Entries by Tom Bricker

The Molly Brown at Disneyland Paris

The Molly Brown river boat at Disneyland Paris cruises the Rivers of America, navigating around Big Thunder Mountain’s “island” and past the town of Thunder Mesa, Phantom Manor, and the rest of Paris’ version of Frontierland. I understand that it underwent a top-to-bottom refurbishment that basically rebuilt the ship in 2011, and it was looking […]

London’s ‘Girl with a Dolphin’ Statue and Tower Bridge

London’s Tower Bridge is likely the most photogenic bridge I’ve seen in my life. Although it’s not as massive as other famous bridges, it has a refined bit of charm and detail. Photographed here with David Wynne’s descriptively named ‘Girl with a Dolphin’ sculpture as the setting sun colored the sky. The Tower Bridge ended […]

Welcome to TravelCaffeine.com!

Renowned philosopher Rod Stewart, in a raspy and melodic tone, once said, “every picture tells a story (don’t it).” How right he was. The story of the photo here is the story of this site. Sarah and I traveled to Rocky Mountain National Park late last summer for a weekend on a whim. We had […]

Eiffel Tower Light Show

Paris is the “City of Lights,” which is a fitting moniker for the city. It is perhaps no more fitting than when the Eiffel Tower is set aglow in twinkling lights during its hourly light show. Of course, being a crazy photographer, I wanted even more lights in my Eiffel Tower light show photo, so I stood in the median on the Pont d’Iéna Bridge with my tripod waiting for the perfect moment when just the right assortment of cars passed for light trails and the Eiffel Tower was twinkling just right. Luckily, this median was quite large, so it wasn’t all that dangerous (Sarah might disagree!), at least not compared to places I went later during the trip. Standing in medians to give my Paris photos a bit of added light-excitement became a motif of our trip, and I’m quite lucky I was never hit by any mopeds!

Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Composition Field Guide Book Review

“Successful image making is all about arrangement and not about content!” This is the rallying cry of Bryan Peterson, author of Understanding Exposure, as he implores readers to spend days to junkyards photographing garbage to train their mind’s eye to “see” better composition in the early chapters of Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Composition Field Guide. He […]

Rocky Mountain National Park Bull Moose

Just before sunset on our first day in Rocky Mountain National Park, we headed to Kawuneeche Valley to see if we could spot any moose, elk, or bears. Moose and bears are two of my favorite animals, so they were the primary objective. Along the way, we saw a few scattered elk, but we didn’t stop to photograph them, as time was of the essence. Since it was the only chance I’d have to photograph the sunset in Rocky Mountain National Park, I wanted to make it from Kawuneeche Valley all the way up to Rock Cut (map), which is the highest elevation in the park unless you do the insane hike to Longs Peak. I was fully prepared to do this hike (and to wrestle three grizzly bears along the way), but luckily Sarah has better judgment than me.