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I'm in Central Oregon where I'm supposed to pick up my new filters (to replace the ones I broke). But what I find there leaves speechless. Photographing some stunning landscapes in Central Oregon.
The Columbia River Gorge is home to more than 70 waterfalls. It would take me weeks to even visit all of them, so in this video, I'll photograph just a handful. And while photographing a waterfall might seem pretty straightforward, I also want to share some tips.
I visit two of the most beautiful beaches in the Olympic Peninsula: Rialto and Second Beach. The locations are stunning... but the conditions couldn't be more treacherous. I struggle with the wind and the rain, and push it a little bit too far with the tides.
A few magical moments and images from my days in the PNW.
The story behind a piece of art can be as important, if not more, than the piece itself. How we make art matters, a lot.
High in Oregon’s Central Cascades, I hike to Broken Top nine years after my first visit to this stunning spot. The view from the summit never fails to take my breath away. It’s a familiar place, yet every step reminds me how much has changed, both in the landscape and in myself.
Mt Hood has played an important role in my photography career. Exploring these landscapes is what made me fall in love with the art, and they continue to fascinate me after all these years. Something compels me to keep coming back, to keep photographing this beautiful mountain and the stunning forests and lakes around it.
I almost always carry a tripod with me, even if you don't see it in my videos. That's because it's holding my video camera! So you might understand why my tripod has become such a crucial tool in my work. And for the last couple of years, I've been using the Coman Zero Y carbon fiber tripod which I love. Let me tell you why.
I'm back on the road! I drive across the country and do some photography in places as distant from each other as Lake Michigan, Devils Tower in Wyoming, and the Salt Flats in Utah. I also show how I live on the road, why I do it this way, and why it has been so beneficial for my photography.
Sometimes the hardest part of photography is simply going out the door. Driving somewhere always feels like an investment of time and money, and that pressure can make us overthink everything. On this day, I had no plan, no destination, and no idea what I was going to photograph. But this is what photography is about, embracing uncertainty, following the process, and giving chance a chance. From Dollar General parking lots to the farms and fields of northern Indiana, the day became less about outcomes and more about seeing what happens.
I'm back in the city for just a few days, and in this video, I want to show you one of my favorite spots. One that is lesser-known and not crowded, but a spot that I love visiting.
Talent is great, a good camera helps a lot, and having the resources to travel is amazing. But no matter where we start, the gear, or the locations we have access to, the biggest factor for our work is time. There’s no shortcut, no substitute for showing up, over and over, year after year, decade after decade. And doing it in a sustainable way.
The third time was the charm. After failing to make any images on my previous two visits to this spot, I finally managed to get something I love.
I got to try something different, a reflex lens. This Kase 200mm f/5.6 is a prime, fixed aperture reflex lens, and it's able to do some crazy stuff. The bokeh it creates can lead to very interesting photographs, and it opens a new whole new world of creative possibilities.
These are some of the images I've made with this lens.
I always keep an eye on the forecast, and in the summer, as soon as I see some chance of rain somewhere relatively close, I start packing my things. It was a long day on the road, but soooo worth it. I got some beautiful atmosphere, I got to make some good images, and most importantly, I cooled off in the rain.
There's so much to learn from the work of other photographers, and you just never know what the next source of inspiration is going to be. Like a souvenir shop.
It's hot, very hot. It was even hotter in Valencia, in SE Spain, where I spent a few days with my family. I got to do some photography, but I was happy to be back in the fog!
I forgot to share this video here, one I published last week while dealing with the heat. The perfect time to sit down and edit some photos, especially when using these creative editing techniques in Lightroom.
I've spent many years photographing my hometown and the landscapes around it. There's not much else to find, I would think. Wrong. There's so much more out there, waiting for me to find it. So I take my bike and go on a 18-mile ride on trails I had not explored before.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Greek photographer Dimitros Kotakos on his YouTube channel. Watch our conversation here.
