Photog Adventures Podcast: A Landscape Photography and Astrophotography Podcast

Welcome to the first ever Milky Way Photographers Guild Podcast! Join the Guild here: https://www.milkywayphotographersguild.com/ The Astro Photog Podcast is exclusive to members only of the Milky Way Photographers Guild. This week's episode covers the TEN THINGS YOU MUST DO BEFORE MILKY WAY! Doing these ten things will prepare you to have your most successful first night out for Milky Way that you can expect to have! TIME MARKERS TO JUMP AROUND TIPS EASILY 3:10 TIP ONE | Know the Moon & Milky Way 11:36 TIP TWO | Find a dark sky location 15:11 TIP THREE | Will there be clouds? 20:23 TIP FOUR | Know Gear! Camera & Lens 23:08 TIP FIVE | Know Gear! Live View 30:33 TIP SIX | Know Gear! White Balance 33:54 TIP SEVEN | Know Gear! Shutter 38:16 TIP EIGHT | Know Gear! Histogram 43:48 TIP NINE | Know Gear! ISO 45:21 TIP TEN | Know Gear! RAW & NR 48:42 BONUS TIPS

Chris Smith joins me on the podcast to talk about the Out of Moab Conference and in-between the love fest for the upcoming Out of Moab Conference, we share Chris' challenges with leading conferences, discuss any imposter syndrome he had at the beginning of his photography career, the thing that scared him from hiking a mile, the insanity of scheduling 100 people's activities for each conference and the time he got made fun of by Ansel Adams' assistant! Join me & Ian Norman, Eric Paré, Royce Bair, David Kingham to name a few of my favorites coming to the Out of Moab conference in September! https://www.outofchicago.com/moab/ USE DISCOUNT CODE "KING" TO GET $250 OFF!

Sigh...I never ever ever wanted to tell this story. It truly is embarrassing for me and I can’t believe I just put it to permanent record and included it on a podcast! Ugh I am starting to really regret this. BUT I haven’t released a new episode in three weeks so this is coming as a perfect punishment. Also, I have three new announcements that will be explained here mixed with three stories. I won’t say what the announcements are other than to summarize what is coming in this way: Season Four -> NightScaper Nightmare -> The Guild? -> Most Embarrassing moment of 2019 -> The Contest! Enjoy! Here is a great blog talking about the Klakkur Hike so you can understand more what my hike was like: https://fortheloveofwanderlust.com/klakkur-hike-the-faroe-islands/ PS If by chance you got curious why I would go to a conference for computer software that is supposedly going to help me with Photog Adventures, then definitely check out these two links. One will give you a taste of what I love about Russell Brunson's Teaching methods for online businesses but through the perspective of 30 other successful entrepreneurs and you can try out Clickfunnels for 14-days. CLICKFUNNELS 14-DAY TRIAL: http://bit.ly/2OwXQIv 30-DAYS SUMMIT & ONE FUNNEL AWAY CHALLENGE: http://bit.ly/2vAfbcE

Joined by Kirk Keyes and Rob Ryan we share untold stories from 2019. Between Kirk's National Media name snub, Rob's fear of Owls but not Snakes and my own new juvenile arch-nemesis out at Escalante we share some funny success stories & annoying situations from 2019! Rhonda's recommended snake protection - Turtleskin Snake Gaitors: https://amzn.to/2Foku0C

ONLY SOME of the authors behind MilkyWayPhotographers.com join me on the podcast to share some of their favorite Milky Way Photography tips, stories, articles on MWP.com and their favorite Milky Way locations that they have been in 2019. Aaron Martinez, our famous Pentax representative who casually captures Milky Way with Mountain Lions nearby, lives in Texas but spends most of his Photography time in New Mexico and his favorite spot to get out to is the very nearby Bortle 2 area of City of Rocks! MaryBeth Kiczenski, obsessed Aurora zealot and nicknamed MegaRally, said that her favorite location of 2019 and ALL-TIME was being out with me at Escalante, Utah at Devil’s Garden because of all the options there and how her Metate Arch image came out so well she actually printed it to metal and it hangs proudly in her place! Kirk Keyes, the Managing Editor of MilkyWayPhotographers.com and one of the first ten if not FIVE fans of Photog Adventures, said that his experience at Delicate Arch in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah was his favorite Milky Way Photography experience of 2019! PODCAST UPCOMING RELEASES NOTE: Several Podcast Episodes have been recorded but a confluence of issues with guest and co-host timings, MWP.com website issues where I crashed it updating it for my failed Black Friday sales along with other casualties have pushed things WAY back! But these episodes are ALL COMING OUT THIS WEEK! So stay tuned and stay safe this New Year’s Eve! Happy 2020 and wishing you all the best in the coming year! :D -Aaron

Using Highlights from Podcast Guests from Episodes 18, 21, 22, 30, 34, 47 & 59 I consolidate all of the Milky Way Photography Advice I received in the 1st year of the podcast! You will hear from Me, Royce Bair, Bryony Richards, Ian Norman, Eric Benedetti, Mark Gee, Joshua Snow and Michael Shainblum! Get advice from FIVE of the 30+ Speakers presenting at the 2020 NightScaper Conference! BUT! DON'T JUST LISTEN HERE!! Come join me, Royce Bair and these amazing Milky Way Photographers in Kanab in 2020 at the NightScaper Conference! REGISTER NOW AT: http://nightscaper.weebly.com/ USE DISCOUNT CODE "ADVENTURE100" TO GET $100 OFF! ROYCE BAIR kicks off this highlight reel of advice with a lesson on PROPER EXPOSURE WITH A CORRECT HISTOGRAM, then talking about making the most of hazy thin clouds or using a DOUBLE FOG FILTER to show off the true color of stars and then finishes with an answer to a Listener Question that gives you the ultimate response to the concern of having your best lens for Milky Way being a weak f3.5 aperture lens. Royce tells us a few things you can do to overcome that limitation. BRYONY RICHARDS teaches me about the science behind the colors of the Milky Way and what certain colors tell us about the stars. Then Bryony explains the SEVEN DIGITAL FILTERS approach to post-processing. IAN NORMAN begins his advice with a direct message to brand new Milky Way Photographers and answering whether their camera is good enough for Astrophotography. With a brilliant explanation of the MERITS OF SHUTTER VS. ISO in deciding how to expose your Milky Way Image. Then he tells us his GO-TO METHOD FOR A HIGH QUALITY MILKY WAY and what lens he uses and how in order to get that ultimate quality. ERIC BENEDETTI emphasizes QUALITY IN YOUR LENSES! He gives us a scientific example to explain why certain lenses are NO GOOD for Milky Way Photography and hits the point hard that large apertures and even avoiding wide angle lenses can be great! MARK GEE advice to get out there and work through the challenges of getting out there. DON'T GET HUNG UP ON PLANNING. Go to a location you like and do it! And don't worry about noise reduction, if you do mind a little noise in your images then definitely FIX THE NOISE WITH A STACK OR PANORAMA. JOSHUA SNOW takes us through his system of CREATING A STACKED MILKY WAY IMAGE all the way from capture settings to post-processing with Starry Landscape Stacker to get rid of noise. MICHAEL SHAINBLUM ends the year of advice sharing a story about going out and doing Milky Way Photography & timelapses commenting on the fear we sometimes feel out alone out under the stars as well as the wonder of hanging out under the stars and enjoying them until something goes wrong. Remember, if you are a Milky Way Photographer, our yearly event to get together with other like-minded awesome Milky Way Photographers is at the NightScaper Conference! This event is your chance to mega-rally and capture night after night of GREAT Milky Way Photography in Southern Utah, Arizona and anywhere else you drive by on your way to the NightScaper Conference in Kanab! Sign up now and join me next year using the "ADVENTURE100" Discount code over at http://nightscaper.weebly.com/!

Mark Gee joins Aaron to talk Southern Hemisphere Milky Way Photography in New Zealand! Giving us tips on stacking, capturing, composition and where to go in New Zealand! First we start off talking about the differences of capturing the Milky Way in the Southern Hemisphere right down to the timing of when to go out due to the Milky Way Core being too high in the sky at the beginning of the night. Then we move into some major capturing, stacking tips from Mark that are terrific tricks to bring the most out of your Milky Way Photography. Mark explains his "Good" image approach that includes the daytime scouting that is usually hard for most of us that can't leave to our location until after work and usually too late before sundown. What is Mark's MUST BRING for anyone coming to New Zealand for Milky Way? What are the reasons Mark loves the Great Barrier, Central Plateau, Cape Palliser, Mount Cook and why is Wellington the BEST CAPITOL of ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD? Find out now on the Photog Adventures Podcast! Lens Heater Option #1: https://amzn.to/35MVnk0 Lens Heater Option #2: https://amzn.to/2BloJbj WATCH MARK'S DAY TO NIGHT TO DAY TIMELAPSE HERE: http://bit.ly/2PajWBJ Follow Mark Gee: WEBSITE: http://theartofnight.com/ FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theArtOfNightPhotographyGroup/

COME FOR THE ADVENTURE, STAY FOR THE MIS-ADVENTURES! The amazing adventures and awful mis-adventures of my most recent Faroe Islands trip! If you love the idea of coming to the Faroe Islands you will definitely want to hear about all of the tremendous things that happened to me, Kathy and Rhonda out in the Faroe Islands. I guess I couldn't just experience amazing aurora, beautiful light, cloud inversions, Paragliders, rastafarian/surfer dude cows and some of the BEST moments in the Faroe Islands without ALSO having plenty of things go wrong. Boy did they. I wonder if anyone will count up the misadventures and tell me how bad it actually was....still recovering. :D Join me in the Faroe Islands or out for some Milky Way Photography in my 2020 Workshops! https://workshops.photogadventures.com/store-front

MaryBeth Kiczenski joins Aaron and Kirk Keyes on the podcast to talk about her 23-Straight Nights of Milky Way Photography. We go over the "Rally" that ALL Milky Way Photographers need to get used to doing and why she is known as MegaRally! MaryBeth shares with us what went well and what could have gone better on her month long adventure of capturing the Milky Way every night in Michigan, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. Then she goes over her 2-Night Blitz for Aurora and why those two days were actually tougher than her 23-straight nights of Milky Way. Link to MWP Article where MaryBeth shows her taped up key: http://bit.ly/2mV1yAH

As we get too crazy into our photography hobby, there are areas that we just drop off the hobbyist map and try to turn it into a side hustle. Don't let the stress of worrying about the wrong things ruin this hobby for you! Have fun as a Photographer again! I am joined today by Jeff Harmon who co-hosts the podcast with me today as we tackle this topic that is becoming more and more common in the world of Photography. We take ourselves and the fun of photography way too seriously! Bonus, while Jeff shares his recent adventures in the beginning of the podcast we are joined by MaryBeth Kiczenski! MegaRally! Enjoy!

Join me in 2020 at one of my Photog Adventures' Workshops! http://bit.ly/2lSlvY6 In this bonus episode, I take 30-minutes to highlight the 2020 Schedule to help you guys decide which adventure you would like to join me on next year! Go to PhotogAdventures.com and click on Workshops or use this link: http://bit.ly/2lSlvY6 Join me in the Bisti Badlands, North Rim, Toadstool Hoodoo, Escalante National Monument, Bonneville Salt Flats, Crater Lake & Oregon Coast, Southern Utah, New Zealand or the Faroe Islands! 2020 Photog Adventures' Workshops: http://bit.ly/2lSlvY6

David Thompson - a Landscape Photographer who Nick Page recently called his favorite Post-Processor - joins the podcast and teaches us what "epic light" means, shares a truly amazing Epic Light moment and gets us interested in Swamp Photography! Hear Nick Page compliment David in this video here: https://youtu.be/Jo6xonIhAOo?t=2081 David is an expert hobbyist photographer whose reputation for beautiful images has landed him workshops & Skype calls teaching photography throughout the year while he keeps a full time day job. After David shares with us his three favorite Landscape Photography areas and tips for newbs on how to take the most advantage of these areas, we learn from David a great perspective on light. How to work with it, anticipate it and he names several situations that should be considered "epic light" even though it isn't the classic blown up sky. Then David completely turns 180-Degrees and shares with us one of the most envious tales I have ever heard about epic light out at Factory Butte! His image actually has a Rainbow perfectly symmetrical arching over Factory Butte with a sky crazy pink! Instagram link to that Factory Butte Image: https://www.instagram.com/p/BllUKc9Dgic/ What an amazing shot! Dang we really are jealous! Beyond the amazing image, David shares with us the juggling act he was going through while trying to capture this shot and the endurance and optimism required of him and his friend Paul Rojas to even STAY in the Factory Butte area; especially after what happened to them the night leading up to this sunrise! Lastly, I share the Instagram message attached to that image from David that talks about a principle that what we know as "epic light" is completely relative and will change as you gain more experience in Landscape Photography. Follow David Thompson on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/davidthompsonphotography/ David's Website: https://www.davidthompsonphotography.com/

Jenna Martin - despite being landlocked in Billings, Montana - created and mastered a majorly interesting niche in photography: Underwater Portraiture! And not just Fine Art, but actual families come to her from all over to get a spectacular and candid family portrait! Jenna shares the challenges, the gear, the dedication of her models and her crazy determination to experience exactly what her models are experiencing! If they don't get a wetsuit, she doesn't get a wetsuit. Whether it is a freezing cold lake or a chlorine picture ruining pool, Jenna is dressed in the same comforts or lack thereof that her models are. In the second half, Jenna shares a story about a mystery figure in the water next to her model and it is in the picture here over on her instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BHREyfwhlmA/ Jenna also shares her experience giving a Ted talk, one of my personal goals in life, and the details behind the scenes on what Ted Talks require of you is way off what I expected! We had a blast hearing about her experiences and crazy admired her tenacity going for a type of photography that has so many quirks about it that there are unpredictable challenges like what makeup her models have to wear underwater! It really is a fascinating story and we think whether you would actually someday consider doing underwater photography yourself or not, you will love to hear about Jenna's work! To follow Jenna's Photography, go to her blog at: http://jennamartinphotography.com/ More of her images at Instagram and be like Eric Pare and follow Jenna! https://www.instagram.com/jennamartinphoto/ Keep up with Jenna through her podcast too! Creative Chaos Podcast: apple.co/2zOa87J

In this edit from a long lost episode recorded back in April, Brendon joins me on the podcast sharing FIVE THINGS WE LOVED about the Create Photography Retreat! #1 The type of Amazing, Enthusiastic people that came to it! #2 The Array of Classes & that it is only getting better! #3 The Great People BEHIND the Retreat! Brian Hanson! #4 It is one of the GREAT retreats FOR BEGINNERS! #5 Small Class Settings allowing everyone time w/ instructor! If you have been on the fence about coming to the Create Photography Retreat, this episode will be the thing that pushes you over the edge! It was a true blast being a part of it and I can't wait for 2020! Join us at the Create Photography Retreat in 2020! https://createphotographyretreat.com/

Today we are joined by Enrico Fossati all the way from Italia! A land I have a true love for and feel myself longing to return all the time! In this episode we are also joined by my father acting as my co-host who also helps me with any Italian translation. We begin the episode hearing Enrico's bucket list locations and to no surprise he ALSO can't wait until he can get out to New Zealand! A bucket list location for seemingly ALL photographers! :D Enrico recommends to us the Val d'Aosta area of the Italian and French Alps for a location that we all add to OUR bucket lists if we are interested in a dynamic, more wild version of the Dolomites in Italy. And he describes many locations in Italy that we all should practice our hand at landscape photography on even though they can be certainly over photographed by all tourists who go there. In the second half of this shorter episode, Enrico shares with us a story of a crazy weather day that he must seek refuge from the thunder and lightning and finds himself in a position to capture his most famous image. A shot inspired by his love of the Lord of the Rings city of Rivendell. Throughout the podcast, Enrico recommends to us two artists that inspire his work: John Howe who did the Conceptual Design for Lord of the Rings. You can see some of his work here. And Albert Bierstadt who is famous for paintings of famous landscapes from the United States. His final recommendation to us, is to know the area and learn the times when the light is best. Not everywhere is "best" to capture around sunrise or sunset so that can't be an automatic thought as a Landscape Photographer. You need to come back often and experience the area. If you are in a location you don't have more than a day or two there come early so you have 6+ hours to experience the area and you might just find that the harsher mid-day light is the best light for that landscape and offers you wondrous opportunities to create a composition you will never forget! Follow Enrico Fossati's work here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enrico.fossati/?hl=it 500PX: https://500px.com/efossati Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enricofossatiphotography/ Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/efossati/

My Milky Way Hero, Royce Bair, joins me on the podcast to share his thoughts on the recent Nightscaper Conference & the changes coming to the 2020 Nightscaper Conference in Kanab, Utah! Join Photog Adventures there in 2020! Go to NIGHTSCAPER.COM and use "ADVENTURE100" to get $100 off! We also spend an hour just talking Milky Way Photography hearing about Royce's recent adventure out to Fantasy Canyon and get tips and tricks on tackling that small space that is uniquely filled with crazy hoodoos but also tormented by nearby light pollution in a way that requires you adjust your low-level lighting and color balance accordingly. Then Royce gives us a 101 level Course on correct low-level lighting techniques and incredible insight on his Post-Processing methods for Milky Way Photography! Join Photog Adventures and Royce Bair at the 2020 Nightscaper Conference in Kanab and use the "ADVENTURE100" Coupon Code at checkout to get $100 off the price! Go to NIGHTSCAPER.COM! Remember to use the Photog Adventures Coupon Code "ADVENTURE100" at checkout!

If you love Landscape Photography and Storytelling you are going to LOVE this podcast with Joshua Cripps! The audio quality from Josh gets better as the podcast goes along as he gets closer to his mic on his end. Less little echo and much louder. Best in segment two starting at 36:26. So after an intro and admittedly a little too much joking around we get into Josh's travels, workshops and all the world traveling he has done. 8:31 We ask him where he would consider his top three favorite Landscape Photography locations. One of them quickly becomes one of our top five bucket list locations! In order of his mentioning them, China, New Zealand's Fiordland National Park area & the High Sierras of California. Follow Kyle Oberman here the instagrammer that is living in China and has some great images of not oft traveled locations in China: https://www.instagram.com/kyleobermann/ 28:30 Then we get the What Would Joshua Cripps Do method of Composing an image where you consider the compositional balance and then you consider the emotion you are feeling. Then you convey that emotion with your shutter choice. Josh gets to an awesome location, gets his camera out and thinks "What am I trying to convey? What is speaking to me? Is there motion in the scene? How Do I feel?" and with all this he gets his portfolio worthy shot. 36:26 In the second segment, Josh shares with us the craziest world travel story I may have ever heard! Let's just say that there are tiny ponies involved in a decision only 20-year-olds would think to do. Oh to be 20-something again! If you want to follow Joshua Cripps' photography go to his website: https://www.joshuacripps.com or at his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuacrippsphotography/ Gear Mentioned by Josh in this episode: Nikon D850: https://goo.gl/BF4K8F Nikkor 70-200mm f4:https://goo.gl/4vSNWP Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8:https://goo.gl/izJnDJ Nikkor 18-35mm f3.5-4.5:https://goo.gl/pyQTGN0

We begin the hangout talking about Matt Payne's podcast F-Stop Collaborate & Listen. If you have never heard of his podcast or have been considering listening to it, this is your chance to hear from the creator yourself what makes his podcast different interesting and why I definitely recommend it as a way to feel like you are hanging out with some of your favorite Landscape Photographers. Listen to F-Stop Collaborate & Listen here:https://www.mattpaynephotography.com/f-stop-collaborate-and-listen As we start getting into the Mountaineering Photography discussion I check whether he made the leap to a smaller camera body mirrorless system and he has as expected from someone paying attention to every pound in his bag. I am able to play the devil's advocate and get some really candid feedback from a guy who switched from Nikon to Sony and what the cons are if any to the Sony mirrorless options out there. Matt's Why he chose Sony article & weight spreadsheet: https://www.mattpaynephotography.com/choosing-sony-full-frame-camera-equipment-for-backpacking-and-weight-calculation-tool It should be noted, Matt doesn't have a Sony A7R3 and so he was not able to comment specifically on that model. Then we hear about Matt's Photography process, how he approaches his compositions as well as some inspiring advice on how we all can benefit from changing our perspective and expectations when going out to do photography so that we can get the most out of the experience. And keep the motivation to keep on keeping on! To round out the podcast, Matt shares with us some mountaineering adventures and words of caution for those of you considering more hiking and mountaineering photography in your future! The awesome Zeiss Loxia 21mm f2.8 lens he was gushing about:https://amzn.to/2ELyyTm Camera Lens Sleeve similar to the one he talked about:https://amzn.to/2GAzHim Freedom of the Hills Book: https://amzn.to/2LtcygA Laowa 15mm F2:https://amzn.to/2LwqXJd Similar Portable Anker PowerCore 20100:https://amzn.to/2BEJvlI Gaia GPS:https://www.gaiagps.com/ Lists of John website with all the mountain peaks of the US:https://listsofjohn.com/ Follow Matt Payne at: https://www.mattpaynephotography.com/ & http://www.100summits.com/

We hang out with Gavin Hardcastle talking his new YouTube channel, his adventure out at Crystal Mill in Colorado, what it means to make the effort to get a good composition and what advice he has for new photographers or new YouTubers! Follow more of Gavin's work at https://www.fototripper.com/

Aaron is joined by Alan Dyer and we get to nerd out about the Comet Wirtanen! This information is from months ago! Enjoy learning from Alan Dyer, but the comet is nowhere to be seen. The next Comet in our night skies will be 2017 T2 (PanSTARRS) which will be here towards the end of 2019. This comet is predicted to possibly reach magnitude 10. 2017 T2 PanSTARRS will be well placed for northern hemisphere observers moving from Auriga in to Perseus. This comet will not reach perihelion until 04 May, 2020. Check out this list for all visible comets right now: http://www.aerith.net/comet/future-n.html Here is Alan's image from last night he tweeted to show what the comet looks like: https://twitter.com/amazingskyguy/status/1069853719930368000 Read up more on capturing Comet Wirtanen from Alan's blog: https://amazingsky.net/2018/11/30/follow-comet-wirtanen/ Alan hails from the North, beyond the Night's Watch of Montana and experiences the challenges of Milky Way Photography when the season brings weeks without full darkness but also has the majesty of amazing aurora! Alan can go out can capture the Milky Way Core in the south and look north and capture amazing Aurora! This aurora has led Alan to doing more and more timelapses so we get into specifics on processing and come away with some great processing program tips! One that I expect to use right away! Alan's Website: http://www.amazingsky.com/index.html Timelapse Programs: https://timelapsedeflicker.com/ http://www.timelapseplus.com/