Photographing action is one of the most challenging things you do can do with the camera. It takes a lot of practice, knowing your gear, and a specific set of techniques you can depend on. 

It’s even harder if you don’t regularly capture fast moving subjects. When a scene quickly begins to unfold in front of you, it’s easy to get caught footed and unprepared, which means you’ll potentially lose some great images. 

In my latest video lesson, I share my 4 Essential Tips for Shooting Action and show you my easy “Action Photography Workflow” that I use to configure my camera for capturing moving subjects. 

It doesn’t matter if you shoot sports, adventure, kids running, dogs playing frisbee, wildlife or even street scenes. If you like to capture any kind of dynamic motion, these tips will help you become much more proficient with your gear and they’ll help you nail those awesome shots, even if you’re a casual action photographer who doesn’t shoot moving subjects very often. 

As always, feel free to leave me a comment on the video and let me know what you think!
March 15, 2021
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Learn My Action Photography Workflow

Last year, in those waning days before the Covid-19 pandemic fell hard upon the world, I spent a week documenting Rebecca Rusch’s fat bike adventure on Alaska’s Iditarod Trail, and the result is Rebecca’s brand new short film, Distant Dharma: Teachings From the Iditarod Trail.

This was her second time attempting the Iditarod Trail Invitational ultra winter endurance race, it was also my repeat to film and photograph her during this incredibly challenging event.

The previous year, in what was essentially my first professional video project ever, I covered her 2019 rookie ride in the ITI, which earned me a Director of Photography credit in the Outside TV film called Rusch to Alaska: Iditarod Trail Invitational.

For last year’s 2020 race, Rebecca was anticipating a strong start. However, a mere 30 minutes into the race, she made a critical navigational error, which set her back and suddenly shifted her entire perspective and set the tone for the incredibly brutal conditions that she would face during the coming week.

As with the 2019 race, I was her principal filmmaker and photographer, as I leapfrogged to a few of the checkpoints by bush plane and regional flights, following her progress up the trail, and shooting both video and stills with my Fujifilm X Series cameras and lenses.

I’m incredibly proud and excited to be such an integral part of Rebecca’s Alaska experiences. In the brief two and half years that I’ve known her, we’ve become close friends and kindred spirits.

Not only is she a fierce competitor who continues to forge a dedicated path, she’s dedicated much of her life and professional efforts these days towards helping make the world a better place by inspiring courage and confidence in her followers. I try to do the same with photography and creativity.

Rebecca is out on the trail right now, and you can follow her progress in the 2021 Iditarod Trial race here.

Also, check out Rebecca’s YouTube channel here.

March 1, 2021
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My Cinematographer Credit in Rebecca Rusch’s 2021 Iditarod Film
I’ve always loved wide angle lenses. As far as I’m concerned, the wider the better. I also love using fixed lenses, because they’re usually light and compact.  

In my latest YouTube Video, titled Why I Love This Lens, I feature my all-time favorite Fuji wide angle lens, the XF 14mm f/2.8. Not only is this my longest owned Fujifilm lens, it’s also my most used X Series lens. 

In this concise review, I highlight some of the special characteristics of the 14mm f/2.8 and show you plenty of image examples that illustrate how you can use wide angle lenses to capture eye-catching imagery. 

I’ve been using the Fujifilm XF 14mm f/2.8 ultra wide angle lens solidly for over almost 9 years now. It was one of the first X Series lenses I ever got, and it’s my most used Fuji lens of all time.
 
In those 9 years, I’ve found it to be an essential part of my compact, mirrorless photography rig. I’ve taken it on multiple trips and long bike tours, big days in the mountains, and it goes with me pretty much everywhere. If I’m taking more than one lens with me, than the 14 is almost always in the camera bag.

You can also read my full review of Fuji’s XF 14mm f/2.8 lens here, or order this awesome lens at one of the links below.
February 8, 2021
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Why I Love This Lens – The Fujifilm XF 14mm f/2.8

Saturday was a bluebird day. The perfect kind day for flying, so at about 1:30pm, I went over to the airport to start preheating my little yellow Cessna.

This process involves warming the engine with a 20-year old MSR XGK expedition stove and a 4-foot long piece of dryer duct, brushing the snow off the wings, removing the covers and, if there’s enough snow, shoveling out my parking spot.

Fortunately, there was no shoveling needed, so once the engine was warm, I started her up, taxied to the runway, did my final pre-flight and took off, with wheels up at 3:00pm.

With sunset at 5:02pm on Saturday, I gave myself two solid hours to head up over the Chugach Mountains and get ready for the magnificent symphony of light that I was sure would start to appear around 4:30.

With more than enough time before sunset, I figured I’d head out the Knik and check out the gravel strips by the glacier. If there wasn’t too much snow, I thought I might land and shoot a few photos on the ground before heading back up to catch the good light.

However, when I got out there, I saw that entire Knik Glacier valley and all the valleys to the south, including Lake George, Colony Glacier and the Lake George Glacier, were completely covered by a layer of very low cloud cover.

This obviously took away any prospect of landing, unless I wanted to crawl under very low 500-foot ceiling, a prospect that didn’t really strike my fancy. this was further justified when I heard other pilots on the radio who were scud running beneath the clouds and complaining that they couldn’t really see much down there.

Looking towards Mt. Marcus Baker

So, I did the complete opposite. I started climbing. I began a gradual ascent as I circled over the lower mid section of the Knik Glacier, and looked out over the mountains to the east.

As I gained more altitude, Mt. Marcus Baker came into view. At 13,176′, it’s the highest peak in the Chugach. It was first climbed by the legendary Bradford Washburn in 1938.

The scenery got more interesting as pushed through 7,000′, and although the good sunset light was still quite a ways off, there was no reason to waste these amazing views.

Putting on the Fujifilm XF55-200mm lens on my X-T3, and setting the camera to the ACROS film simulation, I shot a series of black and white photos, capturing these massive, distant peaks in all of their glory.

At one point, I shifted to the WARM/COOL B&W Adj. setting on my Fuji camera and turned normal black and white to a wonderful toned monochrome look, which I think looks great for mountain photography.

I then circled back and headed around, so that I could photograph the peaks of the huge massif that lies just to the south of the Knik Glacier and east of Colony Glacier. This is one of my favorite areas of the Chugach to photograph, and with nothing but clear skies and increasingly bold light, I keep snapping way out of the open window of my little C-120.

I don’t usually shoot aerials with a longer telephoto, I prefer to use normal to short tele ranges, but in the name of trying something different, I was enjoying the compressed, magnified views and incredible details that the 55-200 lens was offering me.

I shot like this for about an hour and a half, and then finally, the magic started to happen. As the sun dipped lower towards the horizon, that wonderful, magical light started to appear.

Switching back to color, I set my Fuji to the Velvia film simulation and began snapping away frame after frame, circling around different formations, sharp ridges and crevasse-filled snowfields.

Shooting nonstop, I grabbed shot after shot as the light turned from a faint warm glow to orange to peach, and finally to bright pink as the final crescendo of sunset played out.

Then, after so much intense visual overload, it was over. With a last breath of fading pink, the sun was gone.

Closing the window, I warmed my hands up, at the rest of my cookies, drank some hot chocolate and flew back to Anchorage, satisfied in yet another magical winter aerial photography outing.

If you’d like to see what this whole winter aerial photography thing is like, you can watch this video below. It will give you the feeling of being right there along with me.

Thanks for reading. I hope you had a great weekend too.

February 1, 2021
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Brand New Alaska Mountain Aerials

Today Fujifilm introduced a number of new products. Included in this big announcement are two new cameras, the GFX 100S Medium Format Camera, the long awaited X-E4, and three new lenses: the updated, and now weather-sealed XF 27mm f/2.8 WR, the XF 70-300 f/4-5.6 OIS WR and the GF 80mm f/1.7.

In this post, I’ll highlight the three new X Series items. If you’re curious about the new GFX 100S, then head on over to Bryan Minear’s blog. He’s got a good, and very thorough write-up about about it.

The Long Awaited Fujifilm X-E4

The long awaited update to the venerable and classy X-E series has arrived. The new Fujifilm X-E4 catches this small and stylish X Series rangefinder up with the rest of the series, giving it the same basic specs as the top-of-the-line X-T4.

With a new sensor, faster processor, three-inch tilting LCD screen, rear AF/selector joystick, 4K video shooting, the ultra-fast electronic shutter, and two new film simulations, the X-E4 brings full performance in a small and affordable body.

Essentially, the X-E3 now has the same BSI CMOS 4 X-TRANS sensor, X-PROCESSOR 4 image processor, faster 425-point AF performance as all of the other high-end models (X-T4, X-Pro 3, X100V and X-T3), and it gets the two new CLASSIC NEG and ETERNA BLEACH BYPASS film sims, which the X-T3 does not have…yet.

In addition, since it has the fast electronic shutter, this means the X-E3 now has ultra high frame rate shooting of up to 30fps, and the highly useful PRE-SHOT ES feature.

This is an awesome update to a popular and capable series, and the X-E4 should appeal to a wide range of shooters and videographers/filmmakers who can now push their creativity with a host of new features and performance upgrades.

You can preorder the X-E4 here, or see more info at Fujifilm-X.com.

XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR Pancake Lens

The tiny little XF 27mm f/2.8 has always been an incredible lens. It’s easily one of the real sleepers in the series. Aside from being itty bitty, it’s always had very fast autofocus and incredibly sharp glass. The only things that were missing were weather sealing and an aperture ring. (I’ve got dust underneath my front elements.)

Voila… problems fixed!

With this updated version, not only does the XF 27mm f/2.8 WR lens get an f-stop ring and weather resistance, it now costs $100 less than the older version!

I’ve been using the XF 27mm lens for years, and I’ve always found it to be a wonderful little companion. It’s size and weight, or lack thereof, make it ideal for travel or anytime you want to go light and fast, and with its “slightly wider than normal” focal length, it’s a great all around lens for shooting everything from streets scenes, to landscapes, people and environmental portraits.

For years, the 27mm was my favorite go-to lens for shooting aerials, and I still pull it out from time to time when I want to go minimal. Seriously, put this thing on the front of any X Series camera and you almost have the equivalent of an X100-sized, pocket-sized shooting machine.

Also, the new aperture ring makes it much easier to navigate your exposure modes. With no ring, there are different things you need to do in order to set up your exposure modes, and they’re not always apparent. Even I have to look them up, because I always forget… and I’m the guy who wrote that Fuji book!

So yea, this new update turns the 27 into an even more awesome lens. You can preorder this lens here, or read more about it at Fujifilm-X.com.

70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR Lens

Fuji’s brand new 70-300 f/4-5.6 LM OIS WR lens looks like something that a lot of people are going to like. With a zoom range that gets you out into very long telephoto range, (107-457mm equivalent to 35mm) in a reasonably small affordable package.

At only $799, it’s WAY less than the 100-400, and of course, WAY smaller and lighter. In size and weight, it’s very much like the 55-200; a tiny bit bigger, but with much more versatility.

For one thing, this one is weather sealed and it has the much faster Linear Motor autofocus drive. And, it’s compatible with Fuji’s 1.4X and 2X Teleconverters, which extend the zoom range even more. Imagine shooting very long range wildlife shots that fill the frame, stacking distant ridges or capturing amazing images of a huge moon rising over the landscape.

It also has Fuji’s incredibly capable OIS 5.5-stop image stabilization system, which lets you shoot handled down to ridiculously low shutter speeds.

You can do so much with a telephoto lens. They really allow for that whole “abbreviating your subject” style that I like to use, and they’re so useful for creating very compelling landscapes images.

I think that Fujifilm’s got a real winner with this one. I see it becoming a very popular lens with a wide range of shooters.

You can preorder the 70-300 here or read more about it at Fujifilm-X.com.

All three of these items will start shipping on or around March 25, although it’s likely that preorders will get out the door even sooner. So start saving your pennies.

January 27, 2021
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New Products From Fujifilm!

Throughout my journey with Fujifilm, I’ve mostly stuck with the dedicated X Series lenses. After all, Fuji makes incredible glass, and I’ve always been happy with the results.

That’s not to say I haven’t occasionally branched out. I’ve got a couple of Lensbaby lenses that have Fuji mounts, and I’ve used some of my old manual Nikon lenses on my X Series cameras with a Nikon-Fuji mount. I know that many Fuji shooters love the Rokinon 12mm f/2 for astrophotography, but I haven’t used that one myself.

There is one brand that has intrigued me during the past few years, and I finally got a chance to try out some of their lenses.

7 Artisans is an independent company that makes high quality, but very affordable manual focus lenses for different mounts, and they have a number of lenses that are built with the Fuji FX mount.

The company was started, and continues to be run by a small, but experienced number of relatively young and passionate camera enthusiasts. Formed in 2015, 7 Artisans released their first designs in late 2016, a small run of their 50mm f/1.1 lens. Now, four years laster, 7 Artisans has 20 lenses and 3 adapters in their product line.

I remember the first time I saw a 7 Artisans lens. It was the 35mm f/1.2. It had a cool, classic design and a wonderfully shallow aperture. I was quite intrigued.

In many ways, that lens epitomized the design philosophy of 7 Artisans.

They’re devoted to the legacy of classic lenses that have helped photographers capture their imagery and imagination for decades. One of the original founders is an avid Leica collector.

That 35 f/1.2 stuck in my head, and so when one of their reps asked me if I wanted to try out three of their newest editions for Fuji, I jumped at the chance.

Over the course of a few weeks, I tried out three different lenses and found them to be very fun and intriguing options especially for the price point. They’re definitely worth considering if you’re on a budget and don’t feel like spending in the mid to upper hundreds for a lens.

7 Artisans APS-C 35mm f/.095

One of their newest designs, the 35mm f/.095, is a standard focal length lens with an incredibly fast maximum aperture that offers extremely shallow, razor thin depth of field options and a very bright look in the viewfinder.

The first thing you’ll notice when you pick up a 7 Artisans lens is that despite the relatively low cost compared to equivalent/similar brand name lenses, they don’t feel cheap.

Quite the contrary. They feel substantial in your hands. The 35 f/.095 is by no means an ultra lightweight lens, but that’s because you need a lot of glass to get this kind of speed, and in this case, an all-metal housing to hold it securely in place.

Built with 11 elements in 8 groups, the 35mm f/.095 has a 12-bladed aperture ring that produces wonderfully creamy bokeh effects. In addition, it has a “click-less” aperture ring, which makes it an ideal lens for shooting video.

As with many of the lenses, it has a the f/stop numbers and a distance scale right on the lens barrel. These are essential and very helpful guides for any manual lens.

Quality and Performance

I’m highly impressed with the build quality of this lens, and that alone makes it an attractive option for people who are looking to get a good lens at a budget price. At only $249, it’s an incredible bargain, and yet it’s built like a tank.

It costs less than half of what Fuji’s XF35mm f/1.4, and $150 less than the XF35mm f/2. It costs a little bit more than Fuji’s XC35mm f/2, but that version has a plastic housing and mount. That’s not to say that Fuji’s XC lenses aren’t high quality lenses, because they are, but they’re not built to be extremely durable.

Keep in mind, I don’t want to make this review a comparison of 7 Artisans vs. Fuji, I just want to give you a point of reference for size, weight and price.

In use, the lens feels like a quality photography tool in every way, and you can tell from all the little details. From the exacting friction of the focusing and aperture rings, to the care in which its packaged in the original box, you get a sense that the people behind 7 Artisans really care about their products.

Of course, none of this would matter if their lenses didn’t perform. Thankfully, they do. The 35 f/.095 is very sharp, it has very good color clarity, and it produces those wonderful shallow depth of field effects that can lend so much to your creativity. In addition, the ultra fast aperture make it a great lens for shooing in low light.

I’ll admit, the non-click aperture ring was a little weird at first, especially since the numbers are backwards from all of my Fuji lenses, and it sits at the far end of the barrel, but I quickly got over this.

In fact, I found the non-click f/stop ring to be quite enjoyable. Its smooth operation allows for a seamless adjustment, where you’re not paying attention to numbers, you’re paying attention to what you’re looking at in the viewfinder.

Overall, I found the 35mm f/.095 to be a very fun and capable lens. In your hands, it has a professional feel about it, and it produces wonderful looking imagery for an very reasonable price.

Keep in mind that when using manual lenses that over very shallow focus; when using ANY ultra fast, shallow DOF lens, it can be tough to nail your exact focus point, especially if you’re not using a tripod, or if your subject is moving AT ALL.

Depending on what kinds of subjects you like to shoot, it might be a little bit of a challenge to take full advantage of that .095 maximum aperture. However, when you do nail it, there’s a good chance it’s going to look amazing.

7 Artisans 60mm f/2.8 Macro

The 7 Artisans 60mm f/2.8 is a short telephoto macro lens that offers full 1:1 magnification. It also give you that awesome, slightly compressed look that’s so ideal for shooting portraits and isolating your subjects against a nice, soft, blurry background.

All this for only $159. Pretty unbelievable for what you get.

I’m a huge fan of shot telephoto lenses, and although I don’t often shoot much macro imagery, I do enjoy doing occasional closeup work. I’d probably do more if I actually had a dedicated macro lens like this.

A few years ago, I tried the Fuji 60mm f/2.4 macro lens, but I quickly returned it. The image quality was stunning, but I just couldn’t get over the very slow autofocus that lens has.

Of course, that’s not really a concern if you’re shooting macro on the tripod. And of course, since the 7 Artisans 60mm f/2.8 is a manual focus lens, this becomes a moot point.

Out of all the three 7 Artisans I tried for this review, I had the most fun with the 60mm f/2.8. That’s probably because I love shooting details. I love isolating my subject matter and only showing bits and pieces that suggest the greater scene. This kind of creativity invites your viewers to imagine the rest of the scene.

A close to medium distances, the 60mm f/2.8 does a wonderful job isolating the subject and holding it tack sharp against the soft background. I had no trouble finding suitable subject matter, and each time I put this lens on the camera, I quickly lost myself in an immersion of creative experimentation.

Quality and Performance

Much like the 35 f/.095, the 7 Artisans 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens features a substantial metal housing that makes it feel like a quality photographic device. It also has a focus distance scale on the barrel.

With 8 elements in 7 groups, and a 10-bladed aperture, it has excellent sharpness, clarity and color rendition, and of course, with a minimum focus distance of only .26 meters, it allows you to shoot down to 1:1 magnification, so you can capture those details with a compelling level of visual impact.

Even shooting handheld, I was able to get some really dramatic closeup photos with the 60. Using the “Focus Peaking” manual focus assist feature on my Fuji made it very easy to pinpoint the exact area of sharp focus in order to get the shot at very close focusing distances.

Mechanically, the focusing and aperture rings on the 60mm offer even more friction than the rings on the 35. This makes for slow, purposeful focusing adjustments, and it creates a sense that you’re being very deliberate when you’re using this lens. In my mind, this kind of mentality is very good for your creativity.

And as with the 35, the de-clicked aperture ring makes this lens a good choice for smooth cinematic use when shooting video. (True cinematic lenses use non-click aperture rings.)

Like many lenses of this type, the 60mm f/2.8 has an inner focusing barrel that extends out from the front of the lens as you focus more closely. At full 1:1 magnification, the narrow inner barrel extends just over 2.25 inches.

This is how lenses work. Those glass elements move inside the lens, and in order to make the overall lens size as small as possible, many lenses extend forward as you change focus. It’s what allows you to achieve this kind of effect without having to use a huge lens.

Overall, the lens is very easy to use, though, and whether you’re focusing ultra close or using it as a regular short telephoto, it gets the job done with very pleasing results.

And considering that it costs less than 1/4 of what you’d pay for the Fuji 60mm f/2.4 macro lens, the 7 Artisans 60mm f/2.8 at $159 offers incredible value.

7 Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye

I’ve never owned a fisheye lens. Mostly because they’re usually quite expensive, (Nikon’s 16mm fisheye costs a grand) and considering how little you’d probably use them, it has never seemed like a very good investment.

Fuji has their 8-16mm f/2.8, but it’s not cheap, and it’s not small. Rokinon has an 8mm fisheye. Up until now, that was pretty much your only bet.

The 7 Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 is a true fisheye ultra wide angle designed for APS-C sensors, and it only costs $139.

What denotes a fisheye is that it has a 180 degree angle of view. That makes it really hard not to get your own finger or arm in the picture, but once you figure this out, you can move onto making some really interesting photos.

As you can see from the examples, depending on how you orient the lens, it can give you incredible expansive wide angle scenes, or it can create those characteristic type photos with exaggerated curved lines from the intense parallax error.

One thing that has suddenly made fisheye lenses more applicable is the use of VR. With a fisheye lens, you can capture imagery that can be used for VR presentations, say for highlighting the view of a interior space or a stitched 360 degree view.

Fisheye view shot in “Miniature Mode” on the Fuji.

No matter how you use it, a fisheye can produce some incredible unique representations of your subject matter. And since it’s no longer price prohibitive for anyone to own a fisheye, the world of possibilities suddenly gets a whole lot bigger with a lens like this.

Whether you’re shooting huge, immersive landscapes, crowded street scenes, sky scenes or if you’re looking or a lens that will go beyond and give you something that none of your other lenses can give you, this makes an ideal choice. Especially for the price.

The 7 Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 also makes an excellent lens for night photography and shooting stars and aurora. In fact, this could easily end up being your go-to astrophotography lens.

Quality and Performance

Like the other two lenses mentioned in this review, the 7 Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 is built like a little tiny tank. It’s actually pretty small, but with its all-metal housing and construction of 11 glass elements in 10 groups, it feels very solid in your hands.

And, like the other two, it has a nice, tight focusing barrel and a de-clicked aperture ring, which again, makes it quite useful for capturing a very cinematic feel if you’re using it as a filmmaking lens.

Other than that, it’s pretty straightforward. It’s sharp, it has wonderful color clarity, and since it has that ultra-wide characteristic of a very a narrow range of focus from close to infinity, (the entire range is only 1/4 turn on the barrel) it’s very easy to focus.

With a price of only $139, this becomes a serious contender in the “what lens should I get next to inspire my creativity” category.

Final Thoughts

As I stated above, all three of these are very good lenses that offer great image quality, very low distortion, classic styling and lots of creative versatility for shooters who are on a tight budget. You could easily get a couple of these lenses, or all three, for the price of a name brand lens.

Are they as good as comparable Fuji lenses? I won’t even go there, because that’s not really the point of my review. And if you’ve read my reviews before, you know that I’m not all about comparing the pixel peeping specifics of any piece of gear.

In my mind, a lens, or any creative tool for that matter, is either fun to use inspires your creativity and gives you satisfying results, or it doesn’t. Simple as that. Besides, there are plenty of geeky reviews out there that will tell you that kind of stuff.

I really enjoyed using these lenses. I had a lot of fun, especially with the 60mm macro. The 7.5mm fisheye was pretty fun too, although it took some practice to get a good feel for it. The 35mm is a familiar focal length for me, so I felt comfortable with the look, even though the ultra shallow DOF made me have to work a bit harder with my technique in order to nail the right focus.

It really comes down to what you like to shoot. The macro and the fisheye could be a great combination for landscapes and street/travel shooters, while the 35 makes a great all around lens. Both the 35 and the 60 would be great for portraits. Again, it just comes down to which focal lengths inspire you the most.

Overall, I think that 7 Artisans offers some incredible lenses for Fuji and other mirrorless shooters, since they also have mounts for other systems as well. (All three of the lenses in this review are also available with Sony E mount, Canon EOS-M, Micro 4/3 and Nikon Z.)

If you’re looking for a good quality, stylish manual focus lens that won’t set you back too much, then I would definitely recommend checking out the 7 Artisans website to see all the different lenses they offer.

January 25, 2021
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A Look at 7 Artisans Lenses for Fuji

Almost two years ago, I launched my Photography On The Brain video course, with the idea of inspiring my followers to think more deeply about the concepts of creativity, technique, composition, and how to approach image making in some new and insightful ways. 

Now, as we begin the new year, I want to offer you a very special offer: The entire 20-lesson bundle for 50% off. 

That’s a savings of $100!

The concepts I present in Photography On The Brain are born from the very ideas that have continued to drive my own fascination and enthusiasm for photography for over 20 years, and I’m excited to share them with you and help you along in your own creative process. 

If you’ve watched my YouTube lessons, then you already know my video teaching style. This takes it to the next level. Where my YouTube lessons are more “tips” based, Photography On The Brain, goes even deeper and expands more into things that will help you develop your own creativity, your own style, and even your own approach to shooting photos.  

Every one of the 10+ minute lessons revolves around a different topic, and at the end each one, I give you an assignment and challenge you to figure out how to apply these ideas to your own subject matter. Eventually, these ideas will work themselves into your own style.  Photography is a very brain-influenced activity, and the more ideas you can instill into the process, the more confident you’ll become with your own skills and creative process. 

Click here to see what other photographer have said about my Photography On The Brain lessons.

Limited Time Deal – Get All 20 Lessons For Only $99.95

 I know I can make a positive difference in your photography this year, so please consider taking advantage of this 100% money back guaranteed exclusive deal and let me help you expand your creative photography brain. 

This is a limited time deal, though. You only have one week to get the entire bundle at this very special price.

January 19, 2021
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Save 50% On My Photography On the Brain 20-Lesson Bundle

I’m excited to report that I’ve started the year with another Top Bloggers Award!

For the third time in four years, I was awarded a spot on the Adventure Junkies Top 25 Outdoor Photography Blogs for 2021. This year, they ranked me at #4!

In compiling their list, they analyze three different metrics, and narrow down from the hundreds of photography blogs that are found on the web.

It’s an honor to even have my be considered and selected for the list by such a prominent outdoor focused website, and to have the #4 spot reaffirms that I’m doing something right here.

The Adventure Junkies Provide a wide array of resources, videos, articles, recommendations and tips for people who are interested in exploring the world of outdoor adventure and learning more about activities like hiking, cycling, climbing, padding, snow sports and outdoor photography.

Their learning mindset is Belive it. Learn it. Live it. By utilizing this kind of thinking, you can achieve anything you want in life. If you believe in your own mind that your an accomplish something, take the steps necessary to actually learn, and then actually get out there and try, then you will succeed.

This applies to all areas of life, and it closely mirrors the method I use when I write my blog and teach photography, and the way I do instructional videos on my YouTube channel.

In short, I want you guys to succeed and become great photographers. I want you to experience the same kind of enjoyment that I do with with photography, and that’s why I put so much effort into my blog and dedicate a large part of my photography life towards teaching others.

So once gain, huge thanks to The Adventure Junkies for recognizing and rewarding my efforts. Be sure to visit their website to see a range of articles, resources that can help you becomes more confident and prepared for your outdoor adventures.

January 18, 2021
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The Adventure Junkies Top 25 Outdoor Photo Blogs of 2021

So, this is kind of a different type of blog post than you usually see here. However, this is a huge milestone for me that I feel is worth sharing.

After all, this blog is, in many ways, my personal journal as a creative, and if you’re a regular reader, than you know that I have a lifelong fasciation with music and guitar, as well as a degree in recording engineering and music production from Berklee College of Music.

Today, I released, what is essentially my debut album. I also started a music blog to chronicle and share my own geeky ideas about music and guitar, since those things are such enormously important parts of my life.

You can read my first post here, where I talk about my own journey and history with music and what’s to come.

My brand new album, Seven Years is a collection of newly remastered guitar oriented instrumentals I recorded between 2000-2007. Those seven years represent the evolution, and the beginnings of my experiments and learning experience with songwriting and digital recording. 

Since I was in the midst of trying to grow my photography business at the time, many of the songs were made during the late night hours in my basement apartment using the Boss BR-8 portable recorder, and later using Cubase and Logic when I got a faster computer. 

Looking back, I’m very proud of these pieces and I feel they clearly illustrate my style and energy as a guitar player and musician, and the influences who have combined to make me who I am as an artist.

You can also follow me on the indie music website called Bandcamp, where I post my music. That way, you’ll be notified whenever I release new songs. It’s also great place to find and support other independent artists as well, since we’re all in this together.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my new album. Feel free to leave a comment if you wish! You can read this post to read the liner notes for each track.

January 14, 2021
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Announcing My Debut Album and New Music Blog!

Today’s photography tip is a Photography Public Service Announcement to make sure you’re starting your year off on the right creative foot and not getting too wrapped up in things that ultimately don’t make your photography any better.

In this concise, 5 minute video, I share my insight about what I feel is the most important thing that all of us as photographers need to remember and remind ourselves on a regular basis.

It’s far too easy to get caught up in all of the technical aspects of photography, especially when we’re constantly inundated with “gear videos” and “gear review blog posts” that don’t actually do very much towards helping us become better shooters. All they really do is make us worry that our gear isn’t good enough and that we need to upgrade, or else we won’t be able to shoot very good photos.

I know you already know this stuff, but I promise you, these five minutes are worth your time.

January 13, 2021
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Photography PSA: Important Tip for All Shooters