Every so often I like to challenge my readers with a photo assignment; not a meaningless exercise  to fill blog space, but one based on a photographic experience that I recently had. That was the case with this next assignment. My hope is that you will find it as challenging as I did.
The back story is that I was in Iceland recently and found myself at the famous iceberg beach, an experience to which I had looked forward for years. Unfortunately, the photo gods had a good laugh that day …

Let’s admit it, we’re now in one of photography’s seasonal doldrums. Fall foliage is over, the trees are bare and snow has not hit much of the area, at least not in the mid-Atlantic, USA, region. This is the perfect time for checking out new equipment, innovative techniques, even changes in attitude toward whatever area of photography you have up to now avoided. In my sporadic “Homework” series (use the search box to find others), I’d like to add the perfect assignment for that rainy Saturday morning.
Depth of Field
Manipulating depth …

Let’s face it, we all get a lot of junk in our email box every day. Ninety percent I delete without ever opening them. I especially hate it when someone sends me time-wasting videos. Eight minutes into some stupid video I still don’t know what the point of the damned thing is.
That’s why I was dubious when I received a video from one of my colleagues with a note urging me to watch it. But I trust this guy, so I clicked on the link. I was immediately enthralled. That’s …

Histograms! Sounds like a medical procedure or, worse yet, mathematics.
Well, if you’re a photographer, histograms are your friends. Don’t be intimidated by them. Learn how to use a histogram and your images will dramatically improve.
What Is a Histogram?
In digital photography a histogram is an electronic display of all the pixels, light-to-dark, recorded on the sensor when you press the shutter release. It appears as a graph on the rear LCD screen in DSLR cameras and even on many point-and-shoots, such as the Canon G12.
There is really no such thing as …

In Search Of the perfect ISO for your photographic efforts? So many amateur photographers I meet are confused about what the ISO means and how to best tune it to their imaging needs. I thought I’d give a brief primer here on the topic.
Just What Is ISO?
ISO is equivalent to what we called ASA during film days. ISO is a measure of how sensitive a sensor is to light. The higher the ISO, the better its ability to record light, but the ‘grainier’ the image looks. There’s always a trade-off, …

I’m all wet. I admit it. Part of my job sometimes involves getting into water up to my waist to capture a scene. But when I notice that someone with a camera is watching me, I shudder with angst that by following my example s/he might get into trouble… which prompts this blog.
Summertime invites water images, but taking an image while standing in water is fraught with difficulty and danger. I never, ever take such shots casually. I take prudent precautions and preparations. I always weigh the risks carefully before …

I get asked this question frequently at workshops and from you readers online. People wonder what software I regularly use and what websites I regularly visit. So, here goes.
Please, No PhotoShop!
I came into digital photography kicking and screaming in my fifties. I started by trying to climb the learning curve with Photoshop on my PC. Now for those of you who use Photoshop regularly and expertly, my hats are off to you. But after a few months of diligently studying and experimenting, I found I was taking way too much …

As photographers we hear about and discuss ‘noise’ quite a bit. For you photography newbies, digital noise is equivalent to what we used to call ‘grain’ in film days.
By now my readers know that I’m not one to waste a lot of space on highly technical explanations. If you want to understand noise or grain at a technical level, there are some fine resources out there. Just start by Googling the terms “film grain” and “digital camera noise” or “digital sensor noise” and you’ll soon be an expert (or intolerably …

If you are a reader of this blog, you probably already know that one of my goals is to learn large format (LF) photography this year. By ‘learn’ I don’t mean to become expert in its use. I’d be a fool to say that, given that some incredible photographers have spent a lifetime mastering this art form.
What I’m trying to do is determine whether a view camera has a role in producing the kind of prints that my clients are increasingly demanding; really huge prints that are crisp and clear …

You all probably know by now that I shoot travel, landscapes and wildlife nearly exclusively. I rarely shoot sports or ultra-fast action shots, like car races. But even wildlife shooters have a need for stopping fast action once in a while. Of course, if you are a bird photographer (God bless you all), you always need to stop action.
But now that I’m a “senior” photographer, my ability to hand-hold and control my camera at 1/30 or even 1/60 of a second has been severely compromised. Yet, I still want to …