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.
Category Archives: General
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?â€Â So this morning I went looking for my best photo taken on August 7.
Favorite Photo: August 6
Sarah, Worthington Ohio. August 6, 2003.
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
Favorite Photo, August 5
Bee on a Coneflower, Columbus, Ohio. August 5, 2017.
I was out in my garden one day and spotted a bee among the coneflowers. I pulled out my iPhone and tried to get a good photo.
Favorite Photo, August 4
Cardinal Flower, Sarett Nature Center, Michigan. Aug, 4, 1996.
My favorite photo for this date is a Cardinal Flower. I was a Sarett Nature Center northeast of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Early August is the time for Cardinal Flowers. They like a pretty wet area to grow in so you take a boardwalk trail out to the wetland area where they grow and bloom.
Favorite Photo, August 3
Selina, Columbus, Ohio. August 3, 2011.
I was working with the model Selina in downtown Columbus Ohio. This portrait is my favorite photo for August 3.
Favorite Photo, August 2
Kristina, Columbus, Ohio. August 2, 2016.
All of my favorite images for August 2 are from one photo shoot with one professional model. It all started with a phone call from Kristina, a model and actress based in Los Angeles. We have done several photo shoots together, beginning when she was a college student in Ohio.
Favorite Photo, August 1
Arctic Fox, Columbus Zoo, Ohio. August 1, 2012.
August is a slow photography month for me. It is just not the month I am inclined to pick up a camera unless some portrait photography is involved. But I decided one day to head for the Columbus Zoo and practice my wildlife photography skills.
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.
Favorite Photo, July 27
Grass splattered Marcia, Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa. July 27, 2006.
I had a hard time picking my favorite photo for July 27. I finally decided on this image from “Spectacular”, an annual event for about 1,000 high school students from all around the world.
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.
Brittany in Ferns
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has places that are a forest wonderland and the soft light was perfect for a model amid tall ferns.
Brittany in the Moonlight
With a motionless subject and the camera on a tripod, shooting in the moonlight is easy. Just leave the shutter open long enough to record the image.Leave the shutter open too long and the image will look like it was taken during the middle of the day except for the stars in the sky.
The Model Shoot After Sunset
It was a beautiful summer day at Lake Michigan, It was 9:23 pm when I took this sunset photo, not long before the sun disappeared.
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.
How Many Identities Can One Man Have Before You Get Suspicious? Would You Believe 17?
Either this guy is one of the the busiest and most talented men on the planet or something is very suspicious. I found 17 different identities for this guy that are fit to share in this article (and some that aren’t).
Posted July 10, 2016. Revised and re-posted June 3, 2018.
The Chinese Lens Rip Off! Part Two
You order a set of lenses expecting to pay $29. Your credit card gets charged several times that amount and you get socked with an outrageous $85.00 shipping charge. You find out later you could buy the same lenses at Amazon for less than $10. You’ve been ripped off.
Posted Aug. 9, 2016. Updated Dec. 2, 2017. Revised and re-posted June 2, 2018.
The Chinese Lens Rip Off! Part One
After reading a glowing review you order a set of smart phone lenses and you are billed over $100. You get socked with an additional $85 shipping charge (the ad said shipping was free). Then you find out you could have bought the same lenses for less than $10. To add insult to injury you discover the great review was from a fake review site and the quality of the lenses is disappointing. You’ve been ripped off.
Memorial Day
U.S. Flags at Sunset, Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni, Iowa
From Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.