If you pay attention, you’ll find a multitude of patterns in nature. They exist on all levels, from intricate details that are only seen very close, to giant patterns that can only be seen when you pull your vantage point way back.
These kinds of large patterns are often best viewed from an aerial perspective, looking straight down on the subject from high above. This is one of the most intriguing aspects of aerial photography, and it often reveals very unique landscapes that are not visible to eyes on the ground.
One of my favorite aerial subjects are the dramatic cracks and ridges found on the surface of glaciers. With my little yellow Cessna, I often like to photograph some of these massive ice sheets here in Alaska.
The closest glacier to my house is the Knik Glacier, which is over 25 miles long and up to 5 miles wide in spots. That’s twice the size of Manhattan, and completely devoid of people. And, instead of skyscrapers, it’s filled with towering, jumbled ice blocks that break up as the entire sheet is slowly, but constantly pushed downhill over the course of many decades.
I love flying over and capturing the natural patterns in the ice. I like to shoot using different film simulations, especially black and white, which gives me a variety of color and tonal palettes, and I’ll often using diagonal framing to increase the dynamic quality of my compositions.
With this kind of subject matter, you’d almost think it’s a no brainer to get great images, but it can be quite difficult to line up shots while looking straight down as I’m flying over the ice.
Add in factors like wind, maintaining a steady airspeed and altitude, slightly banking the plane slightly to make it easier to shoot straight down out of the open window and watching for other airplanes, and this becomes a very challenging activity.However, as with most things that are difficult in life, the payoff is worth the effort.
Here are a few of my recent straight-down glacierscapes. What kind of pattens do you have in your world?
Even if you don’t have a bush plane or a drone, there’s an endless world of interesting patterns to photograph out there; you just might have to put your nose close to the ground to see them. Or stand on top of something very tall.
This past fall, October 4, to be exact, I passed my 22-year mark for being a professional photographer. When I look back on my long, adventurous journey as a full time working shooter, I see an enormous mix of learning, mistakes, trial and error and perseverance that got me where I am today. I also see a business model that looks radically different from when I started.
However, while it’s true that the photography business has evolved and transformed in huge ways, the fundamental methods for doing business as a photographer have remained the same. You still need a good system for keeping track of clients, pricing your imagery, creating estimates and invoices and staying on top of profits and expenses.
I’ve used a number of photography business software solutions over the years, but in my mind, the best software option out there for stock and assignment photographers is made by Cradoc. Their two flagship programs, fotoBiz X and fotoQuote Pro 7 offer a complete set of tools that will help you stay on track and keep your business organized.
Both programs work for Mac and Windows, and the Mac version has even been updated to work with OSX 10.14 Mojave. This is notable because Blinkbid, which was another great program (I actually used Blinkbid for awhile and really liked it) has stopped development past Mac 10.12 Sierra.
fotoBiz X is powerful standalone business software solution that starts with contact management. From there, it allows you to create estimates, stock photography licensing quotes, and generate over 100 kinds of documents, forms and reports. You can also keep track of your marketing efforts to prospective clients.
The user layout is very straightforward and easy to navigate. There are six main menu headings on the left sidebar: Contacts, List and Tracking, fotoQuote, Prospects, Magazines, Gear, Forms and Releases and Setup. I’ll walk you through the main sections.
CONTACTS
This is your client database and it shows you full contact info, related contacts, any keywords or notes you’ve entered and any estimates, invoices, stock quotes, or submissions you’ve sent that particular client in the past. This is also where you can create a new bid, bill or submission form, or send them an email.
fotoBiz X includes a number of email templates that range from Delivery Memos, Cover Letters for assignments, invoices, portfolio submission, Thank You Letters andeven Collection/Reminder Letters.
LISTS AND TRACKING
This is where you keep track of all of your Assignment Estimates, Stock Quotes, Submissions and Marketing Prospects. In other words, see who’s paid you and who still owes you.
You can also see your License and Image Tracking. For any image entered in the system, you can where it’s been licensed and see how much money it’s brought in.
Stock Production allows you to keep track of your photo shoots and see how profitable they are. You can enter the cost and notes for each shoot and then assign specific image sales to a shoot, and it will show you sales history and +/- balance for that particular shoot. This can help you identify which projects are giving you the best return on your investment.
fotoQuote
fotoQuote Pro 7 is the industry standard for stock photo pricing and it comes included with fotiBiz X. I’ve been using fotoQuote for over 25 years, even before I turned pro, and even back then, it was the best photo pricing guide out there.
fotoQuote Pro 7 includes a full section for Assignment Pricing and a coaching system that will help you figure out how much to charge, whether it’s for a national or local client. Read more about fotoQuote below.
MAGAZINES
fotoBiz X includes a huge magazine database that shows you how much a specific publication charges for ad space. This provides an enormous amount of help when it comes to researching and negotiating with editorial and trade clients.
GEAR
This section allows you to keep track of your photo equipment. For each camera, lens, light or accessory, you can keep track of everything from purchase, sell or loss date, serial number, repair history, insurance, weight (for air travel and bush flights), and where it’s usually stored.
FORMS AND RELEASES
Here is where you can create, modify and print things like model and property release, still assignment and video assignment forms
Overall, fotoBiz X includes everything you need to run a successful photography business. It handles international currencies, it exports reports to QuickBooks, it includes a customizable License Builder, and it’s been updated so that each section reflects the current standards and specifics of the photography industry.
There is simply no better or compressive alternative for the full or part time working photographer. You can check out fotoBiz X here.
fotoQuote Pro 7
As I mentioned above, fotoQuote Pro has long been the definitive stock photography pricing guide, and coaching system with the latest version, it’s been updated to match today’s photography markets. Version 7 even includes 86 new categories, including video and online uses. And it offers a mobile app for use on iOS devices.
Put simply, there’s no other program like it. Every photograph who sells or wants to sell images as stock should own this program.
fotoQuote Pro 7 is included inside fotoBiz X, but the also have the standalone version for photographers who only want the pricing guide, or who already have a workable photography business management system.
Even if you only license a few images each year, with the negotiating tips and pricing calculator inside fotoQuote, the program will pay for itself with just one or two sales. Plus, when you deal with your client, you’ll know the right questions to ask, now much to ask, and how NOT to sound like a total amateur.
The best part about fotoQuote has always been the built-in assignment photography pricing coach. This incredibly valuable tool helps you establish the right price, whether you’re shooting a small editorial job or a large, big budget national project. With 38 coaching topics, fotoQuote gives a series of useful negotiating tips so you can approach any job armed with the right information.
Years of research and work went into creating and refining these programs. The owner and creator of these programs, Cradoc Bagshaw has been an acclaimed photojournalist for over 30 years, and he’s dedicated himself to producing the best solutions for working photographers.
He listens to user feedback and address every single aspect that a photographer might face when dealing with clients or managing the day-to-day operations of running your business in an ever changing industry. Not only will these tools and templates let you streamline your business, you’ll just look more professional every time you reach out to a client.
I’ve long been a fan of Cradoc applications. Back when I shot slides, I used Cradoc Captionwriter, and I first used fotoQuote almost 25 years ago while working at a small stock photo agency in Boston. I’m still using it today as part of the comprehensive program fotoBiz X.
No matter what level of shooter you are, if you want to earn money with photography, I highly recommend checking out these two programs. I think you’ll like what you see, they’re relatively inexpensive, and they’re invaluable with regards to how much time, money and efficiency they’ll save you.
One of my favorite things about photography these days is the extremely wide range of creative looks I can achieve right inside the camera. Back when I was a strict RAW shooter, I captured everything flat and then spent time later on tweaking the colors, tones and other visual effects of the scene in order to produce a captivating, final image.
Thankfully those days are long gone.
My preferred style of shooting now is to make creative decisions right there on location, when I’m immersed the mood and environment of my scene, adjust my camera settings and capture a final JPEG that matches my own mood at that time.
Fujifilm shooters know just how good the straight JPEGs look that come out of the X Series cameras. In addition, the Fujis contain an awesome set of creative tools, film simulation profiles and other effects that let you come up with unique looking images without having to resort to later processing.
In fact, most modern cameras produce great looking JPEGs and they all have some internal settings that allow you to modify the look of your scenes.
This approach helps keeps your creative process in the moment when you have your camera in your hands. It also keeps your photography rooted in the actual picture taking process as opposed to the “sitting at your computer process.”
Although I recognize that some photographers love the digital darkroom aspect of photography, I’ve found wonderful satisfaction in the fun challenge of trying to walk away with a finished image that I love.
To give you an idea of the kind of style diversity I enjoy with my photography lately, here are a few recent images all captured with my Fujifilm X-T3. For most of these, I’m using different film simulations, varying between rich, bold colors, subdued colors and the warm/cool monochrome settings.
I spent last week documenting Rebecca Rusch’s fat biking adventure along the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a 300+ mile ultra winter endurance race that crosses the Alaska Range and traverses through vast sections of wilderness in brutally cold temperatures.
This was a first for both of us. Despite being a champion cyclist and world-class endurance athlete, this was Rebecca’s rookie year in the ITI and her first time racing in extreme cold conditions for days and nights on end. And despite my two-plus decades as a pro photographer, this was my first real video project.
Although I’ve dabbled with shooting and piecing together short clips for social media, I generally don’t consider myself a video shooter. Up until this point, I have resisted jumping in the pool, for two main reasons: one, because I’m endlessly fascinated by the power of still imagery, and two, because I’m terrified of the huge time and equipment commitment that video requires.
However, I took this project on for two main reasons: one, because I’m endlessly fascinated with Rebecca Rusch, and two, because the Fujifilm X-T3 is a highly capable video camera. Oh yea, and because when a client comes knocking at the door, your answer is ALWAYS “Yes, I can!”
No, this was not my X-T3. You can tell because there’s no snow and no bike riders in front of it.
Last year, before Fujifilm announced the X-T3, they commissioned a full 9-minute cinematic film called A Different Beyond. The project was shot entirely with the X-T3 camera system and Fujifilm cinema lenses and directed by Matthew Libatique, whose credits include Black Swan and this year’s highly acclaimed movie A Star is Born.
A Different Beyond is a gorgeous film, and it highlights just how capable the X-T3 is for shooting high-end video and film productions. With amazing 4K, 60p 10-bit, 400MB/s video specs, the X-T3 is clearly Hollywood ready, as you can see in the picture above.
Although I’m light years removed from this kind of project, I was blown away when I watched A Different Beyond. Even with my limited experience, I was very intrigued by the quality and door-opening possibilities of what today’s cameras technology offers.
That said, my approach to the Rebecca Rusch/ITI project was much more simple, and it closely matched my “fast and light” style. Much of the time, I shot with the X-T3 body and one of my Fuji primes, like the XF35mm f/2, XF50mm f/2 or XF23mm f/1.4. A few times, I used the workhorse XF50-140mm f/2.8.
Often, I used 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 sub-zero temperatures and it almost becomes a necessity, especially if you’re shooting longer clips. Then, during downtime, I could charge two batteries together by plugging the grip into the wall via the include 9v AC adapter.
Although the X-T3 shoots gorgeous 4K video, I shot entirely in 1080p Full HD at 200 MB/s. (4K requires much more resources, computing power, card space, battery power, streaming bandwidth, etc…) Full HD on the X-T3 still looks amazing and it’s perfectly suitable for most outlets.
I used the stock ETERNA film simulation, which looks great and offers very wide dynamic range. It’s also highly suitable for color grading, which is often done during the post production stage.
Before the shoot, I spent some time on the phone with one of the Fujifilm Professional Markets Training Managers. He gave me some very good tips to get me started with regards to basic capture settings. That helped a lot.
Keep in mind, these are are all screen grabs in this post, shot at 48 frames per second, with ISO varying between 160 and 3200. I could have shot at higher frame rates, but then you lose the “film” feel and it starts to look like a TV sporting event.
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.
I also used an Insignia brand lapel mic, which came in handy for interviews. I monitored sound via a pair of BOSE headphones that were plugged directly into the X-T3’s headphone port. Yes…! My audio engineering training finally comes in handy!
After starting with the pre-race activities, I shot at the start, the halfway checkpoint at Rainy Pass Lodge, and at the finish in the town of McGrath. My traveling/producer companion was Ally Davis, who is Rebecca’s Media/Business partner, and we spent the week traveling by bush plane, hanging out in the cold in remote Alaska and capturing different aspects about the ITI.
Although I’m a video newbie, I felt comfortable working in this new format. I feel that my photography experience with light, framing and being able to recognize key moments as they unfold translated well and helped me capture some great clips.
As with my regular “still style,” I often shot handheld and moved around quite a bit. However, depending on the lens and framing, certain shots required a tripod to avoid an overly shaky look to the video.
Throughout the project, I made use of a number of the X-T3’s video features, including AUDIO SETTING, 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.
I also used the HIGHLIGHT/SHADOW TONE settings quite often. In fact, I stuck all of these settings into the X-T3’s MY MENU so I could quickly adjust parameters on the fly. And since it has a separate video settings for photo and video, I could easily switch back and forth when I needed to capture stills.
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.
Even though I’m new to this world, I shot with confidence and I feel good about the footage we got. After all, it isn’t really the shooting part that keeps me away from doing more video, it’s the additional time involved. The reality is that I’m afraid I’ll really like it and right now, I can only afford to like it so much.
Fortunately, I won’t have to do the editing. We documented Rebecca’s Alaska adventure for Outside TV and Red Bull, so their in-house production departments will handle all of the post.
Originally designated for 10 minute shorts, we have enough video for a much larger project, so we’re hoping that this will be extended to a full length feature/episode on their channels. I’ll be very excited to see how it all ends up.
Bottom line, the X-T3 is an amazing video camera, and it will handle any kind of project you throw at it.
Of course, the real question is, did I suddenly become a video shooter? Am I hooked? Let’s just say I’m intrigued. The main reason I took this on is because I have a very good working relationship with Rebecca Rusch and a special admiration (ahem… professional crush) for what she does. I wouldn’t have done this for just anyone, and when it all comes down, I still love the magic and power of still photographs.
That said, it was a fun change of pace, a good exercise and a new challenge to dip my toe into this world. I learned a lot, I gained some valuable experience, and as an X-Photographer and X Series guidebook author, I suddenly have a lot more insight when it comes to shooting video on the Fuji cameras.
With my newfound skills and confidence, I’m sure I’ll transition into doing more video. I do enjoy putting together short pieces to score myself, mostly because it gives me an excuse to play music at my desk and call it work.
Check out Rebecca’s Instagram to read detailed and personal accounts of her ITI race experience; they’re quite compelling. And stay tuned for the final film, I’ll let you know as soon as it’s released.
Luminar 3.0.2 has been released, and it now adds full support for a number of new cameras, including the Fujifilm X-T3, GFX 50R and the new Nikon Z series mirrorless cameras and D3500.
In addition, the latest version of Luminar builds on the foundation by adding a number of new features, performance enhancements and overall stability improvements, like faster launching, faster adding and improved sRGB exports.
With its brand new Library Module and a set of professional-quality tools and presets, Luminar 3 offers photographers a straightforward and highly intuitive way to organize, browse, edit and export their photos with a high degree of creativity and efficiency.
Having used Luminar since the day it launched back in the Fall of 2016, I’ve been excited to watch the program evolve from a simple editor to a feature-rich photography management and creative solution. An essential part of my own workflow, I feel that Luminar offers a wonderful solution to a very wide range of shooters.
The user interface is highly customizable, so you can run it with whatever configuration of tools you wish, and you can always add and remove tools from you Workspace to match your current needs and creative desires.
Sure it’s not quite as feature-rich as Lightroom and Photoshop yet, but those programs have been around for a very long time. Luminar is certainly catching up as they continue to add new features, and the truth is that most photographers don’t require the kind of depth that Lightroom contains. And they don’t want the monthly subscription either. Luminar offers a viable alternative at an appealing price.
I know that Luminar is not for everyone, and there are certainly people out there who grumble about it, but as a working pro who uses Luminar as my main editor these days, I can attest that it’s a highly capable and fun program.
If you’re already a Luminar 3 user, you can simply update to the latest version right from inside the program via the “Check for Updates” Menu item.
What’s New in Luminar version 3.02
New Features – Mac Version
DATABASE MANAGEMENT. Your Luminar image catalog database is automatically backed up to preserve your edits and metadata. You can control the frequency of backups with the new Preference Panel.
PREFERENCE PANEL. Take control of your preferences settings by choosing Luminar 3 > Preferences. You can specify options for Cache, Catalog, and Automatic Backup.
IMPROVED HANDOFFS. If you’re working with raw file or 16-bit image and use the File > Open In command, a high-quality 16-bit files is exported.
AURORA HDR INTEGRATION. Easily hand off bracketed photos to merge in Aurora HDR. Just select multiple photos in your library and choose File > Open In > Aurora HDR. Please note that when sending images, your original, unmodified photos are used. When finished in Aurora HDR, be sure to save a TIFF or JPEG file back to the original folder to add it to your Luminar library.
LOCATE FOLDER. Have you moved or copied media to a new location? You can right-click on an offline folder and choose Locate Folder to select and reconnect files.
ADDING FOLDER IMPROVEMENTS. Change your mind when adding a folder? Just click Cancel to stop the current task.
IMPROVED NAVIGATION. Quickly switch between Gallery and Single Image view with dedicated toolbar buttons.
NEW LANGUAGES SUPPORTED. Use Luminar in more languages with new localizations:
Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Italian
SAFER IMPORTS & COPIES. Luminar will alert you if you try to import or copy more files to a new destination when there’s not enough hard drive space.
IMPROVED EXPORTS. If you try to export images that already exist in a location you’ll be prompted to control if the files are overwritten or renamed.
New Features – Windows Version
SUBFOLDER MANAGEMENT. Subfolders make it easy to further organize your image library. These are folders nested inside other folders in your catalog and directly tie back to real folders on your hard drive.
Subfolder creation. You can create a new by right-clicking on an existing folder in your Library.
Subfolder deletion. It is possible to delete a subfolder as well by right-clicking on it in your library.
LOCATE FOLDER. Have you moved or copied media to a new location? You can right-click on an offline folder and choose Locate Folder to select and reconnect files.
ADDING FOLDER IMPROVEMENTS. Change your mind when adding a folder? Just click Cancel to stop the current task.
OFFLINE FILE ALERTS. See a visual alert indicating unavailable files and folders.
IMPROVED NAVIGATION. Quickly switch between Gallery and Single Image view with dedicated toolbar buttons.
SHORTCUT KEYS. Take advantage of new keyboard shortcuts for View, Looks Navigation, Masks, Tools, and Edit.
NEW LANGUAGES SUPPORTED. Use Luminar in more languages with new localizations:
Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Italian
New Cameras Added
The following new cameras are supported by this recent update:
Deep snow somewhere around Mile 88, almost 30 hours into the race.
This past weekend was my 51st birthday, and I figured, what better way to celebrate than by doing a 100 mile fat bike winter endurance race here in Alaska and spending all day outside in the snow and cold?
Being my fourth Susitna 100, I trained hard, riding over 700 miles in December and January, and went in with a lighter bike, (Fatback Carbon Corvus,) stronger legs and much more experience. I was hoping for my fastest SU time ever, but as it often happens with winter adventures, all that went out the window and it ended up being by biggest, baddest and slowest SU100 ever.
For the most part, my race strategy for an anticipated 12-14 hour finish held through the entire first third of the race. I rode hard with a consistent pace for the first 40 miles, and blasted in and out of the 22 and 34 mile checkpoints with minimal time lost.
The stretch across notoriously awful Dismal Swamp went relatively well, despite completely flat light, which made it nearly impossible to see the track.
Things started to fall part around mile 40, when we dropped onto the Susitna River. Conditions on the well-tracked rivers can be hit or miss. Today it was miss, and soft, unconsolidated snow that was littered with the footprints of the 40 riders ahead of me made for horrendous conditions. That’s where the pushing started.
Fortunately, the river section only lasted two miles, but then we hit Big Swamp. Countless short stretches of windblown snow, and a mix of tire ruts and footprints made for challenging riding conditions, causing lots of “on-and-off” the bike.
The trail improved dramatically after rate 49 mile checkpoint, which I hit right before sunset. However, by then, I was getting pretty tired. I had been riding for 9 hours by then, and my pace begun to drop as I made frequent short stops to drink water and shake out my arms.
I hit the 63 mile checkpoint at Eagle Quest Lodge around 10:00pm and spent an hour inside the lodge eating some hot food and drying out my clothing. At one point, there were three of us dudes eating dinner together at the same table, and it happened to be all of our birthdays, even though we didn’t know it at the time.
Eagle Quest is an easy place to get sucked in, and it’s a convenient place to stop for hours. Many racers call it quits there, since it’s right on the road and they have free heated sleeping cabins for the racers. After a dry night inside, a ride home is only a phone call away to a friend or family member who will come get you.
We saw a lot of bikes parked there and with the steady falling snow, we figured that most of them would end up staying parked for the whole night. However, I was determined not to fall prey to temptations and I stayed just long enough to get a decent rest.
Leaving Eagle Quest just after 11:00pm with renewed energy, I rode with Ryan, who was one of the three birthday guys. We kept a pretty good pace for a few miles until we hit a big stretch of churned-up snow and had to start pushing.
We were on and off the bikes for the next couple miles, but ended up pushing the all of the last 5 or so miles though soft snow to Cow Lake, the 80-mile checkpoint. That 17 mile stretch took us about 6.5 hrs.
Ryan called it quits there, but since nothing hurt, and I has a good 2 MPH pushing pace, I had no thoughts of quitting. There was still plenty of time for me to finish, even if I had to push the entire rest of the way. Plus, I live with someone who has run and skied the SU, with multiple 30+ hour finishes.
After an hour and a half bleary-eyed rest inside the nice warm tent, I decided to head out. Leaving Cow Lake in the dark at 6:51am, I pushed the entire 12 miles to the Hunter checkpoint under continuously falling snow.
About a mile before I got there, I heard a voice behind me, Looking back, I saw Rylee, who had arrived at Cow Lake in the middle of the night. After sleeping for 5 hours, she woke up, followed my track, and caught up with me about a mile before the tent.
We got a brief rest at the last checkpoint, left together and pushed the last 10 miles to the finish. We arrived at race headquarters to the cheers of family, friends and race volunteers very tired, but in very good spirits.
Total time for my race: 35 hrs, 19 min, pushing for about 27 straight miles on Sunday. Add in the whole 2 mile river section and all of the other churned-up snow sections in Big Swamp, I probably pushed for a total of 30 miles. When I was done, I was tired and my feet hurt from being on them for so long.
I have heard plenty of stories of people pushing their bikes for miles during these Alaska winter races. It seemed rather daunting, but now I’m one of them. It’s amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it, or at least resign yourself to the notion of “this is what I’m doing now, and it’s going to last for a very long time.”
Last summer I had the unique opportunity to photograph Rebecca Rusch’s inaugural run of her new RUSCH ACADEMY Gravel Less Traveled Cycling Camp.
As an avid cyclist, backcountry riding and bikepacking enthusiast, this was pretty much a dream assignment for me, and it’s an experience that I’d strongly recommend for any biker who’s interested in learning more about gravel riding, long distance self-supported backcountry cycling, increasing their performance on the bike or just having an amazing adventure.
In addition to sharing my photography experiences and image from this trip, I wanted to give my own review of Rebecca’s #GravelLessTraveled camp and let you know what it’s all about.
Based out of Ketchum/Sun Valley Idaho, this is a four-day backcountry riding camp that’s designed to increase your confidence and gravel riding skills while learning valuable performance, nutrition, recovery and training tips from a world class cyclist.
Led by the immensely talented and accomplished Rebecca Rusch, who is a seven time world champion athlete, and her small team of coaching assistants, this camp offers an amazing four days of riding, physical challenge, instruction, camaraderie with fellow bikers, incredible scenery, pro tips, awesome food, lots of free gear, 3 nights at a remote Idaho mountain lodge, and incredible, first-class support.
In many ways, it offers the same thing as a great photo workshop, only instead of playing with cameras all day long, you’re playing with gravel bikes on backcountry roads and trails in the mountains of Idaho.
From a photographic standpoint, this was exactly the kind of assignment/project I like to shoot and I felt it was perfectly suited to my skillset with the camera. Essentially, I was a full-fledged participant in the camp, and I rode and hung with the group every single day for the duration.
Riding with my camera pack each day, I documented all aspects of the camp, doing my best to capture the excitement, challenge, environment, moments and the personalities that made this experience so awesome.
I even gave a clinic on bikepacking during the camp. I was also there as a Revelate Designs ambassador, and I shared my insight about how to carry your gear during self-supported backcountry bike touring. Although Rebecca’s camp is totally supported, one of the goals is to get people thinking about the possibilities for longer self-supported overnight and even multi-day rides.
With increased confidence and the right gear, you can go anywhere on your bike, whether it’s weekend round trip to the next town and staying in a hotel or AirB&B, where you’re carrying only your clothes, a toothbrush and credit card, a three or four day circle or an extended tour. Every experience you have builds on itself and gives you the confidence to think a little bigger next time.
With years of experience honing my adventure/biking/photography skills, and my small Fujifilm camera kit, I was able to travel light, keep up with the group and grab a wide array of imagery every day. Often times, I was shooting one-handed right from the bike, even on long, gravel descents. (Those were some of the most exciting moments of the week, both for me and for the other riders!)
Other times, I was able to sneak ahead during quick breaks and shoot from a variety of vantage points. This kind of photography is challenging, because it involves constantly moving, seeing, lining up subjects and backgrounds, but that’s what I live for. That’s me in my element. That’s Dan being Dan.
This kind of quick thinking, quick acting photography requires you to recognize potential scenes on the fly and visualize convergences between subject, light and background. All the while, you’re paying attention to what the sun is doing, the quality of light it’s casting and how to use to to your advantage.
My camera gear consisted of my Fuji X-T2, (this was before the X-T3 was announced) and my standard kit of compact primes: The XF14mm f/2.8, XF35mm f2 and XF50mm f/2. I also too my XF50-140mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom, but I didn’t ride with it very often. I mostly sent it with the support team, and used it when we were at camp.
As with much of my other photography, I mostly shot in JPEG mode, varying my looks with the different film simulations, often shooting bursts in Continuous High and quickly adjusting exposure via the EV+/- dial. In situations with tricky light, I usually shot in RAW+JPEG and used Luminar to process images that needed additional help.
The camaraderie aspect of the camp was incredible. Riding, relaxing and sharing stories with my fellow gravel participants, I made some wonderful friendships during those few days. Next to adventure and photographing on the move, this is one of the things I value most in my own life.
I got to see most of my new friends again when I went down to ride Rebecca’s Private Idaho event at the end of the summer, and after my recent Great Smokies Workshop in Tennessee, I even rode for a day with another friend from the camp who happens to live in the next town over.
Another huge thing that made this gravel workshop so awesome, was getting ride and hang out with The Queen of Pain herself. Rebecca is a super positive, high energy person who always seeks challenge, and she’s extremely open about sharing her knowledge and experience.
She’s all about inspiring other people to push themselves and reach their potential, and at the same time, encouraging and fostering the mentality to do and be good. In fact, her own personal monicker is “Be Good;” words that her late father signed on every letter he sent home while serving in Vietnam.
Rebeca’s goal in life these days is to try and inspire others to harness and use our unique talents for the greater good. Her view is that when more people get outside and ride bikes, the world will be a better place.
Hanging out with Rebecca, I came to realize that we’re both a couple of 50-year old spazzes who love bike riding and outdoor adventure, who share similar ideas about life and who are putting out the same fundamental message, we’re just using different vehicles to do it.
As a guide, coach and event planner, I will say that everything Rebecca does is first rate and professional in every way. The logistics of her Gravel Academy were top notch with the perfect mix of dirt-filled adventure and high class food and energy/recovery nutrition, lodging, support and instruction.
When I look back at 2018, I feel so fortunate that my own life circle collided with Rebecca Rusch’s world last year. She’s one of those people who makes a huge impact on your life, and I know that my own world has been brightened because of this single opportunity that came about through my own passion for photography and biking.
Again, if you’re interested in increasing your confidence, fitness and skills for gravel riding and learning from a true world class athlete, and having an awesome adventure, even if you consider yourself a recreational cyclist and not a racer, then I would highly recommend doing this amazing camp.
For those of you who used to shot film, you might remember that there was a basic set of instructions printed on the inside of the box. They pretty much said, “For the best exposure, stand with your back to the sun.”
In most situations, this will generally give you good results, especially in especially pleasing light. Of course, that’s not the only approach, nor is it necessarily the best approach. When you shoot with the light off to your side, you start to accentuate your shadows, which highlights shape and texture. Sidelighting can be a very effective photography technique and it can lead to dramatic results.
What about backlighting? Shooting straight towards the sun can be a tricky proposition, but it can also yield very interesting lighting effects and compelling compositions.
The main benefits of shooting straight towards the light is that your camera is often pointed at the most brilliant colors of the scene. You can use this to your advantage. At dawn and dusk, the low sun illuminates the sky and any clouds that are present with a bright colorful glow. Even if you don’t include the sun in your composition, you can focus on these especially bright hues.
The other obvious benefit with backlighting, is that’s the exact light you need for creating silhouettes. As an added plus, you’ll find that when you do this, you’ll see that the direct sunlight often creates a halo effect, which illuminates the edges of your subject. The intensity of this effect is increased the closer you are to your subject. You can see this in the two images above.
This type of situation also allows you to create a sunstar. You get this look by hiding the sun behind an object in your frame and having it just peek out a little bit, and by stopping your lens down to the neighborhood of f/16.
Another cool effect with backlighting is that it will accentuate any kind of haze, dust, rain, hoar frost or falling snow in your scene. It’s also the right kind of light for creating sun flares.
If you scroll back up to the lead off picture in this post, you can see this effect with the hoar frost crystals that are being lit up by the sunlight. They actually become little tiny points of light themselves, taking on a visible shape that mirrors the aperture of your lens. (See below.)
With translucent subject matter, such as leaves and foliage, the sunlight will shine through the object and illuminate then with increased vibrancy, just like slides on a light table.
Keep in mind that shooting against the sun comes with one big inherent challenge: the potential for greatly increased contrast. Keeping the direct sun out of your frame will help reduce potential problems, shooting closer and using long lenses can help as well.
Perhaps the biggest problem solver is to shoot in wintertime. The high reflectivity of snow in your scene will go a long way towards eliminating any contrast issues. Even with very bold light, you’ll still be able to discern color and detail in your shadows.
Finally, I love shooting portraits against the sun. The dramatic warm light at the end of the day creates a wonderful backdrop for a great expression or personality or when capturing particular memorable moments in life. I find that this effect is accentuated when using long lenses.
When using this technique, I would recommend eliminating the direct sun from your frame. Hiding it behind your subject can produced a very pleasing, warm lighting effect. It still produces very strong, bold look, but it won’t overpower and kill the scene. That’s what I did in the second portrait of my dad below.
As you can see, backlighting can give you some gorgeous looks. Get in the habit of looking straight towards the sun, especially when it’s low in the sky, and you’ll open up new creative possibilities with your photography.
One of the coolest features found on the Fujifilm X-T3 is a setting called PRE-SHOT ES. Found in the SHOOTING SETTINGS Menu, this powerful setting is included specifically for photographing fast action and subjects that move very quickly. (EDIT: The new X-T30 also has PRE-SHOT ES.)
However, being a brand new setting that is only described in the manual with a single, confusing run-on sentence, that doesn’t leave new X-T3 users with very much to go on. It took me a bit of experimenting and a few messages to my Fuji contacts to figure it out myself, but now that I have a handle on it, I’m happy to share with you exactly how PRE-SHOT ES works and what you can do with it.
The first thing you should know is that PRE-SHOT ES only works when using the Electronic Shutter and CH mode. That’s because it takes advantage of the X-T3’s highly improved electronic shutter and faster processor, which allow for much faster read rates than what the ES offered on previous models.
PRE-SHOT ES is designed to compensate for the lag time between when you “see” your ideal shot, and when you actually press the shutter. With extremely quick subjects, that delay can easily cause you to miss your ideal moments, especially if your subjects are moving between obstacles, as seen in the shot above.
By enabling PRE SHOT ES, the X-T3 will lock onto the subject and begin tracking at high speed as soon as you press the shutter halfway down. You’ll see the autofocus sensors start to track your moving subject.
As long as you keep your finger pressed halfway down while you’re tracking, the camera will start recording images into the buffer. It will continue to refresh so that you always have up to 20 frames stored in the buffer.
Then, when you press the shutter all the way down, the camera will actually write those buffer images onto the memory card, essentially saving those frames that were recorded during the period of “half press,” as well as the new frames that are captured right when you start shooting. It will continue to capture and write new images the card as long as you hold the shutter.
In effect, PRE-SHOT ES allows you to nail your sequence and capture the entire series, including those initial moments, even if you end up pressing the shutter a little bit late. Normally, those momentswould be lost, since it’s nearly impossible to recognize a passing moment and take the picture. Combine this with CH frame rate options of 10, 20 and 30 fps, this becomes a very powerful tool in your bag of tricks.
To capture the forest scene above, I aimed my camera and started tracking the rider while she was still relatively out in the open. I used AF-C Custom Settings option #2: Ignore Obstacles and ZoneAF so that the X-T3 would keep the focus locked, even as she appeared through gaps in the tight trees.
It’s a little confusing at first, but once you understand how this setting works, you’ll see that it can be an incredible tool to help you capture extremely challengingscenes. It helps you nail the perfect body position, the perfect placement in the frame, or the perfect fleeting expression, running wildlife, flying birds, frolicking children, the list goes on…
I’ve done extensive testing with PRE-SHOT ES and I’ve been highly impressed with how well it works. Combined with incredible speed at which the X-T3’s autofocus system can acquire moving subjects, PRE-SHOT ES has given me an amazing mechanical advantage for shooting action.
I’ll position myself where I think the peak of the action will unfold and put my camera on AF-C and Zone AF, setting the AF box size and position to match where the subject will enter the frame. I might do a couple of “practice pans” before the subject arrives, just so I know what I’ll be working with.
Then, when I’m ready, I’ll go beyond my estimated pan so I can acquire the subject(s) when they get close. Again, I do this before I reach my idea spot so that I can get a good lock with the AF. As soon as they’re in my view, I’ll half press the shutter and start the buffer rolling while the AF keeps tracking the subject. When I think I’ve got a good lock, I’ll go ahead and press all the way down while I follow them through my scene.
You don’t need to pan in order for this to work, you could keep the camera positioned at the “ready spot” with your ideal framing set. Then, as soon as you see the subjects enter your frame, press the shutter all the way. PRE-SHOT ES and CH will do the heavy lifting and take care of you.
With improved sensor technology coming out each year, this is sure to become a common feature on more high-end mirrorless cameras. Nikon had something similar on one of their “action cameras” a few years go, but it wasn’t implemented or advertised very well, and it went nowhere. Fujifilm has done an amazing job utilizing and refining this technology and rolling it into an already awesome and powerful camera.
I encourage you to play around with PRE-SHOT ES, even if you aren’t a dedicated sports shooter. There are a multitude of subjects and moments that unfold very quickly, and this feature can help you start nailing them with more accuracy and confidence.
Although wide angle lenses are often touted as being the ideal choice for shooting landscapes, don’t discount your long glass for this purpose. You can achieve stunning results by using telephoto lenses for your nature scenes.
Long lenses let you isolate specific portions of your subject matter and focus on one particular aspect, shape, pattern or color scheme. This narrowed-down view can help you clean up your image and achieve much more simplicity in your compositions.
In addition, long lenses give you increased relative size of the subject in your frame and greatly compressed perspective. You can apply these characteristics with great creative advantage by portraying prominent, striking subjects against bold backdrops. You can also use the extremely shallow depth of field inherent in telephoto lenses to throw your background elements way out of focus.
I find that using lone lenses really accentuates the concept of abbreviation in your photography. By only giving your viewer bits and pieces, you force them to think about the rest of the scene and imagine what’s outside the borders of the frame. You can also highlight specific details in your scene that might otherwise go unnoticed by most viewers who pass by the scene.
I love shooting with long lenses, and in fact, one of my favorite tools for landscape photography is my 100-400mm lens. I use it to capture both close and distant scenes, isolate intriguing elements and create powerful, distraction-free composition.
Here’s a selection of images made with my 100-400. Of course, you can use these techniques with any kind of long lens, whether it’s a fixed short telephoto or a workhorse zoom like the 70-200.
I hope some of theses photos inspire you to try shooting your own extreme telephoto landscapes.
One of my favorite things about photography these days is the extremely wide range of creative looks I can achieve right inside the camera. Back when I was a strict RAW shooter, I captured everything flat and then spent time later on tweaking the colors, tones and other visual effects of the scene in order to produce a captivating, final image.
No, this was not my X-T3. You can tell because there’s no snow and no bike riders in front of it.
Another cool effect with backlighting is that it will accentuate any kind of haze, dust, rain, hoar frost or falling snow in your scene. It’s also the right kind of light for creating sun flares.
