Taking One for the Team…

If there’s one thing every nature photographer agrees on, it’s this: Before the really good stuff can happen, someone needs to take one for the team. In other words, the truly spectacular (sunset, aurora, rainbow, lightning, and so on.) display everyone hopes for will not happen unless, 1) someone who could have been there opts out, or 2) at least one person gives up…

A Different Kind of Cat Herding

With my April Yosemite workshop starting in less than three hours, I was experiencing more than my normal (mild) pre-workshop anxiety. But after 20 years of photo workshops, I’ve accepted that I will always be a little stressed about the unknown until we start: how will this group of strangers connect, and what kind of photography conditions will we have? Guiding a diverse group…

More Than a Pretty Picture

Before exploring for the scene that ultimately delivered the image in my prior blog post, I got my February group set up at what I’ve always felt was the primary view at this location. With Half Dome framed on the left by towering evergreens, on the right by a long diagonal ridge, and the tree-lined Merced River in the foreground, this spot has all…

Who’s Counting?

I get a lot of questions during a photo workshop, but about 80% of them are some version of, “Should I do it this way or that way?”: “Should I shoot this with a wide or telephoto lens?” “Should I shoot this horizontal or vertical?” “Should I include that rock or leave it out?” “Should I polarize this or not?” “Should I freeze or…

Too Much of a Good Thing

Greetings from Iceland! And no, despite appearances to the contrary, this image is not Iceland (or even Snowland), it’s Yosemite. (Actually, if you know Iceland, the “not Iceland” giveaway would be all the trees.)  People ask me all the time, what’s the best season to be in Yosemite? While I honestly can’t pick a “best” Yosemite season, I can say that each season in Yosemite…

In the Pink

The rewards of rising before the sun are many. For me, the opportunity to witness twilight’s soft, cool light slowly warmed by the approaching sun, to breathe in the cleanest air of the day, and to simply be alone with the purest sounds and smells of nature, are ample compensation for whatever chill and sleep deprivation I might experience. And on mornings when the…

Happy Anniversaries to Me

Rural Lightning Strike, Southeastern WyomingSony a7R VSony 24-105 G.6 secondsF/8ISO 800 I just realized that January 2026 marks a couple of milestones for me. Twenty years ago this month, I left my “real” job at Intel (good company, lousy manager) to pursue my dream of becoming a landscape photographer. And 15 years ago this month, I started writing this blog. Leaving Intel was a…

Hidden Treasures

I’m aware that most of the images I share feature familiar subjects and eye-grabbing vistas that (justifiably) attract thousands of daily visitors and inspire millions of photographs—Nature’s celebrities. But that’s not a complete reflection of my personal photographic instincts. There are several reasons the subjects I share skew toward more acclaimed beauty: for example, the relatively close proximity of that beauty to my home…

A Diamond in the Surf

With a break in my workshop schedule (and to prepare for my upcoming 2025 Highlights post), I’m working hard to catch up on this year’s unprocessed images. Moving more or less chronologically, I’m really having a blast—such a blast that balancing this processing with family Holiday priorities and the endless demands of running a business, my weekly blog schedule has slipped a bit. But…

Moon Chasing

Many years ago I stood with a couple of other photographers on Sentinel Bridge in Yosemite. It was a few minutes before sunset and we were waiting, cameras poised, for the moon to ascend from behind Half Dome. As we chatted, a young woman approached and asked no one in particular what we were all waiting for. When I told her about the imminent…