Here’s something that’s always bugged me: more than a few photographers have said that the Nikkor 200mm f/2.0 AI-S has “good bokeh.” One reviewer said is has, “wonderfully smooth bokeh in every sense of the word.” Another claims that, “creates one of the smoothest bokeh.” Still another says it, “has extraordinary bokeh.” The problem stems…
Continue reading →Weather comes in fits and starts in Oklahoma. Sometimes we face drought. Other times, crippling heat. Winter can bring hot, dry wildfire conditions, or it can crush us with single-digit cold. This spring, Oklahoma was among the states in the south that experienced particularly severe weather, including a tornado that did serious damage to a…
Continue reading →As I approach the age of 60 years, I am starting to thing about what might become of my work when I am gone. Now, before you label me as one of those “back in my day” guys, you should know that I remain healthy and happy at my job as a news and sports…
Continue reading →Wednesday, April 19, 2023 began as most Oklahoma spring days do, with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, and a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms. As it happened, fellow photographer Robert Stinson was visiting from Tulsa to do some photographic negatives scanning and archiving. We took a dinner break, and when we stepped out…
Continue reading →Photography, like many complex hobbies, can involve a great deal of head-scratching, second-guessing, and wishful thinking. So many photographers and those who would like to be photographers rest their hobby on, “If only I had (this lens or that camera)…” And sure, if I won the lottery… hm. You know what? Before I buy any…
Continue reading →As a photographer, I am friends with a lot of photographers, and we as a group tend to regard cameras and lenses as more than just tools of the trade, but as prizes and even works of art. It goes without saying that this hobby can get pretty expensive pretty fast. It also hopefully goes…
Continue reading →A friend in town messaged me recently asking if I would be at all interested in an old movie camera. My response was, as you might expect, heck yes. I never turn down a camera of any kind. She dropped it by our newspaper office this week. I showed it to a coworker who immediately…
Continue reading →Periodically, you hear me, or any of an additional million photographers and photo instructors, say that your next lens should probably a 50mm. Why? Whether you are shooting larger sensor cameras like 24x36mm, or smaller sensors like the APS-C or Micro 4/3, the 50mm lens does some amazing things few other lenses can. Why? 50mm…
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Lately we in the photography community have seen an uptick in articles in the photography press about AI – artificial intelligence – and the idea that it endangers the authenticity of photography. When talking to some of my favorite photographers, I heard, not at all surprisingly, that we believe our own work isn’t immediately or…
Continue reading →My photographer friend Robert was in town this weekend, and we did the photographer thing, including a photo shoot Robert did for some of his fellow church friends. Robert and I share a slightly out-of-balance love for lenses. Lenses are beautiful and interesting. Lenses tease our imaginations. We desire lenses, all lenses, even lenses we…
Continue reading →Here are some images that I generated over the past few months around the house and the patch of Oklahoma where I live.
Continue reading →As anyone and everyone knows, most pictures viewed by human beings every day are viewed on screens of one kind or another. Important exceptions are, of course, my own newspaper, which is always better viewed in print, and many more visually-oriented publications. It’s fun to share images on social media or, preferably, here on my…
Continue reading →“For you life is a long trip Terrifying and wonderful Birds sing to you at night The rain and the sun The changing seasons are true friends Solitude is a hard won ally Faithful and patient…” ~Henry Rollins This week our patch of the world is looking especially green and healthy. In it, I walk…
Continue reading →One of the biggest reasons my generation of photographers started with Nikon was their absolutely fantastic lenses. They were well-built, solid, heavy, and made incredible images. To stay competitive starting in the late 1990s, however, Nikon had to take some serious shortcuts, one of which was the extensive use of plastic in the bodies of…
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