I just returned from one of my favorite locations to photograph, Patagonia. I have been visiting this area for 25 years, and it continually inspires me on many levels. Inspiration is a good thing when it comes to developing your creativity. Everything seems new and fresh, and you energetically go about photographing new and interesting Read More
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Hyperfocal Distance; Getting the most depth of field
I’m en route to Patagonia, one of my favorite destinations. The landscape photography there is absolutely stunning; turquoise lakes with snow-capped peaks in the distance are the norm. I’m bringing my trusty 24mm 1.4, one of the best wide angle lenses Nikon makes. And I am going to want to get the best depth of Read More
Lightroom Magazine
I’ve worked with KelbyOne for many years, including doing frequent stories for their publications including Lightroom and Photoshop User Magazine. These publications are loaded with great tips on post processing, lighting, photography and gear. I highly recommend giving KelbyOne a try for a month if you are not a member. For less than the cost Read More
Elinchrom ELB500 first look
I just returned from teaching a lighting class in Las Vegas, and I was able to get my hands on the ELB 500 for the class. I think Elinchrom makes the best strobes in the business; their packs shine in all conditions and withstand years of hard use and abuse. They stand above in a Read More
Quick tip: Photographing snow
I am still pouring over images from our trip to Alaska last week, and I had the chance to photograph dog mushing on multiple occasions. A few times we had snow falling during the shoot, and it reminded me of a few questions I often hear on workshops. First, do you need to worry about Read More
Best lens for Northern Lights
I just returned from a week of shooting northern lights in Alaska. Cree and I went up to visit friends and explore some new areas around Fairbanks for future northern lights trips. We had a fantastic time staying in remote cabins, catching up with friends (we used to live in Alaska) and eating a Read More
Battle of the 300mm lenses
Since both my wife and I are photographers, we have a lot of lenses. We tried the idea of ‘sharing lenses’ until we both saw the same incredible eagle photo and we only had one long telephoto lens. So we have doubles of a few of our favorite lenses, including the venerable 300mm. This focal Read More
Which VR mode?
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