Dr. Paul Hetzel wasn't always a landscape & nature photographer. He retired from a medical oncology practice in Springfield, MA, and found his second calling.

He and I talked about the power of printing one's own photography and how he has found a wonderful group of fellow photographers in the Photo Arts Xchange, an event hosted by Connecticut photographer, Steve Sherman.

Another important point that Dr. Hetzel makes in our chat is the importance of looking in one's own backyard for “travel” photography. In other words, you don't have to travel too far to make great photographs.

What challenges Dr. Hetzel the most as a photographer? What can make or break an image? Listen to the podcast below to find out!

Interview With Nature & Landscape Photograher

Photographers & Events Mentioned

Here are the links to some of the photographers and events mentioned in the podcast:

Sample Of Paul Hetzel's Portfolio

Speaking of landscape photography, years ago, I hosted a guest blog post by Brett Stoddart about being an Urban Landscape photographer. Check that out.

Paul Hetzel's Camera Gear

Nikon D850 [Affiliate Link]

Sony RX10 III [Affiliate Link]

For The Love Of The Photograph

Let me cut to the chase. Buy Chloe Lodge's book, “For The Love Of The Photograph” now. In fact, on February 29th, New Zealand time, you can buy the book and the accompanying journal for $29 each.

If you are still looking for that #1 reason, it's built into the title of the book! It's a strong buy from me because you, like me, absolutely LOVE creating photographs.

Other Reasons You Will Want Chloe Lodge's Book

Now that I have the most urgent matter out of the way, let me give you my perspective on the book called “For The Love Of The Photograph“.

Most photography books are pedantic and pedestrian. Lodge's book, within arm's reach on my desk, is conversational and convenient. As you read along, it's as if a dear friend was sitting next to you to explain everything they know about photography.

It's small form factor makes it supremely convenient to carry around town to a coffee shop. It's crisp printing and colorful photographs make the book very engaging. You turn the page and your are brought to a complete halt at Lodge's own gorgeous photography in and around her farm house in New Zealand.

My Takeaways From The Book

What did I take away from it? Be more present with light, to understand moment and gesture, to embrace color and to play to your heart's content with what and who you have right in front of you.

I assure you will be tickled by her observations and her insight. Having been in this business for about 20 years now, few things surprise me now. But Lodge's words reverberated within me, echoing as if I had said them myself at some point or another. It's a somewhat weird but welcome feeling.

Interview With Chloe Lodge

By now you know the drill. I look forward to speaking with photographers from around the world. It was quite easy to track Chloe Lodge down to see if she might be interested in talking about her book, “For The Love Of The Photograph.” So, give this chat between us a listen –

Buy The Book Today … Buy The Journal, Too

This book will inspire you for years to come. If you treat it as a “recipe book” you might just end up making one heckuva meal. There are 10 chapters in all. You are allowed to skip around if you wish. Come back and read something all over again, if you want. It's totally up to you.

What you will find, I suspect, is over time as your understanding and practice of photography grows, the words in the book will resonate within you even more. That's the beauty of this book. It's not a once-and-done type of book at all. It calls you back again and again, as it fills you up with a little different ingredient as you read it from a new perspective.

Yes, leap into photography with a book that will distinguish your work over time. I urge you to buy the book (no commissions being made here folks) and the journal that now accompanies it. Remember the special time limited flash sale on February 29th (it's New Zealand time and they are way ahead of us).

Esteban Gil is a wedding photographer based in Guilford, Connecticut. He is also a teacher and mentor to scores of wedding photographers through his website, Steel & Flint Society.

The Wedding Photographer's Portfolio

Here are some of Esteban's exquisite wedding photography:

The Interview

Esteban and I spoke several months ago and I have finally got this interview with him ready for you to check out. So, click the graphic below and give this a listen now.

At 12:37, I ask Esteban about his next workshops. Please disregard the dates as these have all long gone past us.

The Steel & Flint Soceity

STEEL + FLINT is an interactive, community-based resource for wedding photographers, with the goal of instilling a sense of “community over competition” among its members.

While Esteban started the Steel & Flint Society, he is joined by Nicole Apuzzo, Roxanne Gil, Mike Musto and Drew Hines when it comes to leading other photographers through in-person workshops.

Want to learn step by step instructions on how to use a Godox AD200 and a Westcott Rapid Box together? There is an online tutorial for it.

It's a learn-by-doing environment. Check out the weekly challenges that you can participate in as well.

But if you are really intent on meeting up with Esteban or any of the other Steel & Flint Society leaders, keep an eye out for their workshops here (just don't be surprised if they are all SOLD OUT, so you do have to jump on the opportunity as soon as it presents itself!)

For Wedding Photographers

If you are a wedding photographer, what would like to learn at a Steel & Flint Society event?

Learning Flash Photography

I recall my first attempts to learn flash photography and I failed miserably. I had one of those speedlights that pointed only in one direction and so my photographs were, let's just say, interesting and not very flattering.

It wasn't until I encountered a Nikon SB900 that I realized that a) the head could swivel and b) it could be placed off of the camera. This was all pretty exciting, but the flash was set on manual and I didn't have any structure to take the first steps into this (for me) new genre of photography.

So, I languished for a while before thankfully being rescued by Zack Arias. His simple, no-nonsense One Light Workshop set me afloat in a new and exciting direction. It's a resource I still recommend beginners.

Light It Up!

If you are going to go in all the way with flash photography, you might as well go all in. That's where the Belgian photographer Piet Van den Eynde comes in.

Piet (pronounced as ‘Pete') just released an updated and expanded second edition of his book, Light It Up! Techniques for Dramatic Off-Camera Flash [aff].

It's a 185-page behemoth of all kinds of great information about flash photography. He doesn't gloss over anything in the 12 chapters of this ebook.

You'll see below why I recommend Piet's book, Light It Up, as a must-have and must-read for photographers learning the new skill off-camera flash photography.

What's In The Ebook

In Piet's own words:

In the first two chapters, I cover some slightly boring yet incredibly important theory about light in general and flash light in particular. With all the hype regarding off-camera flash, you’d almost forget that there was a time when ashes were mainly used on-camera. That's why Chapter 3 is all about “on-camera ash,” where I show you some of the advantages and inconveniences before diving into the heart of this eBook: working with remote flashes.

Chapter 4 covers the basic techniques of working with one one off-camera flash. I start with a simple scenario of one flash and a couple of cheap accessories, such as an umbrella or a small soft box. In Chapter 5, I show you how to quickly set up a Nikon or Canon to wirelessly trigger an external flash. If like me, you’re working with another camera brand, the procedure is comparable. Chapter 6 provides a fail-safe walk-through on how to put the theory into practice.

Chapter 7 outlines some practical case studies, including images that were shot during a one-year bicycle trip where I only had access to limited gear. The photos show that with only one light, your creative options soar. Chapter 8 discusses the more advanced techniques of working with multiple ashes that can be bundled into a more powerful light source to compete with the sun, or set up in different parts of your scene to create a portable on-location studio.

Gear-wise, Chapter 9 continues where Chapter 4 left off with an introduction to some lighting accessories to complement the basic gear set up. Chapter 10 has more cases where I also show you how to work with portable studio flashes on location. This type of flash has become much more affordable in recent years, with the cheapest third-party portable studio flashes often costing less than the high-end brand name hot shoe flashes, all while offering 6 to 10 times more light output. Their higher output allows you to use them in situations where a single speedlight wouldn’t suffice.

Finally, Chapter 11 addresses flash photography and image editing. Like any other photo, flash photos often benefit from corrective or creative post-processing. In this final chapter, I walk you through a couple of examples.

Pretty comprehensive, right?

What You'll Learn In Light It Up!

• How light behaves the way it does and how you can use the physics of light to your advantage

• Why using flash is not always a matter of increasing the quantity of light but rather changing its quality

• Why the brighter the sun shines, the more you’re in need of a flash

• How to save money when shopping for a flash system: the advice in this eBook will save you its purchase price many times over. You really don’t need the most expensive flash or softbox. Most images in the book were made with gear that costs less than half of what the big flash brands charge

• How you can get started with off-camera flash by using the built-in flash of your camera as a commander for an external flash

• Why modifiers are more important than the actual lights you use

• Why you should plan ahead when you start buying into a flash system

• How you can create super rich light on a budget by combining lighting techniques with some basic Photoshop skills

Early Bird Offer + Bonuses!

Piet just let me know that if you buy Light It Up now using this link, you’ll receive a 10% discount (use code: seshu10), on the Standard Edition (ebook only, $24.95) or the Deluxe Edition ($34.95, for the ebok, 3 videos and 5 Lightroom presets).

What Are In The Videos?

Piet explains even more about his flash workflow in the set of three bonus videos totaling 45 minutes. In the first video, ‘For The Birds’ you see him creating an iconic image of an Indian Sadhu on the Ganges, from capture to final edit in Photoshop. In the second video, ‘Layering Lights’, he builds upon the concepts that he explains in the post-processing chapter of the eBook. Finally, in the last bonus video, ‘Creating Light’, he takes you through a number of his images and explains his reasoning and lighting setup.

Buy Light It Up! today.

A Quick Review

My favorite saying and I act on it is this: The learning never stops! And to that end, finding credible teachers who happen to be active photographers is one of my missions, for your sake and mine. I've followed Piet's work for a number of years through and have been impressed with his energy and enthusiasm for traveling in what I would consider challenging parts of the world.

Add flash photography to his travel agenda and you have the makings of a teacher (pardon the pun) going the distance to show you what you are capable of doing with the right information and acquired skills. His ebooks (and I have several of them through Craft & Vision) are thorough, with the right examples, and more importantly, the right explanations. Too often, ebooks are nothing more than portfolio pieces. But Piet's ebooks double as that and as resources you will dive into whenever you have a question about flash photography.

One other thing really attracts me to Piet's work and it's his transition to Fujifilm mirrorless cameras. Like him, I am moving away from my Nikon DSLR's for the day-to-day work of family portraits, business portraits or events. Just yesterday, I photographed at a local dental clinic in Avon, Connecticut, photographing eight employees for their new website. I used Piet's advice from the book to set up my speedlights; one through a softbox and one hair-light modified by a MagMod diffuser.

Light It Up is a resource you will return to again and again in the future. I guarantee it!