Steve Rubin Photography

 OK, so I’ve talked about this before of how challenging it is to do landscape photography while traveling without getting all kinds of people in the shot. It’s nearly impossible. I showed how in France we can go to a different part of a church entrance that is closed to capture the architecture, but what do you do when that’s not a solution.  While in Kauai on the north shore we were visiting the Kilauea Lighthouse. It was beautiful, jutting out of the coast to that deep blue ocean. There was only one problem, people and lots of them.  I absolutely loved this shot (even if it was shot mid afternoon) but  I didn’t really want all those people. So what is a photographer to do?  Well this is where patience and a small amount of photoshop skills come in to make the final image.  In Photoshop we have a number of tools to help us solve this kind of problem. But you have to zoom with up (in some cases where you’re working so zoomed up you’re looking at individual...

 So sorry, but wanted to make this a weekly series. Unfortunately the distraction of a new photo editing platform (read that brand new big computer) got me distracted.  This week I wanted to talk briefly about photographing architecture while traveling. We usually think of that photographing street scenes with buildings as we explore a new city. For me, being over in Europe I see so many different types of architecture and colors that I usually don’t see in the US.  For example, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit my daughter in Copenhagen Denmark while she was on her semester abroad. While visiting her we got to play tourist and of course, I go to play photographer. What I’ve loved walking around European towns is the stark different in architecture, incorporation of water by many city streets, and in Denmark the bold colors that they use.  The shot above is a typical Denmark shot. This same shot exists all over the internet. So why take it? Because not all t...

 Landscape photographers have one key rule, be up before the sunrise or be ready to be available during sunset. These times are considered the Golden Hour when the light is the best, it’s low and directional.  But what do you do when your traveling with family and friends on vacation. Getting up an moving around in the summer, on vacation,  at 4AM does not necessarily ingratiate you to your family. Many times as a photographer you have to make compromises.  Sometimes when your traveling, its not about disturbing your family but its much more practical than that. It’s all about when your itinerary allows you to be at a certain place at a certain tine. My father taught me all about balance, everything in life is a compromise, and sometime landscape / travel photography can be just that, a compromise.  The image above was in a Japanese Garden at Butchart Gardens in Victoria Canada. My wife and I visited this beautiful set of gardens while coming back to Seattle on ...