Saturday, November 30, 2013

Inside a volcano

Inside a Volcano, Thrihnukagigur, Iceland

There are about 1,500 volcanoes on land — and even more underwater — but only one that you can truly climb inside.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

You don't see northern lights like these

Northern Lights, Lake Mývatn, Iceland

I’ve seen the northern lights a number of times in the North Cascades of Washington state, but when I was presented with an opportunity to see them near the Arctic Circle, I knew I had to take advantage of it.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Pools of gold

Pools of Gold, Iceland

It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite part of Iceland, so I’m not even going to try. I’ve probably been to Geysir, however, more than any other part.

A note about this blog

After much thought, instead of scrapping this blog entirely, I’ve decided to change its focus.

From time to time, I’m going to post some of my favorite fine-art images and talk about what they mean to me. I'm going to try to post one a month, similar to my former schedule. I will start later today with an image from Iceland, which helped reignite my passion for photography.

Please let me know what you think of this new format.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

If you like it, support it

Bald Eagle Flying Away

“Tony's restaurant is closed? I loved that place. I hadn't been there in a while, but their food was amazing.”

Ever said something like that? I'm guilty, too. This post is about how “Tony” must have felt.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Letting nature tell its own story

Bald Eagle: Juveniles Playing Catch

It has never been easier for a nature photographer to create an image that they imagined in their head. No Photoshop required.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Long and short on teleconverters

Bald Eagle: Adult Feeding Juvenile

When you're a wildlife photographer working in a public park, the equipment you use undoubtedly draws attention. This summer, I've been documenting the development of a pair of young bald eagles. To get the images I need without disturbing the birds, I've been using a 600mm lens – a 13-pound monster of a lens that has a front element only slightly smaller than a dinner plate.

A small number of people come up and ask me questions about the birds. Many, many more grill me about my equipment. The vast majority say something like, "I bet you can see every nose hair with that." I cannot. In terms of magnification, the lens falls in between a pair of binoculars and a birder's spotting scope. The lens is physically big because it lets a lot of light in allowing me to capture action images at high resolution.

It's the second most common question that I'm going to address in this blog post. It comes from amateur photographers who want to know about my use of a teleconverter with this lens.