There are very few national parks that have the extreme verticality that Yosemite has. You can walk to the base of El Cap and have over 3000 feet of smooth granite towering over your head. For the photographer this creates a challenge. Trying to create compositions with El Cap and foreground requires some extreme perspectives. Read More
Digital Photo Cover Redwoods
I have been writing stories for Digital Photo, Digital Photo Pro and Outdoor Photographer for many years. These magazines are a bargain ($20/year), and offer lots of technique and gear reviews. In an age where so much is online, I love getting a printed magazine in my mailbox. I can flip through the pages at Read More
Focus Stacking
Focus stacking has been around for awhile, but now it is easier than ever to produce the images for the stack. Cameras like the D850 have automated the entire capture process; you just have to seam the shots together in the computer. Why focus stack? For starters, it allows you to maximize your depth of Read More
Tucson/Sonoran Desert scouting report
Cree and I decided to spend the holiday photographing in one of our favorite places, Tucson and the Sonoran Desert. We spent many years guiding climbing and hiking in the area, and who can resist those incredible saguaro cactus. We also wanted to photograph at our friend’s bird blinds and put the final touches on Read More
Password managers
If you are like me, you probably have a ton of passwords for various websites. One for your bank, one for your credit card, one for Amazon, one for accounting software…and the list just keeps getting longer and longer. Yes, I was one of those people that wrote down all my passwords and had a Read More
Photoshop improvements
Many photographers have a subscription to Adobe Lightroom that also includes Photoshop. You can do a lot in Lightroom in the Develop module, and may never go into Photoshop. Two reasons I frequently use Photoshop is to work in layers, and to remove objects that Lightroom can’t manage. The good news is Adobe just updated Read More
Focus Peaking
I got a question from a workshop participant asking about focus peaking. What exactly is it? Where is it on my camera? And what does it do? All good questions! Focus peaking has been around for awhile, but initially only video photographers used it. Focus peaking shows in real time what is in focus by Read More
RRS Macro Focusing Rail
This summer and fall I was really excited to see all the interest in macro photography on our workshops. Often overlooked, macro scenes are fascinating and inspirational; who knew what was right at your feet? Our redwoods workshop is timed perfectly for the Columbia lilies to be in bloom; when you get tried of looking Read More
Buying a tripod
One of the most common questions I get is what tripod is the best. Six years ago I did a post on buying the right tripod, so I thought I would update some content. Here are your basic considerations: -size -weight -stability -amount of use -price -customer service There are a lot of tripods on Read More
Basic Time-lapse photography
I did a training video a few years back for KelbyOne on creating time-lapse movies. Time-lapse sequences can be very simple or much more complicated like day to night sequences. But technology marches on, and cameras continue to advance with their time-lapse abilities. Top Nikon bodies have two choices for creating TL, one where the Read More