And what a time it was. I bannered the bartender above, as he epitomized the gracious, fun atmosphere that followed our workshop throughout the trip. Threw in a little rear curtain flash with a quick twist of the camera. It was purposeful! Had nothing to do with the pint I had just downed. Our first workshop in Ireland was a fantastic time! A terrific pictorial adventure into the lore, laughter and legends of the Emerald Isle. Taught a wonderful group of photographers with fellow instructor and dear friend Tamara Lackey. Dublin was buzzing with energy – especially since we had nonstop su ..read more

Re-running this popular blog. A fun guide to shooting wonderful fireworks pictures. Hope it might be helpful – enjoy! It’s the Fourth of July. Break out the hot dogs, the beer, the ball game and the sunscreen. Not to mention the tripod and maybe a fancy remote trigger. Everybody loves to shoot fireworks. It has lots of connotations–holiday, patriotism, barbecues, friends, family. Time to relax. Time to shoot some pictures. Okay, make a checklist. Camera. Wide angle zoom. Telephoto zoom. Memory cards. Cable release or remote trigger, which, depending on the camera system, can be a radio, or pe ..read more

Pickleball…in a studio…with a 14-24 mm f/2.8 wide lens – what could go wrong! The NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S isn’t the lens you generally think of for portraiture, but it was also kind of cool. How do I go wide, and photograph a person, and not go off the deep end with angles and lines? How do I treat the human form decently in this wide, wide world I’d be shooting in? My mandate was to capture something different using the 14-24 – not landscapes or scenics. Logical to reach for this lens for landscapes, right? Well this time – it was going to be portraits. We assembled terrific talent on the ..read more

Digital Camera World busted out this week with news of a production milestone just reached by Nikon. 120 million lenses produced. I can see why. Terrific glass, mounted on incredibly durable high performance cameras. So, why am I showing you a picture of a silver haired gentleman handing Richard Nixon a book on Park Avenue in NYC? Forgive me, I have written of this before. But in these tumultuous times, with millions of pictures flooding our eyes, and a madding, uneven, occasionally talented horde of content providers, influencers, and creators clicking voluminously with furious abandon, I th ..read more

Had a bit of back and forth with dear friend and wonderful photographer Matthew Jordan Smith in the last few days. He’s coming off of publishing a monumental effort called Aretha Cool, a celebration of the life of the Queen of Soul. It’s also a celebration of Matthew, in that the intimacy and emotions portrayed come from his own empathetic heart, and his innate ability to obtain, in honest and human fashion, the trust of his subjects. He and Aretha were friends, and it’s apparent. The relationship is deeply heartfelt. It’s the only way you get pictures like this. His own heart has had some bu ..read more

National Astronaut day just passed, a day which acknowledges those audacious few who have, in reality, gone to infinity and beyond. I spent about 16 plus weeks with then Senator John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, as he prepared to go back to space, many years later. A lot of astro training is done in the classroom, in simulators and other very controlled settings. The time they occasionally get to get into high speed jets and get their yaya’s out is limited. Like, I was able to connect with one flight, and it was a picture I needed for the coverage, badly. I got lucky with the ..read more

Time flies. Roughly ten years ago, I climbed the Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world. Took a while to negotiate with the building, but they eventually took a liking to the idea, and allowed me up there with a couple of their own climbers, two really remarkable gentlemen, Mick and Johnny. The showed me the ropes, literally, and kept me safe. As Mick said, in his wonderful English accent, “Now Joe, you’re gonna be alright in the bucket, eh, mate? Cause we don’t want anyone panicking in the bucket. Somebody panics in the bucket, we gotta take him off in a helicopter, and that’s a ba ..read more

A momentous cellestial event, one not to be repeated for many years! It was surreal, yesterday, watching astronomical excitement migrate across this country, following the sun and the moon. Congeniality, kindness and an all-embracing sense of awe swept over millions. In these often dark times, where many gatherings are slathered in hate and the lack of hope, the light of sky continues to astound, and lifts our hearts. Just maybe, out in the sea of people staring skyward, there are a few young people for whom the ring of fire in the black sky started a spark in their heart, and a yen to travel ..read more

I’ll be launching a new class in June in conjunction with KelbyOne. It’s called The Complete Photographer, and it’s nearly sold out! For a relentless, nonstop week, we drive towards becoming the title of the class: The Complete Photographer. We all stay at the same lovely hotel, so it will be pictures, critiques, and constant analysis and storytelling, breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ll have problems to be solved. The locations will be wonderful, and complicated. The ongoing mission of the week is to move the needle, not just a notch, but to a whole new level. My goal for anyone in the class ..read more

Traveling light, meaning not many equipment cases, is not something I’m known for. In my defense, growing up with film, there simply had to be more gear intensity applied to situations, just to carve out an exposure. ISO 5000 sounded like the name of a new planet discovered by NASA, you know, that one on the dark side of Uranus. Couple the work intensive obligations of film with the genre of assignments I often got, things could easily end up in the realm of “lots of stuff.” All of which got loaded onto an airplane, hopefully the same plane I was on, and met me on down the line at baggage clai ..read more