I went for a walk, to practice some of David DuChemin’s tips. I especially like the one about learning lens perspectives.
Here’s a few images from that walk. Yeah, nothing fancy here, just thought I would share.
I’ve never been able to photograph a wild bald eagle before. I’m not sure if I’ve even seen a wild bald eagle before! What a thrill, that the clouds would open up and my wife would say, “Hey, I know where a bald eagle is.”
Shot by my wife, under the tree, with the point & shoot:
Shot by me, further away with telephoto lens and tripod:
It’s awesome to see a majestic hunter such as this one, living a successful life among the human chaos.
Posted in Photo, Story | Tagged bird, eagle | Leave a Comment »
A rare shot that just works, straight out of the camera. Well, I like it, anyway.
Nikon D700, Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 AIS, f/2.8, Minimum focus distance, circular polarizer, Monochrome picture control with contrast +2
Posted in Photo | Tagged black and white, monochrome | 1 Comment »
Ken Rockwell – Hobbyists vs. Photography
Amateurs built the ark, professionals built the titanic. That pretty much sums it up.
As much as it pains me to say it(1), he has a good point here. Today, when I shoot I’m trying my best to get the shot right in camera. I think that’s as good as can be expected with digital photography, because the bits and bytes of the file must be run through a computer in order to make a print. Certainly, those times where I miraculously do get a shot right with no processing required, that feels infinitely more rewarding than knowing another trick in Photoshop. Photography should be more like that, and less like calculating Space Shuttle trajectories.
(1) He has a sizable Leica collection, tons of very expensive Nikon gear, nice European cars, shoots only with the really expensive stuff when it really matters, yet we’re all supposed to stick with the D40 forever. Amateurs should stay amateurs, don’t crowd his business, and buy all our gear through his affiliate links to further pad his wallet. It’s not a “he’s rich, I’m jealous” thing, it’s a hypocrisy thing. If the D40 were all anyone needs, that should apply to him as well, but the truth is far from it. And, his images look awful. Over-saturated is putting it mildly. That said, even he can make a good point sometimes.
Posted in Story, Tips and Notes, rant | Comments Off
I love spending time at the family cabin. It’s nothing fancy – no electricity or running water – but it is an anchor to where I come from and who I am. I need to go there more often.
I wish people wouldn’t keep breaking in. Every year, there’s a few break-ins and some vandalism. No wonder I wish for mountain solitude away from people.
Posted in Photo, Portfolio, Story | Tagged aspen, cabin, family, mountains, nature | Leave a Comment »
I went to Rocky Mountain National Park with a local photowalk group one day. It was very cold, and the wind was vicious. The sunrise was horrible and visibility was low.
All was not lost, however. I came across a pack of coyotes napping on the side of the road. The longest lens I brought was my 180mm f/2.8 manual focus lens, so I had to focus carefully and creep forward with the car. I didn’t get out, so that I wouldn’t disturb them. It was fun trying to get a good shot of these seemingly tame wildlife.
I noticed a nice scene on the side of the road as I drove home. A bad start became a good day.
Posted in Photo, Story | Tagged rmnp | Leave a Comment »
I spent the morning of New Year’s Eve up in Rocky Mountain National Park. I was hoping to make some images of wildlife, but it was cold.
I did see one animal. I tried to do the “wildlife photographer” thing, but a 70-200 + 1.4 tc can only get you so close, and he looked like he didn’t want to be bothered by my getting physically closer.
Posted in Photo | Tagged rmnp | Leave a Comment »
Nomitations to be invited, to be precise. I’ve got 8 23 – first come, first served.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
I’ve been experimenting with shooting wide-angle and wide open. Just because I’m curious. Can you get a nice blur with a wide-angle lens?
These shots aren’t all that great, and I didn’t shoot them all at the same time in an organized test. It’s more of a question that’s been nagging me in the back of my mind and I decided to gather some shots and blog about it.
I conclude you can get decent some blur if you try hard enough and have a fast enough wide-angle lens, but it’s not as nice as an 85mm f/1.4 and it’s impossible to blur out the background to the same degree that a telephoto lens could do. It can be a unique style if you want to take that on, but it seems a bit incomplete.
Do you have any wide-angle shots with bokeh? Please share!
Posted in Gear, Photo, Tips and Notes | Tagged test, wideangle | 1 Comment »
This is awesome! Totally laughing out loud watching this.
I sure wish there was a way to embed YouTube videos here.
Posted in Tips and Notes | Tagged kelby, mcnally, nikon, strobe | Leave a Comment »
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