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Matterhorn Night (Zermatt, Switzerland)
We waited on the bridge for more than two hours for the clouds to unpin from the Matterhorn’s peak and finally our patience was repaid. The bonus was it kept us there until the golden hour and we knew we would go home with something great after the long side-trip to southern Switzerland.
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- El Tranvia Restaurant (Cienfuegos, Cuba) The Dallas World Affairs Council was loud and raucous that last night of our trip when Chuck snuck away and shot this in a restaurant rail-car dining room perched on top of the three-story building. Hand-held!
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- Oia (Santorini, Greece) “I love this photo” declared Kathie, “but I wish we had gotten it without all those arms and legs.” Peter: “No, no. They frame him. It makes this more interesting.” It was an early lesson in composition for both of us.
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- Havana (Havana, Cuba) Chuck has this affinity for finding opportunities to shoot candid photos. Some of the ones from the south of China allow us to relive the experience and feelings we had when we were there. But, someday, it’s going to get him in trouble. This occasion captures a boy who exemplifies to us the stoic determination of so many in this very broken country.
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- South Africa Village The mother is being paid, and for that we are grateful. A group of eight is shepherded into this and one other hut to “learn about life here”. The mother’s eyes locked on to Chuck. He raised the camera and lowered it; there was no change in her demeanor. The second attempt yielded this. It was hard to tell if she felt anything.
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- Northern Lights (Blachford Lodge, Northwest Territories) It was so brutally cold (-20f to -33f). Here, 60 miles from Yellowknife, we waited five nights for the Aurora Borealis to appear. Our cabin, away from the lodge, was without plumbing or electricity. We sat in that teepee (with a fire) for hours one night fortified by Baileys and coffee, hoping for a lightshow. You cannot touch the tripod with your bare hands. Batteries? – carry two spares, as close to your skin as possible, but yet quickly accessible. Bag and seal the camera with moisture absorbing packets before going indoors; and the list of things to overcome gets long. But, one night, magic appears and between us we came home with 100+ very long exposure photos to work with. Priceless.
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- 2011 Holidays (Denton, TX) We actually talked a bank manager into allowing us on the roof where Chuck climbed an extension ladder to set up on top an elevator shaft enclosure at the building’s corner. It was windy, but the colors worked that night. At our age, not doing that again.
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- Lincoln Memorial (Washington D.C.) The crowd dictated this photo. We had no way of knowing the angle would work well but what we got was an expansive Lincoln towering over us saying: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.” We think he means: “If you are patient enough you will get THE shot”.
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- Danza Contemporanea de Cuba (Havana, Cuba) They come because the state pays them to be dancers. They probably come for the joy of it. But, these young people suffer like dancers all over the world . . . and they are still here. Never have we seen a nearly non-stop class last for more than an hour. The crowd gave them a standing ovation. The candid photos that afternoon were incredible.
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- Lake Ashi (Lake Ashi, Japan) This was taken on a boat near Tokyo with our first digital camera – a point and shoot. Kathie likes it because it shows her love of taking close up detail photos and she’s always happy when on a boat. Chuck thinks she understood composition from the beginning.
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- Songtsam Retreat (Zhongdian, China) We were walking back to our room at a retreat hotel, Yunnan Province, in the south of China when Kathie saw this lovely lantern on the steps lighting the way. The focus isn’t bad considering it was without a tripod.
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- San Diego Zoo (San Diego, California) This probably shouldn’t be admitted, but this shot was sheer dumb luck. Kathie was just trying to get a semi-decent picture of a cheetah at the San Diego Zoo, but he kept pacing back and forth and I just kept trying to follow him. I’m not sure how many shots I took, but I love this one because it depicts the strength and speed of the cheetah.
