Signing with Aurora Photos

The big news on the photo front is that I signed with Aurora Photos to distribute my images world wide.   Aurora is the most successful and exclusive photo agency in the world for outdoor and adventure work, and they represent most of the world's best outdoor adventure photographers.  Along with opening up many new markets for my images in both Europe and Asia, Aurora is also partnered with Getty images, which is the largest photo distributor in the world.   Needless to say, this is a major career move, and will lead to new sales and hopefully open the door to many new clients throughout the world.   This has been nearly a year long process between reworking my website, applying, doing the legal stuff, and finally having my first selection of images on their site. 

Adopting Francisco

It has been a busy past few months for sure!

  As many people have already heard through the grapevine or on Facebook, Jen and I just got home from the Philippines, where--after a long 5 year process--we adopted our son, Francisco.   He is a wonderful 23 month old who is already keeping us running to keep up.   Looks like he picked the right family to join if he wants lots of adventures!   There are lots more photos on my Facebook page.

New Shutterbug Cover

Pick up the new July 2013 copy of Shutterbug Magazine.   Along with the cover I have a 6 page story about using graduated neutral density in the digital age.   It is a great article for those landscape and adventure photographers out there.  

Are your lenses always fogging up in the winter?

After so many days shooting in the snow and sub-freezing temperatures this year I thought it might be good to share a few lessons learned about keeping your camera functional and ready to shoot in winter.  

The key to understanding fogged lenses is that it only happens when you bring a cold camera into a warm environment.   Meaning that one never has problems when bringing a camera from the warm car/hotel room out to shoot in the cold.   In Yellowstone several times I pulled out my room temperature camera and began shooting early morning photos when the temperatures were below zero (easily a 70 degree temperature difference with no fogging issues).   But as soon as that camera cooled down and I brought it back to the warm car it would suddenly become a useless foggy mess.   The key is that once your camera is cold you need to keep it cold.  But be sure to pull the batteries out and keep them warm so they work.  

In Yellowstone we kept the temperature in the car just warm enough for our fingers and toes, but never warm enough to affect our cameras (I would take off my parka but leave on my hat, gloves, and fleece jacket).   My guess is that we kept the car around 40 degrees, and we often drove with the windows down while using binoculars to spot distant wildlife.   By keeping the car cold, we were able to leave lenses and cameras sitting out in the back seat ready for use at a moment's notice. 

         Drying my sleeping bag after a cold night, and yes that top number is correct it is 14 degrees at    
                                                                9:28am in the sun.   COLD!

At the end of the day when it is time for me to bring my gear into a warm tent, cabin, or hotel room, I always pack everything away tightly into my camera bags to help slow the warming process.   Not only is condensation a pain because fogged lenses can't be used till they warm, but moisture can also lead to electronic problems.   Some photographers even go so far as to wrap their gear in a plastic bag to keep out condensation until the equipment has reached room temperature. 

So remember, going from warm to cold is no big deal, but going from cold to warm is a BIG DEAL!   Also don't forget to keep that extra battery warm in your chest pocket!