Dark Skies with Lumix S1RII
I recently did some night-sky testing with Panasonic’s LUMIX S1RII camera and 18mm f/1.8 lens. I wanted to see how this combination performed, particularly with a dark foreground, and whether Panasonic fixed the issues in the OG S1R that made it unreliable for night photography. It was also a nice evening to enjoy some night photography at a location I hadn’t shot before. In short, I threw some challenging conditions at this camera and am happy with its performance. The 18mm lens is also small and light enough to bring along on any trip and seems to render stars well.
And as a reminder, I do have a new book available. Click here for more information.
Continue readingCircling the West Book Release
The time has come and I have finally published my first “real” book! I have printed books before, but they were really just collections of photos and didn’t include any text. My new book takes the reader on a tour of the Western United States and Canada across 112 pages with over 200 color photographs, stories from the road, travel and photo tips, and camera settings for those who are interested in such things. As one friend phrased it “It felt like you were inviting the reader in to your house to hang out as you talked about the places you have been”.
Continue readingCanon RF 24mm f/1.4L VCM for Night Photography
As should be obvious for anyone that follows my photography, I enjoy creating images at night. As I’ve developed my skills, I have progressed from just being excited that I was able to take a decent shot at night, to trying to render the Milky Way well over a landscape, to striving to create nightscape compositions that would be compelling even if they weren’t taken at night. One aspect of this is researching locations, moon phases, star charts, and sometimes tides to get the lighting and elements that I want for my photo. Another aspect is gear.
Continue reading2024 Favorites
Looking back at my favorite photos from this past year, it is clear that I spent quite a bit of time standing around in the dark. Six of my ten favorites were taken at night and four of those included at least some amount of aurora. The photographic highlight of my year was my trip to the Lofoten Islands in Norway in February. This year’s collection also includes images from my usual haunts in Yosemite, Glacier and the Mendocino coast. Here are my favorite photos from 2024, presented in the order they were captured.
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