Outdoor Photographer December 2022

Photographer: Alex Noriega Location: Mount Rainier National Park Equipment: Nikon D600, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm F2.8G ED Situation: This photograph was made with a friend of mine on my first overnight backpack in winter conditions. The day before, we had made the snowshoe trek up to a vantage point on the shoulder of Mount Rainier. I ended up making one of my all-time favorite images along the way, which you will find in my article in this issue. An overnight snowstorm was forecasted to be clearing in the morning, and we figured there was a good chance this would result in light breaking under the clouds from the east. While snowshoeing enables access to some amazing locations in winter, it is, by my scientific calculations, really hard compared to hiking on dry ground—especially uphill. At…

Backcountry Ski Photography Gear, technique and creative advice for photographing ski action in wilderness settings. By Liam Doran Wild By Nature Melissa Groo’s recurring column on wildlife photography considers all of the elements for success, from equipment to techniques and good field ethics. Assignments Share your best shots in our weekly “Assignments” photo challenges. Submit images that fit the week’s theme—you may be our next Assignment winner. Tip Of The Week Available on our website—or delivered directly to your inbox—our “Tip of the Week” provides shooting and processing techniques to sharpen your photography skills. Sign up today. Connect With Us Get the latest news and be inspired by great photos from the Outdoor Photographer community. Newsletter Subscribe today for updates on the latest features, how-to articles and photography news. outdoorphotographer.com/newsletter…

Our lead feature in this issue showcases Frans Lanting’s latest project, Bay of Life, which celebrates the success of efforts to restore California’s Monterey Bay and its surroundings, where Lanting lives. The centerpiece of the project is a book of his beautiful images that reveal the unique biodiversity of the region. The book will be supported by a series of public presentations and a traveling exhibition produced by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. Lanting views this project not as a culmination of conservation efforts but as a positive record of the progress made—and an inspiration to continue the work. “It’s not like, ‘OK, we’ve healed Monterey Bay, and now we’re done,’” Lanting says. “There’s a lot more we need to do, but we have a lot of…

Frans Lanting has been hailed as one of the great photographers of our time. His influential work appears in books, magazines and exhibitions around the world. Lanting’s mission is to use photography to help further conservation efforts. See more of his work at lanting.com. Nature photographer and photography educator Alex Noriega has been photographing the American West for 12 years, the last three of which were spent living full time in a travel trailer in and around our national parks. See more of his work at alexnoriega.com. Chuck Kimmerle is a photojournalist turned fine art landscape photographer who has been exploring reticent, quiet and underappreciated landscapes for more than 20 years. He works exclusively in black and white. See more of his work at chuckkimmerle.com.…

Grand Prize Weathering The Storm By Chuck Robinson “Just off the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, there are these old gnarly trees overlooking Saint Mary Lake. With the winds blowing about 50 mph, I put on a 6-stop ND filter to capture the fast-moving clouds as streaks across the sky. It was so windy that I had to set my camera up just a foot off the ground to minimize camera shake. As I was waiting for the sun to set, I got a couple of breaks in the clouds allowing the sun streaks to add some drama to the scene.” Second Prize Illuminated By Dave Drost “This awe-inspiring image was taken as the Milky Way rose over a lone pine tree and the surrounding white sandstone, with its reflection in a small pool of water…

After new flagship full-frame camera releases in 2021 from Canon, Nikon and Sony, this year was quieter on the full-frame mirrorless front, but there were some exciting introductions of smaller-sensor cameras. Full-frame models tend to draw the most attention, but there are advantages of APS-C and Micro Four Thirds sensors in terms of focal length magnification for wildlife and sports photography. CAMERAS CAMERA OF THE YEAR FUJIFILM X-H2S Fujifilm introduced two new flagships in its APS-C sensor X Series mirrorless lineup this year, the X-H2 and X-H2S. For landscape photographers, the X-H2 is potentially the more appealing, with its 40.2-megapixel sensor and Pixel Shift Multi-Shot capability that can produce image files of 160 megapixels. Our pick for Camera of the Year, however, goes to the Fujifilm X-H2S because of its versatility for both landscape…