The OM System OM-1 has a super high 120 frames per second (fps) in SH1 mode.  In SH1 mode, the camera does not autofocus in between frames.  The OM-1 also has an SH2 mode that does focus in between frames, and has a still really fast 50 fps.  However, there are certain limitations when shooting in SH2 mode. I’ve been looking for a subject to take advantage of the 120 fps in the high speed Pro Capture mode (SH1) of the OM-1.  Bees in flight are a terrific subject to test out ProCapSH1 on the OM-1. I had previously photographed bees in flight with good results using the Pro ..read more

I recently returned from a 7 day tour of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula by Backcountry Journeys (7 days is a bit misleading, day 1 consists of only a kickoff meeting and dinner).  The tour covered a large portion of the Kenai Peninsula, included 2 boat tours to photograph marine wildlife and birds, and a bush plane trip to photograph Alaskan Brown Bears. I generally hire a guide or tour company for their knowledge of the area, and for when and where to get good landscape, wildlife, and bird photographs.  The tour company also takes care of all of the logistics (hotel, meals, etc.) so that ..read more

The OM System OM-1 is a highly customizable camera.  In fact, there may be too many options to customize which can cause you to forget what is assigned to what.  More on how to help remember your customized settings later in the blog. In the OM-1, you can customize buttons, dials, fn Lever, custom modes, arrow pad and more.  I typically photograph nature: birds, wildlife, landscapes, and macro.  The new OM System OM-1 is perfect for nature photography with its small size, light weight, weatherproofing, and how much the camera can be customized. Here is how I set up and cus ..read more

There are an abundance of things to photograph in Pictured Rock National Lakeshore and the Munising area.  But, I had only 48 hours during the busy fall season to photograph this beautiful area. I managed to photograph almost everything on my list and even made a quick trip to Marquette.  In this blog, I thought I’d share information and tips on locations that I photographed, as well as general tips to photograph the area. I’ve included the GPS location for the parking areas for each photo opportunity as well as its proximity to Munising to help plan your itinerary.  I used the ..read more

Olympus Pro Capture is an amazing technology.  Pro Capture saves images in memory when you half press the shutter.  When an action happens and you press the shutter button fully, it will record those images in memory to your SD card so that you don’t miss the action shot. I use Pro Capture Low all the time to photograph bird take offs.  But for bees and other flying insects, I use Pro Capture High.  Pro Capture Low will get up to 18 frames per second (fps) while Pro Capture High uses the electronic shutter to achieve a frame rate of up to 60 fps. While Pro Capture High is ..read more

A clean, non distracting background is one of the most important compositional elements for macro photography.  In fact, next to sharp subject, it is probably the most important. A distracting background can have stray objects such as unwanted leaves and stems, or bright colors that take away from the subject.  A clean, simple background highlights the subject so it attracts the viewers eye. So how do you create macro photographs with clean, non distracting backgrounds?  In this blog, I’ll discuss several methods to get clean backgrounds of your macro or close up images. Flowe ..read more

When you are out on a bird photography walk, keep an eye out for flower photo opportunities. Your long telephoto lens could provide some flower photo ops that you wouldn’t be able to get with a standard zoom or macro lens. The long focal length works really well in instances where you need that extra reach for a flower composition.  The longer telephoto lens shot at wider apertures (f/4 to f/6.3) will also give you a nice blurred bokeh for the backgrounds of your flower photographs. Here are some instances where a long telephoto lens is terrific choice for flower photographs: When out ..read more

Keyboard short cuts can save you a lot of time editing your images in Adobe Photoshop CC.  But there are hundreds of keyboard short cuts in Photoshop.  There are single keystrokes, keystrokes with the Shift key, Alt key, Control key, etc.  There are even ones with a combination of control and shift keys like Command + Shift + Option + E which combines active layers and creates a new layer from the merged layer. So Which Keyboard Short Cuts are the Most Useful and Will Save you the Most Time? I’ve created a table below with my favorite Photoshop CC keyboard short cuts.  I ..read more

What makes a great bird photograph?  What makes some bird photographs stand out from others?  In this blog, I’ll discuss 10 things that will help to make your bird images great.  I’ve also included tips for each of these elements that will help to incorporate them in your photographs. Grasshopper Sparrow – Leading Lines, Rule of Thirds Composition General photography composition rules like Leading Lines, Rule of Thirds, Golden Spiral still apply to bird photographs.  But there are a few other considerations when composing bird photographs.  Don’t always put the bird i ..read more

Topaz Labs has combined several of their legacy photography processing plugins (Impression, Texture Effects, and Clarity) into one plugin for Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom – Topaz Studio 2.  Topaz has also added some new, powerful editing filters in Topaz Studio 2. What makes Topaz Studio 2 stand out is its focus on adding artistic and creative looks to images.  This also works very well for nature photographs including flowers, birds, macro, landscapes, etc. Lily Pads – Created with Hummingbird Wings Look and 2 Textures Topaz Looks Topaz Studio AI Looks are a great place to start w ..read more