Travel is becoming harder these days, especially for the globe-trotting photographer. Packed planes, clients that want you to fly coach, lessening overhead space in addition to many airlines charging for what was once a given on flights, that space over your seat in which to place your gear. Over the past years, I’ve been working on reducing my “footprint” of gear, you can read my blog piece, “Traveling Light” to further explore that idea of minimizing to maximize. Having said …
Rediscovering My Origins with Singh-Ray Filters in Hand
I was born in 1960 in Augsburg, Germany, just 15 years after World War II destroyed significant parts of this historic city. Augsburg’s origins go all the way back to two decades BC. It has survived the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, Medieval Times, the Crusades, the Renaissance, the Industrial revolution, two devastating World Wars, and now the Technological Revolution. The city’s population is just a bit over a quarter million today, about 60,000 people more than when I lived …
Working with a Polarizer in Namibia
Light isn’t always light. We often have those times when the light is pouring through the particulate matter of an urban landscape, the “stuff” in the air warping the air molecules into a huge “soft box.” Those early and late “golden hour” moments provide that magical light all photographers love to find – and use. Sometimes however, the light provided is less than perfect, or the sky hovering over the landscape is too “blown out” (too bright to be able …
Random thoughts….
Ramblings from the White Mountains Just wrapped up a photography/camping trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire – and spent a lot of time roaming the White Mountains in exploration of the abundant photo opportunities. They are spread out, but so are many of the iconic areas, so this was nothing new to us. There were numerous waterfalls in the area and, if you head down to the Lakes Region, you’ll find countless lakes and reflections. I have two …
Polarizers, how they work, when and how to use them…
Editor’s note: This is an updated article on polarization that E.J. originally wrote for the Singh-Ray blog several years ago. The spring and summer are definitely times you want to have your polarizer with you, so we thought this might be helpful. Polarizing filters are one of the most misunderstood areas of photography that I encounter while teaching and moderating online technical forums on photography. It seems that only flash photography is more misunderstood in my classes and workshops. There …
5 reasons why you should be using a circular polarizing filter
The sun sets through fog as seen from Fremont Peak State Park, San Benito County, California (Sony a7R II, Sony/Zeiss 24-70mm, f/22, 1/10th, ISO 100, Singh-Ray Neutral Polarizer) If you are serious about your landscape photography, there is one filter that should be on each lens in your bag – a polarizer! Why? Well, that is what I will discuss in this article. But first you need to understand that the one filter that cannot be re-created in post-processing is …
A Resident Artist
Editor’s note: In our humble opinion, Chuck Kimmerle is one of today’s truly outstanding black & white photography artists. Our thanks for this reflection on the residency he just completed in Joshua Tree National Park, along with some of the extraordinary images he created during that time, with a little help from his Singh-Ray Vari-ND, Galen Rowell grads and LB neutral polarizer. Taken with Singh-Ray LB neutral polarizer I was getting a bit apprehensive. It was my second day of …
Palouse Light
It’s hard to explain rationally, but there are some locations for me where the light is just different – with a special quality unique to that area. One place that qualifies is Cape Cod, whose light is described in photos and words in Joel Meyerowitz’s ground-breaking book Cape Light. Another area I’d definitely nominate for the extraordinary quality of its light is the Palouse, an approximately 4,000 square mile area in Northeast Idaho and Southwest Washington, about 30 minutes south …
Fall in New Hampshire – An Annual Color Riot
Our annual New Hampshire photography tour is one of our most visually stimulating workshops. We’ve been shooting and conducting workshops there for 15 years and really look forward to going back each year. It’s also when I keep my Singh Ray filters close at hand. Clear, chilly mornings will be wet, creating a glow on the fallen colorful leaves patterns, which is always a great subject. However, the color can be dulled by the glare deflecting light away, resulting in …
Why do you still use filters? Why not just bracket?
My grandmother still handwrites letters. My mother still makes all her desserts from scratch. When we make pasta, I still grate the cheese by hand. I also use filters when I take photos. What do all of these things have to do with one another? I’ll tell you. I’ve used filters for most of my twenty years in photography. A Singh-Ray polarizer was the first filter I ever purchased, once I saw how it enhanced images, and provided some much …