Outdoor Photography How To

After 30 years of making a living as a professional photographer I reached another milestone this past July—I traveled with my 17-year-old son Justin around the entire state of Oregon, our goal being to create an in-depth documentary of this beautiful state. We had never before traveled together solely as a photo team. This trip served as another milestone for me—it would be my first photo trip with my new Canon digital camera, having finally said goodbye to my beloved manual Nikon SLRs and Fujichrome slide film.

Yesterday we provided an important warning about the finite lifespan of your camera and why  it's essential that you check shutter count regularly to anticipate costly repairs, missed shots on location, or even a total breakdown. We're following up on that today with a couple less-dire maintenance hacks from pro Andy Rouse.

Located on Havasupai tribal lands, Havasu Falls is in a deep canyon leading to the Colorado River, and requires a 12-mile hike just to get there. The travertine formations at Havasu Falls are created from minerals in the water and over time the water droplets have precipitated away, leaving these intricate formations.

While Shutterbug reader Robert Dunham dreams of shooting the vast landscapes in Montana, he has found “great wonder and satisfaction in shooting macro” at his North Carolina home. He combines his two favorite pastimes, gardening and photography, by “taking a bunch of gear to the garden and splitting time between the spade and the camera.”

Shutterbug reader Joshua Moore is a volunteer photographer for the National Park Service and travels to many parks. On his way to the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Kentucky, Moore often visits Rogersville, Tennessee.

Shutterbug reader Chris Zewatski captured this magnificent sunrise on an early fall morning at Tanesashi Seaside in Hachinohe, Japan. Located on the east side of Japan, facing the Pacific Ocean, Tanesashi Seaside is a “photographer’s dream for sunrises.” Not to mention, throughout the year a variety of flowers bloom along the cliffs, only adding to the photographic appeal.

Bill Hatcher was near the park entrance when a wildfire forced the closing of Tioga Pass road into Yosemite National Park last summer. “The fire was threatening to cross the road into Yosemite,” he says, “and helicopters and tankers were being sent out on kind of a bombing run to cut the fire off.”