Shooting Tips

By now, after the first three creativity posts, I hope you have learned some new aspects of creativity.  More importantly, I hope just thinking about these ideas has inspired you to try a new photo technique, or perhaps book your next trip to create an original image in a new location.  Even after decades of Read More

Another important aspect of creativity is problem solving, or in other terms, creative thinking.  Your ability to problem solve allows you to bring your creative vision to life.  I use my imagination to envision an image, and often the next step is figuring out how to make it happen.  Some problem solving is as simple Read More

We started with two aspects of creativity, originality and imagination.  Today let’s look at two more, experimentation and continuous learning. Have you ever heard someone say “yeah, I got that shot, what else is there to shoot?”  It is almost like photography is a checklist, you get ‘the shot’ and then you are done.  It’s Read More

Photography is comprised of hard skills like learning how your camera works, all that technical stuff that I love, and creative skills that can be harder to learn.  Left brain, right brain, everyone has a mix that makes up their photographic identity.  When you master your camera functions, and start to really get in touch Read More

Flash has come a long ways in the last decade.  Modern strobes are smaller, more powerful and have advanced features like TTL and High Speed Sync. I use my Elinchrom Three and Five monolights on many shoots…just put on the transmitter on my Z9 and I have up to 500 watts of power with HSS Read More

Cree and I just walked in the door from a week of arctic photography, an incredible trip.  As expected temps hit -40F and colder, today the high is -45F at the lodge we stayed at along the Yukon river…brrrr!  After numerous posts of cold weather clothing, here are some tips for actually shooting in these Read More

Cree and I just returned from Haines, AK.  We spent a week photographing eagles at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, and there were tons of eagles this year (more on that soon).  On the way home we drove through interior Alaska and Yukon with clear skies and good aurora forecasts.  But we also had an Read More

A lot of what we teach on workshops is related to creativity.  You know, those intangible ideas and ‘feelings’ that seem hard to articulate.  While many people can figure out what mode to use and button to push on the camera, mastering creativity seems much more esoteric.  You’ve heard the saying….’you are either born with Read More

Last night we had a G4 magnetic storm, which translates to KP8 on the aurora forecast.  What that means is most of the lower 48 could see the aurora last night, and for many folks it was the first time they have seen the aurora borealis.  This spring we had a G5 storm and photographers Read More

With today’s high resolution cameras, cropping has become the norm for many photographers.  You start with a 45MP file, crop down to about 20MP for a tight head shot on wildlife, and you still have a large file ready to print or send off to publication.  I just had a 4 x 6 foot metal Read More