Oct 3, 2019 | Field Reports
We are so fortunate to experience a big, grand world and in this case, a Sierra Wave over Walker Lake! The new Nikkor Z14-30 does a beautiful job of bringing that all in and with its wide angle of view and ability to accept an 82mm filter. The possibilities are nearly endless. It’s a favorite lens of mine now because of this. With that said, I have had the good fortune to witness a few sunrises/sunsets that 14mm alone wasn’t able to capture it all. I turned to a simple, two-click pano to bring those moments home. No tripod, just hand-hold, click with about a 20-30% overlap and then simple assembly in ACR using its Panorama function. It brings the memory home and that’s what it’s all about!
Oct 2, 2019 | Field Reports
When you stand out on the point in 25knt wind gusting to 40knt with 40,000 Northern Gannets flying about, you are in, The Splatter Zone!
Sep 19, 2019 | Field Reports
My passion for critters takes me to some spectacular locales throughout North America! While not my main focus, I know these locations can offer up amazing photographic opportunities which is why I always have a second camera body on my shoulder to record those moments in between my critter shooting. Last night is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. I’m out working a large herd of Desert Bighorn Sheep and had a small band in the viewfinder as the sun slowly set. The afternoon thunderheads were being blown to pieces by the high winds and that process created gorgeous skies (what we call a small Sierra Wave). While I could turn the 180-400VR on the skies, the lens I was photographing the sheep with, it would have been a waste of time. Why I carry 2nd body is to bring back these memories and the Z6 is the best!
The ram all of a sudden had a glow of light on it so I knew the clouds behind me were lite up from the setting sun. I turned to see this gorgeous show of the heavens. On my side was the Z6 / Z14-30 which I had set to Monochrome. I slowly turned so as to not alarm my subject, brought the Z6 / Z14-30, made the click, slowly turned and went back to the ram. For the next forty-five minutes, I kept doing this, photographing the bighorn sheep in front of me, the landscape behind me. It’s the kind of photography I live for so I’m prepared for it. D5 / 180-400VR pointed at the sheep and on my side, the Z6 / Z14-30 on my side for the grandeur of the locale. It’s why I carry the 2nd.
Sep 16, 2019 | Field Reports
I had the good fortune to spend the morning at the Combat Air Museum shooting with the new Nikkor Nikon Z85f1.8 and man, was it fun! I shot the entire time at f/1.8 cause, way buy a fast lens if you’re not going to shoot fast?! It’s small, lightweight and a blast to shoot with cause of its very narrow DoF with it’s very crispy sharpness, it makes things snap in the viewfinder. All the great detail at the Combat Air Museum was the perfect proving grounds for me to determine real fast this is one helluva lens!
“The General”
captured by Z6 / Z85f1.8
The Nikon Z85f1.8 is a lens most think of as a portrait lens (though it’s much, much more) so I wanted to shoot a portrait or two with it. At the Combat Air Museum there is Stu, a great model, reenactor who looks like an Air Force General so I placed him in front of the museum’s F-84 Thunderstreak for his portrait. Because I was shooting with the Z6 I could easily make a dramatic portrait going against the odds. Shooting in full sunlight, I backlit “The General” with the sun to make him visually pop while easily lighting him with a SB-5000 in a Westcott Rapid 26″ Octa on a painters pole. High Speed Sync shooting at 1/5000, f1.8 ISO Lo1 with flash on Manual 1/2, the Z6 via the WR-R10 made quick work of the exposure. And the Nikon Z85f1.8 wrapped up all the goodness in delecatble sharpness. All I really needed to make the shot was a little imagination, Nikon Z did the rest.
Sep 11, 2019 | Field Reports
I wanted to do a time lapse shooting with the Z7 / Z14-30 of sunset of KBay. Because of the angle of my porch, a normal tripod wasn’t going to work for unattended shooting (it was midnight after all). So I gaffer taped my all time favorite CTT 1000 tabletop tripod to the railing. As you can see, the gaffer tape secured the CTT 1000 to the railing. And using the Peak Anchors, I was able to use my camera strap as a safety. It worked perfectly and while not the most preferred method, it got me by in a pinch. Gaffer tape, never leave home without it!
Sep 5, 2019 | Field Reports
Monterey Coast
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 / Breakthrough 6Stop
Nikon’s SnapBridge just recently brought it into incredibly important tool! There were four of us around the breakfast table this mourning. We’d been out shooting in the cold shroud of morning fog shooting on the coast with our Zs. We brought the cameras to breakfast so I could test how well Snapbridge brings Nef’s into the iPhone. Within seconds, literally, all cameras were connected to phones, folks were scrolling their images and selecting a Nef to download. Then that file was taken into Lightroom Mobile and finished. Some did tests to send the finish file to the Cloud, others saving to the phone. It was success all the way around!!! It sounds so trivial but this can make my life is a tad easier. No, this won’t be my new workflow but Yes, this will permit me to deliver to clients an images in a snap! And that’s what it’s all about!
Monterey Coast
captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 / Breakthrough 6Stop
Camera Notes: The photos here where taken with Z7 / Z24-70f2.8, ISO Lo1, f/22, 49sec exposure and then the Nef uploaded via SnapBrdige and finished with LR Mobile and then posted.
