Occasionally, someone sees my long lens and asks me the question, "What's your favorite bird?" If I have too little mood or time to explain my answer, I usually pull out one that doesn't disappoint. Birds like eagles and harpies are usually a safe bet. But if I were to...
Essays and Inspiration Category Archive - Page 2
Bird Photography in Ottawa: Challenge or Opportunity?
Ottawa, Canada may not be the easiest place to see birds, or the best place to be a photographer, or even the warmest place... wait, why am I writing about Ottawa? Because I live here, and I've photographed birds and wildlife here for more hours than anywhere else. Ottawa has...
Photographing the Spectacled Bear with the Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5
A couple of weeks ago, I went to South America to photograph birds. But as fate would have it, one of the first animals to come into my camera’s viewfinder was a mammal. And not just any mammal! It was the Spectacled Bear – one of the largest carnivores on the continent.
Photographing the Ubiquitous Urban Wildlife
There's one big link between rats and pigeons. Although the species are separated by millions of years genetically, they are drawn together through their shared affinity for humans. Most humans, by comparison, have very little affinity for either species! But as a biologist and photographer, I'm always curious about how...
Photographing Exotic Birds Close to Home
It’s starting to rain outside, the days are getting shorter, and my holiday time is irreversibly over. Most of us are probably skimping on our remaining vacation days for the end of the year. What a situation! There are distant lands, exotic animals, and adventure awaiting – but no time to photograph them.
A Rare Encounter with the Santa Marta Screech-Owl
One thing that strikes uninitiated photographers about the tropics - for instance, some parts of South America - is how surprisingly unusual it is to encounter an animal. Now, you may be shaking your head and wondering if I've gone mad. Are we talking about the same tropics? It's a...
The Bright Side of the Disaster
The most popular articles on the Internet always seem to be downers. Just notice how little good news there is on a typical news website. It’s mostly celebrity gossip and death. So, to radically increase the views on my articles, let me tell you about a time that things went wrong.
Star Trails on Ultra-Large Format Film
In January, I went on a road trip to Zion National Park in Utah. Only recently did I realize that I hadn’t destroyed (yes, destroyed) the best photo I took there, of star trails at night. How did that happen? It’s entirely my fault, but at least the story, and the results, are encouraging.
Introduction to the Niche Hobby of Herp Photography
Herp photography is all about finding and photographing wild reptiles and amphibians. The general public often deems such creatures ugly and undeserving of attention, but herping enthusiasts give them the appreciation they deserve.
Photographing an Eclipse: My Impressions of the Nikon 500mm PF
I shoot the vast majority of my work at less than 100mm; my favorite subjects like landscapes, real estate, and aerial scenes all skew towards wide and mid focal lengths. For the recent lunar eclipse, however, I knew I needed a lot of reach. Fortunately, the cosmos aligned (literally in...