I had the pleasure of visiting Maui for a short vacation this past holiday season. Maui is the second largest island by land area in the Hawaiian archipelago. The island is known for its beautiful beaches and tropical landscapes. Prior to my trip I did some research on the types...
About Matt Nielsen
Post Archive By Matt Nielsen
Nikon 45mm f/2.8D PC-E Review
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 45mm f/2.8D PC-E, also known as PC-E Micro Nikkor 45mm f/2.8D ED, a special purpose normal-angle lens designed for architecture, commercial, macro, and nature photography. “PC” stands for “Perspective Control”, but I will refer to this type of lens as “tilt-shift” in...
Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S as a Walk-Around Lens
This past week Nikon announced two new full-frame mirrorless cameras, the Z6 and Z7, as well as the development of a new flagship lens, the NIKKOR Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct. The press release carried much fanfare about the future of Nikon photography and nostalgia regarding the famous Noct-NIKKOR 58mm...
How to Take Better Photos at Night
How does one take better photos at night? Creating technically excellent images at night can be a challenge, especially for novice photographers who may rely on automatic camera settings to get the shot. During the day, there is usually an abundance of light which makes it easy to take a...
11 Cityscape Photography Tips for Beginners
Roughly 80% of people in the United States live in metropolitan areas. This means that cityscape photography is one of the most accessible genres of photography. The shapes and intricate details seen in city skylines are attractive to humans because our brains recognize and think in terms of patterns. However,...
20 Sports Photography Tips for Beginners
Doing sports photography of your children, friends, or teammates is a great way to capture action-packed memories while having fun at the event. With a camera, you can be in the middle of the excitement at a sporting event rather than sitting on the sidelines (figuratively, of course - you...
Travel Photography in Japan
People from across the globe come to explore Japan's cherished history as well as its renowned modern cities. Earlier this spring I had the opportunity to visit Japan for one week with a group of friends. I knew that I would have the chance to create many unique images during...
Advanced Sports Photography Tips
This post is the last in a three-part series dedicated to teaching sports photography at all levels of competency. In part one I covered the basics for photographers who are just getting started. Part two was geared towards intermediate amateurs who have mastered the basics and want to gain additional competency to...
Common Cityscape Photo Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Cityscape photography has become increasingly popular in recent years as downtown revival and walkability have been prioritized by city governments. Humans are intrinsically attracted to the patterns, lines, and vivacity of urban landscape images. Additionally, photographing cityscapes requires only a modest investment in camera gear, with a sturdy tripod and...
Taking Your Sports Photography Beyond Snapshots
This post is the second in a three-part series dedicated to teaching sports photography at all levels of competency. In part one I covered the basics for photographers who are just getting started. This article will focus on intermediate amateurs who have mastered the basics, and want to gain additional competency...