[Different takes on landscape images]

Hi. For me, I like to put on a longer lens (100-400) and zoom in to the photo within the photo. Things that we miss when looking at the big scenes but are still beautiful when isolated in nature. 
Also find natural frames is another idea I try to look for to create something different. 

Thanks!

[Share a picture from your favorite place!]

My favorite place... a tee box on a golf course as beautiful as this in this light. Can't beat it! 
(Taken with my iPhone 12)

[G Master Macro Lens?]

Hi. I'm curious.... Other than 10mm in focal length, what do you find different? 

[Photography Composition Rules]

What a great question. It was tough to pick. I like them all at various times and I think we'd all agree rules are made to be broken. But when I see photos that I really like, I'm often jealous of how the photographer used framing in their composition. It's something I don't see and I have to really work at it. Thanks!

[Tripod]

Good to hear. I have a small tripod as well. As long as it's not really windy, they are great to have. 

[Dueling Cameras for Wildlife and Landscape]

Ha! It's a rock solid kayak. It's 12 feet long and meant for fishing and actually meant to stand up in. If you flip this thing over, you had to actually TRY to flip it over - it won't happen by accident 🙂

[G Master Macro Lens?]

I would agree about the 90mm. I can't imagine what an official "G master" lens would add. The 90mm is the best macro I've ever shot with. Razor sharp and quick to focus. 

[New Forum Enhancements]

Great changes! Thank you!

[New firmware feature-practical question]

Hi. You would go to the "suitcase" icon (bottom yellow icon). Then to Operation Customize > Custom Key/Dial Set (the photography one with the camera). From there you can choose which buttons you want to assign to various actions. Hope that helps. 

[What was your biggest learning curve when it came to learnng photography?]

Exposure was a big of a learning curve at first - realizing that Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO all work cohesively and changing one affects the others. Understanding Auto focus too... if I got a sharp photo of something moving, I was excited because I had no idea what I did to achieve it. 
But for me, it was more on the creative side. I realized I could take photos pretty easily and it took me years to come to grips with the fact that very little matters (at least for me) on the technical and what I put in front of the camera was more important. I had it the other way around at first 🙂

[Dueling Cameras for Wildlife and Landscape]

@TrekRover I have something similar that I use when I take my 600mm out on my kayak. Works great to free up my hands and not have to worry about the camera or lens banging around the kayak and setting it down every time I want to paddle. The weight does pull you forward though - hard to have good posture with that thing weighing your chest down 🙂

[Dueling Cameras for Wildlife and Landscape]

Very nice. Curious if you've considered lightening the load to just the A1. With those bags around your shoulders, I can't imagine it's easy to get one out for landscape and if a bird flies by, then easily switch. It's probably about the same amount of time as it would be to change lenses and the A1 is superior in every way. So why not just use the a1 for all of it and now you'd only need a small lens pouch in case you needed to change? 

Great setup though!

[Transition to landscape photography full-time]

Hi. I'm a little late to this one but I see you're still responding to ideas so here goes. 
I think the first thing I'd look for in a transition is to find some one who makes a living doing what you want to do and try to figure out what they do. Personally, I don't know anyone that does landscape photography professionally that doesn't either A) Teach and/or B) Sell photos or some combo in between. There's such an abundance of photography out there today, that it's tough to make a living selling your photos. 
I would say to post them online more and not worry too much about people stealing or watermarking. Of course you don't want to give them away for free but always remember that if some one wants your photo for free, they will get it. And those that do that aren't your customer to begin with so you're not losing income. 
But I guess you need to define what a "full time landscape photographer" means and where the money comes from as a first step. Hope that helps! 🙂

[Sony Kando 5 event?]

My favorite ones were the ones where the public was invited too, so my fingers are crossed for it! 

[Where Are Your Favorite Locations For Wildflowers?]

The Rowena Loop in the Columbia River gorge was always a favorite. And of course, Mt. Rainier in July is wonderful. 

[Golden hour with A7III and 200-600]

Great photos. I love the creativity. So often wildlife photographers are looking for bright light, and I love how this goes against that with great results. Nice job!

[Adobe joins the AI game with Adobe Firefly. Where do we go from here?]

Adobe’s seems a little more graphic design in nature. Which I actually like. Now for my marketing emails, graphics, etc… I have something other than trying to use Adobe Stock and adding my own text, layouts etc… Will definitely be interesting to see where it goes but initially I’m liking Adobe’s version for type effects that would just be timely for me to create in Photoshop. 

[Q: Likelihood of feature additions in future firmware updates?]

Hi. While I think you’ll get some minor updates, I don’t think you’ll come close to seeing the subject detection of the a7r5. I think (not sure) that a lot of it has to do with the hardware / processor in the camera. Judging from past history, it just won’t get added to an older camera. All that said, I hope I’m wrong 🙂

[Focus Bracketing on the a7RV]

Hey Don! I haven’t found I’m using it. I guess I never thought doing a 3-4 image focus stack was really difficult in camera. What kept me away from it was the post production. I guess I found it too time consuming and not worth it for the most part. But I know people are loving the feature so maybe I’m just late to the party 🙂

[Like a painter (1st ep)]

Wonderful photos. I love the last one. That road and street lamp are perfectly placed!

[Making that push for a photo-centered Instagram]

As others said. Just share them. 

First, it sounds like you want to. 

Also, keep in mind nobody reads. So even if you post that it’s an older photo, nobody will know. People just don’t read the caption, etc… So they’ll never know when it was shot. 

[Your 1st Paid Photo Session]

I got a job back in 2012 shooting the entire sports program for a large university here in Tampa. It was over 500 people done in one day. I thought I had every detail perfect with lighting, naming ,etc… But I never realized that everyone was taller or shorter and I would move the camera slightly for each photo which meant each portrait had to be cropped individually (3-5 poses and outfit changes per person). Wasn’t fun. Luckily I realized early on that people followed me for teaching not photography, so that was the first and last paid assignment I ever did 🙂

[Bird Photography]

Hi. So why doesn’t the existing 100-400mm work for you? I used to use it all the time for bird photography and it’s as sharp and light as anything out there. It seems to fit the specs you mentioned exactly? 

That said, once the 200-600mm came out the 100-400 just sits there. With bird photography you can’t ever get close enough, and now that I have the 200-600mm I never find a reason to use the other one. 

[Wildlife]

Hi. My recommendations would be a full frame camera if your budget allows. The new a7r5 is amazing and quickly becoming one of my favorite wildlife cameras. Pair it with the 200-600mm and you have a wonderful combo. Enjoy!

[Most Versatile All-Around Lens]

If it's full frame, the 24-105mm is my go to lens.