Brett Simison Photography

Image of the Week: The North Window from Turret Arch

Brett Simison — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:47:05 -0800

See them while they last.

On August 4th, 2008, a big piece of rock in Arches National Park demonstrated the cumulative effects of gravity, water, wind, and time. Wall Arch, one of the most accessible and well-known natural arch formations in the park, collapsed unseen and unheard.

Image of the Week: Jeff

Brett Simison — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:02:40 -0800

Spend a little extra time on easy shoots to build your portfolio.

This week's image was the result of tacking a little extra time onto a headshot session. These shoots are a walk-in-the-park for photographers, but the usual imagery isn't fantastic portfolio material.

Image of the Week: Hostas II, Middlebury, Vermont

Brett Simison — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:15:35 -0800

Be there.

There's an old photographic adage that goes something like "ƒ/8 and be there." In short: technical considerations are secondary; capturing the moment is all that matters, and you can't capture it if you're not out shooting.

Image of the Week: Hikers in Coyote Gulch I, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah

Brett Simison — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:02:35 -0800

How ready are you?

Honestly, if you turn a corner and suddenly find yourself staring at three elephants standing on their heads in beautiful light, are you prepared to photograph the scene? Is your camera accessible, or is it buried deep in your backpack? Do you even know where it is?

Image of the Week: Ocotillo Shadow, Abandoned Cabin

Brett Simison — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:07:33 -0800

Do a little Photoshop in-camera.

Adobe Photoshop's "Lens Distortion" filter makes it very easy to correct common distortion and perspective effects caused by extreme wide-angle lenses or acute camera-to-subject angles. One of the most common corrections a photographer may perform is to counter the "keystone" effect that occurs when one places the camera low and shoots up at an oblique angle to the subject, causing vertical lines to converge in the top of the photo. Most of the time, this effect goes unnoticed. But when you shoot subjects that have obvious vertical lines that show profound keystoning, it's time to take action.

Image of the Week: Moonlit Palms, Anza-Borrego State Park, California

Brett Simison — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:59:50 -0800

Today's digital cameras have come a long way.

I love photographing the night sky; so much so that for the past few years, as I've made the transition from film to digital, I've kept an all-manual, 35mm or medium format camera in my bag capable of the long exposure times necessary to capture the low light levels of the starry sky, or moonlit landscape. The mechanical shutters require no batteries to operate and can be held open for hours and hours.

Green Coffee

Brett Simison — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:21:27 -0800

Or, "Traveling Fast and Light in Central America: Four Days, Two Countries, and One Camera Bag."

Read on to learn about my recent assignment in Mexico and Guatemala, and to view a gallery of selected images.

Image of the Week: Park Avenue

Brett Simison — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:33:10 -0800

Don't throw it away.

I'm an incorrigible packrat. I collect cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, and styrofoam peanuts to re-use for shipping. I've got dozens of old 35mm film canisters that I use to sort screws, nails, and other minute tool items. I've got more camera bags than cameras, much to my wife's disdain, and have no plans to reduce their burgeoning numbers. If anything, I might buy more.

Most importantly, I never throw away old film or delete digital image files unless I'm 100% confident they're a complete loss.

Image of the Week: Ashton and Whitney

Brett Simison — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 08:56:04 -0800

If photographing adults is difficult, then shooting kids is nearly impossible.

Image of the Week: Steven

Brett Simison — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:40:48 -0800

Window light: it works every time

Why use natural window light? Because it looks good, and I'm lazy. I could spend a lot of time setting up strobes, softboxes, scrims, and reflectors trying to replicate natural window light. But why go to all of that trouble when I can simply put the subject near a window and fire away?

Image of the Week: Halladay Road III

Brett Simison — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:35:58 -0800

I used to keep a mental checklist of interesting locations I'd come across while driving. I had to abandon it in favor of a physical notebook once the mental one grew too large and locations started falling through the cracks. These bookmarked locations are places that possess dynamic interplays of line and form, but simply lacked the dramatic light I wanted to make the scene come alive. The notebook helps me to remember to return to these places when the light is right.

This scene, however, didn't need a notebook entry.

Image of the Week: Fall Colors, Middlebury College

Brett Simison — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:24:53 -0800

This is one of those images that shouldn't have happened.

One day, during the last gasp of vibrant fall color in Vermont, I was strolling around Middlebury College looking for some general campus scenics. I had just shot a few sheets at the main library, but I was dissatisfied with the light. It was late in the day, but not late enough to create that magic glow that accompanies sunset and twilight. So, I packed up my gear and resigned to hunker down in the local coffee shop and work on my email backlog until the light improved.

That's when I saw this striking combination of complementary colors.

IOTW: Maple Tree, Middlebury, Vermont

Brett Simison — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 04:10:10 -0800

I spend a lot of time thinking about ways to make my photographs say something different, something new. In the competitive world of photography, you have to make your pictures stand apart from others to get noticed, or you won't get the jobs. The catch is that many sacrifice the design of their image -- the layout, the graphic line, the form, the beauty -- on the altar of "pushing the envelope" or challenging the viewer's expectations.

But sometimes, you just have to work the cliche.

Image of the Week: Jesse Hamner at Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone NP

Brett Simison — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 06:45:11 -0800

Don't let bad weather keep you indoors.

After five days of hiking the Bechler River Valley in southwestern Yellowstone with two of my backpacking buddies, I found myself sipping a cold beer and listening to live piano music at the Yellowstone Lodge near Old Faithful. A thunderstorm raged outside, and the lodge was a welcome shelter for us to wait out the deluge.

Image of the Week: Aon Center from Millenium Park, Chicago

Brett Simison — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:30:03 -0800

Do you always carry your camera? I mean, every time you go out the front door, do you have some sort of camera rig with you? DSLR? Point-and-Shoot? Holga? 120 Folder? 35mm? Anything?

Yeah, me neither.

Image of the Week: Mountain Biking I

Brett Simison — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 03:54:02 -0800

What do you do when you can't plunk down a tripod before your subject to get the shot? Use a little magic.

Image of the Week: Boulders II

Brett Simison — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:54:02 -0800

It's all about perspective.

You're out hiking, you come around a bend, and all of sudden you see a marvelous confluence of light, texture, and form before you. You quickly whip out your digital camera, slap it on a tripod, and hastily crank out several frames of the scene, knowing that the light can't possibly last much longer. Satisfied with your capture, you stow your gear and continue down the trail, ready for the next found image.

Or do you?

Image of the Week: Hosta Leaves

Brett Simison — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:42:00 -0800

The best stuff is right under our noses...but we don't always notice it. You get used to your house, your yard, your driveway, your town and you no longer see those things graphically. Read on for more about shooting close to home.

Image of the Week: Joe

Brett Simison — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:29:20 -0800

Take your time. Be flexible. Keep it simple.

That really sums up this week's image. It's a portrait of Joe, a student in the Russian Language School at Middlebury College, Vermont.

Image of the Week: The Pour

Brett Simison — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:24:57 -0800

This week's image is more about the technique than the subject. Read on to learn more about "The Pour".

Image of the Week: Skylar

Brett Simison — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 13:49:56 -0800

This week's image is of Skylar, and was made using a toy camera. Read on to learn more about how I made this image.

Virginia Equestrian

Brett Simison — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:47:29 -0800

This was a small project I shot while living in Charlottesville, Virginia, where the Equestrian is still a very popular sporting event. Captions are coming soon, so stay tuned.