In 1984, the biographical film, Amadeus, depicted a fictionalized rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian composer Antonio Salieri in the mid-1700s of Vienna, Austria. Narrated by Salieri, the plot line follows him as he reluctantly comes to grips with…
Composition Flaws, Part 1
No one likes airing their dirty laundry, or in the case of photographers, showing their photographs which have failed. But recognizing mistakes and correcting them is a good way to learn and progress in any endeavor. Starting with this and…
iPhone, Really?!
It’s become something of a tradition with my wife and me that every Christmas Day- after the gifts have been opened – we head outside to enjoy the Alaskan winter scenery and reflect on the holidays. Usually, we cross-country ski…
Serendipity Now
Louis Pasteur was a French microbiologist and chemist who is known for postulating the germ theory of disease. In 1854 he gave a lecture at the inauguration of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lille in which he…
Computational Photography
Photography as a craft has always been married to technology. For photographers who wanted to practice that craft as an art form it has presented many challenges throughout its history. I believe no other art form has been transformed as…
Walk With Me
What makes some photos more visually appealing than others? As landscape photographers we are blessed – and sometimes overwhelmed – with a variety of compositional tools, many borrowed from painters. The rule of thirds, power shapes, the psychology of colors,…
Revisiting Old Photos
In my Lightroom catalog I have a collection called Masterfiles. In it are photos I consider my best, highest quality images for use in stock or fine art. The photos are arranged from newest to oldest. Occasionally I will scroll…
Long Exposure Math Simplified
Long exposure photography involves shutter speeds anywhere from one second to minutes or even hours. These long shutter speeds record the passage of time on a still medium. With moving objects a sense of motion is conveyed. What makes this…
Negative Clarity
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines clarity as “the quality or state of being clear.” Conventional teaching on post-processing with Lightroom says the clarity slider is primarily used to give an image more definition or “punch.” Moving the slider to the right…
Autofocus Micro-adjustment
Are you old enough to remember the days when the only way to focus a lens was manually (prior to the early 80s)? Can you imagine tracking a bird in flight with manual focus while simultaneously striving for a proper…