Gear Talk

We talked about boots in the last post, now let’s dive into parkas.  I find my photography ability and creativity decreases as my body temperature goes down.  Some photographers find they get their best images the more they suffer to take the shot, and there are some remarkable images out there of sufferfests (is this Read More

Cree and I were driving across interior Alaska the other day in total awe of the winter landscape.  Beautiful pink light, spruce trees buried in snow, and stunning mountain peaks were the norm.  Roads were mostly ice with a little snow on top, but we have studded snow tires that kept us on the road. Read More

Winter is here, and that means more night shooting for me.  In addition to speedlight photography (image above), I also love to light paint subjects.  Just a simple little burst from a flashlight can really transform an image.  Light painting can range from small still life setups to larger scenes like cars, building and trees. Read More

I had someone recently ask me what was ‘the holy trinity of primes’ (or zooms)?  Are these some kind of special lenses? Who makes them?  Where can you buy them? Are their unholy versions? Yes, where did that term come from? I’m not exactly sure, probably created by a camera company hoping to sell more Read More

We know many of our workshop participants are thinking about getting some new Nikon camera gear, and now might be the best time to do it.  Nikon has a huge sale on both mirrorless and DSLR equipment.  What really caught my attention were $400-$500 off some terrific Z lenses like the 600mm PF, the 14-24mm Read More

We travel to remote lodges all the time for our photography.  And often this means travel by small plane (as in 4-12 seats), with strict weight limits on luggage and camera gear.  Places like Africa, Borneo, Costa Rica and Alaska often have an approximate 40 pound weight limit which includes clothes and camera gear.  How Read More

As many have predicted, Nikon has released another firmware update for the Z9…the new version is 5.0.  This update adds some of the recent Z8 firmware updates including being able to make the red square focus point thicker and easier to see (custom A11).  Also, you can choose ‘Cycle AF-area mode’ to toggle between auto Read More

Huge update for the Z8 released.  Probably the biggest addition is adding the bird autofocus mode that was already available in the Z9.  Also noteworthy are Auto Capture, Pixel Shift shooting, and even some new shutter sounds.  The update can be found here. I’ve been using the bird autofocus mode consistently, and I think it Read More

I just returned from a week long photo workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico.  We focused on portraits, travel and food photography while we were there (I’m still dreaming about the amazing mole sauces!).  A big part of the our trip was creating portraits, both with available light and studio lighting.  I was especially excited about photographing Read More

When the 500mm 5.6 PF lens came out a number of years ago, it completely rocked my world.  This lens was so small, light and incredibly sharp..it was hard to believe.  Cree and I liked the lens so much we had to buy two of them, no sharing with this lens!  The convenience of having Read More