Sycamore Hills Gardens, Marcellus, NY This is my attempt at employing the acronym, KISS . . . Keep It Simple Sir! I know that this has traditionally been communicated as Keep It Simple Stupid but I don’t think you’re stupid and I hope you don’t think I am either. What I am trying to do is look ahead at my future workshops and try to make them work in the new, post-Covid-19 environment, while we really don’t know what it will be like. Will we need to maintain “social distancing?” Will people be able to plan months ahead of time? Will folks who have been out of work because of the pandemic sh ..read more

I think one of the best ways we have to improve our photography to get serious about what we’ve done well in the past and even more serious about what we’d like to do better with our photography in the future. These are the two objectives that we try to achieve during the image review sessions of my workshops. I’m happy to be able to say that these sessions are often among the workshop experiences participants report valuing the most. It has often occurred to me that we don’t need to be in a workshop to get value from an image review. As I’ve been forced to cancel workshops because of the Cov ..read more

I really don’t know how many people have asked me about “that yellow thing wrapped around the base of the head on my tripod.” It’s definitely a conversation starter. but, of course, it’s much more than that. Simply put, it’s a bag that’s rolled up and cinched around the base of whatever head I’m using at the time. Not just any bag. It’s a “dry bag”. These are the types of bags often used by canoeists and kayakers to protect gear while enjoying these sports. Why do I have one attached to my tripod? Well, for a couple of reasons. 1) It’s handy just in case it starts to rain or seriously snow. I ..read more

Photo challenges come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. Some are strictly personal as when one of us decides to challenge ourself to photograph all the waterfalls in the county or to learn how to photograph the night sky, or to photograph exclusively with a certain lens for a photoshoot. There’s no shortage of challenges we can create for ourselves. January 2nd effort. As 2019 was winding down I was bemoaning the fact that I had not spent as much time behind my camera and tripod in 2019 as I would have liked. So, I decided to challenge myself to get out more, to do more photography in 2020 ..read more

What’s the saying? You can’t make a silk’s purse out of a sow’s ear. Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t try. As I left home this morning I wasn’t thinking of this saying specifically but the general thought was there. I knew I had flat light to deal with along with really fine, wind-driven snow to deal with. It seemed logical to not be thinking about focusing on grand landscapes. My first stop was an icy marsh I call toad hollow. I really don’t know what it’s real name is but it can be a great venue at sunset. So, I wasn’t thinking about grand landscapes. Looking back I think I was operating w ..read more

Today was one of those days when photography turns out to be delicious. A sunny afternoon was what we call “the cherry on top” when it follows a night of freshly fallen snow. Everything was clean . . . except for the occasional footprints of some critters. I wish I knew what critters left the prints but I didn’t. I photographed them anyway. I framed images of long-dead milkweed, saplings of some sort enjoying a conference in the snow-covered ice and so much more. Days like this, okay hours like this, are great because I get to work at “seeing” the element of images. An hour without any other ..read more

Let’s see what we think works. I wasn’t able to even look for my photo today until the sun had already set. As I picked up my gear and went for the door I was debating whether to load the gear into the Malibu or the Silverado. Since it was snowing heavy, wet flakes I was and I was leaning toward taking the pickup. As it turned out it was a consideration I really didn’t have to weigh because as I climbed to stairs to the landing in my backyard I spotted the solar landscape lights that line the sidewalk from the landing to the driveway. I installed them a couple of years ago and see them virtual ..read more

Sometimes you have to just go with the flow. Tonight, right around dinner time I was hurrying to try and come up with my photo for today, as part of the Hundred Day Photo Challenge. Not only did that mean that I’d be late for dinner but as I raced to the venue for today’s images, the south end of Otisco Lake and a spot called the causeway by locals the sun seemed to be racing, too. I knew that soon it would slide b below the horizon and it didn’t look like the sunset would be particularly wonderful. Even most of the clouds I was counting on seemed to be disappearing. As I arrive at the causew ..read more

Working with an implied line created by a line of pine trees. When I climb out of bed in the morning typically one of the first things I do is take a look out my bedroom window to see what the morning might be offering, photographically. This morning, I felt like I might have hit the jackpot. What I was seeing was a heavy morning fog and the rising sun. It was an instant decision and within minutes I was grabbing my gear and heading out the basement door My second composition this morning was a backlit, leafless tree. already intent on creating an image in my backyard. This was one of tho ..read more

Sometimes a little camera motion can add a painterly appeal. One day it’s snowing, the next it’s raining. One day the skies are bright overcast, the next they are dark and dank. Every day you take your tripod with you for your photo shoot. Then, on one of the dark and dank days, you leave home without the tripod and drive 35 miles to your intended venue for the shoot before you discover the tripod is back by your desk at home. What to do? Well, the first thing I did was set my ISO so that I could shoot with a higher shutter speed. That was before I realized that what I was experiencing from ..read more