If you are like me, you probably own a variety of Nikon lenses spanning many years of production. I think my oldest lens is a 50mm F1.8D; whatever happened to those great lens distance scales and focus marks? One thing you might notice is different VR choices for your lenses. Looking through my lenses, I Read More
The silver bullet of lighting
As many readers will know, I am a regular contributor to many photography magazines. I’ve shot and written hundreds of stories through the years for various photography publications; I really enjoy these assignments. Recently Digital Photo magazine asked me a great question: what is the most versatile, effective lighting technique. My job was to write Read More
Get eye level with your wildlife
I just returned from a fantastic trip to Yellowstone in winter. Lucky for us we had a clear morning with ice on the trees, and lots of frosty wildlife. A lot of the wildlife was moving slow, so you could really set up your shot. Bison just seem to wander down the trail in winter, Read More
Portrait Stadium Lighting
I’ve been working on a series of new portraits for an upcoming project, and I thought I might mention a lighting technique that sometimes works great. I call it stadium lighting, and the idea is you include one of your lights aimed at the camera…similar to stadium lights overhead. Adding lights aimed directly at the Read More
Telephoto Depth of Field
Near my house this winter is an open pond with lots of fish. I’ve seen as many as 9 bald eagles working the pond from nearby cottonwood trees…Chilkat comes to Colorado! Yesterday I was there talking with the numerous photographers lined up to get an eagle photo. The topic of long lens depth of field Read More
Snapbridge Version 2.0
Many Nikon cameras have the ability to connect to their phone and instantly download photos using Snapbridge. In this era of social media and immediate content, this is a handy feature. I was thrilled when Nikon created Snapbridge, but a little put out when I found the app hard to use and glitchy. Nikon listened Read More
Keep your feet warm
It is the heart of winter here in Colorado, and the mountains are getting lots of new snow. This time of year I travel into the mountains to photograph winter sports, landscapes and wildlife. Star photography is also great this time of year. But the one thing that can dampen any photographer’s enthusiasm for winter Read More
LensCoat
If you have ever watched wildlife photographers lining up on a bear in Yellowstone, chances are most of the big lenses were in camo. What is this, and why do I want it? LensCoat makes terrific custom-fitted neoprene covers, and if you use your big glass a lot for wildlife, then you want one. The Read More
D850 Silent Mode Shooting
I’ve continued to try out new features on the D850, and one feature that was new to DSLR shooting was the ‘mirrorless’ Silent Mode Shooting. This mode works similar to mirrorless cameras in that the mirror is locked up so only the shutter is moving. In practical terms, you are shooting images and there is Read More
Best Wildlife Telephoto Lens
An age-old question amongst photographers is what lens is best for wildlife photography. Go to any photography trade show or workshop, and it is almost certain this question will come up. Combine the popularity of the topic with new lens choices being introduced (did anybody see the new Nikon F4 180-400mm with 1.4x just announced Read More