About Nicholas Hess

Hi, my name is Nicholas Hess. I'm a wildlife photographer with a fascination for reptiles, amphibians, and the underwater world. My favorite animals are those that are misunderstood such as sharks and snakes. I am majoring in marine biology and minoring in journalism and Spanish, as I hope to pursue a career in wildlife photography and conservation. I invite you to check out my website if interested in prints, or you can find my latest photographs on Flickr and Instagram.

Post Archive By Nicholas Hess

Photography Lighting Setups Explained: A Beginner’s Guide

Light is everything in photography. It might be a cliché, but without light, there would be no image! Sometimes, you’re dependent on natural light; other times, you’ll have more control. In this article, I’ll explain a variety of lighting setups – from modifying natural light, to adding your own lights to a scene.

How Instagram Reels are Hurting Photographers

Instagram has been the world's biggest photo sharing platform for years, for better or for worse. Most professional photographers have an Instagram page if for no other reason than to connect to clients and share their work. And despite some issues over the years, broadly speaking, I believe it served...

Olympus 300mm f/4 IS PRO Review

The Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO is a high-performance telephoto lens built for the Micro Four Thirds system. This lens impressed me in every way, from sharpness to design, and its fast f/4.0 maximum aperture is good even in low light. In this review, I'll go through my full experience...

The Best Micro Four Thirds Lenses: 11 of My Favorites

One of the advantages of Micro Four Thirds cameras is that Panasonic, Olympus (OM System), and third party lenses with a Micro Four Thirds mount can be used on any Micro Four Thirds camera. Also, in part because of the competition between Panasonic and Olympus, these lenses are consistently impressive...

Nicholas Hess: What I’ve Been up to in 2023

We're only two months into 2023, and I've already had many "firsts" in my photography life. For the first time, I traveled to the Amazon for the unique wildlife opportunities, used the OM-1 (the best Micro Four Thirds camera today), took my Panasonic G9 underwater at my favorite spring, and...

OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO Review

Today, OM Digital Solutions announced a new macro lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras: the OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO. It’s a unique autofocus macro lens capable of 2x magnification, and I’m excited to reveal that I’ve already tested a copy of the lens extensively! Here’s my full review.

Panasonic Leica Summilux DG 12mm f/1.4 ASPH Review

The Leica DG Summilux 12mm f/1.4 ASPH lens from Panasonic is a fast, high-performance prime lens built for the micro four thirds system. With the full frame equivalent focal length of 24mm and a wide maximum aperture of f/1.4, this lens is built to capture low-light scenes and, if you...

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro Review

The Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 macro lens is the one of the best macro lenses available for Micro Four Thirds photographers, and possibly the best. With its strong 1:1 magnification, superb sharpness, reasonable working distance, and excellent handling, there is very little room for improvements. I have shot with the M.Zuiko...

What Are Diffusers in Photography? (And How to Use Them)

A diffuser is a critical piece of equipment for flash photography. In terms of the quality of light, I’d even say that using a diffuser is more important than the flash you choose! In this article, I’ll answer all of your questions about using diffusers for flash photography and artificial light.