Category Archives: Featured Post

My Directorial Debut, “Rusch to Alaska” is Available to Watch on Amazon

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The movie Rusch To Alaska: Iditarod Trail Invitational is now available to watch on Amazon. The 23 minute film, which we shot last winter, takes you on a 350 mile journey with world champion cyclist Rebecca Rusch as she races in last years’s Alaska ultra endurance winter fat bike race on the Iditarod Trail.

I’m extremely proud of this film, because it was not only my first real video project, it was my first time earning a Director credit. We made the short feature for Outside TV, and it combines my own footage, which includes a number of interviews with Rebecca and other racers, race directors and accomplished fat bikers, with Rebecca’s own first person Go-Pro Footage that she shot while out on the trail.

The “ITI” as it’s called, is a grueling suffer-fest in brutally cold temperatures, and with Alaska’s extremely remote setting and unforgiving winter environment, it tests the limits of the competitors like no other event. Many of my friends have competed in the ITI, with a few of them having won it over the past few years.

Even though she’s an extremely accomplished cyclist and long time endurance athlete, by her own admission, Rebecca does not do well in the cold. She was terrified of the prospect of riding many hours in the dark under sub-zero temps for days on end, but she faced her fears and embraced the challenge.

All of my footage was shot on the Fujifilm X-T3, which is an extremely capable professionally video camera. I used a variety of the shorter Fuji prime lenses, including the XF35mm f/2, XF50mm f/2, XF23mm f/1.4, and also the XF50-140mm f/2.8.

Read this post to see some of the specific tools and settings I used to film the project. 

There’s a lot of really great stuff in this movie, including great scenery, numerous whipeouts and some very introspective and emotional first-person commentary by Rebecca. I’m really proud to have worked on it and so I encourage you to give it look and let me know what you think!

Introducing My New Photography On The Brain Video Lesson Series

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I’m excited to unveil my brand new video tutorial mentorship series, Photography On The Brain.

In this ongoing series of focused video lessons, I’m going to explore photography with a wide range of topics that challenge you to think about photography in a whole new way.

When you sign up for the series, I’ll send you a new tutorial video each month. In each lesson, we’ll explore a different aspect of photography and expand on topics like creativity, approach, method, technique, composition and how to develop your own personal vision in a way that goes deeper than regular “tips based” instruction.

These short, concise videos are designed to inspire, get you thinking more deeply about photography and motivate you to try and apply these concepts to your own image making.

You’ll also have the opportunity to join my private Photography On The Brain Flickr Group, where you can continue the conversation with me, ask questions, share your own insight and even post your own images for comment and critique.

The Video Companion to My Blog

Many of these concepts will be similar to what I feature here on my blog, but I’ll expand on them in first person with my own voice. I’ll be talking to you directly and showing you image examples to illustrate each topic.

This will allow a unique learning experience for you, because you’ll get much more personal and in-depth style of instruction, and you’ll get to see the excitement and passion I have for these topics. In this way, I consider Photography On The Brain to be the video companion to my blog, which has developed into a very influential and widely read photography resource for people around the world.

Develop Your Own Photography Brain

I call this series Photography On The Brain, because photography is indeed a very brain influenced activity. Starting with the decisions you make to actually create your photo, to the ways that human beings respond to imagery, I feel that great imagery starts and ends in the brain.

In addition, the technical and creative craft of photography makes use of both left and right brain components, which is one of the main reasons that photography is such a challenging and rewarding activity.

The more mental brain power, i.e., “active thought process” you put into your photography, the more confident you’ll be with your problem solving skills and your own creativity. You’ll be better able to capture compelling, powerful images and develop a style that continues to evolve year after year.

In these lessons, I’ll be sharing with you the very ideas that continue to drive my own fascination and enthusiasm for photography, and help you expand your own level of creativity, confidence, efficiency and personal approach to the image making process.

Here’s What You’ll Get

Each month, you’ll receive a concise video lesson, around ten minutes in length, in which I will explore a specific aspect about photography in an intelligent, thought-provoking way. 

You can either watch the lesson right in your browser on any device, or download the lesson to watch later. You’ll have unlimited access to watch all current and previous lessons, so you can always go back and revisit certain topics if you wish.

At the end of each lesson, I’ll leave you with a specific challenge that will encourage you to try and apply these ideas in your own photography going forward. You may find that the approach is not always obvious, and that’s the point, since my goal is to get you thinking more deeply about the process of photography and creativity.

Continue the Conversation in our Private Flick Group

If you sign up for the “WORKSHOP LEVEL” Tier of this mentorship, you’ll receive an invitation to our private Photography On The Brain FLICKR Group. Here, you’ll be able to participate in the conversation as we explore the lesson topics even further.

You can ask questions, share you own ideas and insight and interact with me, as well as fellow members, and you can even share your own photos and see the techniques that other photographers are using to capture their shots.

In this way, you’ll be able to benefit from the shared learning that a community like this offers, and maximize your potential for growth as a photographer.

You’ll also be able to help influence the direction of this mentorship, as the questions you ask will help spark ideas that I’ll cover in future lessons.

A Unique and Exclusive Instruction Style

I can guarantee for certain that you won’t get this stuff anywhere else. How do I know this? Simple. Because it will me talking to you, not anyone else, and I’ll be sharing personal ideas and insight about photography that come straight from my own brain.

These are the concepts that fascinate and intrigue me on a very personal level, and that have continue to excite and drive my own photography year after year. Even though I’ve been shooting photos for nearly three decades, my own passion and skill with photography keeps improving, and I continue to shoot photos that I’m absolutely in love with just about every single month.

This is the kind of excitement I want to share with you. I want you to have the same passion and confidence with your photography as I do, because I know just how awesome it feels to capture an amazing image with your camera. I want you to have that kind of success on a regular basis.

Any Camera and Subjects Welcome

This mentorship series is not designed around any specific camera system or any specific style of photography, it’s for all outdoor photographers, regardless of brand or style. No matter if you shoot landscapes, travel, sports, action, adventure, lifestyle or outdoor portraits, the concepts and process for capturing a powerful apply equally to all genres.

Although I use Fujifilm X Series cameras and lenses, and may occasionally demonstrate certain techniques in my lessons with my Fuji, the ideas and methods I talk about are universal and apply to all camera systems.

In the end, photography is not about the gear anyway, it’s about the big lump of gray matter behind that camera. That’s what determines how you pictures will look and how good you are at capturing photos that excite you and your viewers.

Take Advantage of My Expertise & Experience

As an accomplished pro photographer, workshop leader, author and a Top 100 photography blogger, I have inspired thousands of people with my expert knowledge, my honest, down-to-earth and highly inspirational approach, and my infectious, energetic attitude towards life and photography.

​My ideas are based on giving students a mix of mentally engaging ideas that help expand creativity, and real-world methods that allow them to maximize their skills and confidence, while liberating them from the bounds of what they often think they’re “supposed to do” in order to be good photographers.

I’m really excited about this new series, so if you’re hungry for new ideas and open to a fresh, motivational approach to learning in a fun, thought-proking way, then give me a chance. Take advantage of my extensive knowledge and experience. I’m certain that I can make a difference in your photography. And if you find that this mentorship is not right for you, you can cancel at any time.

You’ll get a huge amount of insight and inspiration for the price of two cups of coffee each month, or in the case of the WORKSHOP tier, the cost of a single sandwich. Isn’t your photography and creativity worth that?

See this page for more info about my Photograph On The Brain Video Mentorship Series, or sign up below and get your first lesson right away. 

Three Options – Basic, Workshop & Full Year

BASIC LEVEL – $9.95/mo

  • The exclusive video lesson, delivered each month.
  • Lifetime access to all previous lessons with on-demand downloads.
  • Billed Monthly.

 

WORKSHOP LEVEL – $14.95/mo

 

  • The exclusive video lesson, delivered each month.
  • Invitation to join the private Photography on the Brain Flickr group.
  • Lifetime access to all previous lessons with on-demand downloads.
  • Billed Monthly.

 

FULL YEAR WORKSHOP LEVEL – $179/yr

  • The exclusive video lesson, delivered each month.
  • Invitation to join the private Photography on the Brain Flickr group.
  • Lifetime access to all previous lessons with on-demand downloads.
  • Billed Yearly.

 

My 10 Favorite Blog Posts I Wrote in 2018

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Happy new year! Now that 2018 is officially a wrap, it’s been fun to look back and remember all the adventures, projects and fun times that the past year brought.

With my 50th birthday trip to Islay, 2,674 miles of bike riding including 206,900 feet of climbing, numerous events at camera stores around the country and the chance to meet so many of you guys in person, the X-T3, some fantastic flying opportunities, the paperback edition of X SERIES UNLIMITED, my new landscape eBook, lots of memorable images and a super fun Fuji Summit in the Great Smokies, 2018 will be a tough act to follow. I hope this is the same with you.

I always enjoy looking back and seeing what I wrote during the past year. In chronological order, and to recap and highlight articles you might have missed, here are my 10 favorite blog posts that I published during the 12 months of 2018.

1. The 5 Lenses I Used Most in 2017

I included this one because it’s a concise look back at what I shot the previous year and the lenses I used to create some of my favorite images from that period. It’s always fun to review older images and see how your vision and technique evolved over a particular stretch of time.

2. Don’t Fall Into This Trap With Your Photography 

This was my “public service announcement” from last February, and it resonated strongly with readers. In this insightful and inspiring post, I encouraged photographers to avoid falling into the “technical trap” with photography, and focus on what really matters in our craft.

It was a reminder to embrace the joy, the wonder, the light, the moments and the people that excite us in and compel us to lift our cameras. Those things matter so much more than pixels, noise, ISO Invariance, sensor size or what camera you use. Hopefully this post can help you align your photographic priorities for the coming year. 

3. 28 Years Later…

February 2, 2018 marked my 28-year anniversary of when I bought my first real camera and began my amazing journey with photography.

In this post, I share a few of my old images and spoke of a time when things like email and Instagram didn’t even exist yet, when I still used this thing called film, which came in little metal cans, stamping and captioning slides by hand, and falling in love with Veliva for the very first time.

I ponder what it might have been like as an outside to watch young, 22-year old Dan Bailey become enamored with photography and follow it with such enthusiasm for nearly 3 decades. What an exciting journey it’s been.

4. Challenging The Traditional Definition of Alpenglow

In March, I wrote a long post explaining exactly what Alpenglow is and where the term originated. I also challenged what many people accept as the common definition of Alpenglow and used my experiences photographing mountain sunsets from the air to back up my hypothesis.

This post provoked a great deal of discussion and polite arguments in the comment section and on social media. Is my hypothesis right? I can see it both ways. What do you think?

5. Sunset over the Shores of Bowmore on the Isle of Islay

I celebrated my 50th birthday this past year with a weeklong trip to the Isle of Islay off the west coast of Scotland. Islay is where the really peaty, smoky scotch whisky comes from, and being a newfound whisky connoisseur, I enjoyed visiting and touring all 8 distilleries on the island.

This post was more of a travelogue that touched on whisky production, memories of a similar pilgrimage to Spain 15 years prior, and capturing photos of the area. When I was younger, I wanted to be a travel writer. I even took some travel wiring courses after college. Fortunately, my blog allows me the perfect outlet to practice those skills and produce my own self-directed traveling writing stories and photo essays.

6. Using Bold vs. Subdued Colors in Your Photography

I’m endlessly fascinated by the notion that photography is a representational art form. In a handful of “tips” articles I wrote last year to discuss this concept, I shared my ideas about how photographers can express their creativity by using different techniques to add variety to their images.

In this post, I talked about the effects of using bold and subtle color palettes to tell specific stories about your subject matter. Whether you do this in camera or during the processing stage, you can use these ideas to impart a unique look to your photographs.

7. The Coolest Action Photo I’ve Ever Shot

On September 22, 2018, I captured the coolest action photo I’ve ever shot in my 22 years as a pro adventure and outdoor photographer. Made with the new Fujifilm X-T3, I was so excited by this image, I wrote a long blog post talking about how every single technique, creative idea and camera skill I’ve ever learned has led up to this point.

From that standpoint, it would only surmise that right now, I am the best photographer I have ever been, and are thus capable of capturing the best photo I’ve ever made.

I really enjoyed writing this article and exploring the ideas of practice, experience, learning, constant improvement and striving to be the best photographer you can possibly be. I hope you enjoy it. 

8. 10 Essential Autofocus Tips for Sports & Action Photography

I read many comments from people who struggle with autofocus. The truth is that nailing sharp shots of fast moving subject matter is very hard to do and it requires a great deal of skill, experience and knowing exactly how to use your camera.

More often than not, we’re the weak link in the process, not the camera. With this in mind, I wrote a post outlining 10 essential tips that will help you increase your percentage of sharp images when shooing things that move.

Whether you shoot sports, wildlife, or children, this post will help you increase your proficiency with autofocus. This was one of three action photography related tips posts I wrote during the second half of 2018. You can find the other two posts here and here.

9. Looking Back on our 2001 Himalayan Mountain Bike Trip

In July of 2001, I did a six-week mountain bike touring expedition to Ladakh, India with my longtime friend Eric Parsons, who just celebrated the 10-year mark for his company that makes bicycle frame bags. I was prompted to write this post after waking up and seeing a familiar photo staring back at me on the Revelate Designs Instagram feed one particular morning in back in October.

Immediately flooded with memories, I sat down and wrote a fun account of our trip, how it came about, my history of adventuring with Eric and what it was like to ride my bike over the highest passes in the world. I also shared a number of images from our time over there.

I still look back on this adventure as one of the coolest, most amazing trips I’ve ever done, so it was fun to relive it here on my blog.

10. Experimenting with Monochromatic Color Photography

As with my post about using bold and subdued colors in your photography, this post explored another creative technique you can use to vary the style of your imagery, shooting monochrome in color.

What I mean by this is capturing images that revolve around a single dominant color palette and composing so that you either reduce or in some cases, eliminate any other hue that’s not directly related to your main color.

I love using this technique, and it’s one that can really inspire you as you survey your scenes and try to think of unique ways to portray your subjects. At any rate, it can be a fun visual exercise.

 

So, those are my favorite posts from the past year. I hope you take the time to read or revisit at least some them, especially if there were one or two that you missed.

As always, thanks for your support during 2018 and I wish you the best for a great year ahead. I look forward to the next few months and seeing where my own ideas take me and my photography.

4th Generation X Series – My Full Review of the Fujifilm X-T3

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I knew this day would come, and I’ll be honest, I’ve been a little nervous. I knew that Fujifilm would eventually release the successor to the X-T2, and I’ve been concerned that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, or that they might change something … Continue reading →

Why Being More Creative Leads to a Better World for Everyone

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There’s no question, we live in a very odd world right now. Without mentioning specific issues or people, when it comes to analyzing our society, we all know that an unusually large number of things just don’t seem, for lack … Continue reading →

4 Great Alternatives To Adobe Lightroom

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Earlier this week, Adobe came out with a big announced and essentially broke Lightroom into two camps: Desktop (Lightroom Classic CC) and Cloud-Based (the all-new Lightroom CC.) They’re also killing perpetual license versions, which makes the standalone version of Lightroom … Continue reading →

Brand New eBook, X SERIES UNLIMITED – The Definitive Fujifilm Camera Guide

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I’m excited to announce the release of my brand new ebook, X SERIES UNLIMITED: A Comprehensive Guide for Mastering Techniques and Maximizing Creativity with your FUJIFILM Camera. This comprehensive 329-page guide will teach you eventing you need to know in order order to gain mastery with your … Continue reading →