As I was packing for my trip to Iceland last winter, I decided at the very last second to include my Singh-Ray Vari-ND. I thought that maybe it would come in handy on some waterfalls. One of the major highlights of any trip to Iceland is visiting the magnificent Glacial Lagoon called Jokulsarlon on the southeastern shores of this island nation. This is an area where Europe’s largest Glacier, Vatnajokul, has an arm that extends toward the North Atlantic and …
How super-simple it is to create extremely-long exposures with the new 10-Stop Mor-Slo ND filter
There have been so many times when I’ve found myself at an impressive river scene or rocky coast line with the mid-day sun beaming straight down. Very bright light creates a challenge for me since I like to shoot rivers, streams, water falls, and seashore surf at very slow shutter speeds to get that soft-silky look to the moving water. In such situations, I like to expose my image for 10 seconds or longer. But even if I set my …
Showing how the right timing, tools and technique can capture the image perfectly
At its very root, photography is a beautifully simple way for us to share our unique vision with the world. It’s an extension of our eyes and creative minds. Yet sometimes we lose sight of all this amidst the incessant buzz of tech talk, one-upsmanship and armchair quarterbacking. Let us never forget that photography is a creative process that can and should open people’s eyes to new locations, new cultures, new experiences, and new ways of seeing this exciting world …
To improve his digital landscapes, all this student needed was a Next Level workshop and two Singh-Ray Filters
Next Level Workshop instructors Darrell Moll and Rod Brown freely admit that landscape photography is a nice escape from the business of running their regular studios. “If the truth be known,” says Darrell, “we would prefer to do nothing else but take pictures of the great American landscape and share our images and knowledge with others, but that may still be a few years down the road.” “There is no place I’d rather be in mid-April than in the Smoky …
It was not a very lucky day for Susan and Neil Silverman to visit the Racetrack in Death Valley
Co-Authored by: Neil Silverman For anyone visiting Death Valley National Park, one of the intriguing attractions is the Racetrack Playa. This is an area in an ancient dry-lake bed where mysteriously moving rocks make tracks in the mud surface of the lakebed. Endless studies have been made, attempting to determine what force is actually moving the rocks. Getting out to the Racetrack is no easy matter — as in 27 miles of tough ‘washboard’ driving on primitive dirt road. We …
Taking Singh-Ray filters along on a crazy road trip
Although most of my stock shooting trips are planned well in advance, this time I discovered that I had an unexpected open week on my schedule that would begin in less than 36 hours. Just enough time to plan my journey. Joined by my friend and fellow photographer, C.W. McGowen, we set out to capture various coastal and inland locations spanning a wide area of Northern California and Oregon. These were locations that were on my ‘bucket list,’ and weather …
An unexpected chance to visit Hawaii proves to be a lifetime experience
The wonderful thing about life is that we never know! We create this crazy illusion that we control our lives, yet when I think about it, I realize how little is planned and how much is serendipity. In my quest to see and photograph in all the National Parks, I find myself still twenty-one parks short. Out of the fifty-eight locations that carry the N.P. designation, I’ve now visited thirty-seven. The Hawaiian Islands is about the last place I expected …
Following up a ten-day visit through Scotland with an adventurous trip to Ireland
After a couple of days in Dublin we rented a car and drove to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Our plan was to head straight to the scenic northern coast of the island and then swing back through the Republic of Ireland following its western edge as we made our way back to Dublin and our plane back to the States. In the early afternoon we arrived in the beautiful little town of Ballycastle which was …
Leading two workshops to Utah for a great adventure in fall colors and amazing scenery
Each of the workshops, lasted five days with a two-day private excursion with two friends tagged onto the end. Needless to say, it was a long steady pace with very little sleep. I left California on October 25 with my co-instructor Scott Schilling. We took an early morning flight from San Jose, California to Las Vegas, Nevada, and then drove another 8 hours to Moab, Utah — which would be home base for my Arches/Canyonlands Workshop. I like to time …
Jason Odell says making the choice between his Singh-Ray Vari-ND and Vari-N-Duo “depends”…
I recently returned from leading a four-day photography workshop in Rocky Mountain National Park. One of my favorite spots to photograph is Hallett Peak at sunrise, with an alpine lake in the foreground. If you’re really lucky, you’ll get calm conditions and amazing scenery reflected in the lake. However, the slightest wind can create havoc with reflections, and the day we made the trip we had 10-15 MPH gusts with no relief in sight. What do I do in a …