Good news! My lost luggage was returned to me, two days late but otherwise unharmed. I’m a happy camper now that I have my long johns, ScotteVest fleece and jacket, hat gloves and other necessities for photographing in Iceland.
After two days roaming around the Kaflavik airport area and shooting handheld because my tripod was in my misplaced luggage, we took off today for the Snaefellsnes peninsula, which is northwest of the capital city of Reykjavik (pronounced Rake-a-vik). It is a gorgeous area, dotted with immense lava fields from the many …

There are good days and there are bad days. And then there are days like today.
The day started out poorly, as inclement weather kept us grounded until just before lunch. The skies began to clear and we sailed north along the Dempster Highway, tracking reports of grizzly bear sightings near the border with North West Territory. Along the way we stopped for some landscape images right at the Arctic Circle (click on the images to enlarge).

Proceeding north from there, we didn’t have to wait long before we sighted a gorgeous …

Well, the first part of my Yukon adventure is over, after spending 10 days with five of my closest men friends to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our first meeting. You may have noticed that my GPS is turned off. That’s because the past 48 hours we have been in and around Whitehorse. I will turn it back on tomorrow, as you’ll see below.
Highlights
There were too many highlights of the RV-ing adventure for me to mention all of them. Of course there were the grizzly and caribou sightings, and the …

Tomorrow I leave again for Canada’s Yukon Territory, my second trip up there this year. When I visited in February the temperature was minus 40F, so I’m in hopes that this trip will be a bit warmer.
Those of you who read my blog know that I have a love affair with the Yukon, with its abundance of wildlife, mind-blowing scenics and friendly people. With a land mass 20% larger than California’s, the Yukon has 30,000 residents, compared to California’s 33,000,000. Since 24,000 of Yukon’s residents live in the capital …

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 …

Having a daughter who lives in northern Vermont is a good thing, especially if you’re a photographer. When I visit, and she’s out shopping or working, I can take the time to grab my camera gear and just poke around, exploring Vermont’s back roads.
Speaking of Vermont’s roads, the Northern Kingdom (what locals call the far northern part of the state) must have one of the highest percentages of unpaved to paved roads in the country, forcing me to slow down and soak in the myriad small farms, forest lots and …

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 …