Essays

Successful photography requires more than just talent: You also must have the courage to step out of your comfort zone, accept new challenges, and experiment with different and unknown subjects and techniques. In this article, I will share with you a pair of tips that I have collected on creative growth as a photographer and how to implement them to improve your photography.

In this article, I’ll review the F-Stop Ajna 37L DuraDiamond, a lightweight 37-liter camera backpack designed for outdoor photography. My evaluation is based on six months of use in a variety of harsh conditions. I purchased the review unit myself, and this review is not associated with F-Stop Gear.

Portugal’s Algarve and Costa Vicentina regions, located in the southern and eastern parts of the country, provide excellent settings for seascape photographers. These areas are ideal for capturing Portugal’s natural beauty, featuring stunning coastlines, beaches, and cliffs. In today’s article, I’ll aim to provide information to help photographers explore these places and enhance their experience.

With my backpack loaded with equipment, I entered the woods. Normally, there, I would be photographing roe deer. However, my goal this time was different: to photograph the Dog’s-Tooth-Violet (Erythronium dens-canis) so as to highlight the elegant shape and colorful nuances of this beautiful flower.

Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago where nature reigns supreme, provides a unique and challenging photographic experience. While many trips to this region focus on wildlife, and I’ve traveled there for that purpose, too, the Arctic landscape is an incredibly captivating subject. I’ll explore it in this article.

In nature photography – where the image is unlikely to be prepared, posed, or lit by the photographer – one’s unique personal style may be less apparent than, say, in a studio portrait. A photographer cannot claim full responsibility for results that heavily depend on natural conditions, right? Well, I disagree.

Wildlife photography is a fascinating and challenging field that requires technical skill, patience, and a deep understanding of wildlife. One of the most significant parts of this art form is to capture the behavior of animals in their natural habitat. By doing so, you can improve your photos and contribute to our understanding and appreciation of the natural world.

Imposter syndrome is a common psychological phenomenon that causes people to doubt their abilities and feel fake, despite their successes and skills. It can profoundly impact a photographer’s journey and progress. Today, I’ll explore practical strategies to deal with impostor syndrome and improve your confidence as a photographer.

In landscape photography, we often look for spectacular and majestic subjects. Imposing mountains, breathtaking waterfalls, or lush forests are powerful and visually appealing. Even more so when shot under dramatic light. However, if you wish to obtain significant images, looking for atmospheres that resonate with our state of mind is often more helpful than focusing on famous, outstanding places.

In photography, having a vision and a concrete plan is always helpful. But getting too attached to your initial ideas can prevent you from seeing good subjects in front of you, especially when they are entirely different from what you had in mind.

In this article, I will share my experience using the multitalented Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens. As with my previous article on the Nikon 100-400mm (here), I won’t discuss performance in numerical terms or specifications. You can find that helpful information in the original Photography Life review (here). Instead, I’ll focus on how and why this lens has always been in my backpack, whether visiting a city, hiking mountains, or going on a photography expedition.

This article shares my experience photographing Namibia’s Etosha National Park. It is a practical guide focusing on the park itself and how to take wildlife photos in locations like this, particularly in a self-guided manner.

I’ve divided this article into two parts. Part One concerns the park itself, the best times to visit, and why Etosha is worth visiting. The second is about gear and photography tips.

This is the second half of my two-part article on photographing Etosha National Park in Namibia. This second part concerns gear and photography. (If you missed the first chapter, it concerns the park, the best period to visit, and why Etosha is a deserving place for photography.)

This article shares my experience using the versatile Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 S lens. I won’t discuss performance in numerical terms, or detail its dimensions and physical characteristics. You can find that helpful information in the original Photography Life review (here). Instead, I’ll focus on how and why this lens has become essential to my photography after nearly three years of usage.

One surprising aspect of wildlife photography has always interested me, just as much as capturing the animal itself: telling the story of the natural environment in which the animal lives. I would call it the “Animalscape,” and I see it as a powerful tool in the visual toolbox.

The main motivation for my photography has been to describe and share my experiences. I believe this sentiment is common among photographers. Yet sometimes, it leads to obsession over capturing the one “great image” of a scene – when the best way to tell a story can be through a series of images instead.

As with everything in photography, how to set your camera as a wildlife photographer can be subjective. But very few things are more important – camera settings and can affect wildlife photos in a uniquely powerful way. This article aims to clarify the most common settings a beginner wildlife photographer should master and how to set them properly!

When taking a photo, factors like composition, light, color, and subject all play a critical role. In almost all of these areas, one thing you can do to improve your photos is to pay attention to your camera height – and especially, in wildlife photography, to take pictures at the subject’s eye level.

In this article, I will share my experience using the Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens in the field. I have attempted close-up photography multiple times, but I always found the complexity of this technical genre overwhelming. However, with the emergence of mirrorless technology and this amazing lens, I have had better luck in the last year or so.

Using Manual Mode with Auto ISO is very useful for fast-paced wildlife photography. In this article, I explain how to set Manual Mode + Auto ISO, how it works, and why it’s so effective. Also, I provide some tips on optimizing exposure and maximizing your image quality in this mode.

DxO PureRAW is a handy software that first appeared in 2021, promising photographers a solution to improve the quality of Raw files by automatically correcting lens defects and getting rid of image noise. In this article, I focus on the features that DxO added to PureRAW version 4 and how they can help your photos.

Photographers mostly look for good light, including beautiful sunrises and sunsets on a pleasant day. But what about inverting that perspective and seeking strong winds, snow, and storms in the deep of the winter?

After using it for over a year, I have written about my field impressions of an exceptional camera lens for photography.