I will be the first one to admit that I’m a planner, whether it be my meals for the week, my daily itinerary or a photo trip, I simply love to plan. This trait can have its benefits, but can also be a hindrance. It’s great when things go to plan, which we all know rarely happens, so when it doesn’t, I’m left feeling frustrated. Naturally, throughout my journey in photography, I have done everything I could do to plan shoots, trips, and hikes. Over time I have learned making detailed plans for my photography wasn’t always beneficial. I learned there was a time and place for trying to plan, and a time when I should be spontaneous. In this blog post, I want to share my experiences and share what I have learned about when to plan and when to be spontaneous as it pertains to photography trips. My hope is whoever reading this can learn from my mistakes and experiences to better utilize planning for their photography trips.
Read MoreLessons From the Field | My 5 Most Important Nature Photography Lessons Learned
I have taken some time to reflect on the many lessons I have learned throughout my photography journey and landed on what I feel are the most important lessons I’ve learned so far. The purpose of me writing this blog is to share my experiences with these lessons and how I implemented them into my photography. I hope by doing so I can inspire others to reflect on their own photography or even learn a thing or two from what I have to share. Photography is a very personal creative pursuit and because of that these lessons can be used in many different ways with many different results depending on who learns them. So without dragging this intro on for too long, let's get into the most important lessons I’ve learned so far.
Read More“All in Line” - 2/2/20 | 1/10 sec, F/11, 92mm, ISO 100
Photo of the Month | February 2020
February was a very up and down month for photography. The weather here in Michigan continued it's trend of not so great wintry conditions. We had a few good snow showers but nothing too exciting. The temperatures fluctuated from high to low so most of the snow that did fall didn’t stay for longer than a week. These kinds of conditions are not very inspiring to me, so as a result, I struggled to capture many photos that I liked. In my January Photo of the Month blog post, I talked about how I visited a new location for the first time and saw a lot of potential in it. A week after taking my January photo of the month at this new location I was back for more.
Read More“Lonesome” - 1/25/20 | 1/3 sec, F/9, 80mm, ISO 100
Photo of the Month | January 2020
I began the New Year very hopeful for the future of my photography and excited for the remaining months of winter. As the first month of the year flew by, I began to be uninspired by the landscape around me. The weather was just short of miserable except for the one snowstorm that blew through Michigan. This mid-January snowstorm felt like my only chance to capture a compelling photo during the month or even the entire winter. I watched the weather forecast very closely in the 24 hours leading up to the storm hitting. The storm was due to hit in the middle of the night and would continue through the following morning. With this forecast, I knew exactly where I needed to go to shoot. Since October I have had my eye on a tree that stands on its own on the top of a hill. I envisioned a snowstorm blowing through, causing a whiteout, allowing me to take a minimalist photo of the tree. This forecasted snowstorm had all the ingredients for the photo I wanted to capture.
Read MoreRetrospective of 2019 | A Year of Failure, Success, and Discovery
I sit here at the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2019 reflecting on a year of failures, successes, and discoveries. The last 12 months flew by in the blink of an eye, but as I look back I remember all the awesome and not so awesome things from the year. I was faced with a lot of good, bad, and scary situations, both photographically and personally, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Through the many experiences I had, I have slowly begun to learn to roll with the punches and take challenges head-on. I plan to take this mentality into 2020 to continue what I feel is an upward trend in my photography.
During the last year, I took a lot of good, bad, and ugly photos. I want to take some time to walk through a few photos I believe me or any one reading can learn from. Either that be from the mistakes I made or hammer home what elements make a great photograph truly great. I will start off with some photos I consider to be failures.
Read MoreLessons From the Field | Two Years, Two Compositions, Two Results
Roughly two years ago I took the above two photos on two separate trips. The first photo was taken in a rushed shoot during a peak autumn afternoon very far north in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The second photo was taken up on the northwest coast of Michigan during a very cold and windy morning on the dunes. I love how I composed both of the photos I took on these separate occasions, but as time has passed I started to ask myself these questions. How can I make the photos better? What time of year would better suit these scenes? What type of light would work best? What can I do to make the photos print-worthy?
I feel I have learned a lot and improved many of my photography skills since taking these photos. I learned how to better compose a shot, how to expose a photo with post-processing in mind, how to pre-visualize the light interacting with a scene, and how to slow down. Besides learning skills and techniques I also learned a lot about myself as a photographer. I learned what my favorite type of light is, what my favorite time of the year to shoot is, and what emotions and feelings I want to convey in my photos. All of these factors combined to help me take the following two photos.
Read More“Time Runs Still” - 10/12/19 | Three Shot Exposure Blend, .5 sec, .6 sec, and 30 sec, F/13, 95mm, ISO 100
Photo of the Month | October 2019
I awoke on this morning to the soft trickle of rainwater falling from the vibrant leaves above my tent. It was cold, wet, and a bit windy, but in spite of these conditions, I was eager to get to the falls and begin shooting. I arrived at the falls just as it was light enough to see the perfectly autumnal trees begging to be photographed. I got out of my car and began the very short walk to the falls with the strong feeling it was going to be a great morning of photography. I was convinced I would come away with a couple of great shots, but what I got out of that morning was so much more than just a few photos. I walked away with a feeling of peace and a re-invigorated motivation for photography.
Read More“A Dance in the Sky” - 6/8/19 | 1/250 sec, F/13, 165mm, ISO 100
Photo of the Month | June 2019
I awoke on my last day in Grand Teton National Park to almost sub-freezing temperatures and heavy falling snow. The snowstorm didn’t just bring cold and snow, it also brought incredibly atmospheric conditions to shoot in. At the start of the morning, I was quite skeptical of coming away with any photos but I saw the potential the conditions provided. At first sight, the entire Teton mountain range was completely socked in with clouds which only confirmed my doubts for the morning. After an hour or so of driving around with nothing but cloud in sight, I accepted the fact that no photos of the mountains were going to be taken. So I tried my best to look for abstract and intimate scenes in the falling snow while also just simply enjoying my last morning of the trip.
Read MorePhoto of the Month | January 2019
I have decided to start a monthly blog where I share my favorite photo(s) from each month. Even though we are half way through April I thought it would be good to take a look back at my favorite photos so far this year. These photos of the month may not always be my “best” photos but instead will be my “favorite” photos. They may be my favorites because of the experience of taking the photo, the conditions on that particular day, or just simply because I really like the photo. I want this monthly blog to be a platform where I can share the background on some of my photos. I also want this blog to be a way for me to continuously review my work, ensuring I’m always learning and taking steps to improve as a photographer.
“Companions of the Void” - 1/18/19 | 8 Shot Vertical Panorama, 1/13, f/9.0, 86mm, ISO 100
I chose this minimalist panorama as my photo of the month for January because of the absolutely perfect wintry conditions I got to experience. The complete white-out was caused by a heavy Michigan snow storm, making for a calm, quiet, and peaceful morning out with the camera. I love shooting in these conditions because of the way it simplifies the landscape and allows for the creation of minimalist photos. I was originally unsure about this photo because of the visual tug of war created by the two lone islands. As time has passed I have grown to love this photo and love the connection created by the two subjects. I like to think of these islands as one an others only companions in a world void of anything else.