Happy New Year everyone! Are you looking forward to the new year? Or saying good riddance to the last one? It’s that time of year when I like to look back over the previous year and remember all the good times, all the fun times, all the beautiful skies and pleasant surprises. That’s why I do this after all. Photography not only helps me notice the beautiful and good things … [Read more...]
Black Bears Matter Too – My Experience in the Great Bear Rainforest
Photography is a waiting game. A physically demanding waiting game too. Standing in one place, essentially sitting on a scene, waiting for magic light, or waiting for an animal to appear, makes your body stiffen up and leaves plenty of room for your mind to create doubt. In the Great Bear Rainforest, on the coast of British Columbia, I stood at the edge of a river in the … [Read more...]
Photo Editing Case Study: Shanghai
I'm not big on cities. But photographing cityscapes makes it all worthwhile! And Shanghai must have one of the prettiest skylines I have ever seen. When I visited China a couple of years ago, I had an extra day to explore Shanghai and get used to the time change. It was hot, muggy and raining. So when I processed this photo I decided to make an abstract impressionist version … [Read more...]
Black Friday Deals for Photographers 2018
My Practical Lightroom Video Courses 40% OffOver at Visual Wilderness, my 3 Practical Lightroom Video Courses are on sale for 40% off. These video courses contain case studies showing how I evaluate an image to decide what adjustments I want to make, and then exactly how I go about processing my images in Lightroom. Note that Volume 1 contains my entire Launch Into Lightroom … [Read more...]
The Fairy Glen, Isle of Skye, Scotland
One of my last photo locations on the Isle of Skye was the Fairy Glen near Uig. It's a smaller and softer version of the Quiraing with rounded grassy knolls topped with it's own castle -- a rock known as Castle Ewen. I spent a delightful afternoon exploring the miniature landscape. At least it seemed miniature compared to some of the more dramatic landscapes on Skye, but … [Read more...]
The Quiraing, Isle of Skye, Scotland
I don't have any photos from my first visit to The Quiraing on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. But that visit sits foremost in my memory. What a day! It was crazy. It was about a 45 minutes from from the B&B I was staying at, so I left in darkness in order to be up there well ahead of sunrise. When I left it was absolutely pouring rain. But I didn't go to Scotland to … [Read more...]
What is the Best Focal Length Lens for Bird Photography?
Last winter I returned to one of my all time favourite bird photography destinations: Cibola National Wildlife Refuge which is on the border between California and Arizona. During my first visit to Cibola the previous year, I discovered some problems with my wildlife photography gear, which resulted in my not getting any long lens photos. Bummer! That was one reason why … [Read more...]
What’s New in Aurora HDR 2019? Is it Worth It?
A new version of Aurora HDR is coming out on October 4, 2018 and it contains some big improvements to the software. But is it all worth it? Well … that depends. In the video demonstration below I compare the 2018 and 2019 versions of Aurora to show you what’s new and help you decide if it is a good time for you to upgrade. Of course, if you haven’t tried Aurora yet, … [Read more...]