Reviews

Travel Photography: The Complete Guide with Ben Willmore /  by Todd Henson

Entrance to the United States Botanic Garden

I received a free copy of Travel Photography: The Complete Guide for review. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This is at no extra cost to you.

Would you like to improve your travel photography? Would you like some tips and resources for planning out your next trip, knowing what gear to bring, and knowing what to photograph when you arrive? Are you new to, or could you use a refresher in, Lightroom and Photoshop and how they can be used to process your photographs into the impactful images you imagined when you were on your trip?

Ben Willmore has travelled all over the world. He has seen and photographed many fascinating and beautiful locations. He has made mistakes and learned from them. In his CreativeLive class, Travel Photography: The Complete Guide, he passes on the lessons he’s learned. He shares tips on making the most of your trip and capturing the best images you can. And he discusses many topics on how to organize and process the images you’ve created after you return home.

Capturing Your Best Travel Images

To help you make the most of your trip Ben covers:

  • Planning your trip

  • What gear to bring

  • What types of images to create

  • How to handle tourists in your images

  • Looking for unique cultural images

  • Capturing location information

  • Tips for great compositions

  • Key differences between wide angle and telephoto lense

How to handle tourists and other people in images

Look for unique cultural images

Processing to Perfection

The class also covers many topics specific to Lightroom and Photoshop. It’s not a full beginners class on these tools (though Ben has classes to fill that role), but Ben does cover a large range of topics that are likely to benefit any travel photographer. Some of the techniques are very basic, such as using Lightroom adjustment sliders, but others are more advanced techniques that can really help your images stand out. He covers topics such as:

  • How to organize your images in Lightroom

  • How to find any image quickly using keywords

  • How to create HDR images

  • How to create stitched panoramas

  • How to use Lightroom’s adjustment tools

  • When to use Lightroom and when to use Photoshop

  • How to use masks in Photoshop

  • How to process composite images in Photoshop

  • Advanced panorama techniques in Photoshop

  • Removing tourists in Photoshop

Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C. This is an HDR image created from the 5 images below.

How to Use the Class

One thing I really enjoyed about this class was how Ben was not dogmatic about you doing things his way. He has tried different techniques and learned pros and cons of various methods, and he passes on that info. He shows you his process and, most importantly, describes his reasoning. You may have valid reasons for doing things differently and that’s fine. Take what you learn from him, find the pieces that resonate with you, and integrate those into your workflow.

Capture location information

I was fascinated by his system of organizing images and his method for quickly knowing the status of any image, whether it was yet to be processed, was still being processed, or was finished and ready for sharing or publishing. I plan on re-watching those sections and using some of his techniques to improve my own workflow. I began as an Aperture user, and I’m still learning my way around Lightroom and, most especially, Photoshop. I learned a lot of useful lessons from Ben and hope to make use of them in the future. In fact, one huge lesson was the importance of organizing keywords and how this can save so much time in the future when searching for images. And using his importable set of keywords saves so much time now when getting started.

Travel Photography: The Complete Guide is over 10 hours of video content. But it also includes a really nice selection of extra content if you purchase the class, things like Ben’s Lightroom presets, some of his Lightroom actions, a very well organized starter set of importable keywords to better organize your images, practice images to work on, and a number of different PDF guides including a 74 page Travel Photography Handbook that serves as a great reference to everything covered in the class, and a nice Travel Photography Mobile Guide that’s suitable for keeping with you on mobile devices, offering 35 pages of short tips to help you create interesting and pleasing images while on travel.

If you're new to CreativeLive, give them a try. They live stream classes on a large range of topics, all for free online, and they are constantly rebroadcasting previous classes. So you can try their content out before purchasing anything. If you enjoy the class you can purchase it, which allows you to stream it again in HD anytime, or even download HD videos to your computer to watch offline. Many classes come with extra content available if you purchase. I've been very impressed with the photographers who've taught classes on CreativeLive, folks like Art Wolfe, Tom Mangelsen, Frans Lanting, John Greengo, Ian Shive, Chris Burkard, Marc Muench... you get the idea. These are very talented photographers who are also very skilled at teaching their craft. And CreativeLive offers classes on more than photography. Check them out!

National Park Service Centennial /  by Todd Henson

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) turned 100 on Thursday, August 25, 2016. The National Parks, and other lands managed by the NPS, truly are some of the jewels of the United States. The NPS works to preserve some of the most beautiful locations in the country, while still keeping them open and accessible to the public. I have benefited greatly from this system of parks and monuments, and I hope they continue to be preserved far into the future.

I have not visited nearly as many of the parks or monuments as I would like, but included in this post are photographs from a number of the locations I have had the privilege of visiting, sometimes multiple times. The National Park Foundation can help you find a park near you.

National Park lands are known for their iconic scenic views, beautiful mountain ranges, flowing streams and waterfalls, and fields of flowers. But they are also home to wildlife of all sorts: mammals, reptiles, birds, spiders, etc. And the Park lands also include many monuments and memorials showcasing fantastic statues and amazing architecture. If you haven't been to a National Park, Monument, or Memorial lately, get out there! Go visit one today. And take along your camera, create a few images. It's worth the trip.

 

Locations Around the National Mall, Washington, D.C.

Lincoln Memorial at night

Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool at dawn

Washington Monument & Cherry Blossoms Reflected in the Tidal Basin

National World War II Memorial Water Fountains

Storm over the Washington Monument and Tidal Basin in Black & White

Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial in Infrared

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial and Washington Monument in Black & White

Closeup of Jefferson Memorial in Black & White

 

Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens, Washington, D.C.

Lotus Flower and Bumble Bee against green background

White Water Lily in dark pond

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Bridge in Infrared

Dragonfly on unopened Lotus Flower

 

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Rocky Mountain National Park in Black & White

Pika in Rocky Mountain National Park

Uinta Chipmunk in Rocky Mountain National Park

Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park

Clark's Nutcracker in Rocky Mountain National Park

Yellow-bellied Marmot in Rocky Mountain National Park

Facing the Storm in Rocky Mountain National Park (Black & White)

 

Acadia National Park, Maine

Long exposure of a rocky shoreline in Acadia National Park, Maine (warmer tones)

Long exposure of a rocky shoreline in Acadia National Park, Maine (cooler tones)

Panorama of inlet and rocky beach in Acadia National Park, Maine

 

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Maryland

Falls Along Canal in Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Great Blue Heron Above Falls in Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Double-crested Cormorant in Potomac River at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

 

Great Falls Park, Virginia

Prelude to Rafting at Great Falls Park in Virginia

Kayakers in Potomac River at Great Falls Park

To the Falls, Great Falls Park

Facing The Fingers on the Potomac River at Great Falls Park

 

Turkey Run Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Virginia

Blue Phlox at Turkey Run Park

Yellow Trout Lily at Turkey Run Park

 

Prince William Forest Park, Virginia

Stream in Prince William Forest Park

Quaker Ladies Flowers in Prince William Forest Park

Daisy Fleabane Flower in Prince William Forest Park

Arrowhead Orbweaver Spider in Prince William Forest Park

 

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Skyline Drive Sunset in Shenandoah National Park

Flowers along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park

 

The resource list below contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This is at no extra cost to you.

 

Resources from my library

 

Ian Shive, recipient of the Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, is well known for photographing America's National Parks. His work is showcased in a book titled, The National Parks: Our American Landscape. I own a paperback edition of this book, and it contains some fantastic imagery, along with a number of essays by different writers. The book is in landscape format, approximately 8" x 10.5" and is 228 pages in length.

Ian's photos in this book present a far better sampling of our National Parks than I've done above. He has visited and photographed a great many of the parks over the years, capturing all aspects of them, from the iconic to the smaller, more subtle details. I believe Ian is a true master of his craft.

 
Photographing America's National Parks with Ian Shive. Image credit: CreativeLive

Photographing America's National Parks with Ian Shive. Image credit: CreativeLive

In addition to the book mentioned above, Ian Shive has taught a 3-day class at CreativeLive titled, Photographing America's National Parks. This class includes over 15 1/2 hours of video, along with several PDF documents with extra info, such as the keynote slides and some amazing examples of Ian's work. I own this class and really enjoyed watching it. This was the first CreativeLive class to take the studio out to a National Park, allowing Ian to demonstrate, in the field, how he goes about creating his images. Most of the topics he discusses are relevant to any form of outdoor nature photography, whether in a local park, National Park, or just in your own backyard. In fact, he advocates starting in your backyard. Most of us have something near us worth photographing, and having it close by gives us the opportunity to easily return over and over again at different times of the day and during different seasons. We can really learn the place. And this helps later when we travel to other locations because we've already spent the time locally learning our lessons, getting to know our gear, learning about light and composition, knowing what's possible.

The class includes many videos on location. The locations include several parks along the Olympic Peninsula, such as Olympic National Park and Mount Rainier National Park. In some videos Ian takes us through a photo shoot, describing what he sees and what he's thinking as he works the scene. In others he takes us on a scouting trip, looking for scenes that might prove promising at a different time in different light.

Back in the studio he talks about how to select and edit your images and takes us through his process. As with many of the CreativeLive photography classes, this one includes critique sessions where they discuss student photographs. These are great learning sessions. Later he talks about the business side of nature photography, describing different markets for selling your work, including a stock agency he founded, Tandem Stills + Motion.

Photographing America's National Parks is available seperately or as part of the Travel Photography Toolkit, which also includes: Post-Processing for Outdoor and Travel Photographers with Ben Willmore and Travel Photography: The Complete Guide with Ben Wilmore. I purchased the first two and received a free copy of Travel Photography: The Complete Guide.

 

Book Review - Braving It: A Father, A Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild by James Campbell /  by Todd Henson

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This is at no extra cost to you.

 
 

I received my copy of Braving It, an uncorrected proof, through a giveaway at goodreads.

Braving It: A Father, A Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild by James Campbell was an absolute pleasure to read. The book is non-fiction, and is the story of James Campbell taking his daughter, Aidan, to the wilds of Alaska multiple times. Campbell had always been a traveler, visiting many far off places around the world, and many times returning to Alaska. When Aidan was younger she’d told her father she wanted to go to Alaska with him, so when he felt she was old enough they began making plans.

About this time Campbell was contacted by his cousin in Alaska, Heimo Korth. Heimo and his wife Edna are some of the only permanent residents of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The river near his cabin was changing course and his cabin was at risk, so he needed to build a new cabin in a safer location. Campbell talked to Aidan and they decided to go to Alaska to help Heimo build his new cabin. I thought this was an interesting choice for a first trip to Alaska, given the grueling nature of the work building a cabin in the backwoods of Alaska. And as expected, it wasn’t easy and tested the relationship of father and daughter. But once Aidan became used to the work and the environment she came to appreciate the closeness with nature and the raw quality of the lifestyle.

Returning home was a mix of emotions after acclimating to such a lifestyle. They both obviously missed the rest of their family and friends. But they also both had that wanderlust feeling, the desire to return to Alaska. So they planned a second trip. This time they would spend the winter with Heimo and Edna in their new cabin. They would get to experience the lifestyle of a homesteading family living mostly off the land through the deep winter. They would hunt, trap and fish. They would learn about tight living conditions and getting along with one another. They would learn to depend on one another and learn both the joys and sorrows of living so close to nature.

Prior to the first trip they had hoped to go to Alaska for a paddling trip along one of the many rivers in Alaska. They had put that plan aside to help out Heimo. But after returning home from the second trip they almost immediately began planning a return trip to Alaska, this time for hiking and paddling. They contacted some friends in Alaska who were happy to come along. Such a trip would be safer with more people, given they were rafting through wild areas. There weren’t populated pit stops along the way or companies to help them out. People do sometimes die on such trips because help can’t arrive in time. So once again they were in Alaska, this time with friends, and long time Alaskans, Chris Jones and Dave Musgrave, ready to raft and hike along the Hulahula River. This gave them an entirely new set of challenges and once again tested their relationship. The Hulahula was a rough river in places. And the terrain around it was home to all manner of wildlife, from musk oxen, to wolves, to grizzly bears and polar bears.

Braving It is a beautiful book. It shows the beauty of Alaska, of living or traveling through the wild, through areas barely touched by humans when compared to much of the lower 48. I came to a better appreciation of Alaska, the amazing terrain, and the varied wildlife through reading about Campbell’s already healthy appreciation, and Aidan’s growing appreciation. It’s also a book about the relationship between a father and daughter, about the tensions trying to learn to let go, about the desire to share an experience, the hope for the future, and the amazing bond that forms when people are put into frightening and invigorating experiences together.

This was my first exposure to James Campbell’s work. I had not realized that Heimo was brought to the worlds attention through one of Campbell’s previous books, The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness, or that Heimo has since starred on the TV show, The Last Alaskans. For whatever reason, I don’t often find myself as drawn to the TV shows, but I do thoroughly enjoy books about the wild and finding ones place within it.

I have since listened to an audio version of The Final Frontiersman, and can highly recommend that book, as well. It tells the story of how Heimo first came to Alaska, how he met his future wife, and the experiences he had starting a family in Alaska.

These books brought back memories of reading The Cheechakoes by Wayne Short when I was younger. It is another non-fiction story of a family who moved to Alaska and lived off the land. It’s been decades since I read that book, but reading Braving It has ignited a desire to reread The Cheechakoes.

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