us took a train to Monaco, where we walked to the Monte Carlo Casino. We had been in the Casino before, but it was still interesting to walk around, though we did not gamble. In the end I think we all mostly enjoyed strolling along the avenue leading up the casino and along the waterfront. We stopped for probably the nicest lunch we had during the entire trip.
Monte Carlo Casino Monaco [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]THE NEXT day, we docked at the port of La Seyne-sur-Mer in Toulon, France. About the only thing memorable about Toulon is that it is in the heart of Provence. Our private guide that day said that he was one of only two who would drive all the way to La Seyne-sur-Mer, because it was so out of the way. We were fortunate that he would, because he took us on a really great tour. Years back we had docked at Marseilles (no doubt a more convenient port for passengers and guides). We started out in a nearby National Park with some stunning views from up in the mountains, down over the riviera. We went to Aix-en-Provence (we had been there before in 2014, but the others had not). It is another beautiful old city with fountains, piazzas, churches and majestic buildings. We had lunch there and then headed back toward our ship. On the way we stopped at the medieval village of LeCastellet, a quiet, charming little village tucked up into the mountains. My Provence Gallery showcases a few of the images I have made in the Provence Region, including Aix-enProvence and LeCastellet. Perhaps the coolest photo-op I had in 2022 was the “right time – right place” shot of rock climbers preparing for their rappel down the mountains in the National Park.
Rock Climbers Provence, France [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]OUR NEXT stop was Barcelona, Spain. We have been to Barcelona a handful of times now, staying a few days each time. It is one of my favorite European cities (Porto, Portugal, being the other). But we had seen much of the city already. On our last visit, we had a tour to the nearby Montserrat Monastery and a winery that was cut short because of a Catalonian demonstration. We wanted to finish it, so my wife and I left the others to their own designs in Barcelona and returned to Montserrat: mountains northeast of Barcelona. It was a nice day. It started out quite foggy, but as our morning progressed, the sun broke through and I made what I think is a very nice photograph of the mountains behind the monastery.Montserrathas its own gallery on my website.
Montserrat Barcelona, Spain [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]AFTER BARCELONA, we went to a place we had never been to; Sardinia. A part of Italy, it, like so many of the European distinctive regions, has its own history, language and culture. It seemed to us that food was a big regional thing in this part of Italy. The next day we would be in Messina, Sicily and my wife and I took a food tour on our own. I didn’t make any real memorable images in either place this time, though I did post a few photos in the Sardinia Gallery on my website.
Pompei Naples, Italy [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]THE FINAL stop on our cruise was Naples, Italy. Again, we have been in port at Naples multiple times. One of the reasons it is a very popular cruise ship stop is its proximity to so many sought after sites in the area. From Naples we have been to the Amalfi Coast two times, and to the Isle of Capri. But the other big event is the ruins of Pompei and Herculaneum. We had not been to either and this was a long, but fun day visiting them. Each has its own gallery with many photographs in myItaly Galleries. I included the Pompei image here because of the classic clouds in front of Mount Vesuvius. These ancient, but sophisticated, civilizations are spectacular, and the preserved ruins include homes, shops, restaurants, displaying impressive stonework and mosaics. They are rivaled only – in my experience – by the ruins of Ancient Ephesus, in Turkey.
Doge’s Palace Venice, Italy [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]VENICE IS another incredible European city that we have been to multiple times. I have often described Venice as “eye-candy” for the photographer. On this trip, I concentrated less on shooting everything in front of me and more on some of the little things – as well as enjoying the city with our friends who had not been there. As always, I made a few images. You can see all my Venice images in the Venice Gallery on my photo website.
DECEMBER
YOU WOULD think that would have been enough. But there would be one more fun and successful adventure. When we moved from Michigan to Florida, in stages, over the last 10 years, I learned that an old high school classmate was an avid photographer, and a 30-plus year resident of Tampa. We touched based a couple times and vowed to get together to do some photography. Finally in early December, knowing the city would be dressed up for the holidays, I reached out to Mark, and we ultimately got together – him being my local guide – to make some really good images of the Miami Skyline. It was fun, and we plan to do it again soon – somewhere in our area. I just set up aTampa Galleryin the past few days, with many more of these nighttime skyline images. Hope you’ll check them out and enjoy them. And I would also encourage you to check out Mark’s work here.
Tampa Skyline and Bridge over The Hillsborough River Tampa, Florida [Copyright Andy Richards 2022 All Rights Reserved]WELL. THAT’s my year in pictures. The images shown here are not necessarily my “best” nor by any stretch of the imagination, all of my take for 2022. They are meant to show what I had to work with. I would be honored if you will go to my LightCentricPhotography photo site, peruse some of the galleries, and leave a comment or two. I am very thankful for a robust, healthy (in spite of the Pandemic), and very full year of travel and photography. I wish all a successful and Happy New Year!Good shooting to all you photographers out there.
Best Regards,
[On Monday, we begin 2023, flying to Cape Town, South Africa, for a few days and then boarding the Oceania Nautica, for a cruise “around the horn,” so to speak. On returning later this month, I will resume our 2022 experiences, with the Baltic Cruise series. Hope you will hang on. Stay tuned.]
ABSENT A sign, it is difficult to know the right direction sometimes. There is so much going on in the digital photography space these days. I have written about smart phone cameras and computational photography. Digital sensor and processor technology just keeps getting better in all sizes, shapes and designs. And, as technology moves forward, larger sensors are becoming a reality. When I was in Vermont in October 2021, my friend Rich Ennis was shooting a Fujifilm “medium format” (MF) sensor that is housed in a modestly sized, DSLR-like body. I wouldn’t have known it was MF if he hadn’t told me. For reference, “full-frame” in digital refers to 35mm equivalent. “Medium Format,” in film, meant various different sizes and was meant to differentiate from 35mm on the smaller side and the large “view cameras” – as large as 8×10 inches – on the large side, but appears to have only one size in digital sensors. Confused yet? With my 42mp Sony “full-frame” (35mm equivalent) sensor, I have been wowed by image quality and the ability to make significant crops. Even so, as I write this blog post, my basic conclusion is that in the end, the “right stuff,” is going to involve a compromise between image quality and convenience.
the “right stuff,” is going to involve a compromise between image quality and convenience
ON THE convenience side, I got spoiled by my ultra-small, P&S sized Sony Rx100. With its 24-200mm (35mm equivalent), Zeiss designed zoom lens, and very diminutive size, and “pro” features, like raw capture, full manual, aperture and shutter speed priority settings and such, it is a pretty impressive little shooter. But as much as I love its size and convenience for travel and carry, I do have misgivings. Its 1-inch sensor is small (though still measurably larger than a smartphone sensor), and with 20 megapixels crowded onto a 1-inch sensor, there are some serious limitations. I used it in some night shooting recently in London, and while the images were pleasing overall, there was noticeable noise in most of them, that would be non-existent, or very much reduced on my Sony “full frame” sensor. And of course, I do miss the ability to change out a lens for certain situations. It is definitely a tradeoff. I have gotten my long-trip travel baggage down to one carry-on size bag, and whatever “personal” size bag I need to carry my camera and lenses. With the RX100, that means anything from a messenger bag to my pocket. With the A7rii, two fairly large lenses (though they have certainly gotten smaller than my former DSLR and f2.8 lens duo) and other accessories, that means at best, a small photo-backpack, and a check-size bag in order to bring accessories, including a full-sized tripod. And it’s not just the airplane thing, but in Europe and other parts of the world, schlepping the bags on ferries, trains, and walking. To me, it is a pretty big deal.
Safety Harbor, Florida OMD EM10 (jpeg from camera) [Copyright Andy Richards 2021]AT THE same time, as I shoot, process and consider my photography, I am always thinking about image quality and shooting versatility. As much as I love the convenience if the RX100, I am always finding a few instances where I miss my more traditional gear. Having used SLR/DSLR style cameras for most of my life, I am comfortable with the feel of that body style, the controls, and lenses, and the viewfinder (the RX100 has a viewfinder and if it didn’t, that would have been a deal-breaker for me). And as convenient and impressive as its abilities are, my Samsung S21 Smartphone is still not going to do it for me. It just doesn’t “feel” like a camera in my hands. Moreover, the smartphone sensor is really just too small for anything more than a snapshot (in spite of those who would – and have – challenge/ed me on that point). When you start to do anything to “work” the smartphone image in post-processing, it starts to break down rather quickly. The “size matters” phrase is certainly applicable here. As a general rule, the larger the sensor, the more you have to work with and arguably, the better the image quality (of course there are variables, like lens resolving power and the number of pixels on the sensor). So, thinking about sensor size is a serious issue for me. As you can see from the opening illustration, there is a very real difference between a typical smartphone sensor, and even my Sony RX100 (1-inch) sensor. And if that is significant, it is also the case that each larger iteration should be increasingly better.
Sony RX100 and Olympus OMD E-M10 compared [Copyright Andy Richards 2021]WHILE I certainly like the convenience of true “pocket” carry, I don’t really need a camera that small. Something between that and the noticeably large and inconvenient 35mm-size gear works admirably. Something that would still fit my long trip travel baggage model. And in 2022, I think I have found that solution. A family member let me use her Olympus OMD E-M10 micro 4/3 (MFT) camera. I began by playing with it locally – just with the original “kit” lens (28-80mm in 35mm equivalent). The MFT sensor (white rectangle above) is larger than the RX100 1-inch sensor (blue rectangle). So, theoretically, it should give me more image quality headroom, and somewhat better noise performance in the shadows. And on paper, and according to test results, it does. I went out to shoot a sunrise with my Sony A7rii and took the OMD along just to “play” a little bit. That experience convinced me that I like the shooting experience of this little camera. I rarely shoot in jpg format, but I include a couple out-of-camera jpgs here, to demonstrate that it handles jpgs admirably – for those who would prefer to shoot in that format. They are impressive, with good contrast and great color (set at “natural” with a slightly warm white balance). Be that as it may, I am decidedly not a jpg shooter. My own bias is: why would anyone go to the expense of acquiring a camera like this and not shoot in its native, raw format? Of course there are some really good photographers who disagree with me.
I HAVE now traveled with the OMD and two lenses on two occasions as my sole setup. The first was a weeklong Caribbean Cruise in January. Having had some success there, I again took only the OMD on an extended trip to Portugal in May, with 2 zooms, and a wide-angle prime as my only gear. In addition to daily carry, I did some night shooting and came home with a pretty good idea of its performance in low light conditions. I did get(and expected) more noise than my Sony “full-frame” produces, but again, everything involves compromise. And the noise was easily tamed with a small adjustment of the noise reduction feature in the details module of ACR/Lightroom for the most part. In a couple instances, I applied an additional round of NIK Define noise reduction utility. I am pleased with the results.
Safety Harbor, Florida OMD EM10 (jpg from camera) [Copyright Andy Richards 2021]I BEGAN writing this shortly after first acquiring the MFT camera. As I have gained experience, I have come back to the draft numerous times. The post has gotten long (even by my standards, LOL). So I have decided to split it into 2 posts. This first one will compare and justify the acquisition and the second will contain my empirical observations after substantial use. By now, though, the “flirtation” has become a more serious relationship, with the near certainty of becoming my long term travel solution. For justification: with a sensor at least one-third larger than my Sony100rx‘s, the camera body is only a tiny bit larger than the rx100. And, unlike the almost too small, RX100, it handles like a small SLR/DSLR. The viewfinder is bright and easy to see through, and the tilting rear screen works for waist-level type shooting on a tripod. It fits my hands nicely. It is feather-light. The controls are logical to me (I much prefer the way Olympus handles the control for moving the spot AF point around to my Sony setup). With the “pancake” style 14-40mm lens attached, the Olympus body is only slightly deeper than the RX100. The body measures just 1/2-inch wider and is essentially the same from base to top – except that the pentaprism-shaped, EVF (viewfinder) adds nearly 1 inch in height just in that small “bump” on top. Adding the 40-150mm gets me to where (actually better) I was in focal length with the rx100 (35mm equivalent 80-300). And as the photo below illustrates, at very little size cost (3-3/4″ and featherweight). I don’t gain any resolution (in fact, a small loss in quantity of megapixels) but I do get a larger sensor size, which think gets me more “bang for the buck” from those larger pixels.
Olympus OMD-EM10 version 1 with 14-42 pancake lens and accompanying 40-150 “Fantastic Plastic” zoom; alongside my “murse” shoulder bag that I use for daily carry during travel. For scale, I have included a golf cap. You can see that size is a huge positive here. [Copyright Andy Richards 2022]OLYMPUS offers a nice selection of lenses in this mount (which means interchangeability across the entire Olympus M4/3 lineup), including several zooms, and a few primes. And Olympus has always been known for its quality (m. zuiko) glass. While acquiring (and carrying) additional lenses may seem go against my premise of compact travel gear, it does give room for diversity, if desired at some point. I might, for example, acquire their 45mm (90mm equivalent @35mm) f1.8 lens as an additional tool for closeups where I may wish to create nice blurry backgrounds. Who knows? But the ability is there. All micro 4/3 cameras (even other brands) and lenses share compatibility with mounts. So you can not only choose from Olympus’ own selection (they offer “pro” spec 1.8 and 4.0 aperture lenses, as well as the consumer grade lenses I have mentioned here), but also from other manufacturers (primarily, Panasonic).
Senior Frogs Cozumel, Mexico This very unique (just kidding 🙂 ) restaurant is always colorful and fun to shoot [Copyright Andy Richards 2022]RETURNING to my original premise: travel size, quality, versatility and compromise, the MFT format allows for designs of much smaller lenses throughout the line. I have fitted my “rig” out with the pancake-style 14-42EZ (35mm equivalent = 28-84mm), Olympus’ equally economical 40-150 (35mm equivalent = 80-300mm), and more recently, a Rokinon MF 7.5mm (35mm-equivalent =15mm) for travel. The 40-150mm has been referred to by enthusiasts at “The Fantastic Plastic” lens. New, these two lenses together sell for $500 on sites like B&H. Though they are “consumer” lenses (more on that later), that is pretty reasonable. I “upgraded” the borrowed body to the mark II (which has better IS – good for handheld shooting), a slightly better viewfinder, and electronic shutter release capability. If you are willing to take a calculated risk (I have done a lot of this – mostly successfully) you can find them used. I paid less than half the “new” price for my lens lineup, and just over $200 for the new body. In an industry where it is easy to spend thousands of dollars on the latest and greatest, I think that may be one of the best features. I carried this “kit” (camera, 2 lenses, my small travel tripod, and PZ filters) on my Caribbean Cruise in January (the comparative image above, sans the hat 🙂 ). Both lenses appear to be sharp and contrasty. They both render (in combination with the camera) a nice warm, saturated image in Olympus’ .orf raw format. I do see some (expected) distortion at the shorter focal length with the 14-42mm lens, but certainly nothing that cannot be corrected in post-processing. The longer zoom lens is 3-3/4 inches long and weighs significantly less than 1 lb. I have read lots of good user reviews about the sharpness of this inexpensive lens. The other two are – for lack of a better description – comparatively tiny. For travel, this seems like pretty much the ideal combination. While it is not going to go into a shirt pocket, the whole combo will easily fit into the fanny pack size bag I often use when walking around on travel (along with the other two lenses). With the small lens attached, the camera mightpossibly fit a cargo-style pant pocket (though I am not sure I would recommend this style of carry). For all-in-one users, Olympus also offers a 14-150mm lens. For me, the usage will mostly be with the small lens (probably 80-90% of my shooting), so the combo works perfectly.
Atlantis Nassau, Bahamas [Copyright Andy Richards 2022]THE LENSES discussed above are all “consumer” grade f3.5 or f4 – f5.6 lenses. For the kind of travel/”street” shooting I am doing, mostly during daylight hours, with the capability of bumping the ISO up, and the Olympus in-bodyimage stabilization, I find these lenses provide just what I need, 99% of the time. There are -as I have mentioned – numerous pro-style lenses with wide apertures available in the micro 4/3 format. But there is that compromise again. They are bigger, heavier, and certainly a magnitude more expensive. In my own case, it seems like it makes more sense to invest in pro glass for my “full frame” camera. OM Systems (formerly Olympus) has somewhat recently announced a pair of F4 “pro” lenses that would give a range similar to what I have for my Sony a7rii. While there is apparently a market for these, to me they would be overkill for my purposes – as well as bigger and heavier; somewhat defeating my purposes. The single reason for me to use the MFT format is size. I cannot think of another reason why I wouldn’t always carry my Sony system. But as noted above, that is reason enough. I don’t currently see myself going “all in” with this system. The OMD-E10 (version 1) and the EM10 mark II fit my criteria. Why? Like every other manufacturer, each new iteration gets bigger and heavier (another spin on “going the wrong way, in my opinion). The mark II is negligibly larger and includes just a couple improved features that I considered worth upgrading for. Otherwise, the more sophisticated (and larger and more expensive OM options just don’t do it for me). I know there are working pros who will disagree with that and make a good living and some incredible imagery with their m4/3 equipment. And the more I use it the more I “get” that. If m4/3 is the only equipment you are going to own and shoot, you would look at this very differently, and there are lots of great options to choose from in the Olympus family, including the impressive new offering by OM Solutions: the OM-1.
Safety Harbor, Florida OMD – EM10 (jpg from camera) [Copyright Andy Richards 2021]LAST YEAR, I opted to “up” my image quality, upgrading my “full frame” Sony A7 to the Sony a7rii42mp “full frame” sensor, with no AA filter (and it is worth noting here, that it is my understanding that the Olympus 4/3 cameras do not have AA filters on them). I have been very impressed so far. I have no intention of replacing it as my primary, serious camera (though, ironically, I probably make many less images with it than I do my other “more convenient” gear). But having said that, I made a lot of images in both Vermont in October, 2021 and recently in Maine in April, 2022. In spite of my feelings about size, and enthusiasm for the 4/3 gear – for my serious landscape shooting, the larger Sony system is a “keeper.” I have since invested in more powerful computer processing equipment to keep up with not only the new technology and software, but the larger image files. The micro 4/3 move goes (sort of) the opposite direction, with the lowest pixel count (my Sony RX100 is 20, and the OMD is only 16 megapixels) I have had in a few years. But, while still smaller than the 35mm equivalent, “full frame” of my Sony, the 4/3 sensor is significantly larger than the RX100’s 1-inch sensor. And 16 megapixels on a 4/3 sensor should still yield a better-quality image than 20 megapixels on a 1-inch sensor. Size (pixel size and sensor size) does matter – and all other things equal, it should trump numbers. I look forward to additional travel experience with this camera. I know there is a very large and enthusiastic following with the 4/3 imaging group.
My raw images are always blah looking straight out of the camera. It is the nature of the beast. But it also gives you the best platform from which to render the best possible images
WHICH BRINGS me to another point. Since investing in some OM gear, I have joined a couple Facebook Boards dedicated to various Olympus – OM topics. I haven’t ever done likewise on similar Sony or Nikon boards which I am sure exist (at least not since back in the AOL days) 🙂 I am surprised at the amount of angst that is often expressed about post-processing software, image downloading software and editing, and even in-camera software. My own workflow has always been pretty simple. For me, the camera is a capture tool only. I Download my images to my chosen storage/organization media, cull, label, append metadata (copyright) and back up (I add the extra step of converting my raw images to .dng format – a personal preference). I do all this before I do any image editing or processing. I use Photoshop, but Lighroom, OnONE, Capture One, or any of the other programs would work just fine. The point is, I don’t think much about what is happening to the captured digital image until I begin to work on it in post-processing. My organization scheme is also quite simple. I store files by date and year, and use a naming scheme that generally gives me enough information to remember the scene. Any other stuff gets done in my archives (like keywords, categories, etc.). One common thread to all my camera gear is raw format (and it’s raw; not RAW). While I know there is a debate, for any of us who plan to process our photographs for best case presentation, I don’t understand it. I get that certain shooters (e.g., sports, reporting, etc.) have the need for speed (and perhaps size) reason to shoot in jpeg. I also get that some people are just going to take their in-camera results and present them (perhaps most often on media like Instagram or Facebook). And I know some like dual capture (raw + jpeg), to have the jpeg for quick downloading, web use, etc. But I really don’t understand why you would have the capacity to capture raw images and then throw them away at any stage during the process. All my images are first saved as raw files. All the talk I read on these sites about how this or that software renders colors better, etc., during the image ingestion process is perplexing to me. My raw images are always blah looking straight out of the camera. It is the nature of the beast. But it also gives you the best platform from which to render the best possible images. See my blog on “Why You Should Shoot Raw . . . “
Cruise Port Cozumel, Mexico Olympus OMD-EM10; M.Zuiko 14-42EZ, at 14mm. The lens at this length shows some perspective distortion out of the camera, but it was easily fixed in Photoshop. [Copyright Andy Richards 2022]THE PROOF is in the results, of course. In the next post, I will document some results and experiences, as well as comment on the overall Olympus system, now that I have accumulated some experience with two of the bodies. You might read my post on “Evaluating Your Gear,” and think “this guy is all over the place” (and you might be right 🙂 ). But the two posts are really not inconsistent. The conclusion I came to is that some of us may have more than one “outfit,” depending on our purpose. And note, my emphasis both here and there on what I will use (hence the less expensive, smaller “consumer” lenses). My own expectation is that the addition of the 4/3 “kit” will enhance both my images and my fun. And that latter piece is perhaps the most important of all.
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