Walkthroughs

A panoramic view of traditional windmills on a meadow during nighttime, beautifully illuminated by colorful aurora borealis stretching across the sky in pink, green, and purple hues.

How I Shot Viral Photos of the Aurora Over Dutch Windmills

Last Friday I was able to take photos I only thought were only possible in my dreams. As a professional landscape photographer, I have seen my fair share of beautiful northern lights in the Arctic, but I’ve always dreamed of seeing a strong aurora display in the Netherlands.

Photographing a Pacific Wren in the Redwood Forests of California

During a short visit to the beautiful redwood forests of northern California, I spent a morning photographing a Pacific Wren. My goal with this outing was to capture this tiny bird in its massive habitat and try my best with a few photos to show the scale of the huge forest.

Covering the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl Journey, From Ecstasy to Horror

While I photograph the Kansas City Chiefs' home games during the season, I don’t go along if they make the playoffs or Super Bowl. But that doesn’t mean I’m finished doing assignments involving them. This year, for instance, I was hired to cover their departure from Kansas City to Las Vegas, then the big downtown watch party the night of the game, and finally the victory parade and celebration that went from ecstatic to horrific.

Filming the Sounds of Nature for Apple TV

“So we love all your cityscape flow motions -- how would you feel about creating them for the natural environment?” 11 episodes later having explored terrains as diverse as the dunes in Namibia, the lush Tambopata rainforest, and the barren Shetland isles, here is what I found out.

How I Survived Shooting One of the Coldest NFL Games Ever

After I posted photos from Saturday’s Chiefs vs. Dolphins sub-zero NFL playoff game, I received a lot of messages. Some were from people asking how I was able to stay warm, and the rest were from photographers who all asked the same question: “How did you keep your hands warm?” Short answer? I wasn’t able to keep my fingers warm, but I was able to maintain feeling in them.

Why Your Wide-Angle Lens Images Are So Boring

A common challenge for photographers using wide-angle lenses is creating depth in their images. The shots may seem flat and dull if they do not have a distinct point of interest and a clear visual path that draws the viewer’s eye into the scene.

How I Recreated a John Wick Movie Poster

For starters, I love the fast-paced John Wick series, and I think that Keanu Reeves is just a badass in general. Now I don’t use this word often, but everything about these movies is pure cinematic gold — the lighting, composition, camera movement, etc. (But, that’s just my opinion.) So, I decided to recreate this cinematic John Wick Chapter 2 movie poster, and show you exactly how I did it!

Light Painting Under Red Skies on the Salt Flats of Uyuni

We recently visited the Salt Flats of Uyuni in southwest Bolivia for the fourth time, having previously visited in 2015, 2017, and 2018. What a big surprise! We were not expecting to see the colors that we did.

How I Made a 10-Day Timelapse Video on an iPhone and Galaxy

I recently made a ten-day timelapse video on two smartphone cameras of my hometown of Manhattan Beach, California, for multiple sunsets, moonrises, flowing clouds, and all sorts of stuff the naked eye rarely gets to see.

How (Not) To Photograph Car Meetups

I’m a native of Las Vegas, having lived here my entire life, and I have been a professional photographer here for over 25 years. With Formula One coming here soon we’re we’re about to be thrust onto the world stage of motorsports but many don’t realize the city is no stranger to car enthusiasts.

Repairing a Olympus Lens with a Torn PCB, From Start to Finish

While cleaning one of my camera sensors, I noticed my incredibly pocketable and convenient 12mm f/2.0 Olympus lens developed a fatal flaw. A rather large reflective fragment became dislodged inside the lens and was robbing me of precious photons. I couldn't fully clean the rear element with compressed air and a microfiber cloth, so I decided to dig a little deeper and disassemble the lens.

Wax Paper Photography: Getting the Large Format Look With a $300 Soviet Camera

Anyone who has trawled through a historic photo archive knows the feeling of spotting a large-format photo. Like spotting a beautiful woman in a crowd, it’s hard to drag your eyes away. That depth and clarity, which seems to top reality itself, has only ever been possible with a film plane measured in inches rather than millimeters.

Moving 1.5 Million Photos from an Old Drobo to a New QNAP NAS

Back in February of this year, I began making a huge transition from the Drobo NAS system (now out of business) to the newer and far superior QNAP system. Back then I had just installed the two new NAS systems but had not moved any data.

One Lens Plus Two Teleconverters Equals One Amazing Safari

Quick question: what’s the best lens for photographing wildlife at different distances? A telephoto zoom, of course, because then you can zoom for the focal length and framing you want. But if that’s true, then why did I take a fixed telephoto with me on the safari I just led to Africa? Because, paired with two teleconverters and one camera feature, it actually gave me MORE focal lengths to work with. Let me explain…

Toning a Darkroom Photograph With Spices and Tea

I've wanted to experiment with the idea of imbuing a print with more than just standard chemistry, and I especially like the idea of adding layers of experience to what is ordinarily solely a visual medium.

How I Made a 3D-Printed Film Movie Camera

A couple of years ago I have been occasionally shooting 35mm films with point-and-shoot still cameras while also having the desire to shoot motion picture films.

How I Repaired a Broken Mamiya RB67 Medium Format Camera

I had the Mamiya RB67 and Pentax 67 on my medium-format wanted list for many years now, but I simply could not justify the price tag or bear the unfortunate realization that either camera would sit lonely and unused on a shelf. That all changed in December 2022 when I decided to grab a non-working RB67 as a Christmas Present for my eldest brother.

How to Deal with Extreme Dynamic Range in Landscape Photography

No doubt most of us have found ourselves in the following situation... You’ve discovered a beautiful landscape scene that you’ve carefully composed in your camera’s viewfinder. Your camera is on a tripod and there’s no wind, so you’re feeling confident that you’ll be able to capture everything in one shot with both a small aperture and a slow shutter speed. Things are looking great!

Shooting the Landscape at 70 Miles an Hour

Landscape photography at 70 mph. Is it even possible? For years the idea of landscape photography was to put your camera on a tripod, frame very carefully, then wait for the light to be perfect before you shot. But what if you had to do everything in exactly the opposite way?

How to Develop B&W Film at Home: A Simple Guide for Mere Mortals

The film photography revival is going strong but these pictures don’t just magically appear out of thin air! Eventually you need to develop your film so I put together this step-by-step guide to process black and white negatives at home. It’s easier than you might think!

Make Your Photos Look 3D with Dodge and Burn in Capture One 23

One of the challenges of photographing landscapes is creating images that reflect the right amount of depth and dimension. But sometimes it seems no matter how hard you try and how often you hear well-meaning advice from other photographers, the photos you take almost always come out darn flat.

Capturing the Moon in the ‘Crown’ of the Bank of America Headquarters

Charlotte, North Carolina, is nicknamed the Queen City, after Queen Charlotte. I moved to Charlotte from Frankfurt, Germany in July 1992. That was not just the year but also the month that the Bank of America (BofA) building was completed. The 871ft (265m) skyscraper is the tallest building in the Southern United States outside of Atlanta or Texas, with its “royal” crown on the top.