Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2021 i Outdoor Photographer

The Surfing Life How a lifelong love and respect for the ocean inspires my photography. By Zak Noyle. Wild By Nature Melissa Groo’s recurring column on wildlife photography considers all of the elements for success, from equipment to techniques and good field ethics. Assignments Share your best shots in our weekly “Assignments” photo challenges. Submit images that fit the week’s theme—you may be our next Assignment winner. Tip Of The Week Available on our website—or delivered directly to your inbox—our “Tip of the Week” provides shooting and processing techniques to sharpen your photography skills. Sign up today. Connect With Us Get the latest news and be inspired by great photos from the Outdoor Photographer community. Newsletter Subscribe today for updates on the latest features, how-to articles and photography news. outdoorphotographer.com/newsletter/…

When it comes to taking photos of the night sky, we often find ourselves driving and hiking hours from any artificial light source, relying only on the stars and airglow in the atmosphere to light our entire frame. The conditions for astrophotography can prove to be very challenging to shoot in and push our gear to its limit. To come back with the best possible image, it’s important to head out with the right gear at the right time. Over the last few years, with camera sensors continuing to improve in extreme low-light situations, the technical challenges of astrophotography have eased. Astrophotography today is more accessible than ever before. These tips will help you head out under the night sky to capture beautiful photos of the stars. Gear Recommendations While…

Sony’s full-frame mirrorless camera lineup includes a variety of models aimed at the unique needs of different users. The Sony a7R series provides the highest resolution, the Sony a7S series has the highest sensitivity and pixel-for-pixel 4K video and the Sony a9 offered the fastest autofocus and continuous frames-per-second shooting when it was introduced. For my work, that meant I typically traveled with a7R series cameras for portraits and landscapes and an a9 for action. Switching between them was a reminder of the tradeoff between resolution and speed. Because of this, none of these cameras was a true “flagship” camera. That’s the beauty of Sony Alpha 1. Its 50-megapixel sensor nearly matches a7R IV’s 61-megapixel resolution while at the same time offering extremely fast continuous shooting and, in my estimation,…

Curious Cubs “I took this photograph while staying at the Silver Salmon Creek Lodge in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska,” says Jimmy Day. “The area is well known for its population of Alaskan brown bears and, amazingly, they’re very tolerant of their human visitors. The park is uncrowded by humans but has plenty of bears that occasionally even roam through the cabin areas surrounding the lodge. It made me a bit nervous at first, but after a few days, I grew accustomed to it. After a week, I had well over 4,000 bear photographs to choose from. “After a day of shooting, we came upon these two cubs (estimated at about 3 years old) who were curiously trying to get inside a plane. I shot this photograph before the pilot…

Even accomplished nature photographers may be intimidated by astrophotography, but you might be surprised by just how accessible the experience can be. In this issue, we’ll demystify the art with tips for every step of the process. For Jennifer Wu, the unique challenges of night photography are what keeps her motivated. “I have always had a fascination with the night sky and stars,” Wu says. “Just the enjoyment of seeing the stars is awe-inspiring, and photographing them allows me to be creative. The difficulties make it even more rewarding.” Wu leads us through a very personal narrative highlighting several of her most memorable photo adventures under the night sky in her feature portfolio, “Reaching For The Stars.” Astrophotography is a broad concept encompassing a range of techniques and situations. Twilight,…

GRAND PRIZE Skiing The North By David Swindler “The best poets, after all, exhibit only a tame and civil side of nature. They have not seen the west side of any mountain.” – Henry David Thoreau “Our day started under a thick blanket of fog with the temperature at -10 degrees Celsius. We put skins on our skis and started a long ascent up a steep ridge. After 2,500 feet of elevation gain, we emerged above the fog, and layers of rugged peaks appeared before us. I took this shot as my girlfriend, Evelyn, skied out to get a closer view of the mountains.” SECOND PRIZE Emerging From The Forest By Cindy Jones “Wading through a river carrying my photography gear always takes some effort, but when I was trying…

Location Located approximately 435 miles northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Mount Robson somehow manages to surpass all of the giddy expectations that a nine-hour drive can produce. On a clear day, the last stretch of the journey east on the Yellowhead Highway toward Mount Robson Provincial Park reveals the 12,972-foot peak of Mount Robson suddenly in a way that requires a moment for the brain to reconcile what the eyes see. While the area is remote and rugged, the roads are paved and well-maintained, providing easy summer access. Weather Known to the Secwépemc people as Yexyexéscen, Robson claims superlatives as the tallest and most prominent peak in the Canadian Rockies. Its size and location allow it to readily capture atmospheric moisture moving east from the Pacific, giving Robson an…

Challenging shoots are what keep me addicted to photography, and capturing nocturnal creatures in their habitats is one of those challenges. The first objective in a shoot like this, as with any wildlife photograph, is to find the beast. It was an exceptionally dry year in southern Arizona, which reduced the activity of many species, including our target, a white speckled rattlesnake. We came up empty-handed looking for our intended subject, but that gave me the opportunity to focus on more commonly encountered creatures like this Sonoran lyresnake. It’s a species that few spend the time to photograph, even those who are keen on snake photography. Though the snake is not rare, it still took many hours hiking through a remote mountain range on the U.S.-Mexico border to finally scare…

CANON REVEALS ADDITIONAL EOS R3 DETAILS In April, Canon announced the development of its upcoming EOS R3 full-frame mirrorless camera. The company described the EOS R3 as a future flagship full-frame mirrorless model, stating in the press release: “This camera will usher in a new category to the EOS R system, positioned squarely between the EOS R5 and EOS-1D X Mark III cameras.” Few details were unveiled in the initial announcement beyond teasers, including a 30 fps max continuous shooting rate and “eye-activated autofocus” capability. Canon has since released additional details about the camera’s specifications. The camera will feature a magnesium-alloy body and have dual card slots, one SD and one CF Express. The autofocus system will be able to recognize cars and motorcycles in addition to human and animal…

It’s cold, and I’m shivering under the dark night sky. Out of breath from hiking up the mountain above 9,000 feet elevation, I set up my camera for a shot. I enjoy creating compositions of the night sky; composition is my favorite aspect of photography. I choose a horizontal view to include the arch of the Milky Way through the frame, with Jupiter near the center and a volcanic eruption on the Big Island of Hawaii in the distance. I wait until the dense part of the Milky Way gases are visible, which, at this time of year in May, is now almost 1 a.m. I love photographing the full moon with mountains or a crescent moon on the horizon, but what I delight in the most is photographing the…

The AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm F2.8G ED for DSLRs has long been regarded by photojournalists as well as landscape and astrophotographers as one of the sharpest fast, wide zooms on the market. Even the best lenses often have limitations. For the AF-S 14-24mm, those are its relatively large size and a spherical front element that can’t accept screw-mount filters. To be fair, these characteristics are typical of ultra-wide, fast zooms and are outweighed by the lens’s generous perspective and fast maximum aperture that’s great for low-light shooting—especially night sky photography. With the new NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S for the company’s Z mirrorless system, Nikon has introduced an even more impressive ultra-wide zoom that overcomes the AF-S version’s disadvantages. The NIKKOR Z 14-24mm is sharper than its DSLR sibling, especially at…