I seem to be attracted to water and strobe. I photograph a lot of water sports, so I am always looking for a different way to shoot familiar subjects. I was in the Tetons recently and had a chance to produce some ‘glowing sea kayak’ images. Here is how it works. For this image I Read More
Blog
When to use fill flash
Flash comes in a variety of styles and shapes, from simple one light set ups to complex multiple light scenes. Sometimes simple is all you need. I have been shooting a lot of assignments lately, from college campuses to indoor skating to Alaska tourism. And I have to say one technique has saved the day Read More
Mt. Huntington
Some years you get all the luck. I have spent my last 26 summers in Alaska, and some years Denali and the Alaska Range barely peak out. Other years you see it day after day. I just returned from 3 weeks of shooting in Alaska, and had some great windows of clear weather for incredible Read More
Planes, trains, automobiles and grizzly bears
Or maybe I should say planes, helicopters, jet boats, atvs and dog sleds. In the middle of assignment work in Alaska this summer, always love going back to where we used to live and work with great clients. These shoots get really crazy. The sun sets after midnight in June, and the night never really Read More
climbing video
Spending the day in airports traveling to Alaska, a perfect time to add one more blog post before getting really busy up north. Had a chance to upload another short video shot on the D3s. Once again I relied on the Glidetrack for the moving shots in this video. For sound we are using a Read More
Pacific NW
Just in from teaching a workshop for the Mentor Series in Seattle and Olympic NP. We had a great group and got lucky with the weather. It has been raining a lot in Seattle this spring and summer, but our day on the beach was a sunny blue sky day. I can’t get enough of Read More
Let the light breath
There is a saying I like use when teaching lighting classes, ‘let the light breath.’ This refers to figuring out what is the best lighting ratio between outside ambient light and your strobe on the subject. There is no right answer. When shooting assignments the client often tells you what style of lighting and mood Read More
D3s Glidetrack video
The Poudre river near my house is running at peak flows right now, which means time to kayak, and photograph kayaking. Nothing beats being on the river on a sunny day surfing a good wave. My friend Patrick is always on the river, so we thought he would be a perfect subject for a short Read More
D3s video
I have been working on some video projects for an upcoming article and really enjoyed exploring the capabilities of DSLR video. I worked with Chris the other day in an urban part of town. We have done a lot of shoots together and practically know what the other person is thinking when it comes to Read More
blending white balance
I have been in Moab a lot lately, two assignments and one workshop, always enjoy getting back to the desert. One night I went out to a boulder with some petroglyphs, and tried some lightpainting with my D3s. Since the noise performance of this camera is hard to believe, I experimented with both long and Read More
Miami and Greek Food
I have been on the road a lot lately, Moab, Canyonlands, Arches, and now just in from Miami. My friend, Cesar Rivera, and the Pines West Camera Club invited me down to speak and teach a class on TTL flash photography. I have to say they rolled out the red carpet for me, a great Read More
Attaching the SB900 to a Justin Clamp
If you use SB900s, like I do, then you may wonder how to attach them to some accessories since the flash’s larger hot shoe plate won’t fit a standard TTL cold shoe mount. One item we use frequently are Manfrotto Justin Clamps, they are very handy to attach SB900s in a variety of situations. The Read More