Photographers are perpetually upgrading their gear. Better camera body, better lenses, better tripod, better lighting, better post-processing software, better computer, etc.
My 2020 North To Alaska Photo Tour was postponed due to C-19. It’s now back on for summer 2021 w/ refunds if the pandemic continues to be a problem. I have 10 seats, five of which are sold. It’s gonna be in pristine Alaska & I am looking forward to it.
Several people have contacted me about how I make my photo paintings. It starts with a traditional bird photo and then I mask out the bird using Topaz Mask AI. Then I add a texture, a background or both and blend them in. Lastly I use Topaz Studio to create the painting effect.
Every few months I plan to give you a quick update on Topaz products. I have been using these products since January 2020, and I have come to rely on them for almost all of my post-processing needs once I get things organized and give each image a quick fix in Luminar 4.0. Then I move to Topaz for things like noise reduction, sharpening, enlarging, painting and more.
Here is some exciting news.
I know that not everyone is as dedicated to photography as I am. But I am still convinced that even a modest amateur/beginner can benefit by keeping a practice log.
The way you get better at anything is to practice. This is well-known for things like playing a musical instrument or sports, or languages, etc. But I rarely heard it talked about in the photography realm and it should be.
(They want to know WHY you photograph…)
I’ve written about the WHY of things before. And most of my inspiration for those posts is from Simon Sinek’s book “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” (https://amzn.to/32pU0sr) It’s one of the most important books I’ve read in terms of moving both the financial and the creative side of my life.
Today I want to talk about the simplest application I can think of for Simon’s book.
Thanks for joining me on the flagship podcast of the PictureMethods blog where we deliver free insights and inspiration for photographers. The show drops on the first Friday of each month.
Most of the time, in the world of bird and wildlife photography, you want the longest telephoto lens you can find. The new Olympus 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 IS lens has an effective focal length of 200-800mm in a relatively compact, affordable form factor. If you add the M.Zuiko Digital 1.4X Teleconverter MC-14 to the Olympus 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 IS lens, you get a lens with an EFL of 1120mm. If you add the M.Zuiko Digital 2X Teleconverter MC-20 you get all the way to 1600mm EFL.
All-star wedding photographer, Roberto Valenzuela says “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect” instead of the more common “Practice Makes Perfect.” I have thought a lot about that since I heard his talk at WPPI many years ago. As I grow older, I realize that there are times when I was “practicing” my photography but practicing the wrong things. Not everything you do with a camera in your hand will necessarily drive you to your end goal.
