New Work: December 2025 Ice Storm

Almost-New Work: Peru, July 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Look Back at Come of Our Favorite Holiday Cards

(and yes, they were as much fun to create as they look)

New Work: Costa Rican Natural Wonders

When I started working seriously on my photography about 25 years ago, I had decided to be the "Georgia O'Keeffe of photography." I took literally tens of thousands of closeup images of various types of flowers. Which was fine until smartphones because ubiquitous and someone's "lucky shot" on their phone suddenly looked indistinguishable from the image I'd carefully composed, chose the correct lighting, and ruthlessly curated.

But every once in a while, I go back to my roots (especially as I'm now the person shooting with my smartphone predominently these days).

Here are some of my favorite nature images from a recent vacation to Costa Rica (and yup, there were some very lucky shots here, too):

New Work: Reflections (Costa Rica)

Last month, I took a canal tour at Tortuguero, Costa Rica. It was an overcast day, so the water was like a dark mirror. Here are a few of my favorite shots:

New Work: Concord Theatre Demo / Reno

The Capitol Center for the Arts has been renovating the old Concord Theatre and adjacent diner to make room for an exciting new performing arts venue, scheduled to open in May 2019. Here's what the progress looked like last week:

Jack Broadbent at Market Days

Each year, Downtown Concord, NH holds Market Days. It features good food, great shopping, and even better music.

This year, the Capitol Center for the Arts programmed some amazing regional, national and international acts on the South Stage.

Here's Jack Broadbent this past June:

More Love, Lust and Desire

Here are images that appeared in this year's annual "Love, Lust and Desire" show earlier in 2018 at McGowan Fine Art:

Love, Lust, and Desire

Can't get enough of my "Love in the Digital Age" binary code series? Two of the graphic design images will be shown and made available for sale as hand-signed small works at McGowan Fine Art (Concord, NH), as part of the gallery's annual "Love, Lust and Desire" juried community show.

The show runs from January 31 – February 14, 2017. There's an opening reception on February 3, 2017 from 5 – 7 PM and I'm planning on being there. (And trust me: you'll ***really*** like the prices.)

I typically make my photography and design work available for sale through online galleries these days. So I'm really looking forward to being displayed in a bricks-and-mortar gallery again for a change and meeting area arts lovers at the reception. I hope to see you there!

Tips for Photographing Alcatraz

Before venturing out to shoot "the Rock," I Googled how to best shoot it in a sea of tourists. I then "test-drove" the ideas I found and am sharing the best:

• Buy your tickets ahead of time, from the NPS's authorized vendor: Don't show up a the dock and expect to get on the next boat to Alcatraz. Tickets sell out days, if not weeks ahead of time.

• Skip the night tour: At this time of year, Alcatraz is in full-bloom. There is a lot of beauty mixed in with the decay, which you won't see as well at night.
  
• Take the first boat out in the day, preferably on a weekday: Get of the boat, skip the park ranger overview and run (yes, run) up the equivalent of 13 flights of stairs to get to the main cellhouse. Then skip the headset queue and go straight upstairs. You'll then have a few minutes to take photos in relative privacy before the crowds descend. You can always read online just about anything in the audio tour.
  
  
  (For instance, did you know that the water tower is so large because drinking water had to be shipped in from the mainland?)
  
• Yes, you can skip the tripod, if... your camera allows you to adjust ISO for a high setting. The graininess -- in some cases I shot at 6400 ISO! -- adds a vintage feel that works well for the inside shots. Outdoors, ISO 100 or 200 works fine. (Or just use full automatic. But if you don't, then don't forget to change your setting back from the high ISO.)

• The viewfinder is your friend: Look at the info in your viewfinder. Is your shutter speed slow than 1/60 sec. (1/30 sec. if you're ***very*** steady-handed)? Anything longer than that and your images may be blurry. Do your pictures look too light or too dark? Bracket the exposures: take the shot at the setting you think works well, then underexpose a step or two and overexpose a step or two.

• The specialty modes are your friend, too: Taking lots of distance shots? Landscape mode works great. Try out the close-up and portrait modes where appropriate, too.
  
• Who cares if your pictures don't look like postcards?: Postcards are meant to appeal to the widest audience possible. You can always buy postcards in the Alcatraz gift shop for just 50 cents (or less). Instead, spend your time taking the shots that represent your own experience.
  
  
• You're not a reporter, so if you see photos that are evocative of the prison experience, but not period-accurate, shoot anyways. Below is a photo of two contemporary workers in the kitchen area, but they still look like inmates.
  
• Bring a zoom lens and close-up lens: Possible subjects are surprisingly varied, from distant birds to rusty keyholes. You can also experiment with using a wide-angle up close:
  
• Don't forget the iPhone: Selfies are lot easier to shoot and post. My iPhone has also taken decent shots in situations where my DSLR was balking.

• It's OK to delete (but work with copies only): You may want to save your whole unedited shoot on a SanDisk card or thumb drive, but edit only the best shots.

• Turn around and look back! Most people attempt to photograph Alcatraz as the ferry approaches "the Rock". Instead, shoot from the back of the ferry as you depart. It'll be a lot less crowded... and you'll be a lot closer.
  
  

What tips have worked for you? Share them below.