After leading multiple bird photography workshops as well as jungle wildlife trips shooting over 80,000 images in the Z9, I’m starting to get a feel for the incredible performance of this camera. I practically wept when I sold my D6…could the Z9 be that good? Yes, and then some. I just spent hours on my Read More
Shooting Tips
What is editorial photography?
Just back from leading a workshop in Spain…beautiful country with friendly people and great food! During our trip we did image reviews and talked a lot about what makes a good travel image…and portfolio. A lot of my assignments involve travel imagery, and creating work that conveys the experience to the viewer. During our time Read More
How to improve creativity. Try primes.
Probably the question I get the most teaching workshops is how to improve creativity. Sure, there are a lot of questions on new camera features and techniques. But these things are tangible to most photographers, and are easier to quantify and learn. But creativity…is there a step by step pathway to better creativity? One thing Read More
Symmetrical or Asymmetrical Compositions?
We were photographing windmills in Sicily recently, and got lucky to have an incredible sunset as a background. There were two main windmills, and compositions revolved around where you placed the windmill in your shot. A question came up during this shoot….did one or two windmills look better? Many in our group thought one windmill Read More
Z9 Wide Area Large Autofocus
Cree and I just returned from three days of shooting in Jackson, Wyoming. We used to live in Wyoming, and love the Tetons. It also gave me an opportunity to continue to explore the autofocus options of the Z9. One thing is very obvious about the Z9, similar to otherl mirrorless cameras; choosing the Read More
My Z9 Settings
I have had so many questions on Z9 settings that I decided to do a blog post on it. The Z9 menu system is the most extensive on any Nikon camera, so there are a ton of options. Also, because you can customize so many buttons and modes there are lots of ways of setting Read More
No more back button autofocus using the Z9?
I have been using back button autofocus for years now…it was tough to switch over, but once I did couldn’t imagine anything else. The biggest reason was I often needed to focus on a spot, recompose, and shoot. DSLRs don’t cover 100 percent of the viewfinder with autofocus points, so you just focus on the Read More
Previsualization, anticipation and getting the shot.
As photographers we are all trying to create better images. We refine our camera technique, go to exotic locations and buy new photo gear (yes, technology helps!)…all of these things can improve our photography. I think the best way to create better photos is really simple….just get out and photograph a lot. The more time Read More
Shaky Abstracts
If you have ever gone on one of our photo workshops, chances are you have heard terms like shaky, zoomy and twisty. Not exactly precision movement terms you might expect when describing landscape photography. But after photographing clean, sharp landscapes, you might want to try something different….say a little abstract. That is where these movements Read More
Do you need a cable release?
I’ve been shooting a lot of all landscapes lately, and we have had some great clouds in the images. After capturing a static shot, I love to put on a 10-15 stop ND filter and shoot the scene again at 2 minutes and longer depending on the light. The moving clouds render as silky, mysterious Read More