Tag Archives: landscapes

My Brand New eBook is Here – BEHIND THE LANDSCAPE

Posted on by November 29, 2018

I’m excited to announce the release of my brand new ebook, BEHIND THE LANDSCAPE: A Manual for Seeing, Composing and Processing Captivating Imagery.

In this comprehensive eBook, I take you behind-the-scenes during the creation of sixteen of my favorite landscape images I’ve made in the past five years.

For each example, I walk you through the entire process. I let you look over my shoulder as I outline the exact gear I had with me, the specific concept I had in mind, my creative approach, potential problems I faced, and how I solved them

I describe my compositional techniques, my lens choice, how I used the light, specific exposure information and any other details that went into the process of bringing the image to life. I also highlight the types of challenges that you might face when shooting a similar style of imagery, and I show how to overcome them so that you can walk away with a great photograph.

I Even Show You The Outtakes!

I even show you the outtakes that led up to the one final select of the series to illustrate that creating a great image is rarely a one-off activity. I feel this is one of the most valuable aspects of the entire book. Even if you didn’t read a single word, you could just look at the pictures and get a feel for how each shot developed in the scene.

With a horizontal format and 105 full-page spreads, BEHIND THE LANDSCAPE is packed full of practical photography tips and creative insight from a 20+ year professional photographer and instructor. And of course, it’s filled with stunning imagery!

A Step-By-Step Recipe Book for Successful Landscapes

In this book, I’m not just trying to show off my imagery, my goal is to teach you how to create stunning photos on your own. With this in mind, I’ve formatted this book around what I feel are the essential steps required for any successful photo shoot:

  • SCENE
  • GEAR
  • LIGHT
  • APPROACH
  • EXECUTION
  • ANALYSIS
  • FINAL THOUGHTS
  • TAKEAWAYS

 

For every single image, I walk you through my own creative and technical process as I work through each of these steps. I evaluate each scene, describe the camera gear I had with me, analyze the color, quality and direction of the light, and tell you my specific approach for how I plan to capture each scene. Then I describe in detail my exact method of execution for turning my creative ideas into a successful image.

At the end of each example, I give you my final analysis for the image and describe the specific elements that I feel give the shot exceptional visual power. In addition, I share my final thoughts, reflecting on the personal, creative or introspective journey that led to the image.

Finally, I leave you with three takeaways. These are specific tips, techniques, compositional methods and ideas that directly contributed to the success of the image. The idea is that you can identify the methods that worked worked, so that you can apply to your own photography.

AND PROCESSING TOO.

Although most of the final images in the book are straight JPEGs, a few of them have been processed to give them maximum impact. For those photos, I describe the look I was going form and walk you through the steps I took in the processing stage. I also discuss the specific aspects about the scene or the image that inspired me to edit the photo in a specific way.

You even get a special bonus image!

As a special treat, I’ve included a special bonus image. Rather than being another how-to chapter, it’s more of an adventure tale where I take you along with me on one of my aerial photography missions. You get to imagine what it’s like to be sitting next to me in the right seat of my little Cessna as we chase magical light around the sky and capture one of my favorite aerials!

Years of Professional Insight at Your Disposal

Not only does BEHIND THE LANDSCAPE teach you the essential steps towards creating stronger images, it provides real-world inspiration that will motivate you to get out and try these techniques on your own.

Most of the photos in the book were shot in locations that are accessible to anyone with a basic level of fitness, and none of them required any special camera gear aside from what would be considered a normal outdoor photography kit. This means you can use these tips with your own subjects.

I’m confident that you’ll get a lot out of BEHIND THE LANDSCAPE. It’s full of useful information and and inspiration and written so that you can start applying these techniques right away in your own photography.

Order your copy of BEHIND THE LANDSCAPE with a 100% money back guarantee. I’m pretty sure you’re going to like this book, but if for some reason you don’t, I’ll gladly refund your money. Let me show you how to take more captivating photographs.

Shooting the Great Smokies in Black and White

Posted on by November 6, 2018

I just got back from the Great Smoky Mountains, where we just finished our third Fujifilm X-Photoraphers Nature and Travel Summit.

These 4-day intensive workshops are specifically designed for Fuji shooters. We teach photographers how to get the most from their X Series gear and also give them a chance to try out different X/GFX cameras and lenses in the field.

This was my third time photographing in the Great Smokies, which is by every measure, a fantastic location for landscape photography. It’s also the most popular National Park in the entire U.S., with 10 million annual visitors, most of who come to peep autumn leaves during the fall.

After all, this region is known for its amazingly beautiful fall colors, with brilliant hues of red, orange and yellow that paint all of the hillsides and thick forests.

So, what did I do with all of this vibrant, saturated scenery? I ran around shooting in black and white.

Wait… huh?

That’s right, I captured about a third to a half of my scenes in monochrome.

I’m always trying to stretch my own creative boundaries, and I enjoy playing around with different techniques as I try to create unique images that excite and inspire me.

As much as I love color photography, I love shooting in black and white on my Fujifilm cameras, mostly with the ACROS film simulation. I’m also endlessly fascinated by the notion that photography is a representational medium where you’re trying to tell a story or evoke ideas and emotions with a single still image.

One of the most most powerful creative techniques in photography is to abbreviate your scenes. This engages your viewer’s imagination to fill in the rest of the story inside their own mind. When your narrow down to very simple compositions with just a few key elements, you incite an immediate connection between your photo and your viewer that triggers a much different emotional response.

By rendering the scene in black and white, you’re accentuating that notion of photographic abbreviation. Since most people don’t see in black and white, they can’t help but perceive the scene in a different light. Without the distraction of all that pesky color, they’re allowed to focus more on the elements of shape, shadow, tone and the placement of your subject matter, and hopefully extract the message you’re trying to present.

I’ve also been having fun lately with the new B/W ADJ. setting on the Fujifilm X-T3. Found inside the IMAGE QUALITY menu, this new feature lets you apply a warm or cool tone to your black and white images right inside the camera.

I love this feature, and aside from the faster autofocus, it’s pretty much my favorite thing about the X-T3. It’s like adding a whole new brush to your creative kit. The results remind me of classic warm, sepia-toned platinum prints, and gold toned prints, which impart a very slight blue cast.

When you select this setting on the X-T3, you can dial it up or down + or – 9 steps in either direction. It’s fun to experiment and see how the feel of the image changes, depending on the level of adjustment you make.

Then, after going warm and cool for a few frames, it’s always fun to go back to a straight neutral black and white tone and see what you get.

What do you think? Does the message of “fall” come across in these B/W images?

One thing to note, if you’re bracketing film simulations on the X-T3, the B/W ADJ. setting is not available to you, even if one or more of your chosen film sims are set to ACROS or Monochrome. Also, if you shoot RAW, it’s almost guaranteed that your RAW conversion software will trash the nice warm or cool color look you’ve applied as soon as you upload the image.

However, if you’re shooting RAW and doing in-camera conversions on the X-T3, you can apply the B/W ADJ. setting in the conversion menu, but only if you’re already using a black and white film sim. If your original RAW was shot with a color film sim, this option is grayed out.

As I mentioned above, I did capture a wide range of color images during the past week. When I look through my library, though, it’s the monochromes that seem to jump out at me. Those are the ones that make me go “oooh” and “ahhhh.” Probably for the exact reason I discussed in paragraph #3.

I encourage you to try shooting or processing in black and white, at least some of the time. It’s fun to see and show the world in a new way, and digital photography makes it really easy, since most modern cameras have some kind of monochrome mode tucked somewhere in the menus.

Experimenting with Monochromatic Color Photography

Posted on by October 16, 2018

When searching for our subject matter, photographers often look for scenes with diverse color palettes and wide tonal variation.

By using a mix of contrasting hues and strategically placing small instances of hot colors against cooler backgrounds, you can create differing levels of tension and balance within your composition. This helps direct your viewer’s eye around the frame.

But what if you go the other way and pare your colors down to a single dominant tone? What if you eliminate the element of color contrast in your composition and only feature a single hue or a very narrow range of hues in your photo?

I refer to this approach as shooting monochrome in color.

As much as I like playing different colors off of each other and creating high contrast levels in my images, I really enjoy experimenting with this technique.

The reason that black and white images often have such powerful visual impact is that they present the subject without the distraction of color. Since we naturally see in color, removing it entirely from a photograph creates a medium that suddenly becomes separate from our real life experience.

By narrowing down the content of your images to a single hue, you remove most of the color, and this creates a similar effect for your viewer. It denies you the most prominent visual element in your own creative palette, which forces you to get back to the basics of light and framing.

That said, since you’re not limited to using only black, white and varying levels of gray, your creative options are wide open. You can use any color as the basis for your scene, but the trick is to try and use only that color, or hues that are in the same family, or that live near each other on the color wheel.

You’ll find that your technique for creating these types of images will vary greatly. With some subjects, it will be relatively straightforward. Think closeups on foliage, flowers, or other monochromatic landscapes. These kinds of scenes easily lend themselves to a single color approach.

Other times, your effect will be created largely by the prevailing light, as with the portrait above, and sometimes you’ll need to stretch your visual skills and use creative framing in order to make this work. You can also create these kinds of effects with post processing.

How much color you use in your imagery is totally up to you. There are no rules; you can use a single hue or add small bits of other color in the image for added interest. Personally, I like the challenge of minimizing or entirely eliminating secondary colors other than the primary hue.

I’ve enjoyed using with this approach in my photography, and I encourage you to try playing around with it as well. By adding this technique to your own bag of tricks, you can expand your image making options in new and exciting ways. Your own visual senses will suddenly be tuned to fresh, fun, unique creative possibilities, and you’ll begin to see the world in a whole new way.

More Fujifilm X-T3 Image Examples and Camera Impressions

Posted on by September 24, 2018

The new Fujifilm X-T3 has officially been released and it’s now shipping, so I thought I’d celebrate by showing you some more image examples to give you an idea of the quality and colors it can produce. (If you haven’t seen … Continue reading →

Read a Feature Interview with me in Landscape Photography Magazine

Posted on by September 14, 2018

I’m honored to be included as the feature interview in this month’s issue of Landscape Photography Magazine.  In this 2,800 word article, I talk about my early days with outdoor photography, what inspired me, the challenges I faced when I … Continue reading →

Finally, The Evening I’ve Been Waiting For…

Posted on by August 23, 2018

August can be a tough time in Southcentral Alaska. By then, the days are getting shorter, and it’s usually the wettest of the summer months. August rarely sees the kinds of long, glorious sunsets that June tends to bring. During … Continue reading →