March of 2022, our friends Brad and Kate set out to hike the Camino Frances route. They generously let me tag along for the first 5 days and film them.
"I Worried", a poem by the late Mary Oliver, read by Kate.
Music licensed by Music Bed.
This sweet family of three welcomed me into their home for an hour to snap some photos of them doing life together. They have the sweetest little lady with the best hair I’ve ever seen.
I think these are the best kind of photos. The ones of you with your people in the place you call home at this point in time. Your garden, your babe’s bedroom, the chair you rock her in each night, and the front steps that welcome you home.
These are the sweet, sweet parts of life we’ll want to remember.
Cameras: Sony a7rii / Sony a7iii
Lenses: Voitlander 15mm 4.5 / Sony Zeiss 35mm 2.8 / Sony 85mm 1.8 / Sony 70-200mm 4
Filters: Lee Circular Polariser / Lee Big Stopper
Software: Lightroom / Mastin Labs Presets
Prints available here.
“Camp Chisomo is located in southern Malawi, a region that is rich in natural resources and cultural beauty. Camp Chisomo is established in the heart of the villages we have spent years working with in order to continue building relationships and implementing sustainable resources and practices.
Camp Chisomo provides an opportunity for stateside high school and college students to spend a summer as counselors, learning about the culture while running programming sessions for the children at camp. Campers are local children that have been nominated by village officials to attend, while stateside sponsorships allows campers to attend camp without the burden of financial responsibility.
Our camp facilities are intended to bring structure and safety to our campers, while providing them with the new and exciting experiences. Our staff are currently constructing our Staff Housing building, allowing our staff and counselors to reside on our land as we run camp programming and continue the construction of future buildings. Our future goals include cabins used as housing for counselors and campers, which will likely be the first time these children will sleep in a bed or under a mosquito net to protect them during the night. We desire to have a chapel that will be used each morning and night with campers, and a mess hall that will be used for meals and activities.”
We spent a few weeks this last November with the Camp Chisomo Team. We were able to capture the beginning stages of building on the Camp’s land while seeing some old friends. We love every thing camp stands for and we hope that you’d follow along with their journey!
Here is a link to video footage of our time with Camp Chisomo:
When a dear friends asks you to adventure with her to Morocco while chasing some new business dreams….YOU SAY YES!!!!
Here is a look at our week in Marrakech, Morocco. A place that is extremely hard to put words to. They simply can’t do it justice. I hope these images spark your interest and encourage you to take a trip yourself!
Be sure to keep you eyes peeled for “Driftless Styles,” Kelsie Kunkle’s newest adventure!
This image is available for print here.
I don't feel qualified to write anything about photographing Ireland. We were only there for a week and saw such a small portion of it, but alas - here are some photos and some thoughts.
Here's where we stayed along our route:
Dublin
Kinsale
Kenmare (just south of Killarney National Park)
Ventry (near Dingle)
Dublin
-Neal
First of all, you’re gonna need a car.
This is Sharon, she was very kind to us and deserves all of our thanks for helping us learn how to drive on the left side of the road.
Be sure to have a credit card with a huuuuuge limit though - the morning we left for the trip I franticly called our provider and asked if they could change it (totally didn’t work, I ended up having to pay an extra $300 bucks or so for better insurance)
I’ve heard of people taking buses to the bigger tourist spots, but it seems like that is the only viable option for public transit - we didn’t see a single train while we were there, but maybe weren’t looking hard enough.
Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f11 | 30 sec | ISO 50 | Lee Big Stopper, Circular Polarizing Filter
The Rock of Cashel was first constructed in 1100 and they let you walk around inside (8 Euro entrance fee if I remember correctly). Full of tourist though, even with a 30 second exposure I had to take out some humans with Photoshop.
It’s was not too far off the road we took from Dublin to Cork area (M8 motorway)
Sony a7rii | 55mm 1.8 | f11 | .25 sec | ISO 50 | Lee Circular Polarizing Filter
Killarney National Park is probably a 2-3 day size of park that we did in 1.
There is some good history (Ross Castle), insane gardens, and obviously great views.
This is Torc Waterfall. It was a 5 minute walk up to here, but there’s a loop that you can continue on for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f10 | 4 | ISO 50 | Lee Circular Polarizing Filter
Sony a7rii | 55mm 1.8 | f11 | 1/80 sec | ISO 50 | Lee Circular Polarizing Filter
The Southern side of the park was full of crazy vistas and a few sheep on the road.
This image is available for print, click here to order.
Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f11 | 175 sec | ISO 50 | Lee Big Stopper, Circular Polarizing Filter
This is a composite image, one of the water and sky from the frame using the Big Stopper, and the other from one without for the land portions.
I was super excited about this composition and location (Lough Leane, accessed by car park in the Southern portion of the park) but the light just didn’t come through the way that I had hoped
Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f11 | 1.6 sec | ISO 50 | Lee Circular Polarizing Filter
Dunquin Harbour
This image is available for print, click here to order.
Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f11 | .8 sec | ISO 50 | Lee Circular Polarizing Filter
This image is available for print here.
Sony a7rii | 400mm 5.6 | f6.3 | 1/80 sec | ISO 200
From Dingle onward the weather was almost entirely rainy and windy, so even though there were a lot of good opportunities for compressed landscapes with the 400mm, they weren’t an option because of shake.
Here’s one of the few that wasn’t blurry near Dingle.
Sony a7rii | 85mm 1.8 | f11 | .4 sec | ISO 50 | Sony Smooth Reflections App
Western Coast of the Dingle Peninsula
Sony a7rii | 55mm 1.8 | f13 | 1/30 sec | ISO 50 | Circular Polarizing Filter
Taken from a beach near Cloghane on the Northern coast, looking South towards Conner Pass.
Sony a7rii | 55mm 1.8 | f11 | .6 sec | ISO 50 | Circular Polarizing Filter
This image was taken from the car at a lookout point on Conner Pass, as the wind was coming up over the crest of the mountain way too fast for a tripod.
Sony a7rii | 85mm 1.8| f4 | 1/125 sec | ISO 50
Dingle Harbour at (misty) sunrise.
This image is available for print, click here to order.
Sony a7rii | 55mm 1.8 | f10 | 1/13 sec | ISO 50 | Lee Circular Polarizing Filter
The Cliffs of Moher are definitely a thing. The road there is tiny and far from straight, and it was almost 10 Euros per person to park (apparently you can make a 2 hour walk and get in free though)
Sadly we missed prime Puffin time.
Moo boye.
I have very few things to say about Dublin.
1. My food related recommendations happen very rarely, so this is a big deal for me to type - Brother Hubbard is somewhere you should consume food into your body. 13/10 recommended.
2. Trinity Library is worth the moneys.
3. I have zero photography recommendations, whoops.
Celebrating with Megan + Michael allowed us to come back to the place we said "I do!" almost three years ago and it was thee best of days. I could spend a lot of time trying to accurately describe this day, but I don't think there are enough words! Just this morning we ran into this groom's parents, and I tried to explain how much joy I had while editing this day! The beautiful community of family and friends that surrounded these two was an incredible thing to witness. Along with that the tip-of-your-toes kind of joy that consumed Megan + Michael thee entire day was thee absolute best to capture. Plus, these two were ushered into marriage with thee best sunset Iowa has to offer. It was magic. We are so thankful we were able to witness these two become Mr. + Mrs. Bowden- we'll be cheering them on for years to come!
Cedar Falls, IA | June 2018
Engaged | Cedar Falls, IA
