I’m a huge Moose Peterson fan and recently found “Moose Peterson’s Guide to Wildlife Photography: Conventional and Digital Techniques (A Lark Photography Book)” at the local Half Price Books store.

I was a little hesitant to buy it since it was printed in 2003, which is a quite a long time ago in photography equipment years.  I bought the book anyway (because I’m a huge fan, remember/) and I’m glad I did.

I love this book.

In this book, Moose provides a great deal of knowledge gained in the field by a working wildlife photographer.    He provides great tips for choosing equipment, tips for working in the field and really provides a great deal of insight into what its like to do what he does.

There are 2 great tidbits of knowledge provided by Moose in this book. Both are clever, simple and different than most other wildlife photographers out there.  These 2 nuggets of knowledge are provided below.

Lens Selection for wildlife and bird photography

I’ve read many blogs, magazine articles and books on wildlife and bird photography and most say the same thing: Buy the longest lens you can and get as close as you can.  Not bad advice…and it’s pretty much true.  If you want to get the best detail in the feathers of a bird, you’ve got to have a great super telephoto lens.

Moose’s advice?  Pretty much the same except he changes ‘longest lens’ to ‘best lens for you’.  What does he mean by this?

It’s simple.  Buy the lenses that let you tell your story.

Perhaps the Canon 800mm L is the perfect bird lens. Scott Bourne. another photographer I admire a great deal says it is in a post titled “Wildlife Shooting Tips / Workflow“. Bourne also says that the 600mm (I love the Canon 600mm L) is the perfect wildlife lens.  I’d love to have either of those lenses.

That said, are those the perfect lenses for everyone and every situation?  Not at all.

Personally, I’m looking at the Canon 500mm L lens as my perfect Bird & Wildlife lens as it is super portable (when compared to the Canon 800mm L and Canon 600mm L), takes an extender extremely well and can be used quite easily for birding and wildlife photography.

Back to Moose’s equipment selection advice: Pick the lens that fits you and the situation.

Perhaps the best lens for your wildlife photography is a 14mm (Moose carries one with him all the time…at least at the time of the book publication).  Perhaps your perfect lens is a 300mm (i drool when I see Canon’s 300mm f/2.8 L lens…it takes an extender wonderfully).

As Moose says, the perfect lens is the one that works for the situation you are in…and perhaps the one that you have with you at the time

Defining a Good Photo

Moose’s seconddsalla really insightful tip has to do with taking a ‘good’ photograph…and defining what ‘good’ is.

Moose’s advice?

A ‘good’ photo is one that you like and one that tells the story that you want to tell.

Amazingly simple isn’t it?  Sure the technical details of taking a ‘good’ photo are important, but they aren’t THE important thing.  THE important thing is that the photo tells the story that YOU want it to tell.

Conclusion

Did I mention that I love this book?

Moose Peterson is a great photographer and this book sheds some light on his techniques and approach to his craft.  If you can find a copy, I’d highly recommend it.

Moose has a new book coming out later this year titled “Captured: Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer (Voices That Matter)” that I plan to pick up when released…look for it too as it looks like its going to be a good one.

Related posts:

1. Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Photography Field Guide – Book Review
2. Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide Book Review
3. Book Review: Guide to Photographing America’s National Parks

I’ve been using DxO Optics Pro for about a month now and have fallen in love with it.

I’ve been a happy Lightroom (LR) user.  My workflow consisted of dropping my CF card into a reader and using LR to convert the Canon RAW CR2 file into a Digital Negative (DNG) file.

I was happy with this workflow.  Lightroom was fast and is my primary library of photographs.  Importing is quick and painless and I could do all my metadata & tagging upon import.

I never really thought much about the quality of the CR2 to DNG conversion until I started using my Canon 7D.  There was something about the files that I just didn’t like.   After conversion and post-processing (95% of my files had to be post-processed), I was happier with the converted DNG but something was still missing.

True happiness?

While surfing the web one day, I ran across an article about DxO Optics Pro (DxOP).  The article (sadly I don’t remember which one it was) described the various benefits of DxOP including excellent noise reduction, sharpening and lens corrections.

I downloaded the demo version of DxO Optics Pro for Mac to try it out.   I chose some RAW files that had already been run through Lightroom and ran them through DxOP as a test.

You know what? There was really no comparison.

The DxO Optics Pro converted DNG was so much cleaner, sharper and more vibrant than the LR converted DNG.  That said, DxOP does much more to the photo thanLightroomdoes when converting… DxOP applies sharpening, color correction and noise reduction automatically.

One can argue that the DxOP DNG is a much different photo than the Lightroom DNG.  And I would agree.  They are different photos but I think that’s a good thing…the DxO DNG is a much better photograph in my experience.  Keep reading and I’ll show you what I mean.

Happiness at a cost

I’m happy with the results of DxOP.  Really happy.

But that happiness comes at a cost of something that’s extremely precious: Time.

To show the difference in conversion & import times, I ran a test. I went out earlier this week with my Canon 7D & my Canon 400mm 5.6 L and shot some birds at Spring Creek Forest Preserve. I filled up an 8GB CF card with photos…turns out to be 321 photos.

I decided to run all the files through both DxO Optics Pro and LR to compare conversion times and converted files.

Both DxO and Lightroom were set to convert the files to DNG using the ‘default’ settings.  DxOP applied color correction, sharpening and noise reduction to each file while Lightroom did not.

A summary of the results are below.

Number of files: 321

• DxO Optics Pro Conversion & Corrections:  4.5 hours
• Lightroom Conversion to DNG: 1.5 hours

After conversion and corrections in DxO, I had to import the files into Lightroom using the “import from disk” option and adding the converted DNG files to the library without any conversions. This process took only 1 minute to complete.

DxO Optics Pro took 3 hours longer than Lightroom but the photos provided out of DxO were much better photos (sharper, better color, etc) when compared to lightroom.

So…to get the same photo in lightroom, I would need to go through each photo and apply sharpening, color corrections, tone correction and other types of corrections…which could conceivably take 3 hours (or more).

So how good is DxO Optics Pro versus Lightroom?  Let’s take a look.

An Example

I used one of my favorite recent photographs as a test.  The female cardinal below is the final product out of DxO + some minor edits (crop, sharpening, etc) in Lightroom.

Female Cardinal - Converted and Corrected using DxO Optics Pro

Great photo if I may say so

As I said, this photo was converted to DNG using DxO Optics Pro on the default settings.   The photo below was converted from Canon RAW to DNG using Lightroom. The same settings (sharpening, color, crop, etc) were copied from the above photo and applied to the Lightroom Converted photo below.

Female Cardinal - Converted using Lightroom

Quite a big difference between the two photos isn’t there?

Let’s take a look at both photos close-up…and you’ll see where DxO Optics really shines.

The first photo is a side-by-side comparison of the female cardinal’s head and shoulder.

Side-by-side comparison of Dxo (left) vs Lightroom (right) - click for larger image

Bit of a difference isn’t there? Better color and a clearer photo IMO.

Let’s take a look at another comparison – this time a body shot of the same female cardinal.

Side-by-side comparison of Dxo (left) vs Lightroom (right) - Click for larger image

Conclusion

Have I performed a scientific test and proved anything significant? Nope.

But I have run a few thousand photos through DxO Optics Pro and say that I definitely prefer the files output from it over those from Lightroom.

Is the difference in image quality worth a processing time 3 times longer?  When I think of it taking 4.5 hours to convert & correct 321 files in DxO Optics Pro, I get a little antsy…that’s a long time.  But…those 321 files are ready to publish (for the most part) after DxO conversion whereas the 1.5 hour conversion process in Lightroom requires a significant time investment to fully post-process the files.

To me the additional post-processing time is worth it.

Buy DxO Optics Pro

There are two versions of DxO Optics Pro available: Standard ($169) and Elite ($299). The difference in the versions is based on your camera(s) and lens combinations.   Go here to find which version you’d need.

Related posts:

1. Camera Dojo releases Monochrome Lightroom Presets
2. Scott Kelby’s Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers Book Review
3. Richard Earney’s Inside Lightroom 2 Book Review

Rather than giving you more tips and hints for SEO and marketing your photography services on the web, I thought I’d take some time to point you toward a book that will answer all your questions and give you all the background you need to start properly marketing yourself.

The book?  Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media) by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah.

Halligan and Shah are the founders of Hubspot…an extremely successful company helping organizations and people marketing themselves on the web.

If you are wanting/needing to be found on the web, this book will help you understand how to ‘be found’.  This book doesn’t provide any specific recipes (do x and y will happen) but it provides the basics for understanding why things will work.

Do the things listed in this book and, over time, you will be found.

This book is an excellent book….go buy it today.

Related posts:

1. Inbound Marketing for Photographers
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3. Book Review: Guide to Photographing America’s National Parks

One of the gifts I received this past Christmas was a book titled “National Audubon Society Guide to Photographing America’s National Parks” by Tim Fitzharris.

This book provides a great deal of value by providing 250 photographs sprinkled throughout 192 pages describing the US National Parks.  While not a detailed review of each park, you do get a sense of what each park is and what the highlights of each park should be.

Tracie and I are planning a trip to Zion (with short trip to Bryce) later this year…mainly because of the short write-up and wonderful photos provided in this book.  We had been thinking about going back to Yosemite or Yellowstone but the beautiful colors of Zion won us over (and the fact that neither of us has been there yet).

If you’re looking for a book that covers photographing all our great national parks, this is a good one to get.  The book has some amazing photography and some great tips too.

Related posts:

1. Compass American Guides: Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
2. Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide Book Review
3. Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Photography Field Guide – Book Review

I’ve been reading through the Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide by Charlotte Lowrie and have to say that I’m impressed with the book.  I’ve never bought a book like this before having always relied on the manual that came with the camera and other online guides.  While I still like the camera manual and love scouring the interwebs for new information, this book provides a great deal of value to a photographer with a Canon 7D…especially when you’re out in the field shooting.

When you pick up a book like this,  you know what you’re in for…a walk-through of all the settings of the camera and how to use those settings.  But more than that, the author provides a great deal of insight into how she users her camera in different situations…which is extremely interesting for me.  These types of personal touches allow me to see how other photographers think and use their gear.

The book is split into twelve chapters with a ton of information in each chapter.  The chapters are:

• Ch 1 – Roadmap to the 7D
• Ch 2 – Camera Setup and Image Playback
• Ch 3 – Controlling Exposure and Focus
• Ch 4 – Getting Great Color
• Ch 5 – Customizing the 7D
• Ch 6 – Shooting Live View and Tethered
• Ch 7 – Using Movie Mode
• Ch 8 – Working with Flash and Studio Lights
• Ch 9 – Lenses and Accessories
• Ch 10 – Event and Action Photography
• Ch 11 – Nature and Landscape Photography
• Ch 12 – People Photography

The titles of the chapters are pretty self-explanatory.

Chapter’s 1 through 7 provided the most value for me as they explored camera functionality and usage. I spent the majority of my time with this book in these first seven chapters. Chapters 8 through 12 provide general information about photographing in particular situations and how to setup the Canon 7D for those situations…good chapters but not as ‘meaty’ as the first seven.

The real strength of this book is the ability to communicate camera settings and functions clearly and quickly.  The manual that comes with the 7D is good, but is a technical manual…this book provides a bit more for the reader to soak in.

For those of you who might be beginners looking for a book on photography and using the 7D – this is not the book for you.  A Few reviews I read on Amazon take a negative stance towards this book because it doesn’t “explain” photography as it relates to the 7D…that isn’t the purpose of this book.  Its purpose is to explain the functionality and settings of the camera.

If you have a Canon 7D and can’t (or don’t want) to decipher the camera manual, this book is for you.

Related posts:

1. Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Photography Field Guide – Book Review
2. Moose Peterson’s Guide to Wildlife Photography – Book Review
3. Book Review: Guide to Photographing America’s National Parks

I received Bryan Peterson’s “Understanding Photography Field Guide: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera” for Christmas and haven’t been able to put it down since.

The book is split into 11 different sections:

• Digital Basics – In this section, the author provides a basic intro to the world of digital photography.
• Exposure – Peterson does a great job explaining exposure and how to find the ‘right’ exposure for any given photograph.  While thorough, it doesn’t provide nearly as much information as Peterson’s “Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera” but it gets you the basics.
• Aperture – In this section, Peterson provides an overview of what is meant by ‘aperture’ and why selecting one aperture over another is an important decision.
• Shutter Speed & ISO – This section provides a great overview of how to select ISO and Shutter Speed for a particular situation. In addition to shutter speed & ISO, topics such as panning and tripod and/or monopod usage while panning are discussed.
• Learning to See – This section covers the extremely important topic of lens selection, usage and tips for changing the perspective of your shot (shoot from above, below, etc).
• Designing and Striking an Image – This section covers what I consider to be the most important aspect of photography – composition of a photograph.  You can be a good photographer technically, but if you can’t create a creative photograph by composing it correctly, the technical abilities are for naught.
• The Importance of Light -In this section, Peterson does a very good job of presenting options for using light when creating your photographs.  Topics such as back-lighting, front lighting and the “sunny f/16″ Rule (I hadn’t heard of it before).  Great section.
• Close-up Photography – Macro photography is the focus of this section. Peterson provides tips and guidance on the necessary equipment and methods for shooting macro photography.  Includes discussion of lighting and other tools needed.
• Photographing People – This is a short section but it has some excellent tips for working with people.
• Unconventional Techniques – One of the coolest sections of the book, this section provides some ideas and tips for doing some cool things with equipment, lighting, overexposure and more.  Some really cool techniques in this section of the book.
• Useful Tools -  This last section provides tips and guidance on tripods, tripod heads, filters and other tools of the trade.

In addition to being an all around good book, it’s format is excellent.  It’s small enough to fit into your backpack or bag while out shooting and sturdy enough to last forever.

This book will be a mainstay in by shooting pack.  Its a great book to pick up while out shooting to get some inspiration and tips for taking better photographs.

Jump over to Amazon and pick up Understanding Photography Field Guide: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera.

Related posts:

1. Moose Peterson’s Guide to Wildlife Photography – Book Review
2. Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide Book Review
3. Book Review: Guide to Photographing America’s National Parks

Just finished reading through “The Naked and the Lens: A Guide to Nude Photography” and have to say it is an excellent book.

Unlike my wife Tracie (a great people photographer based in Dallas), I’m not really interested in shooting people. That said, this book provides some excellent advice and guidelines for shooting not only nudes but people in general.

Don’t let the title fool you…this book is much more than just about shooting naked people.  It provides a great deal of information on how to prepare for shoots (equipment, etc), what to do during shoots (how to work with people) and post processing skills for making those photographs pop.

Of course, the book has a lot of nudes in it.  They are all done perfectly tastefully and artfully so don’t worry about seening anything that might offend you.

If you photograph people, buy this book.  It does much more than just talk about shooting nude people…it teaches the skills needed by any photographer.

Related posts:

1. Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide Book Review
2. Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Photography Field Guide – Book Review
3. Moose Peterson’s Guide to Wildlife Photography – Book Review

On our recent trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks, we used the Compass American Guides: Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks, 1st Edition book to guide as around the park.

What a great book.

We used this book on our recent trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons and couldn’t be happier with the information, tips and maps included.

The book is split into 10 sections:

1.) An introduction - provides an overview of the book and an introduction to the author and photographer.

2.) Best Experiences in Yellowstone & Grand Tetons NP – Contains 25 pages that describe the ‘best’ of each park.  Great section and worthy of being made into a smaller pocket book.

3.) Yellowstone History – I loved this section because I’m a history buff. The author does a great job describing the park’s history and its evolution into the park that it is today.

4.) Yellowstone’s Lower Loop – a description of all the things to see and do in the lower loop of Yellowstone. The author does a great job describing the things to do and see in this part of the park.

5.) Yellowstone’s Upper Loop – a description of all the things to see and do in the upper loop of Yellowstone.  Again, a listing of things to do and see is provided…great stuff. Excellent photos provide enticements to make it to the various stops and locations on the upper loop.

6.) Grand Teton National park – This section could have been a bitter bigger and more detailed but it was good nonetheless.  A history of the park and surrounding areas is provided and a description of the ‘must see’ and ‘must do’ things around the GTNP.

7.) Gateway Towns – great section that describes the gateway towns surrounding the entrances of the parks. West Yellowstone, Jackson, Cody and Gardiner are described and places eat and lists of things to do are provided.

8.) Where to Stay – a great list of the author’s recommendations of places to stay in the park and around the park.  I wish we would’ve had the book when we were making our plans…great recommendations here.

9.) Geology, Flora and Fauna – a nice section about the natural history of the parks.  Interesting reading.

10.) Practical Information – This is another section that could be turned into a mini-book.  Lots of good info here about the best time to visit, events, getting around the park and other visitor info.

This is a great book.  We took three other book and this is the one we kept handy as it provided so much more information than all the other books combined.  The author does a great job outlining the things to do and see and the photography in the book is world class.

If you are going to Yellowstone and/or the Grand Teton National Parks, you need this book.

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• Old Faithful (eveningwalk.blogspot.com)
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I’ve read a few books on Lightroom 2 and found most lacking. While not lacking much Richard Earney’s Inside Lightroom 2: The serious photographer’s guide to Lightroom efficiency, there are some deficiencies that cause me to prefer Scott Kelby’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) book slightly over this one.

While Kelby walks you through step by step on how to do things, Earney goes into more detail on some topics which is something I enjoy. It’s nice to know how to do things, but knowing ‘why’ is better for the long run. I do wish Earney went into more detail on more topics though. FOr example, if Presets had been described with more detail and depth, this book would have been much more complete.

While a good book and one I’d recommend as a companion to Scott Kelby’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter), I would use this book as an addendum to Kelby’s and not a replacement of it.

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I’ve been walking reading and using Scott Kelby’s  The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers and am amazed at how easy Kelby makes things seem.

The book is the ONLY book I’d recommend for Lightroom 2.  It walks you through everything you’ll ever need to use in Lightroom 2 and provides screenshots for darn near every step.

It’s the perfect book for anyone wanting to learn Lightroom 2. Not only does it provide step-by-step guidelines for using LR2, it also provides tips and tricks for setting to the tool up to make workflow easier.

Highly Recommended!

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