Our three children at O’Haver Lake.
Easy choice today. I went through my favorite photos folder and found two photos taken on August 16. This one is far and away my favorite for sentimental reasons.
Favorite Photo, August 16
Favorite Photo, August 15
Northern Lights over Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan Shores Roadside Park.
My August 15 photo was an easy pick. I was leading a photography workshop in northern Michigan. We were about to wrap up a night time field trip when I saw a little bit of a flicker in the northern sky. Northern Lights! So instead of packing up we stayed out longer.
Favorite Photo, August 14
Blue-headed green frog.
My favorite photos for August 14 all came from the same year, 2016. I was leading a photography workshop in Northern Michigan and we were out on an evening field trip. It turned out to be a great evening for photography, so it was hard to pick THE favorite photo for the day.
Favorite Photo, August 13
John and Melissa on the trail up Flattop Mountain. Longs Peak in the background. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Wednesday, August 13, 1969.
When I went looking through my favorite photos folder for photos taken August 13, I found a few photos from August 13, 2016 at a workshop I was leading in Northern Michigan, and just one photo captured with an instamatic camera August 13, 1969. The 1969 photo is the clear prize winner as my favorite August 13 photo.
Favorite Photo, August 12
Group Portrait
All my favorite photos for August 12 were again (August 11 post) from Jeremy Bruskotter and I’s second nature photography workshop at Gibraltar Island for OSU. Out of those photos my most favorite image was the group photo toward the end of the morning field trip. A little Photoshop might have been involved.
Favorite Photo, August 11
When I went looking for my favorite photos for August 11, they were all from the same year. It was my second year leading a nature photography workshop with Jeremy Bruskotter workshop for OSU at Gibraltar island. August 11, 2012.
Series: Favorite Photos by Date
Some of the digital images in my “favorites folder”.
It all started the morning of August 6, 2018 when I woke up and asked myself, “What is the best photo I have ever taken on August 6?” So I went through my favorites folder to find all of the photos I had taken on August 6, no matter what year. I found only three photos, all of them portraits. My favorite August 6 photo is a head and shoulders portrait of Sarah in her wedding dress. (I also have a full length version but like the tight shot best.) So I posted it. August 7 I did the same thing. I found no photo for August 8. (August is not my favorite photo month.) August 9 I found three photos to pick from. Now it has become a thing.
Favorite Photo, August 10
Sarah.
As part of this ongoing series, I went looking through my folder of favorite photos for images taken August 10. I found a sunset photo of Lake Erie from August 10, 2003, and photos of Sarah taken August 10, 2006. While the sunset photo was nice, the photos of Sarah are much more important to me. Sarah is the first professional model I had the privilege of working with, and it was the first of several photo shoots we worked on together. So my all time favorite August 10 photo is this portrait of Sarah.
Favorite Photo, August 9
Kristin
Kristin is my best “August 9” photo. This was a fairly easy pick. My only other August 9 option is an image of the sun, but I will post a favorite sun image from the August 21, 2017 eclipse when we get to that date.
Favorite Photo, August 8
No best photo today. I have a folder of over 3400 of my favorite photos that were taken over the last 30 plus years. Not one of them was taken on August 8. August is not my favorite month for taking photos.
Favorite Photo, August 7
Sunny
It all started yesterday when I woke up wondering, “What is the best photo I have ever taken on August 6?” So this morning I went looking for my best photo taken on August 7.
Favorite Photo: August 6
Sarah
I woke up this morning with this curious question on my mind: “What is the best photo I have ever taken on August 6?” Continue reading
Processing a Green Frog with ACR
Green frog, before and after.
Are your best images worth two minutes of your time? If they are, two of the best things you can do for the quality of your images is to shoot RAW files and process the images with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).
Secrets of Great Color: Set Your Camera To Bland!
One of the secrets to great color is to set you camera to bland. That might sound odd, but it is what you do to end up with great color. Your images will thank you.
Who is this Family?
Who is this family?
Tahquamenon Fawn: Get the Shot, Then Improve the Shot
Fawn, first image. Tahquamenon Falls State Park.
When a potentially fleeting photo opportunity arises, get the shot first. Then take the time to improve the shot.
If You Want a Green Frog, You May Have to Get Into the Swamp
Green Frog, Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Michigan’s U.P.
If you want a nice image of a frog, you have to go where the frogs are. And that means getting down in the swamp or bog or whatever other wet place the frog happens to be.
Colorado Fall Color Travel and Photography Guide
Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake. Mid-morning. September 24, 2015.
Welcome to my Colorado fall color travel and photography guide with over 100 pages of information (if you print it all out), 120 photos, and 17 maps. I cover some of the best known fall color locations in Colorado, and one real gem of a road that is mostly unknown to photographers and leaf peepers. Spend anywhere from a few days to three weeks exploring the beautiful Colorado Rockies at a gorgeous time of year.
The 50 Best Places in the World to Photograph
Torres del Paine, Chile
I came across this article from a link on Facebook. The article is from 2014 but it is still a great list.
Wise Words From Dewitt Jones: “Stay This Moment”
Dewitt Jones
Dewitt Jones is a world class photographer who spent much of his life working for National Geographic. His articles in Outdoor Photographer and his movies and videos have been a source of inspiration for me for a long time. If we have a rainy night at one of my photography workshops (it is hard to photograph stars in the rain) I show his movie Celebrate What’s Right with the World.
This Made My day!
Photo of Jim Doty, Jr. by Winnie Johnston.
I did a photo workshop in Northern Michigan June 8-11. The workshop registrar, Winnie Johnston, captured this image of me on a workshop field trip, and she wrote this:
Continue reading
POTD: The Edge Between Twilight and Night
Venus and the stars over Lake Michigan. Click for a larger version.
Twilight hangs on for a long time in June in the far northern reaches of the United States. I captured this image a few days ago while leading a photography workshop in northern Michigan.
The Best National Parks to Photograph in Summer
Pika, Rock Cut, Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
What are the best national parks to photograph in the summer? Here are my choices, grouped by state from west to east. This list includes the favorites I have been to and want to go back to again, plus the ones I haven’t seen and most want to photograph.
One Photographer and Eleven Outdoor/Travel Writers Pick the Best National Parks for Summer
Royal Arches, North Dome, and Washington Column from Stoneman Meadow. Yosemite National Park. California.
Summer is the most popular time to visit the national parks. With so many to choose from, where should you go? Which national parks will provide the best photographic opportunities in the summer?
Memory Cards and Lost Photos
What do you do when you lose photos from your memory cards?
Warning! Fake Memory Cards at Amazon
Memory Cards in Think Tank Memory Card Holders
Fake memory cards have been a problem at Amazon for several years. The biggest problem with fake cards is card failure and the permanent loss of the photos on the card. Just think about how you would feel if you lost precious, once in a lifetime photos on your memory card. And to make matters worse, you find out data recovery software can’t recover the lost photos from a fake memory card. They are gone forever. Continue reading
Total Immersion Nature Photography Weekend in Beautiful Northern Michigan
UPDATE, June 3: Due to a last minute cancellation we have one slot open this weekend. This is your chance to register. Go here.
Are you ready to take your nature and wildlife photography to the next level? Are you ready to learn the professional secrets that make the difference between good images and great images? Are you ready for a high intensity, action packed, total immersion photography weekend? Come to Park of the Pines on beautiful Lake Charlevoix June 8-10, 2018.
Memorial Day
U.S. Flags at Sunset, Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni, Iowa
From Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.
In Remembrance
Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Washington D.C. Click for a larger version.
Richard Duane Klug (the name just above the rose) was born January 26, 1946. He died in Darlac Province, Vietnam, November 14, 1967 at the age of 21. He is one of over 58,000 American soldiers that died in Vietnam, and one of over 1.1 million American soldiers that have died in all American wars (almost half of them in the Civil War). It is with a profound sense of gratitude that I reflect on the lives of those who “gave the last full measure of devotion” on behalf of their country.
Video: Every Person has Infinite Worth, Kent Hoffman, TEDx Spokane
This 20 minute video is not about photography. It is about you and your value as a human being.