In giving you some photo tips from my e-books over the past two weeks, I had a regular visitor write to me asking about tripods. The question was mostly about which tripod would be best for his circumstances, but the conversation reminded me that I’d better slip in one of my most talked about tips and one that I revisit pretty regularly. Stated simply, if you want the Number One secret to improving your landscape images it is to simply use a tripod. Every pro landscape photographer I know uses …

To kick off spring photo season, here’s another tip from my The Photographer’s Eye Series of e-books, this one about photographing people. This is a question I get often, during workshops that I offer, during Q&A in lectures, even in casual conversation with other photographers. Do you get permission from people before photographing them?
As pros we have it drilled into our heads that we need permission to use an image of a person for commercial purposes. But for the amateur the situation is different. Or is it?
I firmly believe that it is a matter …

Spring means outdoors, which to me means being outdoors capturing images without going hypothermic. Spring also means that those wonderful, photogenic critters that have been holed up all winter come out to play, eat, sniff, eat, observe and eat some more.
In my wildlife e-book, The Photographer’s Eye: Wildlife, I share ten wildlife images that illustrate important photographic principles and explain how I got those shots. I also give ten tips that I feel are critical when attempting to snag images of wildlife that are keepers. Here’s #1 fro0m that collection of tips.
Be …

It’s spring again and most of us will be heading outdoors for picnics, hiking and other events that we share with family and friends. That means taking photos of people.
In The Photographer’s Eye: People, part of my The Photographer’s Eye Series of e-books, I include lots of illustrative images, but also ten tips to improve your people pics. I’d like to expand on #3 here: Be Patient. Sound simple? It’s not.
Yes, we all realize that one has to be patient to photograph little tykes. But I find that the very same …

One thing we don’t often discuss in travel writing and photojournalism circles is the art of guiding. Few things can make or break a long sought after vacation or travel adventure than a guide.
I was reminded of this on my just-ended trip to Israel, where I was blessed to have a professional guide by the name of Jacky Sivak every day of my 10-day tour. I’m really not the tour type, but I have to say that Jacky made every moment enjoyable. I’d take a tour with her any day.
As …

In Part 1 of this 2-part series on panoramas, I discussed the role of nodal points in nailing top-notch panoramas. For a long time I didn’t bother with nodal points and that caused me a lot of extra post-processing time. In fact, on several occasions it meant that I had to throw out a pano that I had painstakingly tried to capture. That can easily happen if you do a pano with a looming foreground object and have not set your nodal point.
So, with my nodal points now set and …

By now I hope you are all in the throes of summer, enjoying the warm weather and capturing lots of ‘keeper’ outdoor images. Of course, no passionate landscape/wildlife photographer ever gets enough time outdoors or enough keepers to feel fully satisfied. It’s like eating a great meal. At the end you feel wonderful, but in a few hours you’re hungry again.
As you go through your summer routine, why not take notes on areas of your photography that you’d like to improve? Do you have trouble interpreting light well enough to …

I am so tired of seeing very capable people produce b-o-r-i-n-g photos. The same tourist locations, the same angles, the same composition, the same, same, same!
So, several years ago I got to wondering if there was a better way to help people get beyond boring and into more dynamic expressions of their photographic creativity. I do think I’ve found one path, but first bear me a little slack.
Admittedly, I’m schizophrenic. I’m frequently forced to witness disturbing battles that rage between my left and right brains.
Les, you’ve got to be more …

I’m very excited to announce that the newest eBook in my The Photographer’s Eye series is now available. Titled People 1, the eBook takes you behind the scenes as I explain the how, why and technical challenges I faced for ten selected images I have taken of people over the years.

Following on the heels of my first eBook, Landscapes 1, the newest addition describes in detail the process I went through to take images of people that my editors and clients have loved. You’ll learn the dos and don’ts of …

Once photographers find out that I travel to the Yukon and Arctic Circle, I’m invariably asked about photographing the Northern Lights, technically known as the Aurora borealis.
There are tons of articles and technical publications related to photographing these miraculous lights that magically appear in the far north at certain times of the year. They are caused by solar winds brushing by the earth’s magnetosphere. The most common color for the lights is green, but under certain conditions the lights can be orange, teal, purple or a combination of these.
Rather than …