Three years ago I wrote a series of articles about the people and events that changed me as a photographer. Mike is the first on the list.
Trunk or Treat: Choosing The Best Event Photos
When I first started shooting for a small town newspaper, the first rule I learned for an event was “Shoot a lot of photos and pick the best.” The best photos were sometimes called “selects”, because they were selected for publication. In the image above you can see my final selection of images in the order they were taken.
36 Photos: Trunk or Treat, Lamoni Iowa
Every year in Lamomi Iowa, the ENACTUS program at Graceland University sponsors Trunk or Treat. Other community organizations help out. Trick-or-treaters play all kinds of fun and games to win free treats. (Everyone wins.) For example, the “Incredible, Bodiless, Talking Head” tells jokes. Anyone who survives his jokes gets a treat.
Camera Settings for Trunk or Treat
If I am photographing an event and the light is constant, I shoot in manual mode for the most accurate exposure and the best color. But if the light is variable, there isn’t time during an active event to be constantly changing the exposure because you will miss too many photo ops. That means shooting in an automatic mode.
Camera Gear for Trunk or Treat
This is the gear I will be taking to photograph Trunk or Treat, a big annual event in Lamoni Iowa. The camera with a 24-105mm lens will be hanging around my neck. The camera with the 70-300mm lens will be hanging from my right shoulder. Two memory card wallets, one for each camera will be in my jacket pocket. The spare camera battery, which will fit either camera, will also be in my jacket pocket.
Photos of the Lamoni Area Fall Festival
Lamoni’s U14 Soccer Team Wins Third Straight Championship
It was a great season for Lamoni’s junior league soccer teams. Most Lamoni teams won most of their games and Lamoni’s undefeated “U14” team (ages 14 and under) won the end of season tournament, Saturday, September 23. A newspaper article and more photos follow the break.
A Guide to One of My Favorite Colorado Photo Spots
Finding the Peak Fall Colors at the Best Locations
Fall color will soon be sweeping the country (and already is up in Alaska). To make the most of it, you want to be at the right place at the right time. With some help from the internet, I will help you find the best fall color locations at the peak of the season.
Two Photographers and Eleven Outdoor/Travel Writers Pick the Best National Parks for Fall
Fall is a fabulous time of year to visit the national parks. Crowds are usually smaller than in the summer, temperatures are cooler, and some of our national parks have glorious fall colors. With so many to choose from, where should you go? Which national parks will provide the best photographic opportunities in the fall?
The Best National Parks for Fall Photography
What are the best national parks to photograph in the fall? Here are my choices, grouped by state and province from west to east. This list includes the favorites I have been to, plus the ones I most want to see based on the recommendations of the photographers I trust, like Tim Fitzharris and QT Luong. More about them later.
Fall Color Photography Guide to Marshall Pass and O’Haver Lake, Colorado
Marshall Pass is a beautiful fall color drive in southern Colorado, and still pretty much a secret. It does not turn up on most lists of the most beautiful fall color drives in Colorado. It is a beautiful drive with a lot of fall color photo opportunities.
22 Years Ago
I remember it like it was yesterday.
I was working in my office. The family/TV room was right around the corner. The phone rang and I picked it up.
“Stop whatever you are doing and turn on the TV.” I walked around the corner and turned it on.
The 20 Year Memorial, George W. Bush at Shanksville
“On America’s day of trial and grief I saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor’s hand and rally to the cause of one another. That is the America I know.
Chip East Reflects on the Last Photos of His Friend, Bill Biggart, Taken on 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.
Bill Biggart’s Last Photos – 9/11
Bill Biggart’s final photograph. He was killed when the second World Trade Center tower collapsed on top of him. He was 53 years old.
September 11th As It Happened
This compilation of news reports captures the essence of that morning better than almost any other video on YouTube.
9/11 Tribute – In the Arms of an Angel
9/11 – Let Us Pray
LET US PRAY
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked and ultimately crashed. Two crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City and one crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.
LET US PRAY.
Dozens of people in each of four airplanes living in terror as their hijacked planes are flown to destinations unknown to them. Each ends in a terrible fiery crash.
Remembering 9/11
Photo by James Nachtwey for TIME magazine.
I will never forget staring at the screen. I was stunned. It was just a few moments after I got the phone call to turn on the TV. Then the second plane hit.
On this date, twenty-one years ago, we experienced a great national tragedy in the United States. 2,977 lives that were lost in the terrorist attacks. So many families were torn asunder. The way we view ourselves and our world changed. Emergency responders continue to suffer terrible health problems as a result of working at the scene. The way we view ourselves and our world changed too. Over 2,000 first responders have died of health issues related to 9/11.
In remembrance of that day, and to honor the lives that were lost, I am posting some tributes.
Total Immersion Nature Photography Weekend in Beautiful Northern Michigan
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 October 13-15, 2023.
By the Light of a Blue Supermoon
This article will give you some tips on taking portraits by moonlight. We have been planning this shoot ever since our moonlit photo shoot in a cemetery last November. We just needed a nice bright moon and a clear sky with stars. Last night with a blue supermoon was the night.
How to Photograph Tonight’s Blue Supermoon
Tonight, August 30-31, 2023, is a Supermoon. Go out and take pictures! This article will take you through the steps to getting a great image.
Tonight’s Blue Supermoon – What Is It?
Tonight, August 30-31, 2023, the full moon will be bigger and brighter than most full moons. So go out and look. I love the night sky, so in my book, any time spent looking up at the night sky is time well spent, supermoon or not.
Colorado Fall Color Photography and Travel Guide – 2023
Headed for Colorado this fall? Welcome to my complete Colorado fall color photography and travel guide with 131 photos, 18 maps, and over 100 pages of information (if you print it all out). I cover some of the best known fall color locations in Colorado, and one real gem of a road that is not widely known to photographers and leaf peepers. Spend anywhere from two days to two weeks exploring the beautiful Colorado Rockies at a gorgeous time of year.
How to Shoot With and Protect Your Camera Gear in Hot Weather
It has been a really hot summer so I am posting this again as a “save your camera gear” reminder. Camera gear has a temperature and humidity rating. A top of the line Canon camera body has a limit of 115°F and 85% or less humidity. A black camera on a hot day can easily exceed that limit. Less expensive cameras of any brand have lower limits so it is important to protect your gear.
“Jim Cathey Comes Home” Pulitzer Prize Winning Photo and Article
This evocative, Pulitzer Prize winning photo by Todd Heisler has been widely shared on the internet. Jim Sheeler’s deeply moving story that accompanies the photo (a Pulitzer Prize winning article) isn’t nearly so widely known. His article follows. Heisler and Sheeler both worked for the Rocky Mountain News at the time.
Adobe Bridge Basics: How to Do a Keyword Search
Single Keyword searches with Adobe Bridge are fast and simple. Open your master folder of photos (see Adventures with Adobe Bridge for suggestions on how to create this folder). All of the keywords for all of the photos in your folder will show up on a list at the left. Scroll down the list until you come to the keyword you want to use in your search. For this example I chose the keyword “portrait”. Click the box in front of the word portrait and in less than a second all of your portraits will show up. You can see some of them in the above screen capture. The process is the same for any other keyword you want to look for, be it elk, moose, sunsets, or Elvis sightings.
Adobe Bridge Basics: How to Batch Keyword Photos
This is the third article in a “how to” series. In the prior article in this series we ended up with a folder of renamed photos that need to be keyworded. They are still all selected as you can see by the blue borders. This article will show you how to batch keyword these photos.
Adobe Bridge Basics: How to Batch Rename Photos
In the last article we ended up with several folders with photos that need to be renamed. This is the folder for July 24, 2023. I will take you through the simple steps to batch rename these photos.