For serious enthusiasts, bird photography is an all year endeavor. Always there’s something to photograph. Opportunities change with the seasons, local weather, bird plumage and migration. In the north, though, a particular month stands out. It’s a month when bird photography crescendos, when activity peaks, when opportunities are so numerous you simply can’t do them […]
Bounce light into shadows to add fill or extend the photographic day I’m not much of a fan of outdoor flash photography. I find it cumbersome to carry a multiple flash system, and I’m generally unhappy with results from a single strobe. If flash looks necessary for a backlit bird, I’ll seek a different angle, […]
A good route to success in outdoor photography is finding a niche that you love. Find your passion; focus like a laser. Be a big fish in a small pond. My particular niche is sea kayaking. As a vehicle, the sea kayak transports a photographer to unique photo ops, sometimes just a stone’s throw out […]
In the field, I often stalk through a potential photo op with the viewfinder glued to my eye, seeking just the right composition or perspective. If I plan well, I’m scouting before the light gets good—in the afternoon for a sunset shot, or the day before for the sunrise. What I’m scouting for is foreground. […]
I had an excellent photo op last spring: a flicker nest only fifteen feet above the ground, with a clear view, and just two miles from home. Because I was wary of disturbing the skittish birds, I photographed just a few times, in good light only, for periods no longer than an hour. Each visit […]
I’ve written thrice about backpacking (Ultralight Backpacking and Photography, Backpacking and Photography Re-visit, Light-Weight Backpacking and Photography), all pointed at ultra-lightening the backpack gear. The goal is to safely reduce pack weight to ease the burden of carrying a dSLR, lenses and tripod. And it works. Ultralight backpacking is a photographer’s godsend. Ultralighting gets us […]
At the start of 2012 I added three new cameras: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon G1 X w/housing, GoPro Hero2. I also added a new lens, a Rokinon 24mm f/1.4. The 5D III’s improved autofocus gave me more bird photography keepers; the G1 X, a magazine cover shot (Sea Kayaker, Dec. 2012). The GoPro—a POV […]
Last week we photographed at Eagle Creek in Oregon’s Columbia Gorge, a shutterbug bucket-list location that shows phenomenally well in the fall. The Columbia Gorge is slot canyons Northwest, a mesmerizing, choreographed symphony in black, yellow and green. As with any photo shoot, photographing here requires preparation. Study the area, look at photos on-line, and […]
I biked to the local Ace Hardware last week and picked up a pair of suction cup mounts. Ace sells USA Progrip® Suction Cups online for $4.79/pair; free shipping if you pick it up at a local store. The rubber cup diameter is 3”. They have a ¼-20 female thread, so to mount a ball […]
A partly-cloudy western sky made me anxious as I approached the famed Mirror Lake at Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground, Mt. Rainier National Park. Could a mackerel-like sky develop? A lenticular cloud above the peak? Would there even be sunset light on the mountain? This was my 10th or 11th trip to Indian Henry’s over many […]