Field Notes
Learn the craft.
Honest, practical guides to travel and landscape photography (focus stacking, composition, the light from sunrise to dusk, and the places worth the trip), written to help you stop guessing and start seeing. Plus journals from the road.
Technique · 7 min · June 26, 2026
Focus Stacking, Step by Step (and When You Actually Need It)
How to make a photograph that's sharp from the nearest pebble to the far horizon, by taking a few frames at different focus points and blending them. The method I teach in class, in plain language.
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Technique · 6 min · June 24, 2026
How to Photograph Waterfalls (a Field Guide from Mine Falls Park)
Silky water or frozen droplets: both are a choice you make with shutter speed. A simple, repeatable method for waterfalls and moving water, taught on location at Mine Falls Park.
Technique · 6 min · June 22, 2026
Dynamic Composition: Making the Eye Move
Why some photographs hold you and others don't. A handful of practical composition moves (a way in, a line to follow, a place to rest) that you can use the next time you're out shooting.
Technique · 8 min · June 19, 2026
The Exposure Triangle: Aperture, Shutter Speed & ISO Explained
The single most important thing to understand in photography, explained plainly. Master how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO work together and you can finally leave Auto behind.
Technique · 7 min · June 17, 2026
Composition for Landscape Photography: Principles That Work
Great light isn't enough. Composition is what turns a pretty view into a photograph. Here are the principles that reliably guide a viewer's eye through a landscape.
Technique · 6 min · June 15, 2026
RAW vs JPEG: Which Should You Shoot (and Why)?
One of the first real decisions every photographer faces. Here's the honest difference between RAW and JPEG, and which one is right for the kind of photography you do.
Night & Low Light · 6 min · June 13, 2026
How to Photograph the Moon
Photos of the moon usually come out as a tiny white blob. Here's how to get a sharp, detailed lunar image: the lens, the settings, and the trick most people miss.
Night & Low Light · 9 min · June 10, 2026
How to Photograph the Northern Lights: A Complete Guide
Everything you need to come home with a sharp, colorful aurora photograph: the exact settings, how to plan around the forecast, and the mistakes that ruin the shot.
Technique · 6 min · May 12, 2026
Why Your Landscape Photos Come Out Flat (And How to Fix Them)
You stood somewhere beautiful and the photo looks like nothing. It's almost never the camera. Here's what's really happening, and the four fixes that change everything.
Destinations · 10 min · April 30, 2026
How to Photograph Iceland: A Photographer's Guide
When to go, where to shoot, and how to handle Iceland's wild light and weather, from black-sand beaches and waterfalls to ice caves and the aurora.
Destinations · 7 min · April 18, 2026
How to Photograph Antelope Canyon (Including the Tripod Rules)
The settings, timing, and tour rules for shooting Arizona's most famous slot canyon, including whether you can still bring a tripod, and how to shoot it beautifully without one.
Technique · 7 min · April 4, 2026
Long-Exposure Photography: How to Smooth Water and Sky
How to turn crashing surf into silk and moving clouds into streaks: the filters, the settings, and the step-by-step method behind those dreamy long exposures.
Technique · 6 min · March 22, 2026
How to Focus Your Camera in the Dark
Autofocus fails at night. Here's the reliable manual-focus method for sharp stars, plus how to nail focus for aurora, foreground, and everything in between.
Technique · 6 min · February 24, 2026
Golden Hour & Blue Hour: How to Use the Best Light of the Day
What golden hour and blue hour actually are, when they happen, and how to shoot the warm-then-cool window that produces most great landscape photographs.
Night & Low Light · 6 min · January 28, 2026
Northern Lights in Massachusetts: Where, When & What Kp You Need
Yes, the aurora reaches Massachusetts, a few times a year. Here's the Kp level you need, where to face, and how to be ready so you don't find out the morning after.
Destinations · 8 min · January 14, 2026
Photographing Greenland: Icebergs, Light & Logistics
How to plan a photography trip to Greenland's icebergs: the best time to go, how to expose for ice without losing detail, and what it takes to reach Disko Bay.
Technique · 5 min · December 20, 2025
How to Photograph Ice & Snow Without Grey, Muddy Whites
Snow keeps coming out grey and dull. The reason is your camera's light meter, and the fix is one simple habit. Here's how to render clean, bright winter whites.
Destinations · 7 min · December 5, 2025
A Photographer's Guide to Monument Valley & the Southwest
When the light is best, where to stand, and how to shoot the iconic buttes and red-rock country of the American Southwest without the postcard cliché.
Gear · 7 min · November 20, 2025
What Gear Do You Actually Need for Landscape Photography?
Forget the endless upgrade treadmill. Here's the short list of gear that genuinely improves landscape photographs, and what you can safely skip.
Destinations · 7 min · October 1, 2025
Photographing Fall Foliage in New England
New England's autumn is one of the great photographic seasons. Here's how to time the peak, find the best light, and capture color that doesn't look muddy.