Dubrovnik, Croatia - The Pearl Of The Adriatic

Welcome to Dubrovnik Croatia, The Pearl Of The Adriatic!

I don’t remember what inspired me to photograph this ancient city but I’m glad I did. I seem to have a thing for old cities. I was born in the United States where the oldest things we have are Politicians. 😉 There aren’t too many ancient walled fortress towns lying around. I mean, we do have a Colosseum and a miniature version of Venice, but they’re both in Las Vegas.

I love spending time in these beautiful places and I try to carefully craft my photographs to reflect that same beauty. I don’t just mean with post processing and clever camera tricks (though those certainly help). The simple truth is that most of the magic simply comes from identifying the best time of day to shoot. By taking this small step, you end up with the best lighting scenarios.

Since weather is predictably unpredictable, this process isn’t always reliable. There are so many times that I’ve set up for a sunset only to have the sky fill up with clouds and become overcast. When this happens, it can really rain on your parade.

And speaking of rain, I’ve had complete trips that have been rained out. — Last time I went to Venice for a photography project, it rained non stop for 5 days! I can’t recall how many bottles of wine I consumed on that trip but the fact that I can’t remember, speaks volumes about the volume.

So, the long and drawn out point I’m trying to make is: Always shoot a backup and NEVER put off a shoot if you have favorable weather! Never say, “gosh, with all this swell weather, I have all week to shoot a sunset.” If you do, Murphy will fly over and personally lay down his law. Zeus will throw thunderbolts and all that shit. Trust me, get it while you can.

I shot “The Pearl Of The Adriatic,” during Golden Hour (note the golden light on the subject). This short window of time is extremely susceptible to cloud interference. If one naughty cumulus cloud moves over the sun, say goodbye to all that beautiful light. Because of this, I also shot an alternate during a late afternoon.

Shooting a few alternates, can really reduce those, “Aw crap! I should have shot it at (this) time,” moments. And isn’t it always good to have some options?

Another aspect to shooting multiple lighting scenarios is: client preference. Since I deal in image licencing, people like to have options. They may prefer something overcast or something in full sun. You never really know and often the client loves the one you don’t. You can always sell that one to him and show the favorite in your portfolio.

So if you have the time, go for some alternate shots, you’ll be happy you did. If you’re on a limited time span, go for the gold. Try and get there for the perfect moment. And if you see Murphy out there, punch him in the face for me. 😉