Nikon has been busy developing their portrait/travel primes in the Z system. The line up includes the 50mm F1.2, the 85mm F1.2 and the 135mm F1.8. The optics and performance of these lenses are stellar. They just have a look that is hard to quantify in a review. The 135mm 1.8 is so impressive that Read More
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Exposure is subjective
One of the fundamentals of photography is exposure. Photography is all about light, and getting the right amount to create a stunning photograph. Generally speaking we want to get the exposure such that we have a well lit image. Tricky lighting like backlighting may require photographers to open up (brighten) the exposure to get shadow Read More
Focus stack forced perspective landscape
I just returned from the Tetons, and the flowers were incredible. They had a wet spring, and it seemed the yellow balsam root flowers stretched for miles in some areas. I love grand landscapes with flowers in the foreground, so I started working forced perspective landscape images using the flowers as my foreground. If you Read More
Do I still use a graduated ND filter?
I get this question a lot…short answer is yes! Digital darkroom editing has come a long ways, and it is incredible what is possible. Now with the click of a button I can select my subject or sky, make all sorts of changes, and be done in minutes instead of hours. One area photographers often Read More
What RAW compression format to use?
We were meeting with a group of photographers on zoom last night discussing an upcoming bear photography workshop, and a good question came up. First, how many flash cards to bring, and second, what RAW format to use to maximize flash card space. First, in terms of wildlife trips, expect to shoot more than you Read More
Photographing warblers at Magee Marsh
Ever since I started birding, I wanted to go to Magee Marsh. These wetlands bordering Lake Erie were almost mythical. Loads of migrating birds stack up on the south side of the lake, resting and eating before making the long flight north over Lake Erie. Reports of birds ‘dripping’ off bushes sounded too good to Read More
Bokeh is more than backgrounds
I had a great question recently from a workshop participant. Their question was this…they are taking a bear photography workshop this summer, and wondered what lens to bring….a 400mm F5.6 or a 400mm F2.8? They also wondered how far backgrounds were relative to the bears, and if they needed to bring a F2.8 lens to Read More
How to sight a lens and find your subject.
Cree and I just finished up a month of bird photography workshops…Texas bird blinds, bayous in Louisiana, and 33 different warblers in Ohio…fantastic trips! Bird photography has come a long ways since I first started…imagine tracking a flying bird with a manual focus 500mm lens and ISO100 film! Mirrorless cameras and incredible subject detection/focus modes Read More
Do I need flash for bird photography?
I have been getting some great questions about bird photography, and the latest one was about using flash with bird photography. Does flash make a better picture? Will available light be okay on a cloudy day with no flash? What birds look good with flash? All excellent questions! And with most things in photography, there Read More
Lens Minimum Focus Distance
It’s spring migration right now, and bird photography is at the top of the list for many wildlife photographers. Who can resist those colorful warblers? Cree and I are in the middle of a month of bird photography… just shot in the Texas bird blinds for two weeks and rattled off 40,000 images. I’m sure Read More
Nikon 14-24mm 2.8 Z for $1625
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