Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2015 i Outdoor Photographer

Photographer: Kerrick James Location: Sedona, Arizona Equipment: Pentax K-30, smc PENTAX DA 12-24mm ƒ/4 ED AL (IF) Situation: Kerrick James is the quintessential explorer, seeking new vistas and new ways to photograph them. A lot of nature photographers travel alone. We all understand why, and we also understand that it’s not really a good idea for simple safety reasons. James shows another reason why it’s a good idea to bring along a companion. He explains, “I love to search for and discover new views and features in the landscape, and when I can show a hiking friend exploring it, so much the better. That was the case with this relatively small keyhole arch. It’s viewable from Schnebly Hill Road in Sedona, but it’s a scramble to reach, and it’s a…

PENTAX K-3 II Ricoh Imaging has introduced the Pentax K-3 II camera. The K-3 II shares the K-3’s dustproof and weather-resistant magnesium-alloy casing and metal chassis, as well as the 24.35-effective-megapixel resolution, 27-point AF system and 8.3 fps shooting speed. The K-3 II incorporates new GPS technology with a GPS receiver and an electric compass logging image location, camera orientation, altitude, time and date. Images then can be transferred to a map like Google Earth. Pixel Shift Resolution utilizes the improved 4.5 EV-stop Shake Reduction system to move the CMOS sensor in single-pixel increments over four frames, then combines the frames into a single high-definition image. Adding the in-body Shake Reduction system to the GPS technology, plus magnetic and acceleration sensors, the Astrotracer feature calculates the motion of stars and…

You don’t need a smart device to operate your camera remotely. Dozens of manufacturers offer wired and wireless remote controls that work directly with many popular camera models. The big drawback to non-smart device methods is you can’t see the image, but that’s how remote photography was done for decades before smart devices and apps were invented. Camera Manufacturers’ Remotes Most camera companies offer simple wired and wireless remote controls for their cameras: cable releases, infrared remotes and radio remotes. These were designed to function with specific cameras in the manufacturer’s line, and operation is straightforward. Just attach the cable release to the appropriate receptacle on the camera, or connect the receiver of a wireless remote, and you’re set to go. The Flashpoint Wave Commander is a low-cost corded remote…

Cabárceno Wildlife Park in northern Spain was designed for the conservation of endangered species and provides semi-free conditions for the animals that live there. The park hosts 100 animal species from five continents, including the world’s largest bird, the ostrich. The wild ostrich population has been in drastic decline over the last 200 years, and most surviving birds can be found in wildlife parks like this one or on farms. When she’s not leading safaris in Africa, Marina Cano offers wildlife photography workshops in the park, where she managed to catch up to one of these speedy birds, who wasn’t exactly ready for her close-up. To see more of Marina Cano’s work, visit www.marinacano.com.…

The life of an adventure photographer isn’t easy: There’s seemingly endless travel to awe-inspiring destinations around the world; the physical demands of spending your days outside hiking, backpacking, climbing, kayaking and running rapids with all of your expensive gear in tow; seeking out sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, waterfalls and hidden caves; dragging your friends along on your adventures or meeting incredible new people along the way; and wildlife encounters most people will only dream of. Well, I guess it’s not all bad. And for travel journalist Kerrick James, whose 25-year career has spanned film and digital, darkrooms and Lightroom, word of mouth and social sharing, it’s just another day at the office. When you grow up in a house that was “filled with cameras,” as James says he did, it’s not…

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For many people, a beautiful wild landscape image serves as an escape to a peaceful place away from the noise, congestion and stress of modern civilization. Just looking at a gorgeous nature photograph stimulates daydreams of being in the place portrayed. Photographer Peter Essick has never looked at landscape photography that way. For him, images of wild nature are more than just pretty pictures. “It’s important to experience nature undisturbed in order to have an understanding of how ecosystems and all that live in them are meant to be,” says Essick. “Photographs of wild nature help us understand natural systems and biodiversity, and can serve as road maps for how to restore ecosystems that have been damaged.” As a photojournalist covering the environment, Essick has been a frequent contributor to…

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, California  David Shield went to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (known colloquially as SEKI) with a plan to avoid crowds. He writes, “Visitors have a chance to venture into remote backcountry areas less crowded than popular landmarks found near the parks’ main roads.” To get to this spot at Dusy Basin, he hiked from the Bishop Pass Trailhead, which was approached from by driving west on Highway 168 from Bishop. Nikon D700, NIKKOR 18-35mm ƒ/3.5-4.5G ED AF-S, polarizer Glacier National Park, Montana  Visiting Glacier National Park, Luke Tingley was sure to bring his wide-angle lens for the sweeping grand landscapes. He describes this scene, “After a couple of days of very windy conditions at Two Medicine Lake, I was finally treated to a…

The national parks are a treasure trove of wilderness, habitat and scenic beauty, but most visitors never venture more than 100 feet from the roads or parking areas. The bulk of the landscape in our parks is pristine and quiet, and just waiting for you and your camera. Outdoor Photographer reached out to nature photographers across the United States to get their advice on where to go for spectacular images in many of our most popular national parks. Because we have limited space in the magazine, you can check out an extended version of this article at outdoorphotographer.com. Glacier National Park, Montana Chuck Haney | www.chuckhaney.com Swiftcurrent Lake Swiftcurrent Lake in the scenic Many Glacier Valley in the park’s eastern front is a favorite for sunrise shooting. You can only…

Mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras came into being because many felt that DSLRs were too bulky to carry around much of the time. The idea was to provide DSLR image quality in a noticeably smaller, lighter package. This was done by putting DSLR image sensors into smaller bodies, and that was done either by using a flat, compact point-and-shoot camera form factor or by removing the mirror box and prism finder from a DSLR-style form factor, replacing the latter with an electronic viewfinder. Most of the early mirrorless cameras were aimed mainly at people moving up from a point-and-shoot, who wanted the flexibility of interchangeable lenses and the boost in image quality inherent in larger sensors. Today, though, there are mirrorless models aimed squarely at the DSLR user—cameras that can do almost…

Most photos are taken by pressing the camera’s shutter button with one’s finger. This is simple, requires no additional gear, allows for capturing those “decisive moments” and works quite well much of the time. However, there are times when you won’t want to operate this way. One is to avoid jiggling the camera as you trip the shutter, even with the camera on a tripod. You can use the camera’s self-timer to do this, although its delay will cause you to miss some decisive moments, and you must be at the camera to activate it. With a DSLR, mirror prelock will flip the mirror up out of the light path a bit before the exposure is made, allowing vibrations from the mirror’s movement to subside. Mirrorless cameras don’t have SLR…

Every camera comes with some sort of a perfectly functional strap, and because it usually has the name and model number of the camera it came with, the strap can also serve as a status badge. If you’d like a little more function than that basic strap, you have some options that are both highly functional and stylish, as well. BlackRapid has made a name for themselves with strap systems that securely connect to the camera’s 1/4-20 tripod thread. The camera sits at your hip in a natural position so that when you reach down, you’re automatically holding it so it’s ready to shoot. Most of BlackRapid’s various shoulder straps are contoured to be worn across your body, which is both comfortable and much more secure than just slinging on…