David Cardinal's blog

Every experienced photographer knows and fears lens flare. Most often, we associate it with those horribly distracting 'stars' of light we see through our viewfinder and in our images when shooting into the sun. But not everyone knows that lens flare doesn't only affect those shots—it is part of every image we capture. So knowing how to reduce its effect is a valuable tool in many shooting situations.

We've all heard the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." And if we didn't believe in the power of images to communicate, we wouldn't spend so much time capturing and sharing them. But photographs don't happen in a vacuum. There's the photographer, who interacts with the subject and their surroundings. That's where the trouble with photography comes in—managing the effects we as photographers have on our subjects and their environment, whether they are ancient historical sites, natural wonders, people or wildlife.

The topic is huge and filled with controversy, but I'd like to share with you some common ethical problem situations that arise in travel and wildlife photography, and provide some perspective on how you may want to address them on your own adventures.

For most photographers, capturing the image is only part of the fun. Sharing your photos is at the heart of your enjoyment—and if you're a professional—your business. There is no lack of photo-sharing services of all sizes and shapes. And as an early advocate of digital photography and inveterate technology, I've used quite a few of them over the last 10 years. But I've finally found a system that works really well for me, and solves the problems I've found with the others. I wanted to share with you some of what I've found comparing online services, and hopefully give you some ideas for ways you can share and sell your images online more effectively… 

High-dynamic range imaging (HDR) is the fastest growing and perhaps the trendiest new technique in photography. By combining several images with different exposures the photographer can capture scenes which are beyond the dynamic range of their camera. The trick is that HDR scenes not only can't be captured in a single image, they also can't be fully displayed or printed in their native form. That means additional processing is required to turn the photo into one which can be used.

Indoor photography is always challenging. But standing head and shoulders above the rest in difficulty is the challenge of photographing large indoor events well. Rare is the well-lit auditorium, cafeteria or high school gym. Even most college sports venues aren't lit well enough to make life easy. In this article, I'll give you some tips on how to record events indoors effectively, whether they are your kid's sports, a concert, an exhibit or tradeshow that you need to chronicle...

We all know that the best parts of the shooting day are around sunrise and sunset. But you don’t have to stop when the Sun goes down. Star trails are a really fun way to make some unique images and squeeze a little more photography into your photo safari or vacation. Star trails used to be exclusive to film cameras. The high noise found in long exposures of early digital cameras made digital star trails a mess.