Shooting Tips

Each year I find myself going up in small planes and helicopters to photograph.  Some of my most memorable shoots have been in the air.  Many years ago I photographed an air service in Alaska.  To get the shot, we took the doors off my plane for unobstructed shooting, and flew around Denali shadowing the Read More

I just returned from teaching a photo workshop in the Badlands, and we experienced some of the wildest weather I have ever seen.  We knew June would be good for newborn bison and bighorn sheep, green prairies and wildflowers.  We hoped we might get some good thunderstorms, but we didn’t expect supercells moving through day Read More

I’m en route to Romania right now, and as with any new location, I’m shaking with excitement.  Literally I start pacing on the plane as I get closer.  Once I arrive at my hotel, I throw my suitcase in my room and head out the door to start shooting.  Since the location is new, I Read More

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

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

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

  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

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

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

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