The Travel Photographer in Me

Last year I submitted this article to a local photo magazine, but it was not accepted.  I am somewhat proud of my photography and thought I would still share the article with whoever would like to read it.  I hope you enjoy. 

The Travel Photographer in Me

I don't travel to photograph the world, but where ever I go the world seems to be there.... so I always have a camera ready.  Whether traveling solo, with friends and family, or for work, I have become somewhat of a "travel" photographer.  But then again, haven't we all? I don't think anyone goes anywhere without a minimum of a camera on their phone.  Most of us will never make a living out of our photographs, so ask yourself what is the point of travel photography to you? What do you want out of your pictures?

For me, the point of travel photography is to capture memories and entertain.  Some pictures will be just for me, while others will be to intrigue my guests to ask questions and inquire about stories. Any one can take that "post card" picture, so challenge yourself to do it differently. This is what will keep your friends interested in flipping through your albums.  I like to take pictures that keep my guest amazed and wanting more.

When I was traveling through Europe I got what backpackers refer to as "museum feet". Every city has a museum and after seeing a few they all look the same. But you still end up walking through them because you feel obligated to do so.  With my photos I try to prevent people from getting "album fingers".

When I show pictures to guests I want them to ooo and aah and ask questions to segue into stories.   Which in turn helps me remember a lot more of the little things.  I encourage my guests to look at the world from a different perspective.  A general rule of thumb for my travel photos is "if you can see it on a post card then don't shoot it unless you can do better".

For example, in 2003 I went backpacking through Europe. To start my journey I lived and worked at the Crown Inn, Playhatch (between Reading and Henley), about an hour from London. This is when I just started learning how to use an SLR (35mm).  I tried to take a roll of film a week, mostly on my days off, and came up with some really great shots.

Big Ben is perhaps the most photographed attraction in London.  If you just got back from a trip to London family and friends will probably want to see pictures, and they will probably be expecting to see Big Ben, but they won't stop and gaze at the site of it because they've all seen it.  So, sticking to my post card challenge, I took a better picture that everyone I show is amazed.

To get this shot it took about a roll and a half. Plus I didn't know what I was getting until development.  It was like that with most of my early photography.  Confidence in my ability to get great shots was slow as I would pick a subject, shoot it, then wait for the prints to see what I did right or wrong.

However, that was ten years ago and digital cameras have come a long way. Now I can get the shot I want a lot quicker and the learning curve is much steeper.  Switching to digital allowed me to take great pictures while keeping up with a tour, without slowing down my family, and without delaying my job.

 



Digital also allowed me to be more daring with my photos.  This shot of a yellow taxi in NYC took many attempts, but without having to worry about the cost of developing I was able to play.  As well with the instant photo preview I could see how exciting the results were.

 



When I travel by myself or with others, I try to look past the tourist trap to see the life of the people living there.  I try to get a sense of what life is like when the tour stops.  I find photographing people a little voyeuristic and I'm not so comfortable doing it.  So I challenge myself to capture a way of life while keeping the privacy of the subject. Take for example this shot of a young girl in an ally in Peru. This was taken in a small town in the mountains. This is a "real" town that is not on most maps, the people still dress as they have for centuries and I wanted to capture it. I don't know who this girl is, but to me is every woman in the village.

 
 



Another way I try to capture culture is photographing buskers.  I have a collection of performers from all over the world.  Most of these people aren't performing on the streets because they need to, but rather because the love it. They are not playing for you, they are playing for themselves. And if you get the timing right,  you catch a glimmer of their bliss, like this wonderful violinist from Hungary.

I was able to take this picture while on a walking tour of Budapest.  Just remember to tip them generously, not only were they your subject, but you hopefully enjoyed their performance as well.

If you are like me and don't like taking pictures of people, then challenge yourself to look for other signs of life.   On my honeymoon, my wife thought I was crazy for taking so many pictures of people's laundry hanging outside windows, but this picture now hangs in our kitchen.

It was taken in a very touristy part of Italy, Cinque Terra.  Getting pictures with few people it in touristy places is difficult, I suggest getting up early.  The air is typically calm and the streets quiet. If a city has a heart beat it is reborn every morning.  Truly a magnificent time to photograph

Another great way to amaze friends and family is to take pictures of the road less traveled.  If you decide to venture off the beaten path remember to keep safe. Fortunately for me, my occupation has taken me to some exciting and remote places.  If you find yourself in a place where post cards aren't sold, then the post card rule does not apply.  In this situation go wild.  Chances are everyone will be glued to your pictures and your stories.  Here is my favorite sunset taken in Churchill Manitoba using a point and shoot APS camera.   I was there working on my honors thesis and one evening the sky turned this beautiful gold.

Another great shot I took was on a job in Arctic Bay, Nunavut.  I had some time to kill, so a colleague and I stated to wonder off.  Found ourselves hiking up the hills that surround the inlet.  From the images of cliffs I took, it is needless to say it was breathtaking.

In closing I think the reader should know I am not a professional photographer and my equipment has never been more than what can be bought at a local electronic store.  I am self taught from trial and error after reading one or two basic photography books.  I now flip through coffee table books to get ideas for themes and interesting perspectives.  I say this because I believe anyone can be great photographer, all you need is a passion.  Happy travels!!

EmC's Infinite Playlist.

@WOWFactsOfLife: When you're happy, you enjoy the music. When you're sad, you understand the lyrics.

My wife's birthday is a few days after EmC's. The year Em was born my wife didn't feel much like celebrating amongst all the chaos we were going through.  But I and a few of her friends convinced her that we should go out for her birthday.  It was the first time we would leave the hospital and our first appearance publicly since Em (still not named) was born.  The venue was a small trendy chocolatarie. What better place to celebrate, it was also Lounge Piano night.  These event are really fun, it's a big sing-a-long. The pianist plays favorites like "Sweet Caroline" and "Rocket Man". He may even play some top 40 songs set to lounge tunes.

Perhaps he got a sense that our moods were not as chipper as the rest of the crowd.  He finish a song and then singled out my wife, "this one goes out to the birthday girl."  Then he started "Smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it's breaking...." (Nat King Cole). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN8oLGBNXpE

We all have songs that we have connected with regardless of the intended meaning of the artist.  They are part of the sound track of your life,  your infinite playlist.

Some of these songs we need to hear to help us heal. Other songs may be needed to say the words when we can't find them.  Some just to know there is someone out there that maybe, just maybe, can relate. While there are some songs we can't get through a day without, there are also songs, like the one mentioned above, we hope to never hear again...

The following are just a few of the songs that are on my infinite playlist solely because of what I call The EmC Effect.

When Emily was born there was one one song that I seemed to get played over and over; Rihanna's "we found a love in a hopeless place". When the song plays on the radio now, I am reminded of the daily drive to and from the hospital during EmC's 6 week stay in the NICU.  

Earlier in 2011 the Foo Fighters released the album "Wasting Light" and songs from the album were released thereafter. Released on Nov 1, 2011 (EmC's birthday) was "These days".  This was exactly how I felt when friends try to offer words of support because they think silence is somehow not enough. "It's alright". Then they get to go home. "Easy for you to say".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDVAQI-4lto

I clung to the Foo-Fighters because they have so much emotion in their songs. They go from calm and collected to over the top anger in one breath. 

When your significant other cries at night asking "why me?" "How did this happen?" "Why are we doing this?" And you can't answer or find the words to comfort. You can always turn to Jack Johnson "No other Way". "When your mind is a mess, so is mine..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucGBLprfDBU

Jack Johnson is an amazing songwriter.  I currently listen to the album "sleep through the static" a lot. I recommend a listen. The opening line in the first song is "All at once, the world can overwhelm me..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Qf912W_JM

When you start to notice your child's delays despite hours of intervention or when someone tells you "you are expecting too much" sing this song to your child before bed "I won't give up" by Jason Mraz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-4u9W-bns

And finally when your are ready to stop playing the victim and try to take control of you life again turn to The Foo Fighters "Walk"

"To keep alive, a moment at a time.

  But still inside, a whisper to a riot.

  The sacrifice, but knowing to 

  survive. 

  At first decline, another state of

  mind...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PkcfQtibmU 

 or The Bleachers "I wanna Get Better"

"Woke up this morning early before my family,
from this dream where she was trying to show me,
how a life can move from the darkness.
She said to get better..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5osPtE7kXI 

My infinite playlist is obviously much longer than what I have posted here.  The following are some home made videos of what happens when I set my life to music.  Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVWcQk3fdOc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qTX-64SHs

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIYMUf5ooog

Romero Britto, how did you know?

While vacationing on the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship I decided to attend an art auction.  Yes, I was lured with the promise of free champagne, free art, and great giveaways.  I know, I know, nothing of value is given away, but I could find no better way to spend an hour of my time on our first day at sea.

It started with a peruse through the pieces for auction. The auctions on cruise ships are run by Park West Gallery.  Therefore they push, I mean "showcase", a lot of Peter Max, Thomas Kinkade, Anatole Krasnyansky, etc. If you have never been to an art auction, you should go.  It is fun.  Park West auctioneers give fascinating little facts about the artists and paintings and keep the audience entertained and involved.

Caution: if you feel compelled to buy an expensive piece of art, it is worth paying for internet onboard or finding some wifi onshore to ensure you know what you are buying.  Prices may be inflated on ships with all the glamour, excitement, and lack of ways to research a buy.

When I look at art I can appreciate the skill, creativity, and time that it takes to produce it.  Rarely does art affect me emotionally and it has never infected me the way that Romero Britto's "Fall" did.

I use the word "infected" because every time I saw it, I was more drawn to it.  I couldn't stop thinking about it.  Every time I passed by it I would stare longer and see more.  The more I learned about it, the more I felt like the artist somehow knew me... Sorry, not me, but my daughter, Emily.

The subject of the piece is a cute girl, perhaps 10 years old.  She is standing with eyes wide open and smiling. She is surrounded by a beautiful, colourful world, with her happy-go-lucky dog behind her to the right.

Aboard the ship there is a Britto store.  I went and looked through some coffee table books of Britto's work. He seems to paint some subjects with their eyes open, and some closed.  While I'm not sure why Britto does this, to me it would seem that eyes closed is how the subject wishes to see the world.  Eyes open is the way the subject actually sees the world.

The girl pictured here has her eyes wide open and a big smile.  I am afraid this may be the way EmC will always see the world around her.  That she will always see fun and beauty, but never understand the dangers. I am afraid that people may take advantage of that.

To her left is a blue dog.  His eyes are closed and he is smiling.  His eyes are closed because he can only imagine the perfect world that she sees.  He is happy because she is his companion.  The blue dog reminds me of EmC's companion, Neako (R.I.P. Aug 25, 2014).
 

The auctioneers had already met Emily so perhaps they were pulling at our heartstrings when they explained to us that the dog's name is Azul.  They opened a book about the artist and showed Azul in front of Basel Children's Hospital in Brazil.






 

The artist, Britto, even drops a subtle hint that the piece is link to us.  Looking closely you will notice the girl is also holding a bouquet of flowers behind her back.  These flowers are the same colour I gave to my wife during a photo shoot we did while pregnant with  Emily....also behind my back.

What we didn't tell them, because it is so painful to discuss, was that the most powerful aspect of the piece was the girl's heart that she wears on her shirt for everyone to see.  More still was this girl's heart is whole.

EmC has a complete AVSD.  This means that the center wall dividing the left and right side of her heart did not form correctly. In layman terms, her heart has 2 chambers.

This type of heart defect is (almost) always corrected within the first six months of life (with ~95% success rate).  If you believe what your read online, the condition is fatal if not corrected by 2 years of age.

EmC was ~16 months old at the time and showing no signs of heart failure.  EmC was diagnosed at birth with a complete AVSD. We were told intervention would be needed at 6m. The 3m follow up showed a piece of tissue covering the lager hole (VSD). There were no signs of heart failure so they postponed surgery to 1yr of age.

At the 6m follow up, the tissue was still preventing any signs of heart failure, so surgery was postponed again until she is ~5yr old if needed at all.

At the 1yr follow up we were told to come back when she was 2.5yrs old.

At the 2.5yr follow up the tissue has effectively "closed" the VSD, however the ASD has gotten a little bigger. So the "if needed" is now "most likely"

She is now 35mnths old, no signs of heart failure, and penciled in for OHS surgery at ~5yrs old.

EmC is one of the very few not corrected complete AVSDs thriving beyond 2yrs of age. The thought of OHS is very scary. EmC is happy, playful, energetic, and meeting all her milestones. It is easy to forget about what she will most likely have to go through (OHS) in the not so distant future.

So if this picture is a portrait of my daughter's future, it means a lot to see her with a heart that is whole and unbroken.

 

youtu.be/sHC73h1wiV4?a

Open Letter to Royal Caribbean and Vacationstogo.com

Open letter to Royal Caribbean and Vacationstogo.com

Thank you for doing the right thing. Our family highly recommends both these companies for their professionalism and compassion.

It was March 2013 that my wife and I planned our first family vacation.  After careful consideration we concluded that taking a 16 month old to a resort would result in a week trying to stop her from eating sand and us running around for bottled water.  Cruising seemed to be the safer, cleaner alternative. We had cruised with Royal and booked with Vacationstogo.com in the past. So when it came to our family's first vacation we went with the tried and true.

We chose Royal for their outstanding service, we chose to sail on the Freedom of the Seas specifically for the daycare/nursery.  The daycare could look after children as young as 6 months.  Our daughter, Emily, would be ~16 months. We were excited to have the option of the daycare should my wife and I need a break.

Because the nature of a cruise vacation takes you out to sea hours away from emergency services it is required by passengers to disclose any medical issues.

We told the agent that we didn't feel it an issue and we had already discussed the idea of the vacation with Emily's physician,  but our daughter has Down Syndrome.  The agent noted it and continued to finish our booking.

We were extremely excited to be going on our first family vacation. All parents to a child with special needs know how difficult it is both emotionally and physically. Especially in the first year when very much is touch and go.  After all the physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, early intervention programs, doctors appointment, etc.   This vacation was not only earned, but deserved.  As well, this vacation was indication that life could return to "normal".

I sat with my wife after booking the trip and we started looking at the ship's activities and excursions.  It had only been about 5 minutes when the phone rang.  It was our agent. She apologized and told us there was a problem. She told us that Royal Caribbean did not allow children with disabilities to access the daycare. If we would like they could refund us our fare in full.

My heart sank.  I still can't think about that moment without tearing up.  After all of our hard work to keep Emily from falling too far behind her peers we were told by someone who had never met her, she was not good enough to play with other 1 year olds.  Further, our balloon image of life returning to normal was burst.  This was a reminder that Emily is different.

It took me a moment to compose myself and collect my thoughts.  I know that our agent was only the messenger.  I explained to her that our daughter needed no special attention.  In fact, with all Emily's therapies at 16 months of age Em knew a handful of signs to express her needs like water, milk, and hungry.  She was crawling and pulling to stand.  She loved books and puzzles.  She was in every definition, a 16 month old.

I demanded a copy of this policy.

The agent apologized and said she will call us back.  My wife and I were in shock and were preparing notes to go to our support group.

We understand the need for policies such as these to limit the liability and risk a daycare may be exposed to.  Further we understand that the people hired to work in a daycare on a cruise ship are energetic babysitters with probably no more than basic first aid knowledge.  We found it very offensive that Royal Caribbean would think that a parent of a child with special needs would carelessly drop their child off with some completely unqualified stranger for a mere hour of peace. 

After another 5-10 minutes our agent called back. I was ready to blow up.  But we were surprised again.  She apologized, and told us that Emily would be welcome aboard the ship and granted all privileges a 16 month old should be entitled to, including access to daycare.

It was incredible that the agent, the messenger on behalf of Royal, turned around and became the messenger for Emily.  She was the first person that did not know Emily to advocate for her (outside of medical profession).

We felt at this point no further apologies were necessary.  Within a matter of minutes the situation went from "no children with special needs allowed" to "oops Emily is allowed".

Vacationstogo.com, the messenger, felt so horrible about what happened, they gave us some additional onboard credits, that they said could be used for anything onboard, including the daycare.

Although Vacationstogo.com did nothing wrong, they made things more than right.

I don't feel Royal Caribbean has done anything wrong and they quickly corrected what offended us so deeply.

We never got to see the policy regarding children with special needs and their daycare service, but we hope that our experience with them has helped them see that all children with special needs cannot be painted with a single brush.  If a child requires assistance above and beyond what is expected at a daycare at sea, trust that a parent would ask if the facilities are equipped for their child.

The irony of this story is that we didn't even use the daycare service. Not out of spite, but because we felt no need for it.

Royal Caribbean does such an outstanding job for families vacationing with small children it is almost unbelievable.

First there is a free sign-out toy bag filled with age appropriate toys you can keep in your cabin for the duration of your vacation.  This helped keep EmC entertained in the Pac-n-Play while we showered.

Second there is a pool area designed specifically with children in mind, including a small diaper friendly pool.

Third there are the Dreamworks characters walking around and spectacular parades on the promenade.

Emily also really enjoyed the stage shows and ice skating shows.

When we booked, we thought that we would opt out of gratuity for Emily, because she was only 16 months old.  But our server in the dining room catered to her with more attention then he did us.  There was milk on the table when we came in and a fresh carton to take with us when we left.  The kitchen made her anything she wanted, whether on the menu or not,  from grilled cheese to fruit bowls. And the mess she left behind.... What mess?? Royal staff were amazing and quick to clean anything she could throw at them... and with a smile.

In the cabin, there were towel animals, diaper disposal bags, and extra linen ready to go every day.

Gratuity was well earned, and we were happy to pay it!!!

Emily became a pseudo celebrity on the ship. Every time our family went for portraits, she drew great crowds. When my wife and I wanted pictures of just us, there were no shortage of arms willing to hold her.

When we went to choose pictures to buy and take home, we had to ask the staff to reprint them because there were so many finger prints on them from other passengers stopping to admire.

We honestly have nothing but good things to say about vacationing with Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean does not set the cruising standard, they set the bar.  When paired with the professionalism and helpful agents at Vacationstogo.com our experience from booking to cruising to disembarking was absolutely stellar.

Once again, thank you to both Royal Caribbean and Vacationstogo.com for taking the time to listen to our concerns and doing the right thing. We understand the need for such policies and from this experience believe that Royal Caribbean understands that some policies are merely guidelines. You may not be able to please everyone but you did a great job at pleasing our family.

We will continue to use Vacationstogo.com and remain Loyal to Royal.