David’s Blog

The other thing that I am often asked  is how I shoot- translation: how is camera set when I photograph? This is how my camera is set for 99% of my photography: Matrix metering (Evaluative if you are a Canon shooter); Aperture Priority; Auto Focus. I don't use Auto ISO because it always picks a too high number. I can figure out the proper ISO without too...

The question I get asked the most when I am doing a presentation for photographers is "What about a model release?" It gets asked every time I speak, I can almost guarantee it. And I think the same people are asking the same question to different pros because they are getting different answers. Let me try to clear up this confusion. You only need a model...

I am often asked what the early influences were in my creative life. I reply by listing the most important- my parents, Elliot Porter, Sierra Club books, my dear friends John Shaw and Wayne Lynch- but there is one that has nothing to do with photography but everything to do with whatever success I have attained. Very early in my career I was told to read...

Yeah! Wildflower season has finally started- about 10 days late! I went out looking for my little friends today and found plenty. Here in the Northeast the flowers that are now out are the very first ones- coltsfoots along the roadsides and hepatica and Dutchman's britches in the woods. I wasn't really intending to photograph- there was just enough wind to...

Every so often I am reminded of why I have taught photography workshops for 30 years. Case in point- I received a beautiful book in the mail yesterday produced by one of my former students, Bob Paulding. His first photography workshop was in 1997 in Acadia National Park and he took another one of workshops, Going Pro, a few years later. Despite the huge...

  I am about to do one of my favorite programs for a local photography club- The Lobstering Life. The presentation is based on the book I did of the same title but it is more of a behind the scenes look at how the book came about. So I have started to think about it- I know, how shocking that I am thinking about a program days ahead! This is very...

I am going to keep this simple- there is only one truly important thing to remember when you are taking a wildflower portrait- background. There are a few other things to be aware of certainly- how pretty the flower is, how nice the light is, is it windy, are you rushed- but all of them are inferior to the background. Nothing kills a flower portrait...

  I have been asked to do a presentation at the big, new OPTIC travel and photo conference that is being sponsored by Linblad and B&H down in New York City on May 4th. Very nice to be asked and I am very glad to present to a group of interested photographers. Presentations like this are pretty much old hat to me now. I used to be intimidated and unsure...

Okay, let's get right down to the nitty gritty- Sitka, Alaska is a magnificent place to go with some of the best photography in one small area that I know. Two working harbors with piles of colorful gear and rusty old boats with crusty old crew, stands of beautiful hand-carved totem poles set in a misty spruce forest, clear running salmon streams draped by...

  A note, a voice, a picture, a word- these are things that can be of singular beauty. As photographers we all strive for this singularity; to get that image that speaks a thousand words, that breaks open the heart, that stops the viewer in awe. But striving and obtaining are two different things and while the hunt for the singular image is certainly...