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Greetings,
Happy summer!
I recently returned from a very enjoyable Palouse workshop followed by an RV trip to Oregon's Diamond Lake, including a quick side trip to Crater Lake National Park.
And I'm going down the rabbit hole of researching a new lens for astrophotography landscape work (auroras and Milky Way).
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NANPA Yellowknife tour reminder
There are still two spaces remaining in the NANPA Auroras tour to Yellowknife that I’m co-leading. It’s September 7-14 and the deadline for signing up (and making your hotel reservations) is August 7.
To learn more and to sign up, visit the tour page on the NANPA site.
I’ve also got some informational pages on photographing auroras on my site.
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Palouse report
Great group, great locations.
I’ve mentioned a time or two (or two thousand) that each year I visit the Palouse I find something new. And, as expected, it happened again. Several times.
One new location that I found was special and it was our last sunset of the trip. I shouldn’t say I “found” a “new” location; it’s not like it’s a secret spot only known by a select, magical few. Rather, we visited a location that I knew of and had scouted in the past but had never photographed before. It’s another location with a view and would work for both sunrise and sunset. One of my usual sunset locations wasn’t up to snuff this year so we visited the “new” spot for a sunset. And OH WOW.
I initially added this spot to my list of possible sunsets because of the big canola field in the foreground. But the late light and the rolling hills with nestled farm homes really made this location special. I’ll definitely be going back.
We also visited the usual spots like Steptoe Butte
And we found a few shiny things as well.
But what really made this workshop fun was the group. I had a small group of four (I limit my trips to around six) and couldn’t ask for any better. When you get into bad pun territory you know you’ve got a good group!
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A 30-year friendship
On my very first visit to the Palouse back in 1996, I photographed this building. At the time I thought it was just another barn, but I learned many years later that it’s the last surviving building of the town of Wilcox. This has been one of my favorite images from the Palouse since then.
Now, every year, I visit my old friend just to see how it’s doing and if it’s still standing.
This year, it’s still standing. But I don’t know if it will be next year.
To read more of the story and to see a few more pictures taken over the intervening years, read my blog post.
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Palouse 2027
I have tentative dates for my 2027 Palouse workshop: June 14-19, 2027. Limited to 6 or 7. If I get enough interest, I’ll try to schedule a second workshop.
If you are interested, I’m taking deposits now with the understanding that if the dates change and your schedule can’t change, then I’ll refund the deposit.
If you want to join in, respond to this email and I’ll direct you to the early sign-up page I’m creating.
Four spaces are already tentatively taken so let me know!
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Winter Planning
Yes, I know it's still summer, but Winter is Coming! And I still have space available in my Lofoten Islands photo tour, Jan. 29 - Feb. 5, 2027.
This tour became one of my all-time favorites with its fantastic scenery, exhilarating weather, local cuisine, and our local guide's sense of humor and adventure.
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Spring Planning
Well, early spring. In Alaska. Sitka, to be precise.
That's the time the herring arrive and the Humpback whales feast, It's Bubble-Net Feeding time!
Seeing and photographing a dozen or more whales rising as one to feed on herring is the most amazing wildlife behavior I've ever seen.
I'll be leading a photo tour March 27-31, 2027, limited to just five participants, for three days on Sitka Sound to photograph the spectacle. We'll also see fishing boats, bald eagles, perhaps even Gray and/or Minke whales. And the scenery...just amazing!
For more information and to sign up, visit my Bubble-net tour page.
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A new lens for night photography
As mentioned above, I've gone down the rabbit hole.
I've been using a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens for most of my night photography work. It's served me well but its infinity focus point has drifted and I've been losing confidence in it. Plus it has a hard time playing nice with my Nikon Z8 and the adapter that allows me to use F-mount lenses on the Z8; the lens contacts don't always make the best contact.
Because of that, I've been researching an affordable replacement to use with my Z8. Thus, the rabbit hole.
My first option was to simply replace the Rokinon with same lens for the Nikon Z mount. But the Rokinon 14mm, while having the reputation of being great choice for an affordable astrophotography lens, also has a reputation of poor quality control and I've read too many stories about the need to test for sharpness, return and test again until I get one that's good. I don't want to do that.
While I was researching, another lens kept popping up: the Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 for Nikon Z (it's also available for Sony E and L-mount). This lens is getting great reviews from respected reviewers and night landscape photographers. It's a bit more expensive than the Rokinon, but if the reviews are accurate, it's still a bargain.
If any of you have any experience with this lens, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on it.
And if I end up pushing the Buy Button, I'll let you know what I think of the lens after using it for my upcoming Yellowknife aurora tours.
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Enjoy your summer!
 That's all for now; I best get back to some yard chores and drooling over that lens....
In the meantime, here's a picture of me and Sydney at Diamond Lake in Oregon.
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