Orion’s belt, sword and the Orion Nebula in the middle of the sword. 300mm focal length lens and camera mounted on an iOptron Sky Tracker.
Using a tripod, camera, and lens you already own, am iOptron Sky Tracker allows you to take photos that would be impossible with just a camera and tripod. This is a first look at my first night using an iOptron Sky Tracker and ball head. Details will follow later.
Posted March 11, 2016. Updated Dec. 5, 2017.
iOptron SkyTracker in black. Older version.
iOptron’s SkyTracker has a become a very popular way to do astrophotography on a budget using your own camera and lenses. The SkyTracker tracks the motion of the earth so you don’t get star trails in your long photos of the night sky.
Posted March 8, 2016. Updated Dec. 5, 2017.
The iOptron SkyTracker has become a very popular way to do long exposures of the night sky for people on a budget who want to use their own camera and lenses. If you have an iOptron Polar Scope and you want to align it with Polaris without using a smart phone app, Michael Covington has created two charts that will make that simple.
Dew on aspen leaves, moss; evergreen needles, and evergreen cone.
The same photographic area can give you several very different kinds of images in different kinds of light. The morning light had turned cloudy in Rocky Mountain National Park so Bob, my brother-in-law, and I were in the forest doing small scale landscapes and closeups of little forest details.
Snowy Owl looking for prey.
If there are cold enough temperatures and plenty of snow cover on the ground, the northern United States has a winter invasion of Snowy Owls. These are magnificent creatures and well worth your photographic time and attention. This series is filled with tips on how to find and photograph snow owls.
Snowy Owl, Photo Location 1
When I am traveling with my highly trained photographic assistant it is his job to remove National Park Service trash barrels when they are in the way, cut down trees that spoil my view, run out into the meadow and scare off the cow elk that are in front of the bull elk I want to photograph, rip boards off of old barns that don’t look quite distressed enough, pull on the whiskers of a sleeping cougar to wake it up, and cut down utility lines that are obstructing a clear view of my subject. But he wasn’t with me on this trip due to sitting in jail over a minor incident in Yosemite. So I had a challenge on my hands that I had to solve myself.
Snowy Owl, Photo Location 1
A simple change of background can turn a disappointing wildlife photo into a great one. Professional wildlife photographers think about backgrounds all the time and do everything they can to improve the background. Less experienced wildlife photographers are so excited to find an interesting creature that they give the background precious little thought.
Snowy Owl
What is a Snowy Owl expedition really like? This article is your chance to find out. Join me for a two day photo safari! I give you tips and photo suggestions along the way, and you get to see how I prepare, plan, and adapt on a photo trip.
Pika
If creating stunning wildlife images was easy, everyone would be doing it. Fortunately for all of us, some of the very best wildlife photographers have shared their secrets in some excellent books that will dramatically improve your wildlife photography.
Wildlife Photography Guides
The first step to photographing wildlife is finding wildlife and one of the best ways to find wildlife is to look at wildlife location books. They will save you hours of frustration by sending you to the best locations to find wildlife.
Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams was born February 20, 1902. He is “the” icon of American landscape photography. Trained as a concert pianist, his love of photography and time spent in Yosemite National Park led him to a career change.
Lyn Marie, Ohio
It is difficult enough to create a beautiful nude image under normal circumstances, much less in the cold and snow. You need to bring some significant skills and experience to the task.
I am excited to announce my nature photography workshops for 2016. They are all listed and linked at JimDoty.com. These are action packed, fun filled workshops that are crammed full of practical photography tips and information that will give a big boost to your photography. Just read what photographers say about the workshops.
Photo by James Turrell
Your Monday dose of photographic inspiration from The Breed. More here.
Photos by Melissa Rodwell from the photo shoot featured in the video below.
Unlike the last video which emphasizes the work that goes on before the actual photo shoot, this video is mostly about what goes on during the shoot.
Tear sheet from Harper’s Bazaar Arabia. Photo by Melissa Rodwell from the photo shoot featured in the video below.
The common perception of a fashion shot on location is beautiful models in fabulous locations, but that is not the whole story, and maybe not entirely the real story as you will see in this video.
Continue reading
Ashley in silver metallic body paint.
Ashley and I were doing a photo shoot in the studio with silver body paint and we decided to go outside, despite the cold, winter weather. Isn’t this what everybody does on Valentine’s Day?
What is the location of this iPhone photo?
UPDATE, 1:05 pm: That didn’t take long. Rich is our winner today. He is a photographer in Colorado. I was facing generally north taking pictures of El Capitan (with a better camera than my iPhone). I was standing in El Capitan Meadow (just south of Northside Drive) in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California.
Where was I when I took this photo? Today’s quiz is being run simultaneously on my photography blog and my Facebook photography page. The winner will be determined by the time stamp of the comments as I receive them on my Facebook photography page (you must be logged in to Facebook to see my photography page).
El Capitan in the moonlight along with a camera and tripod. El Capitan Meadow, Yosemite National Park, California.
GPS Data is increasingly important to photographers. It is the link between photos and photographic locations. It can be very helpful to drop GPS coordinates into a program like Google Earth to be able to tell exactly where a photo was taken. How do you do that?
Moonlight on Bear Lake and Hallett Peak. Evening field trip. Photography workshop at Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Click to see a much larger version.
I am excited to announce my nature photography workshops for 2016. These are action packed, fun filled workshops that are crammed full of practical photography tips and information that will supercharge your photography. Just ask anyone who has “survived” one of my workshops.
Did you know that with a “beautiful location” and a “beautiful model” and “using just the sun at the right time of day” you can get some beautiful images? Yep. I kinda figured you already knew that. And if you didn’t know that already here are the photos to prove it.
Temple Image with GPS coordinates. Click for a larger version.
The GPS system is increasingly important to photography. It will help you figure out where you took some of your more obscure photos and help you caption your photos. More and more photo editors want GPS information for the photos they publish. A GPS communicator could save your life. This series will help you learn the ins and outs of GPS, plus keep you and your family safe.
Originally posted Jan. 29, 2016. Updated Dec. 29, 2016. This whole series has been revised and re-posted here.
Wat Buddharatanaram, Buddhist Temple, Keller Texas
The fastest way to check location accuracy your camera’s GPS information is to take a photo at a known location that you can pinpoint on a map.
Posted Jan. 28, 2016. Updated Jan. 30, 2017.
Yellow Pin: GPS coordinates provided by my iPhone. Red X: Actual photo location.
In my last article (on figuring out the name for Antora Peak) I noted the discrepancy between the GPS coordinates provided by my iPhone and the actual location where I took the photo (graphic above). They were off by about 20-30 feet. You can test the accuracy of the GPS information provided by your camera/smartphone. This article will show you how.
Posted Jan. 28, 2016. Updated Jan. 30, 2017.
Dawn at Sprague Lake with GPS metadata. Click to see a larger version.
Should you join the growing number of photographers who “geotag” their photos (add GPS data). How do you do it? Are there times you shouldn’t?
“Mountain in Colorado”
What is the name of this mountain? Photo editors want to know. They like caption information. If you have a distinctive mountain in your photo, “Mountain in Colorado” won’t cut it with your friendly neighborhood photo editor. Here’s how to identify that mountain in Google Earth (and how to get GPS coordinates into Google Earth).
Posted Jan. 26, 2016. Updated Feb. 3, 2017.
Snowy Owl Sightings, January 2016
Winter is your opportunity to photograph Snowy Owls. When it is cold and snowy there are a lot of snowy owl sightings across the northern U.S. Don’t delay. If the winter turns warmer the owls will head farther north. On the other hand, if the winter turns colder they may move even farther south.
This is the first in an ongoing series of articles on Snowy Owl photography. Originally posted January 25, 2016. Revised and updated Dec. 24, 2017.
Photos Open in Adobe Bridge. Click to see a larger version.
Is your photo archive well organized, or do you have a hard time finding a specific photo? Can you quickly an easily find all of your elk photos from Colorado, or your cousin Harry’s birthday photos?
Grand Central Station by Ken Van Sickle
Excellent question. Ken Van Sickle’s answer is in this article and video that are part of the Brief But Spectacular series at PBS.
Jazmine, Photo © Adam Marc Williams
So you are doing a portrait shoot and you want an “edgy” look. How do you get it? Read this article by Adam Marc Williams for a quick introduction (and buy a spray bottle).