Ronald Nelson Photography

03/20/2023

The Lives of the Saints; if Renaissance artists were honest about how much they loved cats.

Created with the assistance of AI.

07/31/2022

A Dark Fairy Tale.

What is photography? For me, it's not about reality. Photographers choose a point of view, lenses, lighting, timing, and whatever it takes to realize a vision. From the earliest times some photographers have been retouching and compositing photos in the darkroom. New tools like digital cameras and Photoshop accelerated that process. I strive to create interesting images with feeling and mystery. I study and learn from hundreds of artists and am influenced by and synthesize t when making something new.

Midjourney AI is a new tool that lets me explore options at incredible speeds. Like I did in my head, it draws on influences then merges those influences to create something new and different. Instead of pushing a camera button, I provide the AI with phrases. I no longer focus on the world but on the history of art and photography. In a way, the images wouldn't exist without my action, choice of input, and discretion on what to save and share.

We can argue about if I did anything creative or am anyway responsible for these images. That's what makes this interesting. I don't know what photography is, it's always changing as are the tools used to make images. Whatever these images are, I think they are mysterious and beautiful and wanted to share them.

06/20/2019

I hope you enjoy my new video from this Spring in Japan.

My guests and I had a blast in Japan during our Spring Photo Tour. We saw crazy shops and clubs, met great people, and delved deep in to the modern culture of Tokyo. To wrap it up we explored gardens and temples in Kyoto.

If you're interested in video editing, check out my new blog post.
https://blog.ronaldnelsonphotography.com/2019/06/17/editing-travel-video/

Music: Festivo from the movie Zatoichi (2003)

06/20/2019

Many thanks to everyone who joined my Japan Spring Photo Tour. It was wonderful sharing some of my favorite experiences and photo opportunities with you.

02/01/2019

I'm looking for a couple guests to join my tour of Japan, at the end of March. We'll explore Tokyo and Kyoto, and experience some of the best locations to see cherry blossoms. This is an amazing time to visit Japan and I've put together a small, custom tour to hit all my favorite places. Registration closes Feb. 15th.

Join seasoned travel photographer Ronald Nelson in a springtime exploration of the more intimate and quirky sides of Japan. Ronald has photographed in Japan many times, and this tour is designed ar…

05/30/2018

Great sights from my trip to Taiwan and mainland China this year.

05/18/2018

China and Taiwan have many amazing sites! I hope you'll enjoy this short video I made during my two months there this year.

https://youtu.be/ipd7-AzmZOw

Beautiful places from my tour of Taiwan and China in early 2018. Music: https://www.bensound.com

02/11/2018

09/19/2017

Amazing India. Ancient cities, spiritual sites, wonderful people. In July I explored some of India's history and culture. But the best part was how friendly everyone was.

I've tried my best to be accurate, but I am not an expert on India, please forgive and correct any misstatements on the photos.

09/11/2017

In June and July I spent nine weeks shooting in Sri Lanka and India. I kept a pretty crazy pace, to see a lot of things. In that time I slept in 29 different beds! Here they are!

I still had plenty of time to spend a few days going in depth at my favorite places, that just meant sometimes I was changing rooms, and cities, every day. I love my crazy life as a travel photographer: many long bus and train rides, and constant packing and unpacking.

360 photos shot using a Rikoh Theta S.

09/09/2017

On my recent trip to India I explored the ruins of the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in Hampi. It is just a small village now, but from about 1336-1646 it was a metropolis ruling over most of Southern India. In this post I'll give you a look behind the scenes at what went in to getting my favorite shots, and talk about what could have been better in some shots I'm not satisfied with. [ 1,632 more word ]

Advice on making great photos around Hampi, India