Travel is becoming harder these days, especially for the globe-trotting photographer. Packed planes, clients that want you to fly coach, lessening overhead space in addition to many airlines charging for what was once a given on flights, that space over your seat in which to place your gear. Over the past years, I’ve been working on reducing my “footprint” of gear, you can read my blog piece, “Traveling Light” to further explore that idea of minimizing to maximize. Having said …
Rediscovering My Origins with Singh-Ray Filters in Hand
I was born in 1960 in Augsburg, Germany, just 15 years after World War II destroyed significant parts of this historic city. Augsburg’s origins go all the way back to two decades BC. It has survived the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, Medieval Times, the Crusades, the Renaissance, the Industrial revolution, two devastating World Wars, and now the Technological Revolution. The city’s population is just a bit over a quarter million today, about 60,000 people more than when I lived …
Creeks and Waterfalls Captured all in Camera
I love shooting creek and waterfalls. I love hiking along creeks and rivers listening to the magical sounds of the flowing waters as they drown out the rest of the world leaving me in the moment along the beautiful forest trails of the Pacific Northwest. I do most of this type of shooting in the spring or fall, and I prefer overcast skies for balanced light, giving me awesome colors and crisp white waters. My second choice would be shade …
Choosing the Right ND Filter
I assist with the occasional photo workshop (John Barclay Photo Tours) and I am seeing something that bothers me. Participants are coming with a 10-stop ND filter and wanting to do 30-second or longer exposures. There’s always disappointment when they learn this filter will only give them a few seconds. I’m not claiming that I’m an expert, but I do shoot a lot of long exposures and would like to share my thoughts on choosing the right ND filter. This …
Photographing Wildlife with Filters
I have a large selection of various Singh-Ray filters. Filters, to me, are about controlling light. When we think of using filters, most of us are thinking landscape photography. It just so happens that controlling light with filters is equally important when photographing wildlife. I use two filters when photographing wildlife: the Singh-Ray Polarizing Filter and the Hi-Lux Filter. Both have their value in different situations and both are necessary to optimize the image quality. There are two types of …
The Story Behind “Melting Giants”
I was photographing in Nova Scotia when someone told me that Newfoundland to the north had icebergs. I have always been fascinated with icebergs (I think most people are) and so I decided that my next trip would be hunting icebergs in Newfoundland. I say “hunt” because I was warned that icebergs were unpredictable and inconsistent. One year you may see many and the next year…none. You just have to go and hope that you’ll be lucky. I prepare for each …
The “Five-Stop Effect”
If you have thumbed through the pages of a photo magazine recently, chances are good you have seen the stunning effects created by ND filters. My palms start sweating when I see puffy clouds streaking across the sky. I know these clouds will look magical when I shoot at slow shutter speeds from 1-4 minutes using my 10- and 15-stop Singh-Ray Mor-Slo ND filters. Honestly, I look at clouds differently now knowing what transformative effects I can create using these filters. …
Working with a Polarizer in Namibia
Light isn’t always light. We often have those times when the light is pouring through the particulate matter of an urban landscape, the “stuff” in the air warping the air molecules into a huge “soft box.” Those early and late “golden hour” moments provide that magical light all photographers love to find – and use. Sometimes however, the light provided is less than perfect, or the sky hovering over the landscape is too “blown out” (too bright to be able …
Is There a Perfect Aperture for Landscape Photography?
The sun sets into Pacific Ocean fog as seen from Fremont Peak State Park, elevation 3,169 feet, Gabilan Mountain Range, California. Sony a7RII, Canon 11-24mm, f/16, 1/4th, 100 ISO. How often do you think about your aperture choice? There is an old saying amongst photojournalists: F/8 and be there! Many amateur landscape photographers seem to think f/16 is the popular choice. If one thinks about maximizing depth-of-field, then their thinking is correct. But when should one use f/22? Is that …
Random thoughts….
Ramblings from the White Mountains Just wrapped up a photography/camping trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire – and spent a lot of time roaming the White Mountains in exploration of the abundant photo opportunities. They are spread out, but so are many of the iconic areas, so this was nothing new to us. There were numerous waterfalls in the area and, if you head down to the Lakes Region, you’ll find countless lakes and reflections. I have two …