Author Archives: bobshank

Motivation in Photography

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What is your motivation in photography?

In other words, what keeps you excited about photography and what drives you to keep reaching for your camera? Think about it. There are any number of things you could do in a day and perhaps just as many “should-do” items in your daily routine. So what is it that keeps you photographing subjects day after day?

Motivation is that inner drive that keeps you behind the viewfinder time after time. It is that driving force that never says die and certainly never says quit. Perhaps it is no different from what keeps athletes practicing and working out. Maybe it is similar to great musicians who not only rehearse over and over, but actually appear to enjoy the rehearsing!

How do you describe or explain this motivation? What words can you use to describe it as clearly as possible?

I am honestly curious about this because sometimes I lose my focus and get distracted by things other than photography. These distractions recently kept me from blogging on a regular basis as I had done previously, but they did not prevent me from keeping my camera busy. In fact, I’ve been as busy as ever with my photography! After all I do love my time spent in photographic endeavors.

Maybe it’s the drive of capturing that priceless, once-in-a-lifetime shot. Or maybe it’s the challenge of capturing the exciting action and freezing the motion for all to see. Perhaps it is simply an inner feeling that keeps encouraging you to keep shooting.

I know, for me, a whole lot of motivation comes from fellow photographers. I hear about their photo opportunities and hear how they excited about a photo trip or some cool subject they photographed recently. These collegial relationships and friendships are certainly great motivation for me!

In this vein, I thank Willard Hill who recently contacted me to say that he missed my blogging. That was more than enough to motivate me off my lazy backside and re-enter the wonderful world of photo blogging. Thank you very much, Willard!

Where do you find your motivation in photography?

Best of May Photograph

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Baseball has not only been on my mind for the past three months, but in front of my camera, too!

I confess to being a baseball junkie and, fortunately, I am able to fill my cravings by putting many baseball games at the good side of my telephoto lens. I am blessed to be able to photograph our local high school baseball games. Capturing the action of the season is one of my favorite springtime past times! This is not always as easy as it might sound. Rain delays, rescheduled games, and other obstacles got in the way this season. It sure was a cold and rainy spring in northeast Pennsylvania this year! By the end of the season I obtain enough quality photographs to share with the team at their banquet. It is always fun for the players to see their year-in-review, and it is fun for me to have the opportunity to share some of my photographic skills.

Here is a shot I captured at the Mountain Valley Conference Championship Game. It is one of my favorite shots of the season because it shows the action and intensity of these two opposing players. This photo accomplishes several of my sports photography goals:

  1. Capture exciting on-field action during a competitive game
  2. Show the players making a quality play on the field
  3. Be sharp-focused on the subject
  4. Tell some of the story of this particular game
  5. Freeze the exciting action for posterity

Take a look at this photo and see if you agree that this photo accomplishes most of these goals.

Another Baseball Season is about to Begin!

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Today I was back behind the viewfinder to take headshots of the local high school baseball team. My son, who is now a freshman, made the JV team. Last year the varsity team won their District Championship!

I’ve been photographing the action in their games for the past two years and year three looks to be another exciting year on the diamond. I coached baseball at the little league level for nine years and while I do miss the coaching, I get many thrills trying to capture the excitement with my camera!

I find that sports photography and wildlife photography have a lot in common. We can spend a lot of time just waiting for the perfect photo op to arise and then it is fast and furious. Then suddenly, as quickly as it came, it is all over. You’ve got to be ready in a moment’s notice or you will miss the action!

The first scrimmage is on Friday afternoon, so I have some things to get ready. I also wonder when I will next be able to carve out some time to photograph the majestic elk of Pennsylvania. Time just goes by too quickly and we all get too busy too often! I am sure the bulls are probably starting to drop their antlers by now.

In the meantime, it’s “Batter Up!” for me.

Lens Fixed!

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I have the Nikon 2.8/f 70-200mm lens and I love it. However, in the past year or so I’ve been having problems with it. The autofocusing mechanism wasn’t working correctly. It worked sometimes but then it wouldn’t–and as you can suspect, it always quit working at the absolute worst time!

The problem was when trying to focus on an object that was near infinity. I found myself using the override focusing ring way too often. In fact, it felt almost like I was using a manual focusing lens. This was okay for some subjects, but elk, deer, and baseball players were often out of focus. I was not a happy photographer!

Part of my dilemma was when to send out the lens for repair. It was under warranty, but I need this lens most of the year. Sports, wedding, nature photography and photo trips all require the ability to have my favorite lens within reach or on my camera body. I finally decided to send it out after my trip to the mountains over the New Year holiday.

The process was very simple. I first consulted the Nikon website to read all the directions and made sure to follow the directions. I sent it out, insuring the package and waited. I was told by others that it could often take well over six weeks to get a repaired lens back. This worried me but I bit the bullet and sent the lens out. Happily, I could see the progress Nikon was making with my lens online. This was very helpful and kept my fears at bay. I could see that my lens arrived to their facility in New York. Then it was being examined. Once the problem was located, I was informed that they were waiting for parts. Finally, it was in for the actual repair and then it was it shipped back to me. The whole process took less than a month.

Now the lens works beautifully. I cannot wait to try it out at a baseball game, but there’s still too much snow on the ground for that to be a possibility right now. So I am hoping to get the mountains soon so I can put the repaired lens through the paces with the elk.

All-in-all, I am very pleased with the repair service Nikon provided me. I was not happy that the lens needed repair, but in the end, it was handled well and quickly. Nikon definitely stands behind their product and now I have a well-functioning lens back on my camera again.

Go Nikon!

Winter Projects

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Winter is hanging on with ferocity here in the Poconos of northeast Pennsylvania. The sun is shinning nicely today but we were in single digits last night and there is still a lot of snow around!

This makes me think of all the photo projects I should be doing while the weather is cold. One, for example, is tidying up my external hard drives. I originally used two different external hard drives to store my digital photographs. Then I bought a Drobo since it redundantly backs everything up and is so easy to use. The Drobo is just plug and play–plug a new or bigger hard drive in and start storing and backing up photos. It’s sweet!

The problem was that my external drives now contain many duplicate files as well as some new photos that need to be migrated over to the Drobo. I did this on my first external drive to be able to back up my broken laptop and restore on my new laptop. That was a 500 GB drive. Now I have a 1 TB drive to work through. I started last night and it is slow going. This is definitely a winter project!

I hope to be done fairly soon so I can gain some much needed space on my one drive and then use the other exclusively for backing up my new MacBook Pro. There is always something to do!

Computer Problems

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I readily confess that I am a computer geek. I love the technology we have at our fingertips today, especially in the wonderful world of photography! After all, where would we be without digital cameras and post-processing software?

That being said, I also prefer our computers to work for us rather than the other way around. My old laptop was not even two years old and was causing me much pain and aggravation. I had already re-formatted the hard drive and re-installed Windows on the machine twice but was still having major problems. It was enough for me to start pulling my hair out!

The final straw came when I spent the better part of a day creating a presentation only to have my laptop completely let me down. I had used the thing all day but when I went to restart later nothing happened. After some frustrating troubleshooting, I discovered that the motherboard was fried. Arggghhhh!

Now many of us know that many photographers enjoy using Apple computers–well, Macs, to be exact. I was exposed to this preference in the photo world from many different angles–photo workshops, blogs, podcasts, magazines, etc. The thought was already in the back of my head that one day I would perhaps consider moving into the Mac world.

When my old laptop died, this thought came to the forefront in a huge way. I told my friend, who by the way only prefers windows pcs, that I was simply looking for a computer that didn’t require me to work to make it work before I got to work on it. Reliability and stability were my primary goals in looking for a new laptop to replace my old one.

Well, after some agonizing and deep thinking, I made the plunge and ordered my first Mac–a MacBook Pro laptop. It was ordered on a Thursday and traveled all the way from China to my doorstep on Monday! I was amazed at the quick delivery. I was even more amazed when I opened the package and turned on my new MacBook Pro!

I will not bore you too much with my enthusiasm now. Just let me say that I can see what others meant when they enthusiastically proclaimed their joy in using them!

So, this is my first blog in a long, long time due to computer problems. And yes, it is coming straight from my new MacBook Pro. I’ve had it for a little over a week and I love it! I am sure you will hear more about this in future blogs. For now, I am enjoying using Lightroom and Photoshop on my new laptop. It is quick, fast, and speedy!

I am hoping to say goodbye to computer problems. I am hoping this new laptop will keep those computer problems at bay. Only time will tell.

Join Us for our next Amazing Photo Trip!

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How would  you like to capture some amazing photographs of the majestic Pennsylvania elk?

Our Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience is a great opportunity to learn more about wildlife photography and make great memories at the same time!

Click on the photo above for a sample of photographs you could capture on one of these trips.

These photo trips offer complete lodging and food for three days. You will experience three photography workshops and have plenty of chances to be out photographing these amazing creatures. It will be an experience of a lifetime!

Along the way you will meet some terrific people, experience the elk culture of Pennsylvania, and learn some valuable wildlife photography tips.

Our upcoming Winter Experience is scheduled for February 21-24. More information is available here.

Please consider joining us for an amazing photography experience. And if you refer a friend to attend with you, we will take 10% off the regular price for you.

Chillin’ Bull

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My son and I came across this bull in the small village of Benezette. He was in town just chillin’–laying comfortably beside the road not seemingly bothered by all the attention he was getting! He is not a gigantic bull by any means, but he will hopefully be some day. He looked rather majestic at times and I am hoping we get the opportunity to watch him grow over the next 10 years.

The weekend of New Year’s we saw a lot of elk and two nice bulls. We saw some small bulls, too, but two were 7x7s. It was good to see that at least a few big bulls are still around after the elk hunting season. We do not see as many of the big bulls as we used to before the elk hunt started again. I understand that hunters want the trophy bulls, but I agree with Willard Hill that a healthy balance needs to be struck between the hunters and those of us who like to view and photograph the elk. I am happy to see that more and more hunters are going back to using bows, as I also prefer them to guns. There was a time when I used to collect and assemble the upper parts for AR-15’s with the other equipments, to make the perfect range gun. But now, I would rather invest in the best compound bow for the money, and take time practicing the skill than relying on advanced weapons against these beautiful creatures. I have been a hunter for 33 years, but I choose to photograph the PA elk rather than hunting them more and more often. I do believe that hunting is a viable and good solution to manage wildlife. It just needs to be done sensibly and with respect to all parties involved including those who enjoy viewing and watching the elk. After all, we now have a Visitor Center up on Winslow Hill so we need to have elk to view. I believe keeping some of the big bulls alive not only makes sense but is imperative.

Balance is a difficult goal. I am not nieve enough to believe the attempt to keep everyone happy is possible. In fact, this shouldn’t even be the goal. However, balance is the key.

New Year’s on Winslow Hill

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Lydia, James, and I spent the New Year holiday up on Winslow Hill. This is a perfect time to get away to the quiet mountains and celebrate the passing of one year into all the hope and anticipation of a new one. It is a time for reflection. I counted my blessings acknowledging that this year I was able to spend more time in the mountains. My son also bagged his first buck, so that was another blessing. Time spent photographing the Pennsylvania elk is still another. Blessings abounded this past year!

It is also a time to look ahead with anticipation upon the new year. What will this year bring? How many times will I get out to photograph wildlife? Will there be any noteworthy photo purchases this year? What will I learn? What will I see? Where will I go? I am getting eager and excited just thinking about it!

Reflecting, pondering, hoping, and wondering are all important components to any New Year’s celebration. And I can think of nowhere better to do this than up in the mountains on Winslow Hill!

I wonder what this bull is thinking as he looks ahead to a new year?

Some Things are Changing and Some Things Remain the Same

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I enjoyed watching the old television series, “Wild America.” It was a weekly half-hour show that featured some animal or place related to the wild outdoors here in America. Not long ago, I caught some re-runs on television that brought back the fond memories of watching this show when I was much younger. I also enjoyed the old series, “Grizzly Adams.” I remember my uncle telling me that wild animals are not as tame as Ben, the grizzly bear of that show. But to me it was one of the few shows that pertained to the outdoors, where I loved to spend my time!

This past week I read in our local newspaper that John Serrao, a local naturalist here in the Poconos is moving away from the Poconos to Florida. His newspaper column always talked about some wild topic of the Poconos. He also led nature walks and helped to educate us on the wild-side of the Poconos. His newspaper articles and outdoor presence will be dearly missed!

This time of the year, with the fast-approaching New Year’s Eve celebration, often turns my thoughts to how things change. Some of this change is sad to me, like the passing of fond experiences turned into mere memories. I can be nostalgic at times, but I also believe that the passing of time reveals some consistency in our lives and even in the outdoors. While some people and television series come and go, the outdoors has a regular consistency to it. The sun comes up on schedule and the moon phases are just as predictable. The wild creatures still demand our respect and admiration, while continuing to need advocates at the same time. The people who fight for outdoor causes may have different names tomorrow than they do today, but their presence and voice will still be very much needed!

The land changes, too. Properties are bought and sold. Some land is developed and the landscape changes for the wild creatures inhabiting it. Some land is scarred for a season or two, and then is sometimes reclaimed to bring it back in line with the needs of animals. Food plots are constructed and some land is reverted back into wild habitat. Some species bounce back to amazing numbers while others are at risk of being lost forever.

Yes, some things are changing and some things remain the same.

Today I am posting an image of a Pennsylvania elk I captured years ago on our property in Elk County. It depicts the majestic elk in the foreground with a cross standing at attention in the background. It seems, to me at least, to show the connection between different times or eras. And in both times there needed to be a voice to share the important news with the people. The brutal crucifixion of Jesus and his miraculous resurrection as good news to be sure! Ever since, the cross has represented those events and still speaks volumes today in a voice of grace. In a different way, the animals in nature need to have a voice, too. They cannot speak with human words but their amazing existence and their continuing needs also yearn for a voice to be heard.

I am just a photographer trying to give voice to the creatures I love and enjoy seeing in the wild around me. Perhaps these photographs will help to at least give a voice of awareness to these beautiful creatures. After all, while some things are changing, at least one thing remains the same–the beautiful wild creatures need to be seen and heard!