Category: Travel

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Cars Cuba Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Travel

Jump Starting the Cuban Green Machine

Rock and Roll - Havana - 2013

Last Sunday, we had an amazing walk around the neighborhood in Central Havana with Raúl Cañibano. Along the way, we came across this beautiful green Chevy (at least that’s what I think it is!) which had a dead battery. The owner quickly recruited three guys to help with a classic jump start – while we photographers were standing on the sidewalk directly across the street.

Talk about a perfect photographic opportunity! This image will always bring me back to that moment – just a week ago – in Havana, Cuba – walking with old and new friends in a special neighborhood in Havana.

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Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S100 Travel

South Beach at Night

14th Street Restrooms - Ocean Drive - South Beach, Florida

One our way early last week to Havana, Doug Kaye and I got into Miami a day early and had a delightful late evening stroll up Ocean Drive in South Beach – cameras in hand. Doug brought his “big” Nikon D600. I brought my tiny Canon PowerShot S100. We had a lot of fun – the neon lights were great, the people were, as they say, very interesting, and the weather was balmy and delightful.

This image is of the public restrooms at 14th Street and Ocean Drive. Almost looks like it came out of an Edward Hopper painting from the 1930’s!

More of my South Beach at night photos are in this set on Flickr.

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Black and White Cuba Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Travel

Shooting Havana with Raúl Cañibano

Raúl Cañibano Ercilla - Havana - 2013

What a week it was. Seven days in the heart of Havana. Old Havana. Central Havana.

The best part of the experience was watching and working with several great Cuban photographers – including Raúl Cañibano. We learned by watching them work, taking us through the neighborhoods – and seeing things we might otherwise overlook.

I especially enjoyed watching Raúl work. He led us – slowly – on a very special Sunday morning photo walk in Central Havana. We’ll never forget that morning – in the drizzle and rain – walking with Raúl.

On our last afternoon in Havana, we went to an Afro-Cuban dance/drum rehearsal – and I happened to get lucky and catch this shot of Raúl at work. So many great memories – especially watching masters like Raúl at work.

Raúl’s portfolio is about to be published in a new book – available now for pre-order on Amazon.com. He shared the book with us while we were with him in Havana – it’s a master work by a great photographer. Here’s another link to Raúl’s work on the Lens blog of the New York Times.

Categories
Cuba Living Travel

The End of January

Untouchable - South Beach - 2013

It’s the end of January – and a bright, sunny morning back home in Menlo Park. Stepping outside this morning, there’s a freshness in the morning air. Spring seems just around the corner.

I’m back from an amazing 10 days – first to Miami and South Beach and then on to Havana, Cuba for a week long Person to Person cultural exchange program. I’ve got lots of reflections from this trip – which I’ll be writing about soon. And some beautiful photography – especially of the wonderfully open people of Havana.

Meanwhile, it’s really good to be home – as it always is.

Categories
Australia Photography Travel

Gelatos at Manly Beach

Manly - Gelatos - Australia (HDR)

It’s always fun for me to see what images of mine here on Flickr end up being popular day by day. This is a great example. It’s an image of a gelato stand on Manly Beach in Australia – shot during one of my visits in March 2011.

On this trip, I was shooting in RAW using a tiny Canon PowerShot S95 – and I processed this image when I got home as a single image HDR shot. The HDR (High Dynamic Range) treatment added the interesting contrast and depth to the swirls in the gelato.

I have no idea why this particular image from two years ago suddenly became popular yesterday – but it did. And it brought back my memories of taking the shot – including, something that’s special for a photographer, the smells of the place!

Ah, Manly! Looking forward to coming back!

Categories
History Living Norway Travel

Happy Father’s Day 2012

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Even though Father’s Day is one of those “Hallmark Holidays”, it got me remembering this morning that ten years ago, in 2002, we took a wonderful family vacation to Norway – and to the original Loftesnes (spelled with just one ‘s’ on the end over there) homestead.

On June 18, 2002, we took a high speed ferry from Bergen to Sogndal – about a three hour ride up the largest fjord in Norway. A beautiful trip indeed! This photo shows my Dad (age 80) and me out on the bow of the ferry after we docked in Sogndal. Brings back lots of great memories about what a great Dad (and proud Granddad) he was.

Over the next few days, we toured the area around Sogndal and he had such a great time – his first trip to Norway. One of my best memories is sitting out on the lawn at our hotel watching the bonfires around the Sognefjord burn late on Midsummer evening. Dad was in his element!

Dad passed away just over two years ago and we miss him every day! He was especially one from the greatest generation!

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Nik Software Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S95 Stockholm Travel

Sunrise in Stockholm

Sunrise - Stockholm - 2011 by Scott Loftesness

Here’s an image from a recent visit to Stockholm, Sweden – shot just at sunrise with my tiny Canon PowerShot S95.

I did a bit of post-processing using a combination of David Nightingale’s curves adjustments along with Nik’s Color Efex Pro 4. I love how these colors turned out – they so captured my memory of this morning.

What do you think? Add your comment below.

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Ireland Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S95 Travel

Late Fall in Glendalough

From Scott's Portfolio

Last November, we took our Glenbrook Payments Boot Camp “on the road” to Dublin, Ireland – recasting it as “Payments in a Mobile World!” with a lot of new mobile payments-oriented content. We had a great group attending – made our teaching easy and fun!

After the workshop was over, we spent a day touring County Wicklow south of Dublin. That tour included the perch overlooking Luggala that’s included in the current header graphic here – which I’ve coined “Band on the Run” – along with a stop at Glendalough (pronounced Glendalock). Close enough to Glenbrook for my purposes!

This image of the Round Tower at Glendalough was one of the JPEGs that I shot using my tiny Canon PowerShot S95 as we walked around Glendalough in a light drizzle. I love how this version turned out – with the tower in sharp focus and the hills behind in a softer focus with their muted fall colors. I can almost smell the place again as I’m writing this post!

Got to get back to Ireland one of these days – for more of this kind of exploring and photography! Have you been to Glendalough? Share your memories!

Categories
France Living Photography Travel

On the Beach at Cannes

Cannes Beach

For some reason, this particular photo of mine (from a wonderful trip to France in the summer of 2006) has been having an unusual number of views over the last few days on Flickr. Curious.

It was taken using my old Canon PowerShot S500 on a bright afternoon in July on the beach at Cannes – with hazy sunlight filtering down.

I love the colors in this shot – reminds me of an old postcard! Absolutely nothing has been done in terms of post-processing to this image! Hope you enjoy it too!

Categories
Photography Photography - Canon PowerShot S95 Travel

Chicago Skyline at Sunset

Chicago Skyline at Sunset

Last week, I was in Chicago to speak on a panel at the Smart Card Alliance’s Annual Meeting. It was a quick trip – so didn’t have a chance to do any extended photography work while I was there. But, my hotel room at McCormick Place faced north up the lakeshore towards downtown and the weather was beautiful – leading to this sunset shot taken with my tiny Canon PowerShot S95. The image was post-processed using Lightroom 3 and Nik’s Vivenza 2.

Here’s a link to some more photos I’ve taken with the little S95 – it’s always in my backpack!