Photo Tips and Stories

While this Shenandoah National Park buck is staring directly at the camera, it is the doe behind me that he cares about. No move she makes goes unnoticed, which provides an alert look for his portrait.

Getting down low was an important technique for this photo. The lower camera position pushes the background farther away, which provides a stronger blur. The lower position aids in getting catchlights in the eyes and in making the buck appear regal.

He bedded for a long time, perhaps close to an hour. After getting way too many shots, I did the same. He was warmer than me.

The Sony Alpha 1 and Sony FE 600mm F4 GM OSS Lens were an outstanding combination for the fields and less-dense forest areas at SNP.

A larger version of this image is available here.

The lens being reviewed is usually mounted on a camera and ready for quick use, and on this day, the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II Art was that lens. This lens's high utility focal length range, wide aperture, fast and accurate AF, and superb optical quality made it a perfect choice for around-the-house use. Then Elliott came for a visit.

Elliott enjoys playing on the stairs, and it is hard to go wrong with a white background (and foreground), including with any color wardrobe.

I seldom appreciate obstacles in front of a person's face, even if they are strongly blurred. However, this image shows a scenario where that concept works.

A sharp eye matters for portraits, and the Sony Alpha 1's eye AF easily made that distinction despite the ballisters in the foreground. Elliott was moving fast, and this lens's fast AF was critical during this well-timed shutter release button mash.

A larger version of this image is available here.

Another milestone was reached, and I was given the green light for a graduation photo shoot. Getting ready took two hours longer than originally planned, but a couple of hours of sunlight still remained as we went out the door.

Just inside of shade is usually a great choice for portrait lighting, and we started with that option. The background is usually a large percentage of the composition, so selecting a good one is important, and large columns usually work great.

Columns this large are typically found at institutions, and they provide a sense of place that is valued in university graduation photos. More to that point, these columns were in front of the building where most of her classes were held, adding relevance to the composition.

While several other lenses were along and used, the Canon RF 85mm F1.2 L USM Lens on an EOS R5 was my first choice for this shoot. This combination produces standout portraits at f/1.2, with impressive resolution and contrast, and the incredible 85mm f/1.2 background blur is especially advantageous.

The background blur reduces distracting lines of contrast behind the subject, especially for their head. In this case, the subject was aligned on the column to fully eliminate that issue.

I lost a few points for the edge of the graduation gown sleeve intersecting the line of the column's edge. A good photographer always has an excuse ready, so I'll blame feeling rushed for that one.

A larger version of this image is available here.

A good reason to pursue many wildlife species is that you get to go where they live. That is the case with dall sheep, and few animals have a more stunning daily view.

On this day, fall was officially a couple of weeks away, but the Denali National Park tundra was aflame in color, and the mountains were loaded with snow.

While climbing to the sheep, I couldn't help pausing to capture this scene. The strong-textured dark foreground ridgeline, red huckleberries in mottled sunlight in the valley, high contrast snowy mountains in the distance, and a straight dark cloud putting a cap on the scene seemed a composition worthy of a photo.

The ability to capture this composition is an example of the advantage of a 100-something mm telephoto zoom lens vs. a 200-600mm, 200-800mm, or similar option.

A larger version of this image is available here.

This ram is the king of the mountain.

When composing an animal, I like to leave extra space in the direction the animal's body is pointed toward and extra space in the direction the animal's head is facing. In other words, the animal's body should be coming into the frame vs. exiting, and the animal's head should be looking into the frame vs. out of the frame. Usually, this strategy provides a visual balance.

Sometimes, the body and head point in opposite directions, and in that case, a centered animal may be the optimal choice. Another scenario calling for a centered animal is when it is directly facing and approaching the camera (or the opposite), providing symmetry that balances well in the center of the frame.

The ram's raised right-front leg adds a sense of movement, giving this frame an advantage over the many others captured during this encounter.

A larger version of this image is available here.

I had to go back for a second attempt.

Just outside of Badlands National Park is the small town of Wall, SD. Wall is best known as the home of the massive roadside attraction Wall Drug Store.

Describing the Wall Drug Store is beyond the scope of this post but calling it unique is a vast understatement.

Inside, the narrow Wall Drug traveler's chapel seemed inviting to the Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM Lens's ultra-wide-angle view, and I spent a few minutes capturing it.

I had this image queued to share, and as I was preparing the post, I realized that the room was not squared in the frame. I had carefully leveled and centered the camera during the capture and didn't otherwise pay much attention to that aspect of the image while processing it.

With that realization, I was no longer satisfied with the image. Considering the age of the building, I even wondered if the problem was caused by the structure itself. A quick search of other Wall Chapel photos shows similar crookedness.

Still, I was bothered. So, a second attempt was made a year later.

This time, I was acutely aware of the first attempt's shortcomings, and while the second attempt's results were better, I still wouldn't call them perfect. Photoshop to the rescue.

This image required HDR compositing due to the bright lights and stained glass windows. Layer opacity adjustments handled that task for this image.

A larger version of this image is available here.

Don't forget to create the solar eclipse smiley face image to commemorate the look on your face and that of everyone around you during totality.

Photography is fun. Include humor in your creativity. I thought a similar composite was entertaining and decided to create my 2024 version using unrotated images.

A larger version of this image is available here.

The goal for the middle portion of the total eclipse was to capture a wide range of bracketed exposures to pull out the distant corona. This image shows the result of one optional HDR processing technique.

The exposure bracketed images were loaded as Photoshop layers and manually aligned. Next, the opacity of each layer was reduced, allowing the next-lower layer to show through. The lowest included layer's opacity remains at 100%.

This image was modestly cropped from the top right to center the sun, but it shows an expected result from the 840mm focal length. This angle of view fills a substantial portion of the frame with the corona.

Want to contain the corona streamers within the frame? Do not use the brightest exposures in the HDR stack. The center image in the Total Solar Eclipse Phase Progression image illustrates this strategy.

A larger version of this image is available here.

Most of us photographing a total solar eclipse capture images throughout the partial phases. While partial eclipse images are interesting, I quickly get bored of viewing circles with a bite out of them, including mine. Create a progression composite image that tells the "full" story, and you will have my attention. Thus, such an image was one of my goals for the 2024 total solar eclipse.

Aside from the center row, these images were captured 2.5 minutes apart. Even with a modest crop from an 840mm focal length, the individual Sony Alpha 1 images are large, and 77 of them in a single PS file created an unacceptable processor load. A 50% overall size reduction made the processing tolerable, and this image still weighs in at over 266 MP, enough resolution to print massive.

A larger version of this image is available here.

This composite image was my primary goal for the 2024 total solar eclipse. What I didn't foresee was the effort required to get the shots.

The weather forecast was the problem, and the over 1,000 miles added to the rental car tell only part of the story that included a day-prior relocation from an ideal shooting location in central TX to north central AR — storm unchasing.

Fortunately, the clear sky chase was successful, and the second-darkest exposures from the C1 brackets described in the Total Solar Eclipse Photography Plan provided the optimal exposures for this image.

The images in this composite were captured 1-second apart, illustrating how fast the favorite Baily's Beads stage passes.

The individual images are straight out of Lightroom with the default settings, with slight shadow brightness and clarity increases added to the final image in PS.

The left and right-side images are independently rotated to enable a horizontal format that retains clear visibility of the progression.

A larger version of this image is available here.

Shiprock, named for its resemblance to an old clipper ship, is surrounded by a vast desert, with clear views from nearly all directions. While the enormous rock formation provides a dramatic subject over the flat desert, I found the tall, narrow, naturally formed dike leading to it especially entertaining and a great foreground subject to include in the frame.

On a clear day, the first sunrise light casts a golden color on this landscape, and this light angle's contrast emphasizes the texture of Shiprock.

I planned, flew, drove, lodged, got up early, drove farther, and then hiked. That effort and expense meant no settling for second best on the camera and lens. Why were the Canon EOS R5 and RF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM Lens selected?

The R5 is currently my preferred Canon camera. It continuously delivers beautiful, accurately focused, high-resolution images.

The light shown in this image only lasts for a few minutes, and the RF 24-105 had the optimal focal length range to rapidly capture a variety of compositions, including some with Shiprock more isolated in the frame. Since a narrow aperture was needed for increased depth of field, a larger, heavier, and wider aperture lens was not necessary or desired, and this L lens feeds the R5 the impressive optical quality required for stand-out images.

A larger version of this image is available here.

This bull's herd of cows was split, half on the far side of the ridge with him, and the other half on the near side. Predictable was that he would come back for the rest.

The bull had choices on where to come back over the ridge, but not all were photographically optimal, including significant brush obstructions at some locations. Setting up for the ideal returning elk composition was the logical plan, and this bull hit the opening perfectly.

There is an aspect of this image that I do not like, but I'll start with some of the positive aspects.

The primary subject is a good specimen, with a large rack that includes a substantial and unique drop tine.

The early morning light is soft, avoiding hard shadows and creating a strong catchlight in the eye. The slightly upward shooting angle provides a regal perspective on the animal.

Shooting at 20 fps enabled the capture of this image with the bugling elk and its laid-back antlers precisely framed, without interruption, by pine trees and rocks. The trees and rocks have shape, color, and contrast character, and the distant background consists of an attractive pattern of blurred spruce trees.

Photographing bugling behavior is always a goal, and the front leg, especially the far front leg, bent slightly attractively conveys action and positions the head at a higher level than other positions in its cadence. You can visualize him walking out of the opening.

So, what don't I like about this picture? The elk has three legs. It doesn't really have three legs, but the back right leg is aligned with; and therefore hidden by, the front left leg. Viewed at full size, the larger back leg is visible around the front leg, but at typical web viewing size, only three legs are discernable.

This image is a slight pano. The elk came through fast, and I was holding slightly too far to the left when this pose was struck. The framing a few frames prior included slightly more of the right border that gives the image slightly improved overall balance.

A larger version of this image is available here.

Capturing a photo of a buck leaping a fence or log was on my photo bucket list, and the right circumstances enabled that line item to be checked off.

During the rut, a buck will stay with a doe that is ready to breed. Most of the time, the action is slow, but periodically, the doe will play a cat-and-mouse game, running away. When that happens, the buck gives chase, and that's what happened this morning in Shenandoah National Park.

The buck raced after the doe, and a log was in its way. I was on the other side of the log.

The Canon EOS R5 and RF 400mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens impressively nailed this shot, tracking the buck's eye as it fast approached.

I was slightly behind in my panning, but a small pano created from two consecutive shots opened up the left side of the image just enough to provide space in the subject's direction.

The shallow 400mm f/2.8 depth of field strongly blurred the distracting forest background, making the deer appear to be leaping out of the frame.

A larger version of this image is available here.

When getting the most architecture in the frame is the goal, move the camera as far away as possible. When photographing a ceiling, the floor becomes a hard limiting factor in this regard, making the ultra-wide 10mm angle of view a differentiator from most other lens options.

For this image capture, the Canon EOS R5 and RF 10-20mm F4 L IS STM Lens were locked onto an RRS BH-40 Ball Head on an RRS TVC-24L Mk2 Carbon Fiber Tripod. Taking the most architecture in the frame theme to the limit, the TVC-24L's legs were angled fully open, bringing the camera within a few inches of the floor. The vertical side of the MC-LS Universal L-Plate was removed, permitting full rotation of the vari-angle LCD for straight-up composition.

For precise symmetry without converging lines, the lens must be centered in the scene and leveled, leveled in a straight-up angle in this case. Floor tiles and the lines between them are frequently helpful references for finding the absolute center of a building. After positioning the lens over the center of the center tile, adjusting the camera to perfectly straight up was the next challenge, one that required finessing, trial, and error.

With the camera a few inches above the floor, staying out of the 10mm angle of view meant me going nearly flat on the floor while the HDR brackets were captured. Never before have I seen this much of the St Patrick Cathedral ceiling in the frame.

Now is a good time to add 10mm to your kit!

A larger version of this image is available here. See more RF 10-20mm F4 L IS STM Lens images.

For those unaccustomed to the full frame 10mm focal length, the extraordinarily wide angle of view it provides is certain to bring a big smile to their face and a new look to their images. Those already acclimated to this extreme view know that it can bring the drama needed to set their images apart.

While creating Venus Optics Laowa 10mm f/2.8 Zero-D FF Lens review, I needed interesting large subjects, and the PA state capitol building's atrium and House of Representatives chambers were the choices. While the Senate chamber is also a great subject, it was under construction.

As the title implies, this image shows the PA House of Representatives chamber. After capturing the requisite centered images of the room, I mounted the Laowa 10 to an EOS R5 and moved to the far left of the visitor seating area for a different look, another one that only an extreme wide-angle lens can capture.

This image is an HDR capture processed in Photoshop.

If your kit does not have 10mm covered, consider adding the reasonably affordable Laowa 10mm f/2.8 Zero-D Lens to it. Then go visit your favorite architecture.

A larger version of this image is available here.

The first name that came to my mind for this image was "Getting High with the Boys." Fortunately, I quickly realized the alternative meaning.

One of the best aspects of photographing dall sheep is being at the high elevation where they live. While the climb is laborious, the views become constantly tremendous.

Multiple animals in the frame exponentially increase the compositional challenge, and in this scenario, the Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM Lens allowed the frontmost ram to be isolated. When the compositional challenge can be met by juxtaposing multiple animals in a complementary way, the image value can rise. Again, the RF 100-500 was there for this role, zooming out to 100mm to take in the big scene, with 4 additional rams showing in the background.

Strategically incorporating these rams was aided greatly by three of them having a temporarily fixed position (bedded). The strategy of positioning the camera for those three and waiting for the others to cooperate worked nicely this time.

A larger version of this image is available here.

The background is a significant percentage of most wildlife (and people) images, and the sky often provides a good background option, even when it is white. Clouds make the sky white, and clouds make the light soft, wrapping around the subject and taming the shadows.

White clouds also cause the camera's auto exposure to calculate for a dark result. I prefer to use a manual exposure with auto ISO when photographing wildlife. These settings permit rapid shutter speed changes to accommodate the animal, with the camera taking care of the proper image brightness with its ISO selection. The sheep was also white, and positive exposure compensation was managing this issue when mountains were in the background.

The white sky background opportunity developed suddenly enough that I chose to get the shot vs. risking missing it while changing a second camera setting. Fortunately, the Canon EOS R5 RAW image did not have a problem with the +1.6 stops of post-processing adjustment.

When the background is white (or black, or any other solid color), the background can easily be extended on the sides of the image void of subject details. In this case, a canvas size increase to the left and top in the matching color would provide space for creativity, including adding words.

A larger version of this image is available here.

This buck had a doe locked down during the rut. We named her "Dosi" doe (as in dosido, the dance move). The name seemed fitting as she was the object of his desire and frequently leaped to a new location with the buck following close behind.

As I said before, the Canon EOS R5 and RF 400mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens combination was the perfect choice for photographing white-tailed deer in the Shenandoah National Park woods.

The 400mm focal length permitted close enough working distances to avoid obstructions, and that focal length combined with the f/2.8 aperture blurred the abundant foreground and background distractions.

In this composition, I took advantage of the obstructions to create a frame for the buck, which was unusually cooperative for a couple of minutes, posing in the sunlight.

A larger version of this image is available here.

The Canon EOS R5 and RF 400mm F2.8 L IS USM Lens combination was the perfect choice for the white-tailed deer I was photographing in the Shenandoah National Park woods.

The 400mm focal length permitted close enough working distances to avoid obstructions, and that focal length combined with the f/2.8 aperture blurred the abundant foreground and background distractions.

Then, this barred owl showed up. Obviously, owls are much smaller than deer, and suddenly, significantly more focal length was needed.

Fortunately, the friend I was shooting with solved that problem via a pair of extenders in his pocket. He opted to use the 1.4x on his lens, kindly loaning me the 2x.

The capability to go too 800mm was indispensable in this case.

After getting sharp insurance shots at faster shutter speeds, the exposure time was increased, decreasing the ISO setting for less noise. The keeper rate dropped, but only 1 sharp image was necessary, and the results surpassed that requirement.

A larger version of this image is available here.

A great subject in great light aligned with a great background and captured by a high-performing camera and lens combination is a sure recipe for an image I like. In this case, and often the case, the hard work was getting to the right location at the right time. The photo was easy to capture.

As I said in the last Dall Sheep Ram photo I shared, the Canon EOS R5 and RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM Lens were the first choice for this adventure. The R5 was selected for its high resolution, AF performance, and ease of use, and the RF 100-500 was selected for the optimal focal length range, including 100mm for environmental portraits and 500mm for tighter framing or distant subjects, and outstanding sharpness over the range, backed up by a high-performing image stabilization system. The relatively compact size of this combination proved ideal for the climb.

My go-to wildlife camera settings were in place for this image. The eye must be sharp, and the subject (and I) were moving, so servo (continuous) AF with eye detection was selected. The aperture was set to the widest available at all focal lengths (initially f/4.5 at 100mm), and the shutter speed was frequently and rapidly adjusted to the comfortably lowest needed (or lower after initial safety/insurance shots were captured). Auto ISO ensured that the exposure instantly changed for the shutter speed selected (and light changes), with exposure compensation applied as needed.

While the ram was moving, it wasn't moving fast. Thus, I opted for the 1st-curtain electronic shutter to retain the full 14-bit image quality with still fast "H" continuous shooting mode providing good viewfinder coverage (low blackout).

A larger version of this image is available here.