Behind the Shot - Video

Alex Buisse is an adventure photographer based out of Alberta, Canada, but it would seem that Chamonix, France has his heart – at least photographically. Alex is a climber, but around the same time he fell in love with that, he also fell into photography. The combination of those two passions allows Alex to create some absolutely stunning photographs. These two disciplines seem to feed each...

At WPPI this year I ran into Vanessa Joy , my first time meeting her in person. We chatted about the classes and workshops she was doing at the conference, and the friend I was with suggested that I get her on the show again. I had such a great time when Vanessa was on the show the first time, talking about how to  Elevate Your Wedding Photography , that when she agreed to do it I jumped at the ch...

George Schaub is a photographer’s photographer, and that may be the best compliment I can give anyone. George has a been a professional photographer since 1966, when he was the House photographer for promotion, brochures, and events at International House, NYC – and he’s been a writer for almost as long. From the 1970s through the 2000s his career took off, with articles publishe...

Rick Sammon has said that he specializes in not specializing, and I am seeing that approach to photography more often. Today’s guest is Will Cadena, and his portfolio include Weddings, Bar / Bat Mitzvahs, Corporate Events, Commercial work, and Cinematography, and the entire body of work is world class. Will brings a sense of space to his images, with subjects that pop off the background. His...

A few days ago Jeremy Lanthorn ( @Snackem on Twitter ) sent me a guest suggestion: @stevebrazill check out @LeviVentura_ and this shot of @GableSteveson at the NCAA wrestling tournament. Would make a great BTS episode. I get a lot of guest suggestions, and while I reach out to most of them, many never answer back. In this case, I replied to the tweet, Levi Ventura answered back almost instantly, a...

NOTE: This is not an official Nikon USA show. This is a podcast first and foremost, and Nikon was kind enough to allow my guest, Mark Cruz, to come speak about the Nikon AF system options. This is not intended to be a technical training, but a conversation with Mark to better understand the choices you have in customizing the current line of Nikon camera AF systems. Obviously, there are still some...

I don’t think Dr. Larry Tiefenbrunn, or Dr. T as he’s known to many, ever sleeps. Larry is a practicing pediatrician, and active photographer, and he’s the founder and CEO of Platypod . I first met Larry through Rick Sammon, and we have been friends ever since. His company Platypod makes some of my favorite photo accessories – the larger Platypod Max and the smaller Ultra,...

I get guest suggestions on a very regular basis, and most of the time I actually do follow through on them. Unfortunately, I often don’t get any response. Periodically however I not only get a reply, but we end up with a great show. That is the case with this episode, and describing my guest is going to take a bit of setup… A few days ago I received an email from a gentleman named Mich...

These last few years of the pandemic have been an interesting time. While I would definitely hope to not do it again any time soon, there are a few things that have come out of the pandemic that have been amazing. One of those are the various virtual photographer hangouts I have been invited to, and the amazing people I have met through them. In one of these Zoom hangouts I met William Snyder, who...

NOTE: This is not an official Canon USA show. This is a podcast first and foremost, and Canon was kind enough to allow my guest, Rudy Winston, to come speak about the Canon AF system options. This is not intended to be a technical training, but a conversation with Rudy to better understand the choices you have in customizing the current line of Canon camera AF systems. Obviously, there are still s...

I feel like I have been studying Joe McNally’s work since I first picked up a camera, so this should be the easiest show post I have ever done. He is an absolute master of light, and I own his “ The Language of Light ” Volume One, I need to get Volume Two. I have watched classes through KelbyOne and CreativeLive, and twice I have sat at the end of his PhotoshopWorld Keynotes wish...

David Bergman is a legend in the world of concert photography, and he is someone I have looked up to for a long time. That may be the best summary of David I can come up with, that I am a fan, and honored to call him a friend. For those not aware of David’s work, David is a New York based commercial photographer and photo educator who specializes in action, music and portraiture photographer...

I have the feeling that Sam Abell has more stories than almost any photographer you know. Thirty-four years as a staff and contract photographer at National Geographic tends to have that effect. Sam is an Ohio based teacher, artist, and photographer. I would argue that his magic is that those three skills merge to create, in Sam, the perfect storyteller. His story started like many of my guests, l...

I have followed Zack Whitford on Instagram for as long as I can remember, in fact I think he was one of the first I followed after joining Instagram. You know how you have photographers whose work you like because it makes you feel an emotion, just makes you smile? Well, Zack is one of those photographers whose work speaks to me on multiple levels. His images span from travel and humanitarian, to...

Usually, I struggle when I write these. To start with, I’m not a writer, but more importantly I want each post to convey to you how much I admire the guest I am writing about. Today however, I gained inspiration from my guest, Leah Horstman. Leah is someone I have followed on Instagram for a long time, and a prime example of when Instagram helps me find new creatives to follow. She was a mus...

Trying to write a post about Ryszard Horowitz has proven to be tougher than I had imagined. Ryszard Horowitz is a legend, literally. His life, and his journey through the art of photography, is almost impossible to distill down to a blog post. There is simply no way I do him, and his legacy, justice here. Still, I will try… Ryszard Horowitz was born in Krakow, Poland four months before the N...

If you’ve been watching the show for a while then you may have seen the “ Aurora and the Night Sky ” episode with Dave Williams . Dave is a travel photographer, based out of London, and one of the most adventurous people I know. More on that in a minute. I met Dave by chance a few years ago at Photoshop World. I was interviewing people in a hallway when I asked two people walking...

I first met Australian music photographer Michelle G Hunder when she was a guest on the Sunday Night Photographer Hangouts I used to do with Adam Elmakias. We had such great time on those shows. After hanging out with Michelle there, I started watching her Twitch channel , where she does everything from workshops and viewer challenges, to interviews with some amazing photographers. As big as Miche...

The Canon EOS R3 looks to be a beast of a camera. Like so many others, I want this camera, and like 99% of those people I won’t be buying one. Why? Because the Canon EOS R3 is for people like Jeff Cable. Ok, also because it’s more than I can afford for what I shoot, and yes, I would buy it in an instant if I could, but for now I am sticking with the not buying it. So, why do I say it&#...

Periodically I get a guest on Behind the Shot that makes me nervous. This episode is one of those moments. Wish me luck… David Hume Kennerly is a legend. In fact, I would wager money that other ‘legends’ look to David Hume Kennerly as the standard by which they are judged. All of that is to say that there is no ‘starting point’ when trying to explain the photojournali...

To introduce the guest on this show I’d like to start by giving a bit of background… The first time I met Troy Miller I was doing a presentation at a local photo group, Inland Empire Professional Photographers and Videographers . I had never been involved in groups like IEPPV, but they had asked me to speak at one of their monthly meetings. The way it was explained to me, after years o...

When describing Blair Bunting’s photography there are few way to approach it. First of all there is the website bio version, which starts: “Blair Bunting is an advertising photographer based in Phoenix, Arizona specializing in portraits of professional athletes for commercial sports campaigns.” That’s such an understatement, accurate yes, but it doesn’t begin to cover...

Let’s start here… Cliff Mautner’s career in photography spans 38 years. Think about that for a minute… 38 years ago Nikon released the world’s first SLR with Matrix Metering, the Nikon FA, and the world’s first camera with a 1/250 sec. flash sync speed, the FE2. Man, we’ve come a long way, and Cliff has been there for all of it. Cliff’s career has included...

I have writer’s block because of my guest. In fact, describing William Snyder is so difficult that I’ve been waiting to write this for two days. I’m ready to give it a shot now, but let me say up front that there is little chance I will be able to convey in writing the talent of William Snyder. Professor William Snyder – yup, he’s a professor – is a four-time Pu...

It’s the return of Moose Peterson! The first time Moose Peterson was on the show I was pretty nervous. Usually I am trying to calm guests that are nervous about being on a show, but this was different. Moose is a legend in every sense of the word. He’s a Nikon Ambassador, the recipient of the John Muir Conservation Award, a Research Associate with the Endangered Species Recovery Progra...