Just a quick note. This week Nikon is putting its refurbished gear on sale…some items for 35% off. Nikon Z9s were selling for $4100, the 85mm 1.2 Z lens is $1820…and the incredible Z 14-24mm F2.8 is selling for $1625. These prices are literally more than a thousand dollars off. Items going quick, get them Read More
Photography is a conversation, not a lecture…
Had a few questions from folks on my creativity posts and what is the ‘right way’ to do things. The questions stemmed from hearing other photographers say there is only one ‘right way’ to do something. Or I guess it was implied that if you weren’t using a specific technique then plain and simple you Read More
Direct the viewer’s eye
One valuable part of our workshops is image review. Feedback is part of the creative process, and helps us become better photographers. There is a lot of criteria for feedback, some aspects focus on technical merits and other feedback focuses on graphic elements. And there is always the more subjective, bigger picture of creativity and Read More
Auto ISO versus Manual Mode for bird/wildlife photography
Last week I was in Costa Rica photographing the amazing wildlife with a workshop group. The bird photography was incredible, so many species flying through the jungle. During our shooting a question came up about what is the best shooting mode for birds (and wildlife), Manual mode using auto ISO….or full manual mode and setting Read More
Speed up your workflow
We get this question a lot…how do you download images so quickly? On wildlife trips we might shoot 8000 images in one day….after a week in Africa we might have 60,000 images. Workflow involves a lot of elements from downloading, culling, labeling, and finally backup to storage systems. The first part is downloading your images, Read More
How to photograph sandhill cranes
We had an incredible time photographing sandhill cranes last winter in New Mexico. Bosque Del Apache never disappoints, every year is different. Last year we spent some time at Bernado, another refuge to the north. Cree and I were headed to the airport our final night, and decided to drop in for one last shoot. Read More
Creativity Part 4
By now, after the first three creativity posts, I hope you have learned some new aspects of creativity. More importantly, I hope just thinking about these ideas has inspired you to try a new photo technique, or perhaps book your next trip to create an original image in a new location. Even after decades of Read More
Creativity Part 3
Another important aspect of creativity is problem solving, or in other terms, creative thinking. Your ability to problem solve allows you to bring your creative vision to life. I use my imagination to envision an image, and often the next step is figuring out how to make it happen. Some problem solving is as simple Read More
Creativity Part 2
We started with two aspects of creativity, originality and imagination. Today let’s look at two more, experimentation and continuous learning. Have you ever heard someone say “yeah, I got that shot, what else is there to shoot?” It is almost like photography is a checklist, you get ‘the shot’ and then you are done. It’s Read More
Improving Creativity
Photography is comprised of hard skills like learning how your camera works, all that technical stuff that I love, and creative skills that can be harder to learn. Left brain, right brain, everyone has a mix that makes up their photographic identity. When you master your camera functions, and start to really get in touch Read More