Two years ago, I wrote about photography on a longish kayak trip (Ten-day Power Trip, 06/2009) in Baja, a trip without the ability to charge batteries. My solution then was extra batteries and plenty of flash memory, coupled with judicious use of those resources. A solar charger didn’t make sense—the trip wasn’t long enough—and a […]
More 2010 Favorite Images Critique ___ 2011/01
Five more favorite images from 2010. It bares repeating: keep that viewfinder glued to your eyeball and look, look, look . . . Mazama Ridge after Sunset: 2010 wasn’t a good year for Northwest wildflower photography. The mountain meadow flowers were late; many never made it. I made numerous visits to Mt. Rainier, but I […]
Photo Tip: Tripod Tricks ___ 2010/09
Last month I arrived in evening light at the Mirror Lakes reflection pond at Mt. Rainer National Park. True to its name, the quiet little tarn was a mirror, but instead of the Mountain it reflected clouds that surrounded Rainier’s massive girth. I looked about for an alternate photo to salvage the shoot. August is […]
Photo Tip: Weather, Whether ___ 2010/07
June, Olympic Peninsula, WA. With cool, wet weather dampening photography more than usual in our cool, wet NW climate, playing the weather plays a bigger than normal role in photographic outcomes. I’ve struck out often this spring trying to get saleable photos—clouds block the sun, backgrounds vanish in fog, rain ends a photo session. The […]
Tilt and Telephoto: Tools for Summer Wildflowers ___ 2010/06
Mt. Rainier National Park. A conventional 24mm could capture this shot (maybe), but seeing it is far easier with the TS-E. With the conventional 24mm, the depth-of-field preview button darkens the viewfinder too much; an alternative, an in-camera (digital) test shot evaluation, is time consuming. Near-to-far focus that’s not attainable with a conventional short telephoto […]
Canon 7D: AI Servo Set-up for BIF (Bird in Flight) _ 03/2010
I bought a Canon 7D in December, and have used it for some tough bird in flight (BIF) shooting, as well as for perched but flighty songbirds. My hope for the 7D was that I finally had a camera that could nail a high percentage of BIF shots, images that my primary camera, the Canon […]
Lightroom 2 Spot Removal (on steroids) ___ 02/2010
The Spot Removal tool introduced in Lightroom 2 was a nice feature, part of set of tools that allowed manipulation of individual pixels on RAW files. Almost coincidently, though, manufacturers introduced dSLR cameras with self-cleaning sensors that worked so well Spot Removal was rarely needed for dust touch-up. I nonetheless use the tool frequently—for wildlife […]
Photo Tip: Backpacker Panorama Hardware __ 09/2009
A year ago I built a light-weight panorama tool out of wood. My hope was to make back-country panoramas. My dream was to rival the pixel count of high-end, medium-format digital backs, or scanned 4×5 film cameras without the weight, bulk or cost. Here in Washington State, I imagined Prusik Peak in the Enchantments, or […]
Photo Tip: Image Maturity ___ 08/2009
The late, great Galen Rowell crafted the term “image maturity” to describe a quality of an image. In his 1993 book, The Art of Adventure Photography, Rowell explained that “immature” subjects require straight-forward depiction; with “mature” subjects, subtlety or originality prevail. He used a Snow Leopard and a deer as an example. A Snow Leopard […]
Photo Tip: Bird Photography Kayak __ 07/2009
I’ve photographed birds with a 500mm f/4 from kayaks since 2003, when I mustered the courage to risk the big, expensive glass for the task. Since then I’ve used the same set-up in a dozen or so different kayaks—kayaks from my own fleet, outfitter kayaks and rentals. All of these were closed-deck boats, which offer […]