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Lush Albums Blog

Getting Sharper Images

August 26, 2015 1 Comment

Thank you to Jake Hicks of Jake Hicks Photography for writing this guest post for the Lush Albums Blog to answer this often-asked question.  We hope it will help you create tack sharp images in any situation, which will, in turn, print beautifully in our albums!

Getting Sharper Images – an Understanding of Focus Modes

The longer you shoot, the larger the repertoire of subjects and assignments you photograph becomes. You start off photographing flowers in the garden, your neighbor’s dog, your sister’s kids, your friend’s wedding and then, before you know it, you’re doing product shots for your friend’s new company. All this happens over time and there is one pretty fundamental skill that must remain paramount throughout out your process–properly focused images. Sure we’ve all been there, we’ve all taken that shot once in while which is slightly soft (a polite photographer’s term to describe out-of-focus images). But, it’s a great shot so we keep it anyway, even tho we would still have preferred it to be tack sharp. So how can we maximize the number of images that we take that are perfectly sharp? For starters we can give ourselves a helping hand by ensuring we have selected the right focus mode for our subject and situation and this article will go through the four most important ones to know and understand.

This image above was shot utilizing the AF-S (Nikon) or One Shot (Canon) autofocus mode on the camera. Here I focused on the model's eyes and then recomposed my image so that she was over to the left of the frame, allowing for more space in the image in the direction she is looking.
This image above was shot utilizing the AF-S (Nikon) or One Shot (Canon) autofocus mode on the camera. Here I focused on the model’s eyes and then recomposed my image so that she was over to the left of the frame, allowing for more space in the image in the direction she is looking.

In focus images have been one of the most fundamental rules of photography right from the dawn of the craft. In the early 1900s getting sharp images was a craft in its own right, but in the 1960s Leica introduced a rudimentary autofocus system that changed everything. Since then, autofocus has developed dramatically and it’s no longer a feature on cameras, it’s a given.
So, bringing autofocus up-to-date, you have a few options to choose from on your modern DSLR. Those are some of the features I will cover in this article, along with when to use them. Both Canon and Nikon have very similar settings, albeit incorporating different technologies the results are very similar. There are also other brands like Sony and Olympus etc., that also follow suit, but here I will be discussing the four main focus modes in Canon and Nikon.

Single Shot Mode

First off, you have the mode that’s probably been around the longest – Canon’s One Shot and Nikon’s AF-S. Both of these will do pretty much the same thing. This mode is predominantly used for stationary objects like in studio portraits of couples and single models (most of the time – more on when not to use it for studio portraits shoots later) and anything that doesn’t require your subject to move around too much in the frame. You half press the shutter in this mode, and then you can recompose the image. For example, you focus on the model’s eyes, then recompose to put her on the left hand side of the image. This autofocus mode will get you through most situations.

Active or Continuous Focus Modes

Next we have the step up from the single focus to Canon’s AI Servo, and Nikon’s AF-C modes. Essentially what this setting does is to continuously track your initial focus point and readjust the focus accordingly. This setting is ideal for moving subjects like active children, and pets that are constantly on the move. Be warned though that this can often provide mixed results in a studio where you may not have as much ambient light as you think. The reason for this is that to focus on fast moving objects your camera likes a lot of light to determine exactly where the subject’s position is and in some cases predicting where your subject will be when the mirror eventually flips up. If you know you have a shoot with a lot of young and very active children coming into the studio it may be a good idea to increase the amount of ambient light in the room where you’ll be shooting. This will ensure more of your shots will actually be successfully focused by the camera while in Active/Continuous focus mode.

Auto Modes

Finally out of the autofocus settings we have Canon’s AI Focus, and Nikon’s AF-A. Both of these settings actually leave it up to the camera to decide which is best out of the other two focusing modes to use. In this mode it will either choose to continuously track your chosen subject should it decide to move, or focus lock if you would like to recompose. In theory, then I needn’t of bothered explaining the other two settings as surely this is the best of both worlds? Not quite. I personally have tested this mode a fair amount with stop-start subjects and although the camera does a good job of keeping up with them it’s always more accurate to use continuous focus mode. The same also goes for its ability to determine when a subject has stopped and when to focus lock for recomposing. Personally I never use this mode as, although it has the best of both, it also has the worst of both.

Image above taken with an 85mm f/1.8 prime lens using manual focus. Shooting in manual focus negates the need to recompose and lose focus in autofocus modes.
Image above taken with an 85mm f/1.8 prime lens using manual focus. Shooting in manual focus negates the need to recompose and lose focus in autofocus modes.

So, although I have just covered the three basic settings here very briefly, there is, of course, a whole host of other technological advancements in autofocus that I haven’t covered. I know Nikon has extensive, matrix and 3D autofocusing features. As well, most modern DSLR have incorporated the “back button autofocus” which also helps with focus locking. But going over all of that is not the purpose of this article.

Manual Focus Mode

The last focus mode I wanted to cover and one that is rarely used is the Manual focus mode. This mode strikes fear into the heart of nearly all modern photographers and that’s simply because they’ve probably never used it. Do you ever need to use it? That is something that only you can decide and is probably based on the type of photographs you take. If you only ever take portraits of energetic kids or fast paced sports, then autofocus is probably always your go-to mode. If, however, you shoot still life, architecture, landscapes and other detailed, relatively motionless subjects, then manual focus is probably a good way to go.

There are a few reasons for this. Landscape photographers will want to find the hyperfocal distance of their scene to maximize the amount of in-focus points (depth of field) in the image. This is based on an equation so autofocusing on a specific object is not always the way to go. Still life photographers will usually have their camera locked-down on a tripod so they will not want to focus and recompose once they’ve set up the shot, so it’s just far easier to focus manually. There is also another reason to want to use manual mode on some cameras and certain situations, and that was the catalyst for this article.

This version of the image was shot using the auto-focus mode 'AF-S/One Shot' and means that after I had focused and recomposed the shot, the model's eyes were left 'out' of focus.
This version of the image was shot using the auto-focus mode ‘AF-S/One Shot’ and means that after I had focused and recomposed the shot, the model’s eyes were left ‘out’ of focus.

I recently purchased an 85mm f/1.8 prime lens, and I wanted to test the lens out and see what the sharpness was like at f/1.8. I predominately only photograph models so I set up my test and went about taking some shots at f/1.8 using my usual AF-S/One Shot autofocusing mode. When I got my shots back to the computer to take a look, I was surprised to see that most of them were very soft. It took a few minutes to realize my error and since then I’ve adjusted how I shoot with these parameters.

Here you can see that the selected focal node is still situated in the middle of the viewfinder even though I have selected the outer most one when shooting in the portrait format.
Here you can see that the selected focal node is still situated in the middle of the viewfinder even though I have selected the outer most one when shooting in the portrait format.

I haven’t done a lot of very shallow depth of field shots up until this point so I hadn’t seen the now exaggerated results of my poor focusing technique previously. At f/1.8 you have a very, very shallow amount in focus (depth of field). For example, a head shot with the eyes in focus, the tip of the subject’s nose will be out of focus. For the test I was photographing the model at 3/4 length and shooting up at her so my camera height was probably about her waist height. I was about 6 feet (2 meters) away from her and I was focusing on her eyes with my focal point in camera then recomposing my shot to capture the 3/4 length crop. The problem with most cameras is that although they have a lot of focusing points, they’re all clustered in the center of the viewfinder, so even though I chose the outer most focal point I still have a dramatic amount of recomposing to do.

This diagram clearly illustrates what's actually going on when you recompose an image after focusing in 'AF-S/One Shot' auto-focusing mode. The actual part of the image that was in focus is now out of focus.
This diagram clearly illustrates what’s actually going on when you recompose an image after focusing in ‘AF-S/One Shot’ auto-focusing mode. The actual part of the image that was in focus is now out of focus.

This isn’t normally a noticeable problem when recomposing at f/16, but at f/1.8 that dramatic shift in the focal plane means the resulting image is very soft around the model’s eyes. As I recomposed the shot it actually re-positioned my focal point further back behind the model, meaning the back of her head and hair were in focus but not her eyes.

There aren’t too many ways around this pesky little issue, especially as you may not notice it on the back of the camera’s little screen. One thing that did resolve it though was by switching to manual focus. I could then compose my shot and manually focus on the model’s eyes, resulting in a fantastically sharp image where I wanted it to be sharp.

Granted there were a few things conspiring together here to really exaggerate the issue. Firstly, I was shooting at f/1.8, and that’s always going to rely on critical sharpness. Secondly, I was down low shooting up. This always exaggerates the focal plane shift when recomposing, and lastly I was stuck with limited focal nodes. There are many technical reasons why modern DSLRs don’t allow focal nodes towards the edges. A lot of smaller frame cameras like the mirrorless, APS-C and micro 4/3 cameras all have selectable focal nodes covering the viewfinder, but alas, DSLR technology isn’t there yet. Until it is, it’s a good idea to be aware of what’s going on in autofocus modes on your camera, and be prepared and ready to switch to manual focus when required.

Good Luck!

Jake Hicks is an editorial and fashion photographer specializing in keeping the skill in the camera not just on the screen. For more detailed explanations of some of his shots please visit his website and for daily updates on his most recent work, tips and techniques please visit his Facebook page.

 

Filed Under: About Lush Albums, Photography Business

Capturing the Whole Story

August 17, 2015 Leave a Comment

A great reason for offering your clients a Lush Album is that you get to create a story with a number of their favorite images. However, creating a great story isn’t always easy.  If you want to create a compelling story in a photo album you are going to need a mix of sharp emotive portraits, fast moving action images, and wide shots as well as close ups. Capturing all of these types of images during each of your photo shoots will ensure that you have a great variety of images to create a visually interesting, page-turning album.

At times, it may seem that in order to get all these different shots, you have to have all the gear you can possibly imagine (even when it’s not in your budget). But there are plenty of ways for photographers to get all the shots for the entire story without having to use a warehouse full of gear. In the videos below, Tamara Lackey shows you how you can use a single lens to capture almost any image you may need to tell your client’s complete story.

In the first video, Tamara shows you how you can use a single versatile lens to capture extraordinary macro images, beautiful close ups, and classic portraits. The video shows you exactly how to capture great macro images using either auto-focus or manual focus, and Tamara explains in detail how she changes her settings when shooting in manual mode.

In the second video, Tamara shows you how she uses the same lens (AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED) to capture action. Like the first video, she goes into detail about her manual mode settings, and explains exactly what settings are required to freeze her active subject. Then Tamara talks about how she gets perfect focus, even on a moving subject.

Follow the tips in these videos and you will be on your way to capturing all the shots you need for a compelling album. Then all you have to do is use Fundy’s incredible software to lay out the images to tell a great story. Your clients will love their new Lush Album and they will love you for creating it for them!

Filed Under: About Lush Albums, Photography Business

How to Flatter Your Subject in Portraits

August 7, 2015 Leave a Comment

One of the best tips for creating a great photo album is to start with great photos. And one of the best ways to get great photos of people is to capture people’s natural expressions and emotions. Yet, that isn’t always easy. Here are some tips (originally posted on Adorama.com) for putting people at ease so that you can get great images for your Lush Album.  

It’s ridiculously normal for people to feel self-conscious when a lens is pointed their way. Why?

Because when you point a lens their way, many people don’t just see a lens, they see a series of images flash before their eyes – shots taken from a truly awful angle, taken in wretched lighting, scenes of them smashed up against someone else in the most unattractive of ways, deer-in-the-headlight fake smiles – just, ghastly stuff. In other words, they don’t see your camera, they see the serious time they spent untagging images on social media. 

Time to change all that. Here are some 5 simple tips for better flattering your subjects in portraits – and look for another 5 tips in my next installment!

1. Check The Light 

Always check the light around you before taking a photograph.  The closer your subject is to a soft, big light source (think large window in a house, evenly-shaded spot outside), the more attractive they’re going to look.  Note the word “soft” – large, harsh lighting isn’t the same thing.  Soft lighting is often achieved through bouncing light or using a modifier built to diffuse light, like a soft box. 

2. Flash Wisely 

Many of the tiny little flashes on pocket cameras and iPhones can be terribly unflattering. If you have to use a flash, avoid an extreme closeup of your subject with a super bright, harsh little light. If you’re still figuring out what the best lighting option is with a built-in flash, try taking a few shots of your subject right in front of the flash, slightly farther away from the lens, and just before the light from the flash falls off. Testing the look of how the flash flatters your subject gives you an immediate visual into how to make them look better. Typically, the sweet spot is just before the light starts dropping off.  

3. Humans Have Curves

Don’t forget to flatter the curves of your subjects, however they are shaped. Women, especially, are not built like boxes, but it’s remarkable how often they can be posed like one in a photograph. Think of an S-curve and have your subject mimic that – hips a little more to the left, chest a bit more to the right … often what feels a bit uncomfortable looks pretty great. 

4. Mix it Up

Sometimes the most attractive angle of your subject isn’t the one you were planning to shoot from – at least not at first. That’s okay. Just don’t stop at shooting from that one angle. Start with what you wanted to start with, then crouch down and tilt the camera up. Stand on your toes or take a step up and tilt the camera down.  Play with a few different angles until you find the one she likes best.

Tamara+Lackey+Child+Portrait

5. Things Closest To The Lens May Be Smaller Than They Appear

What do you want to show off?  What do you want to show less of?  Consider how close various parts of your subject are to the lens and move them around accordingly.  For instance, if you’re shooting from a lower angle, and your subject’s legs are closer to the lens, they will appear larger.  If they are sitting down, perhaps you want to take a minute to have them tuck their legs back a bit.  By the same logic, if you want to emphasize a gorgeous smile, have your subject lean in to the camera, showcasing that megawatt smile first.

 

These are just a few tips to get you started on better flattering your subject to capture great photos for your Lush Album.

Filed Under: About Lush Albums, Photography Business

8 Tips on How to Design your Lush Album with Fundy Designer

July 27, 2015 1 Comment

“There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment.”

— Robert Frank

 

As photographers, we aim to capture brief moments in time and make them last forever. A baby’s first picture, a family reunion, Grandma’s 100th birthday, your best friend’s wedding, your first adventure in a foreign country, or even photos of your dog – all of these are moments that we capture so they can be cherished forever. With digital photography, photography is more accessible than ever. Yet, the digital revolution often leads to countless photos hiding on our hard drives. So much so that if it weren’t for the times when we were actually looking for a specific photo, we’d forget about the photos we took on our first trip to Paris.

The best way to make sure you don’t lose track of your magical moments in life is to print your images. And a great way to do this is by creating a beautiful Lush Album with your photos.

In the past, designing a photo album could be a cumbersome task. But thanks to Fundy’s software, designing a Lush Album is simple and fun. 

Here are 8 tips for designing your Lush Album using Fundy Designer: 

Choose your favorites images

Use a Lush Album to tell a story through your best images. Lush Albums start with 10 spreads (20 pages). Although you may want to put all your client’s images in the album, you will tell a better story if you only choose the best images. Consider the lighting, the expression, the colors, and even the location. Try to limit your selection to about 30-40 images or so. Obviously, this amount can vary, and if you absolutely need to include more images consider increasing the size of the album by adding additional spreads.

Less is More

When designing a Lush Album, you want to be able to “read” the images and be able to distinguish one from another. Some spreads will have 4 or 5 images per spread, but consider using only 1 or 2 images on a few spreads to create maximum drama. This will help you keep consistency throughout the design as well as help keep a clean and modern look.

Negative Space is Your Friend

Sometimes we think that if there is too much white space that we need to fill it in with something. Not always. Negative spaces helps bringing focus to a particular image or set of images.

Rhythm is good!

Often you have several images taken at the same place with the same lighting and wardrobe that only vary in pose. Consider having those images on a single page or single spread to create a pattern and rhythm.

Color and Black & White

More than likely you will have a mix of black and white and color images. When designing an album, avoid mixing the two on the same spread. Creating spreads with all color images or all black and white images makes for a better layout and overall look.

 Spacing

When grouping multiple images, remember to keep a consistent spacing in between each of the photos. This will lead to a clean, modern and well-designed Lush Album.

 Balance

There a two types of balance: Asymmetric and Symmetric balance. When placing images on a spread, look at the spread as a whole unit. Then decide if you want to have more images on one side or the other, or if you want the spread to be equally balanced.

Symmetric Balance
Symmetric Balance
Asymmetric Balance
Asymmetric Balance

First and Last Images

Finally, make sure you select a strong starting image and a strong ending image to bookend your amazing photos in your Lush Album!

Filed Under: About Lush Albums, Photography Business

Take Our Photos!

July 15, 2015 Leave a Comment

The best way to sell a Lush Album to your clients is to place a studio sample album in their hands so they can experience the look and feel of a Lush Album for themselves. Even better, hand your clients multiple studio sample Lush Albums and ask them which they prefer best: “Would you prefer the Zen Silk Lush Album or the Soft Linen Lush Album?”  Create the expectation with your clients that they’re going to purchase an album to preserve their photos.  

Of course there are times when you simply can’t place a Lush Album in your client’s hands. In those cases, make sure you show your clients a ton of great Lush Albums images. The easiest way for you to get and show off great images of Lush Albums is to go to LushAlbums.com and take our images!

                        Save Image As…

That’s right, we want photographers to go to LushAlbums.com and take our photos (you don’t even need to clone out a watermark)! Just right click and “save image as.” That’s it! The photos are yours to use as you please. Take our photos and use them in your sales and promotional material, use them in your social media posts, use our photos for your website, or you could be the first to use them to create a one-of-a-kind Lush Album full of images of Lush Albums.

Photo by Alexis Buatti-Ramos
Photo by Alexis Buatti-Ramos

We want you to use our Lush Albums photos, and we also want to use your Lush Albums photos. Just this month, Alexis from Buatti-Ramos Photography in Long Island took photos of her Lush Album all around the streets of Manhattan. The photos were amazing and we have loved showing them off in our blog, and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Send us photos of your Lush Albums so we can show off your amazing photography skills and promote your studio.  Send your photos to us here.

Filed Under: About Lush Albums

Let’s Be Social

July 6, 2015 Leave a Comment

We love the way social media allows us to easily stay connected with photographers. Through social media we’re able to share our beautiful images of Lush Albums (images we hope you’ll use in your promotion and sales of your own Lush Albums!), inspirational ideas, photography and design tips, and exciting news and updates about Lush Albums. Social media is also a great way for photographers to offer feedback and ask questions. For example, our FAQ video responses are often responses to questions we receive through social media. And, of course, you can always use social media to show us some love. 

We want to make sure we are connected with you across all of our social media platforms. Go ahead and “like” us on Facebook; follow our feed on Twitter; repin our pins on Pinterest; follow our Instagram feed; add us to your Google+ circles; and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Each of our feeds is dedicated to providing you with beautiful, authentic, soulful and often funny content to inform you about Lush Albums and give you new ideas, as well as to simply brighten up your day.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for the Lush Albums newsletter to receive tips, updates, and specials on the entire Lush Albums lineup. 

We also encourage you to follow Beautiful Together–the non-profit in support of children waiting for families–to keep up with the wonderful things the organization is doing with the proceeds from 10% of all Lush Albums sales, as well as donations from people like you! 

Like Beautiful Together on Facebook and  Follow them on Twitter. 

 

 

Filed Under: About Lush Albums

Lush Albums Take Midtown Manhatten

June 22, 2015 Leave a Comment

Last week we sent a studio sample Lush Album to talented Long Island photographer, Alexis Buatti-Ramos, and we asked her to take the album around New York City to snap a few photos. We were confident Alexis would get some great images, and she didn’t disappoint!  

Alexis spent the day taking her Lush Album all around the city and she captured some fantastic images. Alexis took her Lush Album to Penn Station, Times Square, the New York Times, and she even blocked a few taxis. 

 

 

Alexis was also nice enough to blog about her experience of being in New York City with her Lush Album. Make sure to take a minute to read her blog and check out more photos from her adventure. 

 

Inspired by Alexis? Want to show us where you sell your Lush Albums? Well, we want to see it and share it! All you need to do is take photos of your Lush Album in your community and send the photos to us at: info@LushAlbums.com.  You can also post images to social media and tag us or use the hashtag #Lush.

Filed Under: About Lush Albums

Around The World – and Travel with Kids by Tamara Lackey

June 9, 2015 Leave a Comment

Photographers are always on the look out for great images.  This can be especially true for photographers on vacation with family and friends. After you capture the images from your travels, preserve and display your memories in a beautiful Lush Album.  In this post, originally posted on tamaralackeyblog.com, Tamara writes about her experiences traveling throughout her life.

Around The World

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. ~ Mark Twain

I love travel.
Travel has been, and always will be, an integral part of my life. And I think there are very few things that have shaped my view of the world more than seeing so much of it. And I know there are very few things that have shaped my view of how we are more alike than different more than getting to know so many people around the world.

I’m consistently struck by how we all love the same. How boundaries don’t change who people fundamentally are. I think Wayne Dyer puts it well: When you live on a round planet, there’s no choosing sides.

My father had felt the same way about travel when he was younger. He wanted to see the world, so he joined the U.S. Army as soon as he could. He then went on to spend the next twenty years in Europe, and I was born in Frankfurt, Germany. While I was growing up, we moved to several different cities within Germany and did a lot of traveling and camping throughout Europe. I remember camping out in tents set up by the side of the road and <I, now a passionate vegan, cringe here> cooking Spam over a fire. And, um, cooking Steak Ums in a campsite kitchen. It was low budget travel, but we got to see a whole lot that way. And I don’t remember ever seeing it like that anyway. I just look back and think that it was pretty cool my mom and dad made such an effort to do that much exploring with three young kids in tow, especially now that I really understand all the effort involved in it.

One of those campsite photos of my dad with at least two of us. I’m the one on the right ; )

I think it’s extra cool that that’s exactly what we do now.

We moved to the U.S. when I was almost eleven years old. We kept moving after that, every couple of years or so, even when my dad had retired after 22 years in the military. I joined a study abroad program while in college, in France – and I used a student class Eurail Pass to travel to various cities on the weekends. I loved sitting in the window of a train, listening to music, reading books, and planning what I’d do when I got to wherever there was.

After graduation, I kinda just kept going. I accepted a 100% travel position as a management consultant, then finally ended up in San Francisco five years later. About a year after my husband and I got married, we both took a leave of absence and took a 4-month backpacking trip. This wasn’t an easy sell at first. My husband and I’d had pretty different upbringings – he actually hadn’t even been on a plane for the first 18 years of his life and had hardly left New Jersey. That changed as he got older, but this was a bit different. He came around, though, and we bought Around The World tickets. We cashed in on all the consultant miles we’d racked up and traveled across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America. The deal with the Around The World tickets was you could go wherever on earth you wanted, as long as you traveled East to West without backtracking. We loved it; we had a few rough scrapes; I got dangerously ill, for weeks, from taking a chance on a mango when I shouldn’t have; and we fell into a bit of an an extreme pattern with our accommodations. We’d spent 3 weeks staying in hostels, in tents, huts, we even slept above pigs – and then we’d use our hotel points to check into a 4-star hotel for one night. We got to do that about five times over the course of our four months. And every time, we maxed out every hour we could spend there – long, hot showers, breakfast buffets, fluffy robes. They were the same kind of places I’d stayed in as a consultant – but I saw it very differently when we traveled. I guess any form of luxury is far better appreciated when it feels earned.

A few years later, with our 9-month old daughter, we moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where we live now. We kept our travel mostly domestic after that – not hard with so much to see in this country – and we focused on building our separate businesses. And we were pretty heads down with a new baby (!) and then the rather exhausting work of startups (!), and then a new son (!) – until it came time to spend two months in Ecuador to adopt our daughter (!) in 2008. The year after that was quite a year – and, well, a whole separate post.

But, after that, we kinda just fell back into it, making the decision to travel for a couple months as a family every single year.

I get asked if it’s tough to travel with kids. At this point, we’ve taken them around the world, but in chunks at a time – they’ve already spent time in much of the U.S., Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, Australia and more and yet there’s still so very, very many places to go.

Is it tough? When all three of our kids are loaded up with their backpacks, and we’re hustling them on to trains or off of planes or imploring them to pack up so we can get going, I sometimes start to wonder if this is more work than its worth. When we’re sorting out travel itineraries and lodging and booking tickets, I often feel like it’s extraordinarily time-consuming just to prepare, before anything even starts. And the cost. Even with as much experience as we have finding good travel deals, and I have a passion for that – yeah, it’s an investment in experience, no doubt.

But there’s no question how much we get out of traveling as a family. There’s no doubt it brings us closer. And I love to look at them when they see something totally brand new. I love when they show me something later in one of their school books that they’ve seen with their own eyes on one of our trips. I love watching them with their little packs and their individual roller bags and the little stuffed animals they bring along the way. I love how every new spot is home simply because we are there, all together.

If the question is, is it tough – the answer is yes. If the question is, is it worth it – probably no surprise here: oh, most definitely.
Most very definitely, definitely.

I tend to travel pretty light when it comes to photography gear on extended trips, bringing along exactly what I need and using it as creatively as possible. Because, on the one hand, I don’t want to get bogged down in gear – on the other hand, there’s no way I want to miss capturing these instant memories. Since traveling around the world has been, and will always continue to be, such a significant part of my life – and now our lives – I decided to finally create a gallery to show some of the photographs I’ve taken along the way. It will take me a while to get it fully “stocked”, but I at least have a fairly good start. Feel free to check out my new Around The World gallery.

Filed Under: About Lush Albums

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