For a few weeks a year, hundreds of bald eagles congregate along a short stretch of Hood Canal near the town of Seabeck, Washington. Bald eagles are opportunistic. While they are skilled hunters, they don't work any harder than they have to for their meals. Between a fish migration and wide tidal swings, the feeding is easy there in May and June.
While there’s nothing quite like appreciating a giant print on a museum wall, photography books can have their own charm. A high-quality book can help you get closer to the image than you ever could to a framed print. And advances in digital printing have made it possible for any photographer to their own books — even just a single copy.
I recently printed a single copy of a portfolio. I’m working on a photography exhibit and I need to talk to exhibitors, art patrons and other supporters about the concept. A short book is a great visual aid. I ended up using Saal Digital to produce the bound portfolio and wanted to share my experience.
I create only a few black and white images per year. I don't have anything against monochrome; I just find that most of the time, color is a critical ingredient that helps me express what I want to say. But there are also times that color gets in the way.
Occasionally, I'm a witness to things that are so bizarre you almost have to see a picture to believe it happened. Such was this odd encounter between a great blue heron and a blackbird.
To call these unusual times minimizes how unusual they really are. Over the past seven weeks, the majority of my photography has been conducted within a few feet of my front door. And given that the stay-at-home order in my state has just been extended, my yard will continue to be my photography subject for at least another four more.
It’s easy to fixate on the limits. My spring and summer travel plans have been scrapped. And I can’t help but think of the photo opportunities in the parks close to home, which are off-limits to my camera and tripod. But these nearly two months at home have also been eye-opening.
With my photography projects on indefinite hold, I've had some time to process images that have been in sitting the production queue, waiting for their turn. This is one of those. It’s from Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.
The days of dSLR cameras are numbered. But even though Canon announced it’s concentrating its development efforts on mirrorless cameras, its brand new top-of-the-line camera is… a dSLR.
Given that the new Canon 1Dx Mark III is likely to be one of the last dSLRs ever, is it worth investing in one for wildlife photography? After using one for nearly two months, I think it is. The camera is a much more substantial upgrade than its specifications might suggest. Its autofocus system is nothing short of revolutionary. The new smart controller, which helps you quickly select autofocus points, almost justifies the upgrade by itself. But the camera suffers from some infuriating glitches and quirks, even after a firmware update.
