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Watch My Brand New Short Film, “AERIAL ADVENTURE”

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I’m excited to release my brand new short film, “Aerial Adventure – Winter Flying in Alaska.” You can watch it on YouTube here.

In this video, I document my experiences flying around the mountains and shooting aerial photos out the open window of my 1947 Cessna 120 in the middle of winter. The footage is accompanied with original music I wrote and recorded specifically for this project.

Shot during two flights last week, when it was clear and cold, and well below zero, I take you along with me as I preheat the engine, prep and preflight the plane, and then go on a 90 minute flight over the Chugach Mountains at sunset.

If you’re familiar with my work, then you know that I love shooting aerial mountain photos in dramatic winter light. This film gives you a first person look at exactly what I see when I’m up there, flying around with the window open and chasing that magical pink alpenglow.

I’ve wanted to make a video like this for years so that I can share the magic of what it’s like to soar around this magnificent scenery and watch the warm winter sunset light hit these peaks from up close.

As a musician, I’ve also been driven to create a piece of music that I feel reflects these experiences. When I began the editing process late last week, I got a little nervous that I wouldn’t have time to write and record a good enough song to match the stunning footage.

I even considered licensing an outside song for the project, but then realized that this is what I live for. This is why I play music and why I buy guitars and pedals and recording plugins.

I saw this as an ideal opportunity to mesh together everything I’ve learned as a photographer and trained guitar player & recording engineer. I also saw this as a way to push through my own fears and creative blocks, just like I tell you guys to do with your cameras.

As if often happens, as soon as I sat down and started coming up with musical ideas that matched the video, the creativity started pouring out. The entire composition came together pretty quickly, and I finished the basic track in a few hours on Friday afternoon.

Most of the footage was shot during two flights last week, captured with the Fujifilm X-T3 and XF35mm and XF50mm lenses. During the flight, I went back and forth, shooting stills and video, which was a bit of a challenge. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro X and the music was recorded in Logic Pro X.

This is pretty much my first non-tutorial video production, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. It was a lot of fun to watch it over and over again while I was editing, so I hope you enjoy it!

Isolating Your Subjects with a Short Telephoto Lens

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I’ve always been a fan of the fixed short telephoto lens, which is typically a mid-range focal length with a relatively compact size. In use, this type performs like a classic normal lens, but with a little more throw, and it has the basic characteristics of long telephoto without the encumbering bulk and weight of a bigger zoom.

In practical terms, a short telephoto allows you to isolate subject matter that’s relatively close to the camera and add slight compression to your scene. The effect is an image that’s clean from the distracting elements that a wider lens would catch and enough bokeh to allow the main subject to stand out from the background.

For this reason, I find the short telephoto to be an excellent choice for shooting intimate landscapes that feature a prominent subject with just one or two other elements that help give a sense of environment to the shot.

Traditionally, the short telephoto has been considered the ideal lens for shooting portraits, and while I do use mine for that, I love using it to shoot nature scenes. For this reason, it would also be an excellent choice for things like street photography and travel, because it allows you to capture the details of the world in and make clean, simple compositions.

In my mind, the short telephoto focal length checks two boxes that can always lead towards more effective compositions: simplifying the scene and making use of varying depths of focus. Both of these techniques help you create pictures that easily draw your viewers into the shot and leave no ambiguity about what they should be looking at.

In other words, it allows them to clearly answer the question, “What’s the picture about?”

My favorite short telephoto lens these days is the Fujifilm XF50mm f/2. It’s a pocket sized, weather sealed gem that only weighs 7 oz. It’s small and light enough to carry with you all the time, it has a minimum focusing distance of just 1.28 feet (39 cm), and it has a fast f/2 aperture. (Read my full review of this lens here.)

With a focal length that equates to about 76mm compared to old film lenses, it offers just enough compression at close to medium distances to make it an extremely versatile lens for a wide range of styles and subject matter. For this reason, that little 50 has become one of my favorite Fuji lenses and it goes with me just about everywhere.

Back when I shot Nikon, my favorite short telephoto was the venerable 105mm f/2.5 manual focus. Nikon’s current AF equivalent is the 105mm f/2.8G lens. Canon also has a 100mm f/2.8 lens. Either of those would be a great short telephoto.

In addition, many kit lenses and shorter zooms encompass this focal length, so even you don’t have a fixed telephoto prime, you can still make use of these techniques.

I shot all of these photos this week, thanks within a mile of my house, either in my neighborhood, or along the main bike path that runs right through Anchorage. In addition to the main subjects I captured, all of these scenes where filled with regular city stuff, like houses, power lines, traffic lights, street lamps, etc…

With the really bright orangey sunset photos, I shot all of those on the trail right next to one of the larger intersections in the city. The background was filled with all kinds of stuff I didn’t want in my shot, and by using the short telephoto and a bit of walking to find good vantage points, I was able to crop all those distracting elements out right inside the viewfinder and make clean, uncluttered compositions.

In my mind, the short telephoto is a lens that fits in with that notion of abbreviation, which I consider to be such a vital compositional concept in photography. By abbreviating your scenes, instead of showing everything, you create much clearer compositions, and you engage your viewers to imagine what lies outside the borders of your frame.

If you have a short telephoto, whether it’s a prime, or if you have that focal length on one of your zoom lenses, I encourage you to spend more time experimenting with it.

The key is getting close to your subjects so that you isolate specific parts of your scene, while eliminating everything else. You can leave one or two elements things in the shot, but they must be things that either accentuate, compliment or contrast in some intriguing way with your main subject.

Have fun.

I’m Excited to Launch My Brand New Patreon Page

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As an artist and teacher, I’m driven to helping you guys to become more proficient and confident photographers, because I firmly believe when we all spend more time practicing our creative endeavors and relishing in the creative process, the world will be a better place. To that end, I’m always trying to inspire you and think of new ways that allow you to connect more deeply with my work.

I know that many of my most dedicated followers appreciate all that I do and genuinely like to support my efforts. With this in mind, I’m excited to launch my brand new Patreon Page.

If you haven’t heard of Patreon before, it’s a site that allows creators to build a community with their followers, and allows people to offer direct support to the artists and creators they feel enrich their lives.

In that way, it lets creators build a deeper relationship with their most dedicated fans and reward them with exclusive benefits that reflect this kind of personal support.

Through my Patreon page, I would like to offer you a unique experience to partner with me as I explore new creative avenues in my photography, and give you something extra in exchange for their direct support. Something special.

Each month, I’ll create special content that’s exclusive to my Patreon members. These could be PDF files, audio or video clips, interviews that answer question you send me, “behind the scenes” materials etc… I’ll also have specific rewards to recognize and express my gratitude to members who support me in different tiers.

Special Exclusive Publications

In addition, I’m excited to start creating some special limited edition photography journals and magazines that will allow you to enjoy my work in new, more intrinsic ways. These will be filled with brand new and favorite imagery, and photo essays that take you behind, and even beyond the imagery and offer you even greater insight into my creative process.

If you choose to become one of my patrons, I’ll send you these special exclusive publications throughout the year. These will be yours and only yours as one of my Patreon members, and no one else will be able to purchase or order them.

The Possibility for Greater Things

I feel this platform offers a wonderful two-way street, because if on a fundamental level, this kind of direct patronage allows me to produce and deliver better, more targeted content to you, which will in turn, help you learn and be inspired in new ways. It can even lead to greater things for both of us.

For example, I could set specific earnings-based and community-based goals that would offer you an even better learning experience, maybe things like:

  • Getting rid of ads on my blog
  • Specially published books & journals
  • A monthly chat or webcast with members
  • Increasing the style, quality, location of my video lessons
  • Making it possible to do in-person workshops with you guys in some cool location.

 

More Direct Access

It also allows you better direct access to your exclusive content, and it gives you an easy way to connect directly with me, through the Patreon direct messaging system. This can often be an easier, more efficient way to reach me than via email.

Special Offer – Though January 20

I even have a special offer for brand new members – If you sign up in the next two weeks, I’ll send you an exclusive eBook filled with some of my favorite images from 2019 and the stories behind them.

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Of course, this is entirely voluntary. There’s never an obligation to subscribe to my blog or any of my free content, but if you would like to support my efforts in a way that extends beyond purchasing the occasional eBook, then Patreon gives you an outlet to do so. It’s completely optional, and you can donate, invest, whatever you want to call it, in whatever amount or time frame you wish. Or not. It’s your choice.

If you are curious about this new outlet, or if you would like to offer me your support, you can read more here. Or, contact me directly with any questions.

Whatever you decide, I just want to thank you in advance for your support, or even for just reading this far and considering to help support my efforts in this amazing adventure that has unfolded with you guys so far. If you would like to become a patron and join me on this awesome journey, then choose one of the levels above.

Either way, I just want to wish you happy new year and thank you for your support as one of my dedicated readers.

Early January is The Most Magical Time of the Year in Alaska

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Some people think the big payoff for living in Alaska is the 24-hour daylight we get in the summertime. They would be wrong. I won’t say that those super long days aren’t nice. After all, I love summer when I … Continue reading →

What is Your Photography Happy Place?

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What is your “Photography Happy Place?” Do you have a location you like to visit often, that always seems to inspire your creativity and your desire for taking pictures? A place that often looks different, depending on the season, the … Continue reading →