Sharon & I packed up her delicious homemade soup and headed down to Lee Metcalf NWR for a picnic and birding. The camera gear was packed but that wasn’t the purpose of the evening. It was just to sit, watch, listen and let life unfold as it may. The waterfowl are coming back into the Bitterroot Valley. Lots of the regulars are already here. Some, like the Trumpeter Swans, are moving through. The Sandhill Cranes are back and deciding where they want to nest. A Golden Eagle circled overhead sending all the rabbits into cover. The swallows chased what bugs were about as the sun slowly set. The remnants of a storm squeezed their way past the mountains tops and dropped a short flurry of snow. The soup was hot and the company perfect. It’s just life’s simple pleasures!

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson

I’m not trying to tell you that I will photographs to life in my viewfinder, but at times I think I do and I attribute those to Willie’s quote. This is a perfect example of what I mean. Saw a couple of Snowy Egrets perched in a shrub, with great light but no shot because hidden in the shrub. In my mind, I said, “sure would be nice if you lifted off and circled overhead. Boom … it went and did it. Positive thinking, it helps your photographs.

I’m taking you into a deep dive into this beautifully brilliant camera, the Z 9. I have not shot with any camera like the Z 9! The excitement, fun, and problem solving it have introduced is what I share while explaining every feature, button, confusing term, and technique building option this brut of a camera offers. Join me on KelbyOne!

I have two brand new classes to help move your landscape photography forward. Preserving our wildland for our wild heritage is such an important aspect of my landscape photography. I will be sharing with you the lessons this pursuit has taught me. I want you to bring home your grand experience in your images sharing you passion is what I want to help you do with every click. I’ll be bringing two new classes to the KelbyOne Landscape Conference:

Our Treasured Lands. Bringing home the memories
We are incredibly fortunate to have some amazing national treasures all across the land. Some like Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon are well known. Others like the Redwoods, Badlands and others are not so well known. Let’s take a photographic journey through these lands and talk about planning, best times, best locations, hidden treasures, and making the iconic shots so we can bring home the memories and share them!

Shoot the Subject, Finish the Light
There are times when you step outside, the photograph takes itself. There are other times when no matter what you do, how you’ve planned, there isn’t a photograph to be found. No matter if you find yourself in the first delight or the last disappointment, or any place in between, we’re going to make the visual story come to life. How do you make the subject take center stage in your viewfinder? How to finish the light on the computer to invite the viewer into meet that subject. You’re going to learn how during this class!

Come join me and a host of talented and passionate photographers for a great two days!