Capturing the beauty and the memories of a moment is what I’ve thrived on for well over a decade, and so in this line of business, you have to be ready for anything. When you see something and take the best photo to share that memory with others, where you nail the light, the angle, the mood and the story, then there’s little else that feels that damn good.
I’ve been surprised on a hike by a wooly mountain goat in Ireland and just managed to snap the shot before he frolicked down the edge of the mountain. I’ve arrived just in time as the sun turned golden and soft, and every photograph in Iceland turned magical because of the stunning atmospheric mood the sun created for me. I’ve captured countless iconic moments, but I’m not perfect. I’ve not captured every moment that’s presented itself before me. A couple months ago, I missed a stunning shot in Yellowstone of four moose running through a valley field, and by the time I had my camera ready, they were gone.
What’s more is I also missed my first and only grizzly bear sighting while driving. He was standing up on two feet in the middle of a winding road outside Glacier National Park, and he was swatting at something in the air. The moment my wife and I came around the bend, he froze, then his face turned to absolute terror before he went to all-fours and sped off into the woods. Even though I missed the shot, that moment on his face will stay with me forever. It was hilarious and surprising, and almost as if I caught him doing something naughty, or at least that was the look on his cute bear face.
Though I missed the shot, I will never forget. But I am still torn inside over missing that perfect shot that will likely never present itself in my lifetime ever again. So in a way, I am blessed with the memory, but haunted by the miss, and by the slowly fading image within my mind which will continue to turn fuzzy with time. These are the moments that drive me to be prepared at a second’s notice and is what inspires me to always simplify my process, so as to always be ready for the next mesmerizing moment to be frozen in time forever and not lost to the whims of memory and time.
What’s more is I also missed my first and only grizzly bear sighting while driving. He was standing up on two feet in the middle of a winding road outside Glacier National Park, and he was swatting at something in the air. The moment my wife and I came around the bend, he froze, then his face turned to absolute terror before he went to all-fours and sped off into the woods. Even though I missed the shot, that moment on his face will stay with me forever. It was hilarious and surprising, and almost as if I caught him doing something naughty, or at least that was the look on his cute bear face.
Though I missed the shot, I will never forget. But I am still torn inside over missing that perfect shot that will likely never present itself in my lifetime ever again. So in a way, I am blessed with the memory, but haunted by the miss, and by the slowly fading image within my mind which will continue to turn fuzzy with time. These are the moments that drive me to be prepared at a second’s notice and is what inspires me to always simplify my process, so as to always be ready for the next mesmerizing moment to be frozen in time forever and not lost to the whims of memory and time.
I recently teamed up with Wacom to test their Intuos Pro postproduction tablet in the field. My wife and I ventured out west a couple months ago and we toured Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park regions in Wyoming and Montana. Adding a creative pen tablet to my workflow was a totally new venture, as I’ve used pen editing before when I ran a photography studio in Ohio many years ago, but I’ve always been partial to the potato editing of using a mouse. Reason being because that’s just what I learned on and what I was most comfortable with. But there is a freedom in using a pen over a potato-shaped computer mouse.
I took the tablet with me, and found it easy to edit my photos in my B&B room, as well as on the go. First, I process the RAW file through Adobe Lightroom, adjusting the exposure, light and shadow, among a few other detail settings, then render the file to a JPG before exporting to Photoshop. Then, I zoom into the details and cure anything that catches my eye in a bad way, using the pen on the Wacom tablet to zero in and work quickly.
When you’re like me, you travel hard, moving fast, and always snapping photographs, because you never know when one might turn out to be memorable and treasurable, which means after one good day of travel, you have 100, 200, 500+ photographs. That many images can be daunting and can really drag down an expedition any longer than a few days. So, I like to take a moment at the end of each day, sift through the day’s collection and pick out my final favorite photographs. Then I’ll batch run through Lightroom and have them ready as JPG’s, so when I have time to go through my full postproduction process, then things are easier and quicker.
I took the tablet with me, and found it easy to edit my photos in my B&B room, as well as on the go. First, I process the RAW file through Adobe Lightroom, adjusting the exposure, light and shadow, among a few other detail settings, then render the file to a JPG before exporting to Photoshop. Then, I zoom into the details and cure anything that catches my eye in a bad way, using the pen on the Wacom tablet to zero in and work quickly.
When you’re like me, you travel hard, moving fast, and always snapping photographs, because you never know when one might turn out to be memorable and treasurable, which means after one good day of travel, you have 100, 200, 500+ photographs. That many images can be daunting and can really drag down an expedition any longer than a few days. So, I like to take a moment at the end of each day, sift through the day’s collection and pick out my final favorite photographs. Then I’ll batch run through Lightroom and have them ready as JPG’s, so when I have time to go through my full postproduction process, then things are easier and quicker.
I’m passionate about updating loved ones as I go on social media, so I like to choose my absolute favorite shot each day and edit it and post it to my private channels when internet access and time are readily available. Besides, many times, there’s a particular shot that struck me as magical and I just had to process it through my postproduction editing to see the final version. When you see raw in camera, you’re often left with a dull image with mistakes, and often color and light that’s far from what you saw with your own eye.
That’s why I edit my photography, more to bring out what I saw with my own eye rather than to create something that never existed. My eye is capable of seeing in high dynamic range with vivid color and mood, and true blacks and whites, and I try to strive to bring out what my eye sees before me, and using a pen tablet like the Intuos Pro speeds up my processing capabilities with ergonomic ease which allows me to fly through my edits with precision and control that is not possible with a traditional mouse. What’s more, though, is I truly love the ability to employ pressure-sensitive editing that a mouse simply can not do. The Intuos Pro is lightweight, small, easy to travel with and works wirelessly, so quick precision editing is capable on the fly.
If you would like to learn more about Wacom, click here.
That’s why I edit my photography, more to bring out what I saw with my own eye rather than to create something that never existed. My eye is capable of seeing in high dynamic range with vivid color and mood, and true blacks and whites, and I try to strive to bring out what my eye sees before me, and using a pen tablet like the Intuos Pro speeds up my processing capabilities with ergonomic ease which allows me to fly through my edits with precision and control that is not possible with a traditional mouse. What’s more, though, is I truly love the ability to employ pressure-sensitive editing that a mouse simply can not do. The Intuos Pro is lightweight, small, easy to travel with and works wirelessly, so quick precision editing is capable on the fly.
If you would like to learn more about Wacom, click here.
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