Outdoor Photography How To

Kamchatka, Eastern Russia: I am standing at the crater rim of the active Tolbachik volcano, taking pictures. Suddenly the volcano spits out a red-glowing lava bomb that is heading precisely in my direction. Luckily enough it doesn’t hit me but lands just by my side. Although afraid at first, I delightedly grab my camera: this is a rare opportunity to take close-up shots from still very hot and glowing cinder bombs.

The temperature was 19 degrees on a late February morning last winter on the beach at Nantucket, Massachusetts. About 300 yards out the ocean was icing up, and the waves rolling in had the consistency of freshly mixed concrete. Checking things out was pro photographer Jonathan Nimerfroh.

John Paul Caponigro’s elegant, intriguing fine art images result from his control of a complex mix of inspiration, insight, and experience. And one other thing: his enthusiastic embrace of technology in the pursuit and realization of vision.

In this video (brought to you by B&H Photo and currently available on YouTube) photographer Chris Nicholson provides a wide variety of pro level tips and tricks to help you get the most from your next visit to one of America’s beautiful National Parks. Captured during a photography workshop, this video has a runtime of nearly one hour and includes sample images, advice on the best places to explore and what to bring with you. 

You might say that images from distant, exotic locations are the stock and trade of a professional travel photographer, and certainly in my case you’d be mostly right. Those images pay off commercially and artistically, and when I can make them in places I’ve never before visited, they provide the added satisfaction of exploration and discovery.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in northeastern Alaska consists of 19,286,722 acres along the Alaskan North Slope, and supports a greater diversity of flora and fauna than anywhere else in the Arctic Circle. It was established in 1960 and is governed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It receives only about 1,500 visitors a year.

Capturing the fleeting moments of a wave's journey to dissipation, award-winning photographer Ray Collins feels much more at home in saltwater with his camera than on land. Photographing the relationship between water and light is what inspires him.