Yea, 2020 was a strange year. There was way too much loss but there was much to celebrate. I was able to go to Iceland and get a couple of shots I had wanted for a long time, a great ice cave image and the Aurora Borealis. I was in Cuba when the pandemic hit hardest in the U.S. and we had to cut the trip short for concern we wouldn’t be able to get back into the country. The […]
Getting the proper exposure is a constant challenge for photographers. In this seminar I talked about Chimping, Blinkies and Histograms..
I decided to head over to New Hampshire last night for some Milky Way photos. The state is only 15 miles from my house in Vermont and has a very different look than where I live. Finding good places to shoot the Milky Way is tough, I always want to have something interesting in the foreground and not just stars overhead. Getting away from light pollution is very hard and I use a couple of websites and apps to help […]
There was a vigil for justice today in Woodstock, VT, where about 300 people gathered on the green. That’s a pretty good crowd considering the village has fewer than 1000 residents. Vermonters tend pretty community involved and there was plenty of solidarity shown, some tears shed and it ended with the crowd taking a knee for nearly nine minutes to honor the death of George Floyd.
Like many businesses, mine is in total disarray. I love taking photographers in my 12-passenger Sprinter van and going to great locations in the Northeast or taking people to exciting International scenes. But I’m having a hard time planning the next year and your feedback can greatly help. Please take a couple of minutes to answer 10 questions. (Scroll down to see all 10 questions) Create your own user feedback survey
If I wasn’t a photographer I might be a sculptor. I wouldn’t be carving things out of rock, although that would be fun too. I met a guy in Iceland who I visit every summer who does some great stone carving but it is tough work. I’d be the kind of sculptor who makes big things out of scrap metal. I think that would be a lot of fun and pretty satisfying to see a big something come from […]
Finding your digital photos, knowing where they are stored and making sure you have backups is every photographer’s conundrum. In this free one-hour seminar I show you what works for me starting with ingesting photos to my computer from my camera, deciding where they should be stored, plus options for storing, cataloging and backing up the files.
I love when when great planning comes together to create a good picture. I love even more when dumb planning and incredible luck combine to create a special image. I was out shooting star trails over a pond last night and lined up a cool looking shot. I planned on getting some good reflections from the trees I was lighting with my flashlight in the water. Star trails are essentially very long exposures and the stars blur due to the […]
It looks like Iceland will be one of the safest places to be this summer. As of Tuesday there were only 15 active cases in the whole country with one person in the hospital and no new cases in five days. https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2020/05/12/fifth_day_of_no_new_covid_19_cases_in_iceland/. The country has been testing people even before the virus was in the country and has been a model for dealing with the virus. Check out this CNN interview with the Prime Minister https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2020/05/12/katrin-jakobsdottir-amanpour-iceland-coronavirus-testing-tourism.cnn. They also announced they are […]
One of my favorite things to do in photography is use a flash light to light paint objects. They can be small objects like flowers or big things like bridges or waterfalls. In this one hour seminar, I show the techniques I use and how the results can be rather surprising.
There are times when we just can’t get rid of obstacles in our photos and that is when Photoshop comes to the rescue. In this online seminar I show some basic ways to use Photoshop to eliminate things that just don’t belong in our photos.
There are times when you can get everything in focus that you want, especially when shooting macro, you can’t get the depth of field that you want. Photoshop to the rescue. Make a set of photos focusing on different areas within the scene. Bring your images into your computer. It is easiest if you put all your images to be stacked in a separate folder. In Photoshop on the “File” menu, go to “Automate” and then choose “Photomerge.” This opens […]
There doesn’t seem to much more confusing when dealing with digital files than image resolution and pixel sizes. When you are posting, sharing or printing your photos the proper resolution is key to getting the look you want and speedy transmission. In this online seminar I talked about image resolution, knowing how big your files are, what size they should be and how to make them that size. Enjoy the video.
During my workshop in Cuba last month I was lucky to have Beth Payne as one of the participants. Beth retired from the State Department and now does training to help people become more resilient in their lives. As the covid-19 crisis was shutting down the U.S. and creeping into Cuba, Beth provided valuable assurance to the group, both in dealing with what was unfolding back home but also that we would be able to get home. I asked Beth […]
Using Lightroom to convert photos to Black & White is a great way to add drama, depth and power to your images. During this one hour seminar you’ll see how I use many controls in Lightroom to make my Black & White image pop! <iframe src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/4EMnJ_mqB_Q” width=”900″ height=”503″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen”><span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span></iframe>