One of the more interesting terms in photography is bokeh (pronounced bo-keh). Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur in the out of focus portion of an image. The word is derived from the Japanese word boke meaning blur or haze. Bokeh can be an important quality photographers evaluate when choosing a lens. This is particularly true when a photographer strives for non-distracting and smooth backgrounds. Nature, po
One aspect of night photography that I particularly enjoy is the slow calm of the stars and moon passing over. For some this might seem as exciting as watching paint dry, but when you’re under billions and billions of stars that slow calm quickly gives way to pure awe. This still is from a time-lapse, so at some point soon I’ll share what this scene looked like as it unfolded in a faster timeframe than th
What is the best camera bag for time-lapse photographers? Welcome to my quest. I’ve been shooting time-lapse photography for several years and in that time some great gear innovations have come about. Back when I started exploring time-lapse photography a tripod, camera and intervalometer were all you needed so a standard camera bag was enough. Now that motion control dollies, robotic tripod heads, large batter
One aspect of San Francisco that has forever fascinated and inspired me is the fog. I suppose having lived most of my life in areas that lacked such dense fog adds to my appreciation of it. While many associate rain as being a cleansing phenomenon, I can’t help but think of fog in the same way. It shrouds what many may consider commonplace views and magically re-reveals them in dramatic fashion. If you’re
I’ve often toiled over the archivability of digital imagery and even wrote about a close call I had in losing a drive that archived some of my work, A Happy Ending to My Drive Crash. With some regularity I have thoughts revisiting the prospect that it’s just a matter of time before I have to endure this again and deal with the loss of a drive and even worse an irrecoverable loss of a drive. While there ar
I’ve been having a lot of fun with time-lapse photography for several years now. It’s an incredibly fun and visually stunning form of photography. Back in June while photographing Yosemite as part of the One Day in Yosemite group project I was introduced to the eMotimo TB3 and was instantly wow’ed by it. In short it’s Pan and Tilt motion control head that enables photographers the ability to t
I recently had the opportunity to revisit the amazing lookout from Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park. Summer storm clouds made for an interesting sunset shoot. As is characteristic of Yosemite the beautiful and ever transforming light made for quite a light show. With light like this it is no wonder photographers flock to Yosemite. As you’ll see from the photo details below I wasn’t up to my normal
This month I’m happy to have my article Social-Media Marketing Essentials featured in Digital Photo Pro magazine. In the article I provide a primer to social media marketing, discuss strategies and highlight the pros & cons of many of the most popular social media web sites used by photographers. Be sure to check your recent copy of the magazine for it. If you’re not a subscriber be sure to pick up a
Landscape photographers are often striving to photograph new places, but imagine being the first person to ever photograph an alien environment. Some time ago I wrote about his in relation to the landing on the moon in my blog post Isolation and Discovery. My day dreams of photographing landscapes of distant, if not alien environments, has been revived by the recent stream of images from the Mars Curiosity Rover. Th