Some people buy cameras to take snapshots, and they’re probably going to be fine with whatever their camera turns out on “auto”. You’re not one of those people, though. You’re trying to make images that make an impact on people, and you’ve probably experienced some disappointment along the way. You’ve doubtless had photos come out […]
Category: Learning
Intro to Winter Hiking
We’re now well into winter 2013-14, complete with polar vortexes, snow rollers, and assorted other crazy weather phenomenon. While these conditions can be truly dangerous if you’re not dressed for them, they can also produce some great winter scenes and some magnificent icy sculptures for those prepared to go out and capture them. If you’re […]
Cherish the flaws
I love music. I’ve got a pretty extensive collection, and some of the performances I like best are from live albums. I’m sure that to some extent, this is because I haven’t heard the live versions of songs as many times as the studio cuts, but I think there’s another reason, too — the live […]
A harsh reality
Photography in all its professional forms, has been massively disrupted by technology over the last ten years or so. The swift succession of the internet, digital sensors, and camera phones has quite literally turned every other person you meet into a photographer, and as the price of “good” cameras has declined, we’ve seen a great […]
Control your lighting for great still lifes
Photography, quite literally, is “painting with light,” yet we so often let available light control our photos, rather than the other way around. This weekend, my Irises bloomed. First to bloom were the white flowers in the photo above. I noticed the blooms in the morning, and I thought the white flowers would look really […]
Sebastião Salgado: The silent drama of photography
This is a wonderful TED talk that combines photography, environmentalism, and anthropology. There’s enough material here to occupy far more than the fifteen minutes or so it will take you to watch the video. Salgado’s images are powerful reminders for us to protect the world around us.
Maybe it’s not supposed to be easy
There are an awful lot of cameras sold to people who just want to turn them on and have masterful photos pop out. While some of these people wind up learning the craft of photography, quite a few of them venture out into the world with their cameras stuck on “Auto” — vaguely miffed that […]
All about Image Stabilization
If you’re anything like me, one of the reasons you’ve upgraded gear over the years is to get sharper photos. It’s a never-ending quest, especially for those long shots, and Image Stabilization is one of the things that can really help you out — if you know how to use it. Unfortunately, quite a few […]
Couldn’t have said it better myself
It’s all about chasing that next shot. What a great video!
Portrait crash course
My son’s taking a college photography class, and he came home with an assignment to shoot some portraits. Of course, I wanted to know a bit about the assignment, so I asked a few questions — how did they explain “portraits”, did they talk about focal lengths, lighting, and so on. It turns out they’d […]