I’ve been doing a lot of podcast interviews lately. In addition to the two episodes I featured last month, here are two more podcasts with me that just went live.
In the PHOTO ACTIVE PODCAST Episode 48 with writer and photographer Jeff Carlson, we talk about topics like how many of your camera’s features should you use, whether technical details really matter and how my own journey with photography led me to become a pro.
This was my first time talking with Jeff, and I really enjoyed conversing with him. You can check out his website here.
In the latest FujiLove Podcast, I join one of my favorite photographer friends and creative mentors, fellow FUJIFILM X-Photographer, Karen Hutton. In this energetic three-way conversation, we discuss creativity and all things photography with our excellent host, Jens Krauer. You can listen to this episode here or on Apple Podcasts.
This is my second time on the FUJILOVE Podcast, and I had so much fun talking with Jens earlier this year in Episode 41. You can find that episode here.
To listen to more podcast episodes and interviews with me, visit this link.
Whenever I get an awesome shot, and I’m sure this happens to you, people often remark how lucky I was to get that image. Sure, with all great photography, there is certainly an element of luck involved, but to simply chalk it all up to luck totally discounts all of the hard work and effort that you invest in the process.
Your viewer doesn’t see all of the planning, physical effort, courage, patience, persistence, technical skill, experience and personal creative ideas that were involved in making that image: Getting out of bed while it’s still dark, staying out late, hiking back to trailhead by headlamp, traveling all the way around the country (or the world), the hours, days and years spent practicing and refining your technique, your expertise with the camera and your mastery of light and composition…
That’s what makes for great images.
The dictionary defines luck as “good or bad fortune in life caused by accident or chance.” It also goes on to explore luck as “that which happens to a person beyond their control,” as well as the idea that with some people, luck is a self fulfilling prophecy that is based on their own belief system. Basically, if you tend to think positively, you’ll more likely to experience good luck and vice versa.
Since “good or bad” events occur at random to everyone, I tend to agree with the notion that we can self-reinforce our own fortune in life. If live by the credo that “things always work out for you in life,” then they probably will. This applies whether you have a camera in your hands or not.
Good photography is about putting ourself in the right place at the right time. It’s about doing our homework, scouting locations, anticipating how the scene might unfold, and being ready with our equipment and competent with our technique, so that if, by mere chance, something amazing happens in front of us, we’ll be ready to capture it with our cameras.
Luck is by far the smallest part of the equation in photography. It can’t be relied upon, but it can easily have the biggest impact on our images, whether it’s the way that last bit of alpenglow kisses the mountain peak, the perfect fleeting expression flashes across a model’s face or when the sky clears just at the right moment and sends golden god beams down upon your subject.
In the end, it’s your skill and your experience that leads to great images. If you’re not already a competent photographer, it won’t really matter how lucky you are. The fact is that all photographers take advantage of luck when it occurs, but they don’t rely on luck to make good images and neither should you.
I realize this might seem like a rudimentary topic, but I’ve actually heard from more than a few photographers who are struggling with this, especially shooters who have recently switched from DSLRs to Mirrorless. I received one email from a gentleman who was having problems with cramps in his hand when he was trying to shoot.
Given that DSLRs are often twice as big and twice as heavy as mirrorless cameras like the Fujifilm X-T3. My guess is that they’re having a hard time adapting to the much smaller and lighter bodies.
So, I’m going to play show and tell and let you know I hold my camera. If you’re having a hard time getting comfortable with the camera, then hopefully you’ll find these tips to be useful.
Left hand
Under the lens. Always. I’ve seen people hold the camera with the left hand over the top of the lens, but that’s not the best way to hold the camera. Aside from making you look a bit amateurish, it doesn’t offer you the same level of stability and functional control.
If I’m using both hands, then I always hold my camera with my hand cradled under the body, not holding hard, just resting it there, and this puts your fingers in the right place to operate the focus and aperture ring. This also gives you a much more steady grip if you’re using a bigger lens.
Right hand
My right hand grabs the molded grip in an easy, natural way. Not tightly at all. It’s just there to help keep the camera steady and keep my finger on the shutter.
By not holding it very tightly, my right hand is also free to operate the other controls, like the dials on the top deck and various buttons and the focus joystick on the back.
In fact, when the camera is up to my eye, it’s hardly holding the camera at all, it’s a surprisingly loose grip that offers me that that extra stability.
Of course, there are some times when I’m shooting one handed. I’ll grip the body a little more tightly, but I’m not squeezing very hard at all. Most of the stability comes from just resting my fingers and thumb on the contours of the body, and this puts my finger right there above the shutter.
I realize that everyone’s hands are different size and shape, so it might take some practice for you to get a feel for the best, most stable one-handed grip.
However, in most situations, I’m just doing this little back and forth dance between my two hands, but neither hand is holding very tightly at all. Sure, I might have a little firmer grip with a bigger lens, or when using the battery grip, but again, I’m never squeezingvery hard.
Natural Tripod
When I’m shooting handheld, especially when I’m using slightly slower shutter speeds, or if I need added stability, I usually try to hold my camera up to my face and suck my elbows into my chest. This creates a natural tripod between my elbows and my face.
When I’m about to shoot, I’ll slowly let my breath out, the right when it’s at the bottom of my breathing cycling, when my body is the most still, that’s when I press the shutter.
The Strap
Security
This is a big one with me. I always use a strap. Always. There’s never a time when my strap is not on the camera. It’s always there, and I use it for security, safety and stability.
It ensures that I won’t ever drop the camera, and because I know it’s always there, it allows me to keep that relaxed grip on my camera, because I know I can always just let it drop safely back down. I’m so used to having it there, that it feels completely natural.
Funny story. No… It’s actually a scary story. There was one time a couple of years ago, when I was shooting right next a glacier pool. The tripod was precariously perched on this little incline right by the water, because that was the vantage point I wanted.
At one point, I accidentally kicked the tripod and it started tipping forward. Without even thinking, I just threw my hand across and snagged the strap with my forearm, and saved the whole rig from falling into the iceberg filled lake. Yikes!!!
Stability
I often shoot using the live view mode on my LCD screen. If I’m holding the camera away from my body, then I’ll use the strap to help brace the camera and give me extra stability.
I do this a couple different ways. Pulling it tight against my neck gives me an extremely stable grip. This method is very effective for ensuring the kind of sharpness you seek in your images. I’ll often shoot down to single digit shutter speeds and still get sharp images using this method.
I can do this same thing down at my waist, just by flipping the screen up. By pulling tight on the strap, I get that extra degree of steadiness.
If I’m shooting one handed, I’ll grab and hold the strap with my left hand. This gives me that same level of stability and it also allows me to shoot at different vantage points, like over my head, using the flip screen, or holding it down below while shooting from a low vantage point.
So, again, I can’t accentuate enough how important the strap is in my life with the camera. It offers steadiness, and it offers freedom. And if I need to get it out of the way, I just sling it around my shoulder.
Freedom
The strap offers me an incredible degree of creative freedom and liberation from always being tethered to your tripod.
I know that there are some photographers out there who never use the strap. These are usually people who almost always shoot with the tripod, and they don’t want it to get in the way. If you’re one of those people, then I can’t force you to use the strap, but I don’t see why you wouldn’t. I just think it makes life so much easier and more fun.
Think about it, this means you can never just walk around with the camera around your neck as you’re looking at the world and surveying the scene. It also means that whenever you take it out of your bag, you have to grab it and hold it with this level of desperate security, so that you won’t accidentally drop it. And really, how fun is that?
If you really don’t want to have the strap on your camera when it’s on the tripod, then you could get one of those quick release straps so you can take it off once you’ve got it securely fixed on the tripod.
I know that some people like that Black Rapid sling style strap. If it works for you, then that’s great. I just prefer the regular old-school strap. Always have. It’s a very simple design, but it’s extremely functional in the widest variety of settings. Either way, I highly recommend using the strap.
When designing the X Series, the Fujifilm engineers had the idea to incorporate the looks of some of their older films right into the cameras. This was a brilliant move; after all, with an 80+ year history surrounding film and color imaging, this played to their strengths.
Ask any photographer who has used actual Fuji Photo Film why they shot it, or ask an X Series shooter why they use Fuji, and their likely answer is because of the colors. In short, no one does color like Fuji, which I why I feel this is such an integral feature on the cameras.
I’d even go so far and say that the Fuji Film Simulations are the lifeblood of the X Series cameras. This wonderful collection of fifteen ultra-classic color and monochrome palettes give you some of the most iconic looks in the history of photography.
Developed over decades and culled to perfection for the X Series, these built-in color presets offer you a diverse and dynamic set of tones with which to craft your artistry.
The idea is that as you gauge your scene, you make creativity decisions right there in the moment, based on how you want to show your subject, and then pick a film simulations that best matches those ideas.
For example, are you going fo bold and beautiful, subtle and subdued? Rich and powerful, careful and contemplative? Clean and crisp, garish and gritty? You’ve got it all right there at your fingertips, from the rich drama of VELVIA and the wonderful skin tones of ASTIA, to the soft, muted colors of ProNeg Low, and the classic journalistic tones of Classic Chrome, as well as a fantastic selection of black and whites modes!
Here’s a detailed rundown of my favorite film simulations on the X Series cameras, and what kinds of subjects I typically use them for. I strongly encourage you to play around with them. Get to know the film sims intimately. Commit them to memory and make them an integral part of your own shooting experience.
VELVIA
In 1991, Fuji Photo Film as they used to be called, unveiled an ISO 50 color reversal (slide) film that shook the world of photo imaging with its wonderfully rich color, highly saturated color palette and inky black shadows. Outdoor photographers loved it and seemingly overnight, VELVIA quickly became the favorite film of landscape, nature, travel and adventure shooters everywhere.
VELVIA has a very vivid look. It was my favorite slide film and it’s my favorite film simulation because it delivers colors that are larger than life. It’s not always accurate or nor is it always true to life, but for general outdoor photography, it delivers the intended emotion and confidence of your scenes with a bang.
In fact, when designing the original VELVIA color profile, the Fuji color engineers tweaked the color recipe in such a way that it makes images more “memorable”.
Funny thing about the human brain: We often remember things as being more “enhanced” than they really were in real life. That’s just how we work. In fact, if we were to look at a faithfully accurate photo of a memorable scene, we would think it’s “missing something.” VELVIA plays on this psychological aspect of human memory and helps us create imagery that has a strong impact in the memory of our viewers.
I LOVE VELVIA and I always have, even when I shot it back in my film days. Having bought my first roll of VELVIA back in 1993, I’ve been shooting those colors for half of my entire life. In that way, those VELVIA colors have been an integral part of my development as a photographer.
VELVIA works for just about anything on bright sunny days: Action, adventure, landscapes, travel, people… It’s not so great on cloudy days or for close portraits, especially with darker skin tones.
ASTIA
Based on Fuji’s professional ISO100 color reversal portrait and fashion film, ASTIA does great with skin tones and clothing, which makes it ideal for photographing people outside under natural light. That said, it looks great on any kind of subject, inside and out, because it has great color that doesn’t block up when the contrast of your scene increases.
For this reason, ASTIA is my preferred film sim on cloudy days when VELVIA is too contrasty. It’s one of my favorite film sims, and I find it incredibly useful for a variety of subject matter and lighting conditions.
CLASSIC CHROME
Although the Fuji people can’t officially call it as such, Classic Chrome was designed to emulate Kodachrome, the most classic of all film stocks. With the lowest saturation of any of the other film sims, Classic Chrome produces softer colors and gives a wonderful muted look to your images.
At first, Classic Chrome might seem a bit boring, especially when compared to VELVIA, but when you realize what it’s doing, you’ll find that it almost produces a very pleasing, almost monochromatic look, but in color.
The tonality of Classic Chrome is interesting, it’s relatively soft in the highlights and harder in the shadows. This makes it quite usable for shooting under overcast skies. Shadows become a bit more rich, but your brights don’t blow out so easily. You can use this to your advantage in a wide variety of situations.
When you want your story to be about the subject and not the colors, Classic Chrome is a great choice. Think photojournalism, environmental portraiture or street photography. It’s even great for certain landscapes, because when you take away bright color, you force your viewer to concentrate on shape and tone and imagine the colors that were present. In that sense, it’s like VELIVA in reverse.
PRO Neg. STD
The two PRO Neg sims are patterned after Fuji’s popular NS 160 print film, which was the go-to choice for wedding and portrait photographers
PRO Neg. HI has slightly more tonality than STD, which gives it a little more contrast. It’s ideal for outside portraits or street photography.
On the other hand, PRO Neg. STD has the lowest tonality of any of the film sims, and it produces images with minimal contrast and soft, muted colors, but with slightly enhanced skin tones. It’s designed to give the best results when photographing portraits inside under studio lighting and flash.
Where CLASSIC CHROME has muted colors, but retains hard tonality in the shadows, PRO Neg. STD pulls everything back evenly. You get those nice Fuji colors, but at a very low saturation level with much softer shadows.
I actually love shooting with this film sim and I use it quite often to give a much more lower contrast look to my imagery, especially when fighting shadows on bright days.
ACROS
ACROS is a black and white film simulation with an exceptional level of tonality and a very complex grain structure. It requires a higher degree of processing than regular Monochrome sims, so it’s only found on the newer X Series cameras (X-Pro2, X-T2/3, X-H1, X100F and X-T20/30.)
With a tonality curve that’s capable of holding detail in both bright whites and dark shadows, ACROS produces an exceptional level of depth and tonal gradation across the entire image.
It also produces a wonderful, characteristic level of grain that very closely mimics actual film grain. Just like you would see in a black and white print, ACROS has more grain in the darker areas and almost none in the highlights, and it increases in strength as you move up the ISO dial.
At ISO 3200, ACROS looks incredible, with superb tonality and gorgeous, film like grain. At ISO 12800, images still hold up with a surprising amount of detail, and the grain looks just like what you’d see on a print made from Kodak T-MAX 3200.
I absolutely love ACROS. You will too. If you have a newer Fuji, definitely shoot in ACROS mode and don’t be afraid to shoot it any ISO setting. I’ll often shoot ISO 3200 in broad daylight, just so I can get that awesome looking grain. Remember, photography is all about representation and a little bit, or a lot of grain never hurt anyone.
You Should Try Them All
Although these are my favorites, I use all of the film simulations in my photography, and you should too. Or at least experiment with them and see which ones you like. Each of them renders the colors and tones of your scene differently, and can impart a slightly (or drastically) different feel to you photographs.
Here’s a video companion to this lesson where I explain each of these film sims in a little more depth and show you a few more images examples. I cover all of the film sims in my bestselling Fuji eBook, X SERIES UNLIMITED.
Also, be sure to check out my essential online course, MASTERING THE FUJIFILM AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM. This in-depth tutorial will teach you how to get the best performance from your X Series focus system and give you my pro tips on how to best capture fast moving subjects.
No matter what kinds of scenes you like to shoot, this course is guaranteed to help you become more proficient with the focus on your Fuji camera.
I really enjoy connecting with other shooters and sharing ideas in this kind of conversational format. It’s always fun to talk about photography and cameras and stuff, and seeing how each episode veers off into a unique direction.
The My Crazy X-Life Podcast is run by three enthusiastic Fujifilm shooters, Ricardo, Melissa and Ian, who all live in different parts of the world. I loved talking with these guys, and I could have stayed on the phone with them for hours.
During the episode, we talked about shooting with the X Series, creativity, photography tips, composition, and then veered off into topics like airplanes, music, recording and the universal truths of life. I can’t wait to do another show with these guys again!
I was a guest on the Latitude Photography Podcast one year ago, and Brent Bergherm reached out to me again. Having recently switched from Canon to the Fujifilm X-T3, he had some questions about the camera, specifically the X Trans Sensor and post processing.
During our lengthy chat in this episode, we talked about a variety of topics related to creativity, shooting with the X Series, processing images and the kinds of expectations with photography and creativity that many of us have.
Let’s just say that Brent got more than he bargained for… We had a really fun talk and I look forward to keeping in touch with him. You can listen to the show here.
Luminar has come a long way in a very short time. At the end of 2018, they released the long-awaited Library module, which gives Luminar 3 the ability to power your entire photography workflow. This makes it a viable alternative to Lightroom for people who want a simple way to import, catalog, edit and export their images.
In addition, Luminar keeps getting faster, and the RAW engine has been been improved to the point where it does an amazing job demosaicing even the Fuji X-Trans RAW files. This is not surprising, considering that the company’s lead engineer is a Fujifilm user. They’re clearly dedicated to supporting the Fuji user base.
Luminar’s overall appeal is based on the fact that it offers an easy, efficient and fun way to edit your photos. With a comprehensive tool panel, some highly innovative AI filters and a wide range of presets, or “Looks,” Luminar does an amazing job fostering creativity without sacrificing performance.
Their newest option is called Luminar Flex, which operates as the plugin version for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic and Apple Photos, and works for both Mac and Windows. Realizing that many photographers don’t need the catalog feature and they just want the editing capabilities, Skylum split Luminar into two versions: Luminar 3 and the Flex Plug-in.
Luminar Flex offers the exact same performance and full-featured editing power as the library version, but it’s made for people who don’t want to leave their Photoshop or Lightroom workflow.
Flex also gives you the same customizable interface, with Workspaces, Looks and Filters, and each filter gives you the options for using Layers and Blending Modes. Add in things like Textures and Masks, and you have a powerful range of creative options to add to your existing Adobe processing workflow.
This is especially good news for Fuji users, because with some images, Adobe’s RAW engine still has a hard time with fine details on the X-Trans images.
I’ve been very impressed with how well Luminar handles the Fuji RAW files, and earlier this week, I heard from a user who was really struggling with a specific Fuji image in Lightroom. Upon downloading the trial version of Luminar and pulling the image up, it only took a few seconds for him to see the night-and-day difference, even as we were still on the phone.
Once you install the Luminar Flex plugin, you can easily bring it up for any image and edit with a wide range of creative tools, whether you’re using Photoshop, Lightroom or Apple Photos. With Lightroom, you can even do Batch Processing, Content-Aware Object Erase, and Clone & Stamp edits.
Using Flex, all three programs offer full RAW support a huge number of Looks, Filters, Film Emulations, Custom Workspaces and the innovative AI processing tools, which offer “one slider adjustments” that can instantly bring your image to life. Although it sounds a little gimmicky, these tools really work, and I make use of them quite often.
If you’re intrigued by Luminar, but are still using an Adobe or Apple workflow, then the Luminar Flex Plugin is your solution. With their 60-day guarantee, you can try out the program and see if it’s right for you.
Luminar has been my main processor for choice for over two years, and I can highly recommend it to any photographer. If you use discount code DANBAILEY, you’ll save $10 on the either Flex Plugin, or the Library version.
Often times, especially when photographing landscapes, we often shoot with a wide depth of field, or we use Hyperfocal Distance techniques in order to achieve maximum edge-to-edge sharpness from front to back.
This technique works so well with grand vistas that are shot with wide angle lenses. By using a tripod and stopping the lens down, it’s possible to create images where everything is sharp.
However, if you only shoot images with a wide depth of field, you’re missing out on one of the most creative possibility that photography offers, selective focus, which produces a shallow depth of field.
Using narrow focus techniques and a shallow depth of field allows you to isolate your subjects with sharp focus against a soft background of out-of-focus elements. That blurred background acts as an effective visual canvas in which to place your subjects.
This often yields a very clean and compelling composition, and it can give the image a sense of place and context within the frame. It also helps lead your viewer right into the frame.
When we look at a photograph, our eyes tend to lock onto whatever part of the image is rendered with clear, crisp focus. We’re naturally conditioned to deduce that the sharpest thing in an image is the main subject. At the very least, this provides us with a visual entry into the image.
After we lock onto that point of sharp focus, we will we start to explore the rest of the image and follow the lines, shapes and colors that the photographer has laid out for us. However, no matter how far we stray, we’ll always and inherently be drawn back to that point of sharp focus.
Even though camera lenses behave much like your eye, we human people don’t usually perceive the world with selective, shallow focus vision. We’re busy concentrating on the thing itself to notice the depth field that our eyes are giving us. In addition, with the inherent focal length and optical design of our eyes, we don’t see naturally with a shallow depth to field unless we’re looking very close.
The amount of visual depth you create in your image is partly up to you, but it’s also determined by your lens choice and how close you are to your subject. The longer the lens and the closer you are, the more shallow your field of focus will be.
Conversely, if you put on a wide angle lens and/or back up, your depth of field will increase, even if you open the aperture on your lens all the way. However, if you move in very close, your can still achieve shallow focus, even with a very wide lens.
Regardless of what kind of focus technique you use, your goal is to build relationships between the different subject elements in your frame and tell the story of your subject matter as it exists within the environment of your image.
Your subject doesn’t always need to be the sharpest thing in the frame, but you’ve got to set it up so that your viewer’s eye goes there quickly. Whatever is in focus need to lead them right to the subject, and it needs to be apparent on the first of second glance. You don’t want to let your viewer loose and have them wandering around the frame searching for your main subject.
Of course, you can use these kinds of focus technique for any kind of subject, and as you get comfortable with them, you can add a powerful visual component to your photography.
This past winter, I had the awesome assignment of filming Rebecca Rusch’s Alaska fat biking adventure along the Iditarod Trail, and the episode has finally been released! Rebecca is a professional athlete, and although she’s no stranger to suffering through difficult expeditions, the extreme 350-mile Iditarod Trail race was the one race she said she’d never do.
However, after being talked into it by her friend Jay Petervary, who has won the race many times, she accepted the challenge to push her limits in ways that she never had before.
Having worked with Rebecca last summer, she enlisted me to film her adventure, and although I had never done a full-length, immersive video project like this before, I accepted the challenge in kind and jumped in with both feet.
The full 22-minute episode, which premiered this week, alternates between my footage and Rebecca’s own GoPro footage out on the trail. A few scenes shot by other people are included as well, since I couldn’t be everywhere all the time during the race.
The title photo for the episode is a selfie that Rebecca shot of herself out on the trail. I was blown away when I saw it and immediately knew that it would be the best option for the key art. I can’t take credit for the shot, but I did introduce Rebecca to the “Portrait Mode” feature on the iPhones. 😉
For most situations, I attached the vertical grip for the X-T3, simply because it gives you those two extra batteries. Shooting video drains them much more quickly; add in cold temperatures and it almost becomes a necessity, especially if you’re shooting longer clips. During downtime, I could charge two batteries together by plugging the grip into the wall via the include 9v AC adapter.
For audio, I mostly used the Fujifilm MIC-STI Stereo Microphone, either in the camera’s hot shoe, or extending it with a 10′ cable, sticking it on a Manfrotto Justin clap and clipping it to anything I could find that would offer me closer placement.
For all the interviews, I used clip-on lapel mic, and monitored sound via a pair of BOSE headphones that were plugged directly into the X-T3’s headphone port.
Even though I’m a relative video newbie, I felt that my extensive photography experience translated well to this new format. After all, it’s still based on light, framing and being able to recognize key moments as they unfold.
Following with my regular style, I often shot handheld and moved around quite a bit. However, depending on the lens and framing, certain shots necessitated the use of a tripod in order to avoid getting that “shaky” look to the video
Except for scene in bright sunlight, I tried to shoot everything at 48 frames per second in order to give the footage a more “film-like” feel rather than a fast “sports video” feel. I mostly used the stock ETERNA film simulation, which is modeled after Fuji’s classic motion picture film.
Throughout the project, I made use of a number of the X-T3’s video features, including the ZEBRA SETTING highlight warning, which I kept at 95%, and AF-C CUSTOM SETTINGS, which lets you adjust how the autofocus performs with regards to acquire speed and “lock-on.” When shooting stills, you always want the fastest acquire possible, but with film, you sometimes want a slower acquire so that it doesn’t look too jumpy.
Overall video performance of the X-T3 was incredible. It worked fine in the cold, down to -20F, the autofocus did great, although to make sure it didn’t “hunt” during a low-movement scene, I often locked on, then switched to Manual Focus with RED/HIGH peaking, and I made use of FACE DETECTION AF whenever possible.
Overall, I’m super excited to see this project finally come to air. I’m really proud of my work on this episode, I learned a ton and was super impressed at how well the X-T3 performed. I definitely look forward to doing more projects like this in the future.
Since filming this episode back in March, I’ve jumped even more into the world of video. I’ve even added to my equipment arsenal with the purchase of an ikan Delta 7″ HDMI external monitor. I’ve found this to be an extremely useful item when shooting the video lessons for my new Photography On The Brain series.
You can watch the full episode of RUSCH TO ALASKA by downloading the free Outside TV app and subscribing to their premium channel. Or you can just do the 7-day free trial.
Huge thanks to Rebecca for including me in this amazing opportunity, and also to Allyson Davis, Kathi Merchant, Revelate Designs, Speedway Cycles and FUJIFILM, and all the people I interviewed for their awesome support.
Long days and late evenings, when playing outside until sunset means getting home well after midnight and eating dinner at around 1:30AM. Welcome to my life during the month of June in Alaska.
With such a diversity of great subject matter, the exact stye and content of my photography varies during any given week or month. That said, it usually includes some landscapes, glaciers and a few aerial photos, given that June is the best month for flying.
To highlight what I’ve been doing on my summer vacation and show you the kinds of scenes that my own eye picks out, here are a few images I shot last week. All were made with the Fujifilm X-T3, with the exception of the two iPhone photos at the end of the post.
I hope you’ve enjoying your summer so far and having lots of fun shooting photos outside!
Miniature Mode, Shot with the X-T3 and XF55-200mm lens.
Chugach Mountains, Shot with the X-T3 and XF55-200mm lens.
The Little Cessna, Shot with the X-T3 and XF14mm f/2.8 lens.
Looking Towards the Light. Shot with the X-T3 and XF55-200mm lens.
Dwarf Fireweed, Shot with the X-T3 and XF55-200mm lens, using Classic Chrome Film Simulation.
Knik Glaicer Aerial, Shot with the X-T3 and XF50mm f/2 lens.
Haze from the nearby fires. Shot with the X-T3 and X50mm f/2 lens.
Shot in Miniature Mode with the X-T3 and XF55-200mm lens.
Knik Glacier Aerial, Shot with the X-T3 and XF35mm f/2 lens.
Miniature Aerial, Shot with the X-T3 and XF35mm f/5 lens.
I peeked at my WordPress stats the other day and realized that I had just passed three million page views on my blog.
According to Google Analytics, which I didn’t install into 2011, or three years in, I have hit three and a half million page views, with a million and a half unique visitors.
I’m totally blown away by those numbers. After all, I’m just one guy banging away on my keyboard a few times each week. I sit here writing about photography and exploring the ideas about creativity and picture taking that fascinate me, and yet, I’ve managed to attract a few visitors.
I started this blog in March of 2007, and in my first few posts, I featured some few recent skiing photos, liked to a feature article about me that had just been published in Outdoor Photographer Magazine, and wrote a retrospective on my experience being a professional photographer for ten years.
Over the next couple years, I continued to post new images, promote published work and updates to my website, share the occasional tip and write short “news” type articles announcing things like new products, notable events and interesting photography apps.
Holland America Line’s Mariner Magazine, Fall 2010 issue. Cover and inside photos by Dan Bailey
By 2010, I had started to do more “tips and insight” posts, drawing from nearly fifteen years of experience as a pro shooter. During that time, I also started a freelance position as Senior Contributor to a new photography blog called The Photoletariat, where I wrote the same kind of content, but to a larger audience.
My readership started to grow quite a bit during my two years writing for The Photoletariat and when the site eventually shut down after a two year run, I continued in full force with my own blog, bringing many of those readers with me.
By then, I had started to gain quite a bit of traction with my blog, and as my readership grew, I expanded on my overall approach and the types of content I offered. I wrote my first eBook in the fall of 2010, and by the next year, I had three eBooks under my belt and was contributing articles for a number of other sites as well.
I also discovered that my blog had become a powerful marketing arm for my business and my writing. In many ways, the blog has become the central hub for my business and everything I do as a professional photographer.
My blogging is what led the publisher for Focal Press to reach out and express interest in doing a book with me. It took a couple years to get things rolling, but in the winter of 2015, my first print book hit the stands.
Through the years, I’ve continued to refine both my writing and teaching style, I’ve published more eBooks and print books and have even been recognized as a top photography blogger in the industry. And, I’ve found that my blog has allowed me to connect with a huge number of other photographers around the world, some of who have ended up becoming close friends.
In addition, this outlet has allowed me to explore aspects of writing in a very personal and fulfilling way. For example, many of my blog posts are nothing more than thinly disguised journaling and travel writing pieces. I’ve always been fascinated by the craft of writing, and it looks like I accidentally became someone who now does it for a living. Who would have thought?
When I sit back and look at where this has come since March of 2007, I’m totally blown away. I know I’ve put in countless hours of hard work, writing, tweaking pages, researching plugins and continually refining things, but the reality is that you guys are the cog that has made this all happen.
Whether you’re a regular visitor, or if you’ve only stopped by once during a Google search, your readership is what has made me a successful blogger, and in many ways, a successful photographer.
I am so grateful for your support, especially those of you who have stuck with me since The Photoletariat and the early days of my blog. In fact, if you’re a longtime reader, I would love to hear how many years you’ve been following me, or if you even remember The Photoletariat!
With that in mind, to everyone who has ever read or shared my posts, I just want to extend my very sincere thanks to you guys for visiting my blog over three million times. I know that some blogs get a few million hits every single month, but again, I’m just one guy and the fact that I’ve attracted numbers like that simply blows my mind.
Anyway, I hope that you continue to stick with me. I’ve still got a lot of ideas that I want to write about… they never seem to stop coming, so if you’ll keep reading, I’ll keep pounding out more blog posts.
