My trusty Z 9 is back from Nikon Service and it has that brand-new, Corinthian leather smell. Of course, if you’re old like me you remember that commercial and the fact there is no such thing as Corinthian leather but it tells the story. I took advantage of the Nikon NPS Platinum service for my Z 9’s annual servicing and as part of that, the “leather” grips were replaced. They were worn for sure after nearly five years of heavy use, they even replaced the memory door! No, it doesn’t smell like leather but it feels like brand new. Why is it better than new? I sent it in two days before Nikon dropped firmware 5.10 (which they installed for me), a free update making the Z 9 a better camera with more features than five years ago. The “better than new” BTW is all free, we don’t pay for those firmware updates which is pretty darn cool! I realize celebrating simple servicing is silly, I’m just so happy to have my friend back. I expressed it when I opened that box and said, “ah, that Corinthian leather smell!”

Riparian Preserve at The Water Ranch AZ is a spectacular location for bird photography! In this short video, I go through some of the basics of when, where, and why you want to shoot at this location. Enjoy!

When the specs for the Z 6III were announced and I saw the 240p, my mind went nuts with ideas. I wrote a bunch down for when the Z 6III was in my hands. As it turns out, while my mind saw some things slowed down being real cool, in reality, not so much. Lots of action slowed down doesn’t always make visual sense. For example, the turning propeller of a plane. Slowed down to 240p and it looks like you shot at a fast shutter speed rather than being slowed down. And me being me, I decided to complicate the new learning process even more by shooting H265 10-bit N-Log (which is so cool!). You could relate this to being a video Nef but without the ease of ACR to make it pop. I’m still struggling with the post-processing of N-Log but making progress. I was really excited last week though to find a bunch of subjects for 240p that really show off its quality while telling the visual story we miss. The actual segment is only 1.8 seconds, a blink of an eye but when slowed down, it is quite the water ballet. The Z 6III 240p is amazing!

It was 26 degrees in the Hide the other afternoon but I was toasty warm sitting in the TideWe Heated Chair! This battery-powered bun burner is the ultimate in photo Hide seating in my book. Legs are fully adjustable for height. Chair swivels making it not only comfortable but flexible as our subjects move about. The armrests are padded too which is a nice touch. But the best part is the seat and/or back are heated lasting on full for nearly four hours. You can get it from many locations but I went direct. I got the best deal and they ship super fast (watch that your order from other outlets includes the battery). This might seem like a little over the top, and in a way, it is. But when you’re in the Hide for a couple of hours on those cold days, I love the totally luxury, TideWe heated chair!

Yellowstone Nat’l Park, WY is a spectacular location in the US for magical landscapes and critters! In this short video, I go through some of the basics of when, where, and why you want to shoot at this location. Enjoy!