Photography Life

Once a year, I lead a photography group as part of the Nikon School of Czech Republic. Even though I scout the area a day in advance to see what wildlife is around, there is always something that catches me by surprise. That was certainly the case last Sunday. Rain began falling heavily over Stromovka, one of Prague’s oldest parks. As our group ran to take shelter somewhere, we made one last stop at a tree where a young owl had been hiding earlier in the day. I scanned the canopy, searching for the fluffy ball of feathers among the branches, when my eyes spotted a bit of movement on the ground. There, at the base of the tree, a young Long-eared Owl stared up with brilliant orange eyes. Not even the downpour could spoil an opportunity like that!

Do you know the story about the bird photographer whose lens was too long? No? Well, neither do I, actually. When it comes to bird photography, it often seems that no lens is long enough. Zoom lenses demonstrate this nicely: I believe that you could glue my zoom to its longest focal length, and I wouldn’t notice for quite some time. And yet, on rare occasions in bird photography, the field of view turns out to be too narrow. With a zoom lens, that’s no problem. But what about prime telephoto lenses? If taking a few steps backward isn’t enough to save the situation, there is another solution: stitching a panorama.

For the longest time, I’ve been using the Godox SL60W light for videos and product photography. It’s a great light, but unfortunately, it’s a heavy beast weighing about 2kg with the power cable. Thus, I’ve been looking for something much more lightweight to replace it. The newest candidate is the Neewer FS60B Bi-color light, which retails for about $100. Can it replace my Godox?

I’m writing this intro on Saturday morning, June 27th. Barely half an hour has passed since the heat melted me out of bed. I turned on my computer a few minutes ago, and even though it’s doing nothing more demanding than running a text editor, the cooling fan is spinning as if I were rendering 8K video. Even my morning coffee feels warmer than usual. Thank goodness there’s no dress code at home! The thermometer in my room reads 28.5°C. Converted to Fahrenheit, it sounds even scarier: 83.3 degrees! Here in Prague, today or tomorrow is expected to bring the highest temperature ever recorded since measurements began in 1775.

In a previous article, I walked through the process of capturing an HDR in the field and merging it in post-processing. But this is only the beginning of the work to get the shot I saw in the field. The real game is played in the subsequent post-processing of the HDR file, where making both global and local corrections allows for reconstructing the light and, hopefully, the atmosphere I saw that day. Let’s break down the process.

One of the biggest items announced this week is a fast 135mm portrait lens. By a curious coincidence, around the time you’re reading these Photography News, I’ll most likely be sprawled across a rock somewhere on the Norwegian island of Runde like an underfed seal, trying to use a similar (though much more expensive) lens to photograph one of the cutest members of the avian world: the Atlantic Puffin.

I just returned from a roadtrip through Utah and Colorado with some of the only Nikon Z lenses that we haven’t yet reviewed. Among them was the fairly recent Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 S II. This is a very exciting lens to me, but what do I think of it so far!?

Over the past year or so, I’ve tested a lot of camera accessories. Not all of them stood out, but some have become staples of my kit. Here are my seven favorites that I now use frequently in my own photography.

Viltrox has just released a new compact prime, the Viltrox 26mm f/2.8 EVO lens for full-frame Nikon Z and Sony E cameras. Nikon shooters are probably aware that this is a direct competitor to the Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8 lens that we’ve already tested. The closest Sony competitor is the FE 24mm f/2.8 G, another lens we’ve reviewed. How does the Viltrox perform? I shot with it for a week to bring you the news!

Do you know which Nikon telephoto lens a wildlife photographer takes on a family vacation? Are you guessing the wonderfully lightweight 400mm f/4.5, or perhaps the 600mm f/6.3? If you noticed the word “family” in the question, you’ve probably already figured out that the correct answer is – nothing. Unfortunately, as an unarmed photographer, I’m vulnerable to countless wonderful moments that make me want to tear out my (remaining) hair for not having a camera at hand. Just imagine it. I’m belaying my son as he climbs a rock face when, at eye level, a Short-toed Eagle glides past carrying a freshly caught snake in its talons. Those are the moments that truly test my composure.