A Conversation With David Muench; The National Parks

Last week, David Muench released his newly updated book: Our National Parks and it is a refreshing look at David’s 50 years of photographing the National Parks. When you think about 50 years of photographing the landscape you realize many things change during that time and David’s book contains images of scenes that will never be photographed the same way again. David joins us again for another conversation to share his images and his stories about their creation. (45 minutes)

To see David’s book, his website, and workshops, read on……

… Continue Reading

One Camera and One Microphone: Filming a Conservation Project

by Jerry Monkman

When Canon introduced the 5D Mark II a few years ago, I decided to give shooting video a try. I
had long been shooting still photos for land conservation projects and it seemed to me that
turning some of those projects into short videos could be a great way to tell the story of the land
being protected. I had no experience shooting video or recording sound, but what the heck – I
now had a camera that shot video, so I was all set.

As usual, I may have overestimated what I was getting myself into, but after six months of
practice, I was able to pull of this video for a client who helped foster an easement that will keep
the Anderson Farm in agricultural use for future generations. … Continue Reading

Death Valley Dreamlapse #2 by Gavin Heffernan

Filmmaker Gavin Heffernan has just released another wonderful night sky film from Death Valley.

As Gavin states: “This time our adventure took place at the infamous sliding stones of Racetrack Playa Lakebed in Death Valley. No UFOs this time (we THINK) but we got lots of cool shots of the stones themselves, as well as some epic starscape stuff — including a desert aurora, crazy star trails, and an awesome milky way pass. ”

DEATH VALLEY DREAMLAPSE 2 from Sunchaser Pictures on Vimeo. … Continue Reading

Are You Taking Care of Your Customers?

These days customers can be hard to come by for photographers. There are never enough of them and they have many options in today’s markets.  Because it is tough to land a new client, it becomes so important to take care of the ones you have after earning their business.

Out of sight = out of mind! I was horribly guilty of being ‘out of sight’ in my early days. I should make no excuses, but it was a different time. In the ‘olden days’ we marketed by direct mail and sales calls and maybe a portfolio showing. Today is different. While I occasionally make sales calls I rarely get them anymore and I like it that way.

If I was an art buyer I probably would prefer to not get calls (some prohibit it) even though my job is to work with photographers. If I was a real art buyer, it might take a lot to get excited about another photographer knocking on my virtual door. But I would get excited if a photographer contacted me in a unique and interesting manner and presented work that made me think “wow”. … Continue Reading

Why You Should Always Be Loaded for Bear

I was on a recent photo-shoot and when packing up I loaded all my camera gear that I thought I would need into the back of my truck and off I drove for a few hours to the assignment. I load it up all together put it in the back of my truck so I can mentally scan the gear and make sure I have everything I need for the shoot.

It was early in the morning and on the way there I spotted a deer in a farm field amongst the grasses and nicely backlit by the sunrise. I wanted the shot. I had to get the shot! But cameras were packed in the back.

I pulled over anyway hoping that I could open my truck canopy and grab the camera, attach the 300mm lens, and get an image that would make the cover of next year’s wildlife calendar. … Continue Reading

Loving the Land and Why Some People Can’t See the Forest for the Trees

Today I write this post for many reasons including some very personal ones. While Pro Nature Photographer focuses on photographers and their images, techniques, the business, and pretty much anything related to outdoor photography, today I cant help but reflect on our connection to the land and about loss and a recent personal one for me.

My photography career has taken many turns and I always worked hard to make sure it was all an adventure. With a studio in the big city and another in a smaller city, I had 20 very busy years. Photography assignments paid for my true love: outdoor and adventure photography. But as the ‘photo economy’ began to change with the advent of digital technology and a slowing economy, my wife and I decided to make a big move. We closed the studios and bought a log cabin on 5 acres in the Central Oregon Mountains. Moving forward I was going to focus on shooting location assignments and outdoor stock photography and if I needed an indoor studio I would rent one. That was in 2002.

We moved onto the property in the fall and got busy decorating the log cabin, preparing for winter, collecting firewood, and settling in. I had not lived in the mountains since I was a small kid but it felt like a return long overdue. I had always wanted to be Jeremiah Johnson, the mountain man that Robert Redford played in the movie. My wife, a city girl, told me when she agreed to the move that she would ‘give it five years.’ We stayed 10! … Continue Reading

Wildflower Photography: Flash Fill vs. Diffuser

What is the best way to photograph wildflowers; in the sun or in the shade? There are of course a variety of answers and i think it depends on how you frame the flowers in your viewfinder. The sun does not always create flattering light for wildflowers often adding to much contrast.

A large landscape showing a field of wildflowers benefits from the sun as it skim across the scene. But if you shoot macro, your flowers are up close and all the nuances of the light are obvious. If there is to much contrast its right there, in your face.

We all have our preferences and mine is soft light, even overcast conditions for photographing flowers up close. But recently while in Arizona searching for blooming cactus, I had what makes Arizona wonderful in other ways: great weather and warm days. But the light on the blooming Hedgehog Cactus was harsh. … Continue Reading

Jerry Monkman Launches Kickstarter Campaign for Conservation Film

Editors note: Jerry Monkman is a well known New England nature, adventure, and conservation photographer and he recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a very important conservation film. We asked Jerry  to tell us about the conservation project and film.

I have devoted a majority of my 20 year career to helping to conserve open space throughout New England. This year I have decided to embark on one of the more ambitious projects I have ever undertaken: The Power of Place, a 30 minute documentary film that explores the negative impacts of Northern Pass, a proposed electricity transmission line that will run 180 miles down the center of New Hampshire.

When I first head about Northern Pass, I’ll admit that I thought it was a fairly innocuous project. After all, I happily use electricity every day, and more than 75% of the proposed Northern Pass route will follow an already existing right of way. However, my mind changed when I was asked by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests to produce a series of videos about the project. The more I learned about the details of the project and talked with people who will be directly affected by it, the more I believed that Northern Pass is a bad idea for New Hampshire. New Hampshire will just be giving up too much, and the benefits that may result from the project are too little. … Continue Reading

Tresorit Offers 50gb of Free Online Storage

Online storage is becoming cheaper and cheaper and FREE is a cheap price, especially for 50gb, free for life! I have been using all the free I can get to store images after a shoot and more files that are very hard to replace. I have lost faith in backups having found many fail, so storing files in the cloud seems a smart option.

If you are interested follow this link to Lifehacker and then follow the Lifehacker link to Tresorit.

The Notion That Photographers Should Give Their Work Away

by Lee Mandrell

Camera’s, lenses, filters, light meters, flashes, tripods, backpacks, bags, studio space, studio equipment, lighting, stands, (gasp! pause for air) backdrops, props, software, computers, travel, fuel, lodging, assistants, and the list goes on. These are just some of the expenses photographers are faced with in order to carve out a meager existence and living. What is not generally realized is that every single shot that a photographer takes or creates costs them money to produce in some shape or form. Sometimes there are literally hours spent getting a shot, whether it’s in the studio, traveling, or out in the field somewhere. Then in some cases, depending on the shot, there are more hours spent in post editing, just to make sure it’s pixel perfection. Most photographers I know of personally average 60 or more hours a week doing what they do, and yet of these photographers, I never once hear any of them complaining about the hours or the actual work. I certainly never complain when I am doing what it is I love to do. So why is that most people think we should work for next to nothing or give our work away for free? It certainly isn’t cheap for us to produce a photo, nor is it always easy. … Continue Reading