The World War II Memorial
The Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Washington D.C.
In Remembrance: A Brief History of Memorial Day
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).
In Remembrance: Memorial Day
U.S. Flags at Sunset, Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni, Iowa
From Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.
One Photographer and Eleven Outdoor/Travel Writers Pick the Best National Parks for Summer
Zion National Park, Utah
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?
The Best National Parks to Photograph in Summer
Pika, Rock Cut, Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Which national parks are at their photographic best in the summer? Here are my favorite choices, grouped by state from west to east, plus one Canadian province.
How To Photograph the Super Flower Blood Moon Eclipse, May 26, 2021
Total Lunar Eclipse, Super Blood Moon, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, September 27, 2015
Don’t miss it. This is the only total eclipse of 2021 and it happens this Wednesday May 26 (and begins May 25 if you live in Hawaii). This article will show you how to photograph it. Continue reading
Beth Presler at Lake LaShane
Beth and I were on a mission to create fall color water portraits. Shooting at Lake LaShane was not part of the fall color plan. In advance of the day of our shoot I scouted several lakes, steams,and rivers in the area to find the best fall color. Only one location had the kind of fall color by the water that I wanted, Slip Bluff Lake.
How to Photograph A Recital and Other Stage Performances
The first thing to do is to ask permission ahead of time. Some places do not allow photography during the performance or they limit the number of photographers. In this case, Beth asked me to photograph her recital and I was the official photographer. One of the keys to photographing an event is not to become a serious distraction from the main event. That means not doing a lot of wandering around, and certainly not getting in front of people who are watching the event. Be as discreet as possible. If you need to move during a performance, if at all possible do it during the applause between numbers.
How to Photograph Stars from an Airplane
Theoretically you should not be able to get clear star photos from a moving plane. Engine vibrations are transmitted by the wings to the fuselage and you get blurry pictures during the long exposures. And I have a lot of blurry star photos taken at night from a plane to prove the theory is usually true.
How to See and Photograph The Lyrid Meteor Shower This Week
Perseid Meteor photographed from Rose Hill Cemetery west of Lamoni, Iowa. 4:55 am CDT, August 13, 2018.
This is the best week to see the Lyrid Meteor Shower. The peak is early Thursday morning April 22, but you can see meteors through the 25th. This article will tell you what you need to know to see and photograph this popular spring meteor shower..
Photography at Night from a Moving Ship
Theoretically you should not be able to create sharp photos of the stars using long exposures from the deck of a moving ship. But I decided I had nothing to lose by trying. At the worst I would end up with throwaway slides.
In-Camera Compositing with Lindsay Adler
“In-Camera Compositing with Canon Explorer of Light Lindsay Adler”
This is your chance to see how an exceptionally good portrait photographer works in the studio. Even if you don’t have expensive studio gear, you can learn a lot about using lights and working with your subject.
Backlit Squirrel: Making the Most of Rim Light
You don’t often come across really nice “rim light”, so when it happens, make the most of it. I happened to glance out the window and saw this squirrel surrounded by rim light and grabbed a camera.
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
It was a beautiful spring day last year and a variety of species were coming through southern Iowa. I spotted this warbler in a tree in a wooded area right next to an open field. The light was just about perfect and the sun created a nice catch light in his eye. This is one of my favorite bird portraits. I am looking forward to their return this spring.
The Chinese Telescope/Lens Rip-Off
We have been down this road before. The last time around, people paid from $60 to $220 for a cheap Chinese lens they could have bought for $12. The lens was touted as a German product and the ads used fake quotes from a fake German engineer. They created fake test results and used fake testimonials. They grabbed professionally created photographs taken with professional photo equipment and passed them off as iPhone photos created with the so called “German engineered lens”.
One Photographer and Nine Outdoor/Travel Writers Pick the Best National Parks for Spring
Moon Over Balanced Rock, Arches National Park, Utah.
Are you planning a spring photography trip to one or more U.S. national parks? Where should you go? Which parks will provide the best photographic opportunities? Which parks are at their best in the spring?
The Best National Parks to Photograph in Spring
Ocotillo. Big Bend National Park, Texas.
Which national parks are at their very best in the spring? If I could go on a fabulous spring photography trip to the national parks of my choice, all expenses paid, which ones would I pick? 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.
A Guide to Big Bend National Park
Big Bend National Park is one of my favorite places on the planet. My photography guide to Big Bend is here. March and April are good months to go. You will see more flowers in mid to late April but it will also be hotter. Fall is a prime time also. If you don’t mind the chance of a sudden cold spell and maybe some snow, I like winter in Big Bend too, but most people prefer spring and fall. Summer is ungodly hot.
The Top Three Ring Lights
Digital Photo magazine wrote an article on the top three ring lights for 2021. Ring lights are more flattering since they minimize shadows. And these are reasonably priced.
Sami Lynn, A Valentine Portrait
It was a week and a half after Valentine’s Day and most of the dozen Valentine’s Day roses in a vase on the dining room table were done and had been thrown away, but a few were still looking good. I asked Sami to lay on the floor, handed her a long stemmed rose, and I carefully arranged her hair. Then I stood up and pulled the best looking petals off of more roses and randomly dropped them on her. Some didn’t land quite right so I re-positioned a couple of them.
Selective Color Removal, How to Paint on a Layer with a Color Mask
I was processing this image of Lyn Marie in Photoshop and the longer I looked at it the more I decided the color of the door frames, carpet, and walls took away from her colorful clothing. It made sense to me to remove all color from the image except Lyn Marie. In this tutorial I will show you how to do that.
Peter Lindbergh — the supermodel photographer | DW Documentary
I was aware of some of Peter Lindbergh’s famous images, like “5 Supermodels” but I did not know until recently that Peter Lindbergh is the photographer that created those images. This documentary is about Lindbergh and his work and you see a number of his stunning images.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s Century of American Art
Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the artists that inspires me. This Sotheby’s video is promoting an upcoming art auction, but it features some nice footage of O’Keeffe and some of her work.
Violinist in the Snow
This is one of my all time favorite winter images. On a prior photo shoot, Beth and I went out into the cold and snow to create images. She played her violin while I took pictures. It was her first time shooting in the cold and snow and she was a real trooper. For that shoot she wore her long black concert dress. The snow melted not long after that, but we decide if another day came along with the right conditions we wanted to shoot in the now again.
Northern Cardinal in the Snow
Thanks to the recent Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), photographing birds has been my thing lately. On a fine, chilly winter day with slightly diffused sunlight, I found this Cardinal in the snow.
Purple Finch
I’ve been waiting for a sunny day for a while to photograph the Purple Finches that started coming to our bird feeders a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I finally got my chance. This fellow landed on top of our deck umbrella before heading for one of the feeders.
House Finch in the Snow
Thanks to the weather and the recommendations from U.S. medical experts that this is not the time to be traveling, I have been doing much more photography than usual of the birds visiting our bird feeders. This male House Finch had just grabbed a black oil sunflower seed and was getting ready to eat it.
Channeling My Inner John Shaw
I was leading a photography workshop in Northern Michigan and we were out on a night sky field trip at Lake Michigan. We started seeing some flickering in the northern sky which developed into this display of the Northern Lights. It was a great night at the lakeshore.
Channeling My Inner Lindsay Adler
I was working in the studio with the beautiful Lela Rae. This is an example of cross lighting which creates nice contours and shadows. There is one light to her left and one to her right, almost directly opposite each other. I decided to use colored gels over the lights which I thought would enhance the look of the image..