Lenspiration Blog
Welcome! Wherever you are on your photography journey, learn to take better photos through the photography tips and stories you'll find in the following free articles. By learning from the experience of others, you can also start taking pictures that you're excited to share with others!
Should I Use a UV Filter?
As I was first getting into photography, I remember debating whether or not to purchase a UV filter for my lens. My online research revealed that there were two major opinions about them: never use them at all or always use them. What should I do? The reason not to...
All in a Weeks Work
Life has kept me hopping since returning from the DTP course in late February. It was a privilege to attend a character training course with In The Gap, taught by Chad and Alissa Christianson and my sister Esther, who worked with ITG for several years. Adam Waller...
Pic of the Month: February ‘12
You would think that with yesterday being Leap Day, I would have had my Pic of the Month for February all done and ready to be posted first thing this morning! But alas, it is all too true that regardless of how many hours are in a day or how many days are in a...
Redesigning?
There’s a key design concept that I learned at Desktop Publishing II last week. We learned a lot of cool, geeky deep things, but this one jewel of knowledge kept popping up over the course of the entire week. Without it, you can do all the re-designing you want but...
Expand your Creativity!
Greetings from Verity Institute’s Desktop Publishing II, Indianapolis, the first ever advanced class of it’s kind! We’re breaking through our current boundaries of creative knowledge and advancing into unexplored territory of design principles, sophisticated...
Just Added: a New Category of Posts
Drum roll, please! Having critically thought about how each post on this blog is organized, I have determined it most advantageous to create a new category of posts which I now officially announce as, Impressive Places. My hope is that the creation of this new...
What to see at Okefenokee
Thought I’d share a few of my favorite shots from a scouting excursion at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southern Georgia. What was there to see? I half expected to see the place loaded with alligators and pristine swamp landscape, but in February at the...
Pointers on Working Under Pressure
James shares pointers on how he pulled off shooting portraits at a wedding reception with a guest attendance over 400.
Pic of the Month: January ‘12
Remnants of A Bygone Era There’s something about this image that speaks of mysterious emptiness. Uninhabited dwellings, girded in wintery vesture, showcasing nothing more than the antiquated existence of a bygone era. Even the composition itself speaks of vacancy,...
How to Make a Cozy Cabin Part III
3. Adding falling snow All this step takes is a little understanding of the Brush Tool and it’s corresponding Brush Pallet. You can either download a free brush online or make your own (which I recommend, though it is slower). This is what my brush looked like when...
Tips for Winter Hiking
A few winters ago, my brother Jonathan and I did something we had never done before. With several inches of freshly fallen snow on the ground and predictions for more in the forecast, we jumped into the Envoy and headed out to Coopers Rock State Forest in the...
How to Make a Cozy Cabin Part II
2. Adding Light in the Windows There is always more than one way to do things in Photoshop, but this is the way that I happened to liven up the windows in this cabin. First, I made a new, yellow-colored Solid Color Adjustment Layer using something like #c5c46b....
How to Make a Cabin Cozy Part I
With much planning and little shooting over the past few weeks, I haven’t had much to post. So I guess I’ll post a little project I was working on just for fun the other day. I’m working on designing a calendar for a local heritage site called Fort New Salem. It’s...
Highlights from 2011
Wow! What a year. Though definitely not complete, this collection of 25 favorite images from 2011 tells the story of the whole year, from January to December. Looking forward to 2012! 1. Beachborough, Ontario, Canada 2. New River Gorge, West Virginia 3. Hinsdale,...
Pic of the Month: December ‘11
Home in the Hills Happy New Year! I took this picture a few days ago, knowing that I’d have to take down the Christmas lights soon. No snow came like I was hoping for, but I think pulling away from the house and up the hill a ways helped hide distractions that snow...
About the 2012 Calendar: December
The Essence of Christmas A freezing, snowy night + an old, rickety piano + an ancient, homely building = a cozy, fantastic picture! This is what went running through my head as I passed through the deserted Staff Center meeting room at the IBLP Headquarters in...
About the 2012 Calendar: November
Morning Light One could hardly have asked for a more marvelous Christmas morning! It was probably the earliest I had ever awoke for a Christmas Day, but what did that matter? On vacation with the family in Sanibel Florida in 2009, we were blessed to follow whatever...
About the 2012 Calendar: October
Autumn Wandering I haven’t spent much time in West Virginia during the fall season over the past few years. This year, I was in California. The three preceding years I was in Chicago. Thus, the last time I had the opportunity to shoot fall colors in West Virginia...
About the 2012 Calendar: September
First Morning Light It isn’t every morning that the sky is scattered with gold-lined clouds broken by colorful rays of warm sunlight. I was at the Northwoods Conference Center in the Ottawa National Forest for almost an entire week and this was the only sunrise of...
About the 2012 Calendar: August
Falls in the Forest Of all the pictures in the 2012 Calendar, this one is by far my favorite! I had been on the lookout for an image like this for years, and yet I didn’t even see it when I first stumbled upon it. It all started on May 22 of this year when I...
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New month - new photo assignment! And this one is pretty sweet. 🙂 Our goal is to take beautiful photos that reflect the truths of Psalm 119:103, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Get all the details at the link in bio!
Another behind the scenes shot....thanks to @real_lukas_n Though I usually use a tripod for landscape photography, there was no time in this situation where it was literally raining. When I saw the distant mountains after pulling in for only a short time at this open-to-the-public farm, I knew there was a shot somewhere. This vast field of flooded strawberry plants was the foreground I was looking for, offering perfect leading lines to the triangular peak framed by the sweeping mist.
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Family-friendly photography training: www.lenspiration.com
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#farm #landscapephotographer #shootingintherain #rainyday #behindtheshot
New blog post! The last bit of light after sunset doesn`t take long to disappear. Sparkling stars were peering through the pinyon pine boughs above us. We were in the deep shadows of dusk as we picked our way down the rock strewn trail back to the parking lot. Read more at link in bio.
#lenspiration #homeschoolphotography #homeschool #christianphotographer #photographyeducator #photoinspiration #photography #photoblogger
Behind the shot photo.... When it`s rainy, and you`re not on lights`s time table, there`s time to chat with friends while you`re out in the field! 🤩 Thanks @real_lukas_n for the second photo! --
Family-friendly photography training: www.lenspiration.com
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#outdoorphoto #lowkey #mystery #photographyfriends #explorenc
Happy Memorial Day! Let us honor their sacrifice by using our freedoms not to do as we please, but to live as we ought. #freedom #integrity #selfcontrol #memorialday #Godblessamerica
New blog post! Rain poured down in torrential waves as we made our way through the Smoky Mountains. We had gotten up insanely early—long before dawn—to make the most of our time photographing at the high-elevation overlooks before the storm. But now the rain was coming down so hard that even the most dedicated among us didn’t feel like stepping out of the car for a photo. Until we rounded a bend and saw... Read more at link in bio.
#lenspiration #homeschoolphotography #homeschool #christianphotographer #photographyeducator #photoinspiration #photography #photoblogger
Join me for some LIVE photo coaching on Tuesday, May 26 as we look at "Glowing Scenery" photos. . . Register at link in bio!
Foreground element, framing, leading lines, human element, vibrant color.... Definitely one of my favorite shots from EXPLORE Springtime in the Smokies.
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Family-friendly photography training: www.lenspiration.com
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#photographycomposition #photoworkshop #composition #landscapephotography #springtime @greatsmokynps @blueridgenps
Before/after....look at the difference! A little editing is just what it needed to make it pop (IMO). What do you think?
"For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills." Deuteronomy 8:7-9 Every time I photograph a waterfall I should thank the Lord for letting me live in such a blessed land.
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Family-friendly photography training: www.lenspiration.com
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#waterfall #verseoftheday #landscapephoto #thankful #godsblessing
New blog post! The photographer who makes decisions based on comfort won’t get out in the field, even in a place like the Smokies—and therefore won’t come home with any photos. Read more at link in bio.
#lenspiration #homeschoolphotography #homeschool #christianphotographer #photographyeducator #photoinspiration #photography #photoblogger
The photo assignment for May is live! Take beautiful, landscape photos that have a warm, glowing sense to them. Photos could include warm sunlight glowing at the end of a path, over water, over a stream, in a field, or over a mountain. Details at link in bio.
New blog post! Read more at link in bio.
#lenspiration #homeschoolphotography #homeschool #christianphotographer #photographyeducator #photoinspiration #photography #photoblogger
Someone got a photo of me taking the group photo at Family Conference last week! @familyconfs @alertacademy #familyconference #eventphotography #groupphoto #eventphotographer #adventurous
A quick stop in Paris for a selfie! 😄 #paristexas #travel #selfietime #texas
So much fun to photograph a family conference as an actual family! (Thank you Rebekah for the photo!)
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Family-friendly photography training: www.lenspiration.com
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#family #behindthescenes #together #teamwork #wvphotographer
On the lookout for puddles on a rainy first day of Conference!
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Family-friendly place to learn photography! www.lenspiration.com
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#rainyday #homeschool #conference #familylife #puddlejumping
Join me for some LIVE photo coaching on Tuesday, April 28! Register at link in bio.
