Cuba Photo Workshop in April 2015

Growing up in South Florida in the 60's Cuba was a part of life. Most of my friends had fled the island as children and the culture was ever present. I always wanted to visit the island but never had the opportunity instead focusing on Asia where I spent 10-years as a photojournalist. Now that change is coming and the Obama administration is easing relations between the former enemies I decided now is the time to visit and capture the magic of the faded island before McDonalds and American culture takes over. 

I have the opportunity to lead a photography workshop in April and invite you to join me for a 7-day journey to photograph the fading beauty of Havana over Easter week in partnership with Cuba Cultural Travel, one of the oldest approved travel companies working in Cuba with vast experience running custom trips for photography workshops. 

The trip includes airfare from Miami, seven night at the best hotel in Havana the Parque Central and eight days of photography in Havana, breakfast daily and two group dinners, two group lunches and one evening of entertainment. All airport transfers, visas, licenses and tuition. Cuban photography guides and translators. Admission to all museums and venues listed in itinerary, Air conditioned bus for all our travel in Havana, Cuban evacuation and health insurance, Cuban Visa and all U.S. Treasury Department Fees. 

For more information visit: Charleston Photography Workshops

Happy Confederate Memorial Day!

People not from the South think it's a place on the map vaguely below Washington, DC. To Southerners the South is not a location but a way of life. For a select few it's a way of life that goes back to the Civil War and every year they celebrate Confederate Memorial Day at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, SC. This year a good size crowd gathered to place the rebel flag on tombs and sing Dixie. 

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A descendant of Civil War soldiers holds the American flag at a ceremony marking Confederate Memorial Day at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

Confederate flags decorate the tombstones of Civil War soldiers during a ceremony marking Confederate Memorial Day at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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Civil War re-enactors stand at during Confederate Memorial Day events at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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Re-enactors dressed in Civil War era hoop skirts stand at during Confederate Memorial Day events at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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A young girl stands among Confederate flags decorating tombs of soldiers killed in the American Civil War during Confederate Memorial Day events at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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A descendant of Civil War soldiers sings "Dixie" during a ceremony marking Confederate Memorial Day at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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Civil War re-enactors fire their rifles during Confederate Memorial Day events at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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A Civil War re-enactor stands for a moment of silence during Confederate Memorial Day events at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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Civil War re-enactors fire a canon salute during Confederate Memorial Day events at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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A Civil War re-enactor collects flags from grave sites following a ceremony marking Confederate Memorial Day at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Confederate Memorial Day honors the approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers that died in the American Civil War. 

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President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy June Murray Wells and Director of the Confederate Museum during Confederate Memorial Day at Magnolia Cemetery April 10, 2014 in Charleston, SC. Wells traces here heritage back 345 years to the first settlers in Charleston. 

Flying in the Cloud

I've been a professional photographer for 33-years. Until the digital world began keeping images was an exercise in buying filing cabinets to store the endless plastic sheet to hold originals. Being naturally disorganized I always seemed to have pictures everywhere and could never find what I wanted when I wanted but at least it was a physical product that I could put my hands on and know it existed.

Then digital photography swept in and made life easier and harder all at once. Now I have hundreds of thousands of digital images stuffed into all sorts of hard drives, dvd disks, even old zip disks going back years. Similar to my old filing cabinets but more costly!  In my studio alone I have 6 raid arrays with more than 24 hard drives humming away, sucking up electricity and threatening to stop working at any moment. As you can imagine I spend a lot of money on hard drives and electricity. 

The other day we had a brand new raid array go down and stop working. We didn't lose the images but one of the hard drives had to be replaced and it was a hassle spending my time as an IT tech instead as a photographer. So I began looking into cloud back up to make sure we don't lose anything and to stop relying on buying hard drives as my source of archive security. I looked at all the services out there: amazon, dropbox, carbonite, idrive, pogoplug, google drive, crashplan, mozy, backblaze and a few others. What I needed was convenience, unlimited capacity, mac application and a great price (cheap). Of course I can't forget that I want a company that will be around for the next few years. I read a lot of online reviews and narrowed it down to two contenders: Crashplan and Blackblaze. Both offer incredible pricing, great implementation and seem like solid companies. 

In the end I went with Backblaze. Now I'm flying in the cloud and all those arrays are backed up and ready for the next crash!

My photos are now somewhere in here!