Pierre Steenberg

Grab any opportunity

March 28, 2021 • Leave a Comment

As photographers, we want to be out shooting whenever something special is happening. That applies equally to events we might be interested in shooting and special weather. Recently, we faced the devastation of the massive California fires. These fires billowed smoke into the air which changed the appearance of the sky. Why not take that opportunit...

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Show a bit more

March 21, 2021 • Leave a Comment

My wife and I were driving around in an area we had not yet explored. I love doing this to find possible locations to come back to and photograph. As usual, I was on the hunt for landscape locations. It was an overcast day with dreary skies. We were driving slowly up a windy mountain road when this woodpecker sat on the log. The woodpecker and log...

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Dead space in the sky

March 14, 2021 • Leave a Comment

Clouds do not often listen to our pleading to move this way or that way. In fact, skies can be challenging in photography. Quite often the most interesting part of the land that I want to photograph is best shot shooting in this direction but the most interesting part of the sky is found facing in that direction. So we are left with a choice of eit...

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Shrink your world

March 07, 2021 • Leave a Comment

A friend invited me to go on a business trip with him. To sweeten the deal he told me that a friend of his informed him that the location we were going to offered world-class photography with great mountains and water. So off we went. As often happens when non-photographers recommend a location, I was disappointed photography speaking. The mountain...

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Wave action part II

February 28, 2021 • Leave a Comment

Last week we talked about capturing splashing wave action and freezing the action in mid-air. If you read my blogs regularly you will know that I am never satisfied with getting just one image from a scene. So today we look at capturing the same scene totally differently. Instead of freezing the action mid-air, we let the water run and we show the...

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Wave Action

February 21, 2021 • Leave a Comment

Don't you just love waves crashing into rocks and causing a big splash? There is something about the power, the sound, and the action. But how do we best capture that in a photograph? After all, the photograph does have any sound. Here are some best practices that you may find helpful: Timing is everything. Treat wave action like you would fast-m...

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The joys of weather

February 14, 2021 • Leave a Comment

You may recall that I love to go back to the same locations over and over again. This is important because great images are not just about the location but about the light, and light changes all the time. It may take multiple visits to get nice light. Some locations require drama in the clouds and that is not something one can order. The only way t...

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Drinking action

January 31, 2021 • Leave a Comment

Giraffes have a difficult time drinking. They have special valves in their heads to prevent blood drainage when they suddenly pull up their heads so as not to pass out. Drinking also places them in a vulnerable position. So they drink cautiously. They lift their heads up for almost any disturbance. While at Savuti in Botswana we had Giraffes drink...

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Birds in flight

January 24, 2021 • Leave a Comment

Birds in flight can be some of the most difficult wildlife photography to do. These little birds move fast and can fly in erratic ways. To succeed you will need the following gear: A camera with a high frame rate - the higher the better. A camera with great fast autofocus that can track subjects well and stick on them. A longer lens (unless...

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Animal Portraits

January 17, 2021 • Leave a Comment

Animals also make nice portrait images. But what can we do to give them a bit of life? We can wait for the growl, yawn, or aggression. We can play with contrast and mood. We can feature the tongue. We can show age. This male looks fairly tired. The point of these examples is that we should not be satisfied with a portrait or close-up of an...

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