I kept my sensor parallel with these two droplets to make sure both were in focus

I think a lot of people try to take pictures of more than one object within the frame without really understanding how their gear works. They compose two or three flowers in the picture, for example, then are disappointed when one or more of the subjects are fuzzy (out of focus). A lot of the time, they are choosing a shallow depth of field for the benefit of a bokeh background. Under certain circumstances, this just makes the problems worse, not better, and the frustrated photographer is left scratching his (her) head.

One common mistake is not keeping the subject(s) parallel to the sensor in your camera. This creates depth of field errors where some of the subject(s) are outside, or beyond the plane of focus. Sure, you can increase the Aperture value (smaller aperture, larger f/number), but how will you know that everything is really sharp until you get the images downloaded on your computer? Viewing the LCD on the back of the camera is helpful, but not foolproof, especially in the field with varying light conditions!

The best way to make sure your gear is set up is to just check that the subjects are parallel with the back of your camera. Your sensor’s in there, and if the back is positioned correctly, then so is your sensor.

Keep it parallel to keep it sharp!

High winds sculpt the swirling clouds around Mount Pisgah on the Blue RIdge Parkway

I was out on one of my favorite stretches of Blue Ridge Parkway early one morning in April when I was soon being pummeled by cold temperatures and the high winds that can show up almost out of nowhere. The temperature outside was 27 degrees, and it cut through my layered clothing pretty good. Ok! I’m awake!

I noticed some clouds swirling around Mount Pisgah, one of the tallest peaks in view at 5,721. I wanted to capture the action of wind sculpting the moving, swirling clouds around a rock solid stationary object, so I set my camera for manual exposure at f/18. The available light gave me a 10-13 second exposure, plenty of time for cloud sculpting! The light added a nice touch, too I think.

Filtered light streams through the trees in the foggy valley below

I was out on the Blue Ridge Parkway photographing sunrise and early morning shots at some of the many locations near my home in Western NC when I happened along an overlook with something special going on.

Looking due East from the overlook, you could see a deep, flat valley filled with the healthy remains of the morning fog that had rolled in during the wee hours of the morning. Sunlight from the rising sun was in my eyes as I down looked at the great shapes and textures that the fog made, and I hurried to put on my 100-400mm telephoto lens and lens hood to get some closer studies of the really cool fog shapes I saw far below me.

After a while of this foggy photography, the sun, riding higher now in the sky, started to cause dark shadows to be cast through some of the trees and through the fog in the valley below, causing straight lines of shadows to be visible. This intensified as the sun became higher in the sky…

I was so excited to see this phenomenon, through the lens of my camera. I had debated about leaving this spot and driving on to photograph some butterflies I had noticed a few days before.

Patience paid off.  I named filtered light “shadow lines” although there’s probably a name for them, just as “crepuscular rays” is the tem for sunbeams, or God beams, shining down from the sky.

I’m very happy that I stopped at this particular place, at that particular time. I’m also happy that I had the patience to wait for the magic to happen

And it usually does happen. There for the taking if we bother to look, see and appreciate.

Early morning light illuminates the wings and bodies of this flock of shorebirds.

Most photographers are familiar with the “Golden Hour”, that time before sunset and after sunrise when the warm, low-angled light of the sun makes almost everything you see seem magical, intense and beautiful.

Well, during a recent photo trip to Florida this year, I spent five mornings in one particular quadrant of the Merritt Island NWR near Melbourne, FL. It didn’t take long to notice that the most interesting light of the morning in this area only lasted about 25 minutes or so.

Being in the best position with a suitable subject during this brief time took some planning. My assistant would drive me to a suitable stretch of open water just as the sun was coming up and I would get out with my gear and look around from behind the car (a great blind, if you didn’t know). I could then direct the car to move along, if needed.

Once “the place” was found and the birds started to come in, I could slowly come out from behind the car-blind and approach to a good position.

It was only a matter of time before these Least Sandpipers came along in a flock and landed near me. They would periodically take off as a group and fly around the water to land in a different spot, and that’s how I caught this image.

A little planning, the right time, and the right place all came together with this shot. The fact that you can improve your chances of catching a nice image by being aware of a few things like the nature of light, the behavior of your subject and how best to approach is one of the reasons I love what I do. You can sometimes make your own luck, and that’s pretty cool.