Innholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2021 i Outdoor Photographer

When To Use Black & White Monochrome may be a better choice than color for some nature photos. Here’s how to decide. By Aaron Baggenstos On Landscape William Neill’s column on the fine art of landscape photography explores thoughtful approaches to composition and creativity. 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.…

Sigma’s new telephoto zoom for Sony E-mount and L-mount (Panasonic, Leica and Sigma) mirrorless camera systems—the 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports—is a direct competitor to the Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD lens that I reviewed in the last issue of Outdoor Photographer. It’s also an alternative to the Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens available for E-mount and is priced competitively at $1,499. The lens channels the spirit of Sigma’s 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Sports for DSLRs introduced in 2015, although it features an updated optical design and revised physical design and promises superior performance. It’s 26.8 ounces lighter than the DSLR version and about an inch shorter. Not only are the optics and design revised, but the autofocus system is redesigned, too.…

I remember the fixer smell I couldn’t get off my hands, seeing my image emerge on paper for the first time as it sat in the developer. I was the darkroom manager at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where I was studying to be an electrical engineer—and slowly falling more and more in love with photography. I remember spending hours manually dodging and burning my prints with tools made from cardboard, coat hangers and strings. I learned and drew my inspiration from masters like Ansel Adams and Jerry Uelsmann. These artists had ways of leading your eyes through the frame by darkening certain areas and lightening others. They could take you on a journey, leading you down into a scene as if you were walking the path yourself or taking…

We all make mistakes and ruin our photos, particularly when we’re in a hurry and sleep deprived. And we all try to learn from our mistakes. Sometimes the best I can do is to echo nature photographer John Shaw, who said, “I have learned from my mistakes, and I can repeat them with precision.” And sometimes I come up with a creative new mistake that I never imagined was possible. To avoid repeating mistakes and making new ones, I’ve developed a checklist of crucial camera settings to review before hitting that shutter button. I remember the checklist with this acronym: SAFE-D-WINS. S Is For Shutter Speed Is my shutter speed fast enough to handhold the camera? A good rule of thumb is that the slowest safe handholdable shutter speed is…

Adobe’s new Super Resolution technology is the best solution I’ve found for increasing the resolution of digital images. It doubles the linear resolution of your file, quadrupling the total pixel count while preserving fine detail. Super Resolution is available in both Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and Lightroom and is accessed via the Enhance command. And because it’s built-in, it’s free for subscribers to the Creative Cloud Photography Plan. Super Resolution was developed by applying artificial intelligence to the task of resampling images. The software was fed millions of low-resolution images, which it up-sampled and compared to the original high-resolution images. Over time, Super Resolution learned how to preserve fine detail while interpolating the file. The benefits of Super Resolution are most obvious in large prints of highly detailed subjects. Think…

I get asked all the time, ‘Why black-and-white?’” Kristi Odom says. It’s certainly a less-common choice for wildlife photography, where the impulse is to document animals and their habitats in full color. For Odom, the answer lies in the simplicity of black-and-white, focusing attention more precisely on the textures and gestures of her wild subjects. In this special double issue, we explore the artistry of monochrome photography from several perspectives. Odom’s feature, “Wildlife In Black & White,” narrates her departure from a degree in electrical engineering into the darkroom, where she fell in love with the process of photography. Though some of her methods have evolved along with technology, she still relies on the foundations of her early years with film when she studied the work of the medium’s masters…

Grand Prize Enchanted Forest By Pat Rose “The Pacific Northwest: mountains, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, the ocean. It’s pure joy to explore this region’s most beautiful locations and observe the majesty, the romance and the quiet grace on display in this part of the country. “Some of my most treasured moments spent photographing this environment are still alive for me. I remember especially well the magic of hiking one golden, misty November morning into the fairy tale world of Metlako Falls along the Eagle Creek Trail in the Columbia River Gorge. On that extraordinary morning, the splendid light and lingering fog seemed to magnify the brilliance of the autumn colors and the luminous glow of the falls, offering me a gift of singular beauty that is now forever preserved in this…

My love for monochrome images started in 1989, when I joined the newspaper staff at my local high school. I had only been taking pictures for two years, and this was the first time I was able to shoot, develop and print my own images, all in black-and-white. I spent all the time I could shooting and in the darkroom. I won’t lie—my grades in other classes may have suffered a bit due to my new love of processing and printing images. I read about Ansel Adams and how his mastery of dodging and burning was used to create his iconic images. Adams’ photographs weren’t straight out of the camera; his darkroom work was just as precise as his shooting techniques. His ability to control light in the capture and…

I’m a fine art photographer with a passion for digital infrared, and black-and-white images are a significant part of my portfolio. There’s a purity and intensity to a well-crafted monochrome image and many software options out there to help convert a color image to black-and-white. In my experience, the best way to convert a color image to monochrome is a method that gives me the most control over how each color is translated. Filters that automate the conversion often don’t allow for fine control or end up creating images that are noisy, grainy or just look “cookie cutter.” I don’t want someone to see my monochrome images and respond, “Oh, you used ‘whatever’ filter.” I prefer to convert each image manually, taking into consideration the unique characteristics of the image.…

Life can quickly become oversaturated with soul-sucking hardships until it reaches the point where the direction you’re going is unpredictable. Suddenly, as if by some unknown force and the minuscule flame of hope within you, you’re led to the exact place where you need to be. For me, that place was in the Hudson Valley region—the sanctuary that is Seven Lakes Drive. The Seven Lakes Drive begins in the village of Sloatsburg, New York, and winds through Harriman State Park to Bear Mountain. Every season adds its own charm to the picturesque scenery, but the most breathtaking beauty is during the height of the fall foliage, where different shades of reds, oranges and yellows blend to create an orchestra of colors. This place isn’t unfamiliar territory for me—the open road…

The Sony FE 14mm F1.8 G Master lens is both Sony’s widest full-frame prime and its brightest ultra-wide full-frame lens. The 14th lens in Sony’s high-end G Master series, it joins a growing list of premium Sony lenses. Yet, through a combination of impressive design and performance, the Sony 14mm F1.8 GM manages to stand out. We’ll get to the lens’s excellent optical performance, but before that, it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate just how compact and lightweight the Sony 14mm F1.8 GM lens is. At only 3.9 inches long and weighing about a pound, it’s much smaller and lighter than the Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art lens for Sony E-mount, which weighs 2.6 pounds. Unlike the Sigma lens, Sony’s new prime has been designed from the…

Location In Washington’s northwest corner lies the Makah Reservation, home of the Makah Tribe and gateway to the rugged beauty of the Olympic Coast. Neah Bay is a bustling harbor in the heart of the reservation and is a great place to base explorations. The Pacific Ocean and Olympic National Park create the western border of the tribal lands, while Cape Flattery and the Strait of Juan de Fuca define the northern boundary, with the coastal peaks of Vancouver Island seemingly within arm’s reach. Access from the east is via State Route 112 and is a four-hour drive from Seattle. Weather The Olympic Peninsula includes portions of temperate rainforest. Expect cool, wet weather that gives rise to the lush green forests. The region is accessible year-round, though spring through fall…

The designation of “national monument” evokes statues and memorial buildings that don’t sound too interesting for landscape photographers. However, in the United States, the term has a different meaning. What you’ll find among our national monuments are vast lands rivaling the national parks in beauty, diversity, cultural heritage and unique photographic destinations. You won’t find crowds, tight regulations or over-photographed views. Get ready for an adventure off the beaten path. What Are National Monuments? Like national parks, national monuments are federally protected areas. They vary in size from less than an acre to surface areas comparable to large U.S. states. They preserve natural or historic features. The main administrative difference is that only Congress can designate a national park, whereas presidents can proclaim a national monument on their own thanks…

The black-and-white print is an art unto itself. There’s a lot to consider, both creatively and technically. Without color to lean on, we must put more thought into how we render our image’s textures, patterns and contrast. We might need to dodge and burn to direct the viewer’s attention either toward or away from certain parts of our composition. We want to know which paper or other medium will best express our vision. We must calibrate our monitors and consider the use of profiles. Like with any craft, we practice and pay our dues through trial and error as we get familiar with what works and what doesn’t in order to master the black-and-white print. There’s no way around it; you can’t just read an article like this and walk…

The Pounce “In the golden light of a late afternoon, I spent over an hour observing fox kits wrestle and chase each other around a field on San Juan Island,” says Steve Santel. “I was extremely blessed to vicariously share the joy of their energetic and exuberant play. The young vixen, pictured toward the right of the frame, was often the catalyst. She daringly harassed and pursued her larger male siblings. The time spent with these kits was the highlight of the trip. It also proved to be one of the most memorable wildlife experiences I’ve had to date.” See more of Steve Santel’s work at flickr.com/photos/stevesantel.…