Pierre Steenberg

Sony A7R II Dynamic Range

December 13, 2015 • Leave a Comment

People asked me about my switch to Sony. Was it worth it? Is the dynamic range really that much better than Canon's? As a landscape photographer (primarily) dynamic range is very important to me. For this blog I am going to use an image shot in very harsh light. The image is not a good image but I shot it specifically to test and play with the raw...

Read the Full Post »

Getting beautiful sun stars

December 06, 2015 • Leave a Comment

We have all seen shots with great sun stars. They add sparkle and interest to just about any image. Usually there is also nice light when you shoot sun stars during the right time of day; sunrise or sunset. Let's look at an example: So how do you shoot sun stars? It is actually really simple and easy to get sun stars. Sun stars occur then the sun...

Read the Full Post »

Images must have their own merit

November 29, 2015 • Leave a Comment

A few months ago I read a blog from Iceland discussing how we evaluate our own images based on effort to get. The premise was that it is false to think a shot is better because it was a struggle to get. Being qualified as a counselor I can tell you that we ascribe more value to images (or things) based on sentiment and emotional attachment. If you...

Read the Full Post »

Wildlife photography tips: Part III - Use good composition

November 22, 2015 • 2 Comments

Animals and birds do not often cooperate with photographers. At times they turn their backs at us. At other times they just look at us, but don't do anything. This is where we just do the best we can. We can use good composition to improve the image. We can attempt to shoot something different. Let's look at a few examples while I share composition...

Read the Full Post »

Wildlife photography tips: Part II - Getting better shots

November 15, 2015 • Leave a Comment

The same tips apply here as we discussed during the bird photography series of blogs a few weeks back. Shots that show interaction, movement, and behavior are usually more appealing that static animal portraits. So the best tip I can give you when you are shooting wildlife is simply to be patient. Wait and watch the animals; shoot when something ha...

Read the Full Post »

Wildlife photography tips: Part I - Setting up your gear

November 08, 2015 • Leave a Comment

So you want to shoot wildlife. As discussed before a crop camera is preferred over a full frame camera. A crop camera has a few advantages in this arena. Firstly, it gives you more reach. Secondly, its autofocus points are typically spread out over the image better than a full frame camera's. Then you need long lenses, or a long zoom lens. Animals...

Read the Full Post »

Landscape while on safari: Part II

November 01, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Most of us do not live within a game park or some place famous for safaris. That means that we have to travel to where we are going on safari. For many of us that means international travel. If you are like me, we can be so focused on that safari that we don't even think about anything else. So we research the game park and we design the contents o...

Read the Full Post »

Landscape while on safari: Part I

October 25, 2015 • Leave a Comment

You are in a game park. Animals abound. Your camera is mated to a long lens. You shoot animals all day, every day. As you drive you are constantly on the lookout to find more animals. It is so easy to be focused on the animals that you forget to look for landscape shots. Yet, many landscape shots exist even in the game park while on safari. So make...

Read the Full Post »

Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary Impressions

October 18, 2015 • Leave a Comment

You can never have too much reach when photographing wildlife and birds. Long lenses are expensive (to put is politely). Lately both Tamron and Sigma released 150-600mm lenses (which I mentioned a few weeks ago when talking about bird photography gear). Now that I have spent a lot of time with the Sigma I would like to give you my impressions of th...

Read the Full Post »

Bird Photography: Part III - Tips

October 11, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Before taking photographs Julie Chen told me about the behavior of these Turns. As an expert bird photographer she knows her birds well. She explained their behavior before the dive into the water, what they do with the fish as they take off again, and so on. She was not telling me about the birds because she wanted to make small talk and be intere...

Read the Full Post »