Nikon made a great app combining a couple of their apps to produce NX Studio. It has excellent speed bringing your images into your computer. The previews are exactly as you shot them using all YOUR Picture Control settings and you can modify a ton of settings in your file. The UI is clean and easy to understand and I like that you can go right to Epson Print Layout and print right from NX Studio. I’ve just started to explore this latest and I think the best offering from Nikon for finishing our Raw files. Check it out … it’s FREE!!!
This is simply a one of a kind event designed to elevate your wildlife photography to great realms of pleasure. Join me and a great line up of instructors for the KelbyOne Wildlife Photography Conference 16-17 March, 2021. Just what am I presenting, well thanks for asking, here is is in short form.
WHAT MAKES A GREAT WILDLIFE PHOTO Wildlife Photography is the greatest celebration of life! When you have that critter in the viewfinder, it’s a very exciting moment. The heart beats faster, the mind turns quicker. Then the panic set in, “what and I doing?” Learning when to push the button is one of the big challenges. What makes a good or great wildlife photo can be a blur. And whether you’re new to it or been at it for years, making a better photograph than before is always the goal. Together we’re going to explore the marvelous world of wildlife photography and answer these and many more questions. Like the biologists have always taught me, a solid foundation always makes for better work. I’m going to give you that foundation!
THE ART AND CRAFT OF PHOTOGRAPHING BIRD Birds, oh those magnificent creatures able to break the bonds of gravity with such color and elegance. While they are all basically the same, they are all very much unique. How do you get close enough to observe these wonders? How do they get close enough to bring their story back in your photographs? What tools do you need to own and biology learned bringing this all together? Most importantly, how do you bring their unique brilliance to your audience to tell their story? We are going to cover these and so many more points so when you share your bird photographs you tell their story and grab hearts.
TOP TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING MAMMALS Mammals, they are the challenge for most wildlife photographers. They are often harder to find, going to far-off locations at times to even see them. They are more elusive, shier, and at times, simply not present. Finding mammals to photograph is a challenge. The photographic tools to use are not as clear-cut. And their biology is mysterious at times preventing us from getting the image we want. How do you put mammals in your viewfinder in the best light? How do you tell their story and grab hearts? These are just some of the areas of mammal photography we’ll discuss. By the end of this class, you’ll have the knowledge you need and be dying to get out the door to put it all in action!
TURN YOUR BACKYARD INTO A BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO You’re new to wildlife photography. You work a 9-5 job and have a very busy life. You have limited resources. You don’t know if you even want to be a wildlife photographer. Perhaps you’ve been shooting critters for some time and want to take it to a new level but don’t know where to start. How do you add flash for color and not exposure? You want to test a new piece of gear before you buy but don’t know how or where to do so. All of this and so much more can be solved in your own backyard! If you’ve watched my KelbyOne class on Backyard Birds, you know I’ve had a backyard shooting gallery for decades. All the lessons I’ve learned I’m going to share so you too can do no more than open a window and photograph all the critters you want whenever you can!
After my PreCon, I know you will have great questions and I want to answer them. You can join me at Clubhouse where I will do my best to answer all of them!
Yeah, that’s the short form. What’s the long-form, well join the other instructors and me and find out … it’s going to be … epic!
The Z70-200f2.8 is simply a splendid lens! While its sex appeal is a good enough reason to own it, hard to justify that on the books. So why then did I add it to my kit when I already have, use and love the 70-200f4? That’s one darn good question and one that has come in repeatedly since I bought the Z70-200f2.8. It’s that question and more I bring to light in this video.
Yep, I’ve shot with them all starting with the 80-200f4.5 way back in the day and hands down, the new Z70-200f2.8 is the sweetest, fastest, and sharpest of them all! You might think that this Field Report is just an excuse to post another cute photo of Maggie (and you’d be right) but it’s actually because I owe you a video on the lens and I’m waaaaaay behind! So, here ya go.
I’ve shot with the Z70-200f2.8 for over a month in pouring rain, dust storm, snow white-out, and down to -19 and it has delivered like no other version I’ve ever shot with! Even my old favorite the FX version. The image quality is just staggering which includes shooting with the Z1.4x (I don’t miss the vignetting at all!). Even in low light and no contrast, the combo of Z70-200f2.8 / Z1.4x focuses with no issue. I love the fact you can program the buttons on the Z70-200f2.8 for AF-ON operation so in the cold and low light with gloves on you can still shoot.
It is as heavy and the same basic length as its FX brother. As far as I am concerned its image quality is more than worth twice its price and better than the FX version. You can see above how sharp it is at f2.8 and how sweet that DoF is in bringing out them eyes of Maggie. And here’s the really important part of this Field Report, if you do not NEED f/2.8, then get the just as outstanding Z24-200 (which I also own and love). I will get that video done and more photo examples but I can honestly tell ya, yep, it’s the best one!
We’re in the progress of overhauling our website. Partly cause it’s so dang huge, hard to find things, one of those are my camera body settings. So, I have them all right here! These supersede any settings you might find prior on the website.
The New Year has brought a couple of new additions to the equipment locker and I can’t stop shooting with them! I have two projects coming up in 2021 where I need the reach and narrow DoF of the Z70-200f2.8 so I called my friends at Bedford Camera who instantly put it in my hands! My projects, one critter, and one aviation I feel need that 200f2.8 DoF and attached to the Z 6II, well just make a great combo (and a perfect complement to the D6 / 180-400VR I’ll be shooting with).
Maggie captured by Z 6II / Z70-200f2.8
Why then did I get the Z1.4x? I have no direct need for it at the moment but it goes great with the Z70-200f2.8 so I wanted the option in the kit. I’ve not had the lens that long but I like what I have seen so far. Same basic size and weight as the F Mount 70-200f2.8, same filter size but it does focus faster and it does focus closer. Maggie approves of the new Z70-200f2.8 as well, she said: “ruff, ruff, bark, bark, woof” which means … “that camera which is always pointed at me isn’t so close anymore.” I love the Z70-200f2.8 cause it is incredibly sharp which coupled with its narrow DoF makes for some great shooting. I’m excited to be hitting the road and shooting with this new tool, Schweet!
