Buyer’s Guide: Recommendations For The Best Photography Equipment, Software, Books, Magazines, DVDs, Online Photo Labs and More

I get lots of photo questions and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone shopping for a photographer.

Here is my list of “best of the best” of articles recommending the best photo gear, software, books, DVDs, calendars, online photo labs, and a whole lot more.

Posted Nov. 19, 2016. Updated Dec. 28, 2016.

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Eliminating Sun Flare

Aspen Grove, Rocky Mountain National Park

Aspen Grove, Rocky Mountain National Park. (No sun flare.)

There are times when you shoot in the direction of the sun that direct rays from the sun enter your lens even though the sun isn’t in the photo. Whenever this happens you have the possibility of sun flare. The sunlight bouncing around inside your lens can create ghost shapes, add a light haze to the image, and rob the photo of color.

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The Chinese Lens Rip Off! Part Three

This is pretty much the same kind of rip off I have written about before. Take a cheap smart phone lens that people can buy at Amazon for $16.99 or less, jack up the price to $56, make outrageous claims, and see how may people you can sucker into buying the item at the higher price. They even used the same “questionable” technologist who has multiple identities.

Posted Oct. 17, 2016. Revised and expanded Dec. 2, 2017.

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Nature Photography Workshop – OSU Mansfield Ohio Campus

CAPTURING NATURE’S WONDERS
Photography Workshop – OSU – Mansfield Ohio
October 15, 2016 – 9:00 am to 8:00 pm

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I am excited. My nature photography workshop in Ohio is next month.

Come spend a fun, exciting, action-packed day learning how to take your photography to the next level. In the intensive classroom explorations you will learn the steps that make the difference between ordinary snapshots and extraordinary images. Minutes later you will be practicing those steps with your own camera. Learn the secrets of the pros and apply their tips and techniques to create your own eye-popping images.

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Colorado Fall Color Travel Guide – 2016

Mt. Sneffels from County Road 7 - Dallas Creek. October 3.

Mt. Sneffels and the Sneffels Range from County Road 7 (East Dallas Creek), Colorado. October 3, 2014.

Welcome to my Colorado fall color travel guide with 104 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 weekend to three weeks exploring the beautiful Colorado Rockies at a gorgeous time of year.

This article is updated and re-posted every year. To find the most recent version, go to the Favorites/Most Popular page and look for the name of this article.

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Chip East Reflects on his Friend, Bill Biggart’s Last Photos from 9/11

Photographer Chip East was staring intensely at his laptop screen.

It was two weeks after two jetliners had plowed into the towers of the World Trade Center. His good friend, photojournalist Bill Biggart’s body had been recovered from the rubble. His personal effects, including his cameras had been released by authorities to his widow, Wendy.

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Remembering 9/11


Photo by James Nachtwey for TIME magazine.

On this date, fifteen years ago, we experienced a great national tragedy in the United States. Not only in the lives that were lost in the terrorist attacks, the families torn asunder, and the emergency responders who suffered terrible health problems as a result of working at the scene – but also in the way we view ourselves and our world.

In remembrance of that day, and to honor the lives that were lost, I am posting some tributes.

My Image as Tiana Hunter’s Facebook Profile Picture

August 11 screen capture from Tiana Hunter's Facebook page.

August 11 screen capture from Tiana Hunter’s Facebook page.

For several weeks (from August 11 until this afternoon, September 9) professional model Tiana Hunter has been using an image from our most recent photo shoot as her profile image on Facebook. She is a first class professional model, one of the best I have ever worked with, so it gives me a great deal of professional satisfaction to have her appreciate my work.

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Batch Registering Photos with the U.S. Copyright Office

636 photos batch registered with the U.S. Copyright Office

636 photos batch registered with the U.S. Copyright Office

I recently batch registered a bunch of photos with the U.S. copyright Office. Once again the process has been changed slightly to make the process slightly less complicated. That doesn’t mean the process has become simple and if you haven’t registered photos with the copyright office some guidance is especially helpful before you try this the first time.

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Total Immersion Nature Photography Weekend in Beautiful Northern Michigan

Michigan Photography Workshop

This is an earlier date for this workshop than in prior years so we are announcing this now. Come spend a fun and exciting weekend learning how to take your nature photography to the next level. The weekend is May 26-28, 2017 at Park of the Pines on beautiful Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan with an optional all day field trip to Michigan’s U.P. on Monday, May 29.

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The National Park Service is 100 Years Old Today. Go Celebrate!

Images from Denali, Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Rocky Mountain National Parks.

Images from Denali, Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Rocky Mountain National Parks.

The National Park Service is 100 years old as of today. The NPS was established August 25, 1916 to manage the national parks that were already in existence plus any parks to be created. Go out and celebrate by taking pictures. Plan a trip this year to one of our national parks. Take your camera and create images at some of the most spectacular locations in North America.

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Colorado Fall Color Travel Guide

Aspen and Evergreens, Marshall Pass, Colorado. September 25, 1990

Aspen and Evergreens, Marshall Pass, Colorado. September 25, 1990.

This article is updated and re-posted every year. To find the most recent version, go to the Favorites/Most Popular page and look for the name of this article.

Welcome to my Colorado fall color travel guide with 103 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 weekend to two weeks exploring the beautiful Colorado Rockies at a gorgeous time of year.

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