Outdoor Photographer January/February 2022

Captured In Ice Tips for photographing methane bubbles, one of winter’s most captivating phenomena. By Meghan J. Ward / Photography By Paul Zizka On Landscape William Neill’s column on the fine art of landscape photography explores thoughtful approaches to composition and creativity. 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. http://outdoorphotographer.com/newsletter/…

Last year was a significant one for camera technology, with Canon, Nikon and Sony all introducing new flagship models that set new benchmarks, especially in terms of continuous shooting speeds and autofocus sophistication. These capabilities are especially advantageous for fast action photography like wildlife and sports, so in this issue featuring those topics, we’re excited to bring you a field test of the Canon EOS R3, the company’s newest professional camera. Keith Ladzinski was among a select few photographers granted early access to the camera before its official release. “I put the EOS R3 through an obstacle course of low light, thick branches, busy backgrounds and as many fast subjects as I could find,” Ladzinski says. As you’ll see, he created some spectacular photographs on safari in Botswana with the…

Photographer: Elise Sterck Location: Jedediah Smith Wilderness, Wyoming Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Situation: The infamous “Diving Board” is a cliff that’s been idolized by big-air skiers everywhere since the early days of ski films. The monolithic feature allows a skier to experience nearly 100 feet of airtime if they’re brave enough for the launch. One such skier, Julian Carr, is no stranger to large cliffs. Widely recognized for the biggest airs in skiing, Carr has a resume stacked with incredible feats, including two world records for cliff height. The morning this image was created was carefully planned. There are only a few days during a season where the conditions align for big drops in terrain like this, so timing was everything. After almost a full winter…

Pop Goes The Weasel By Dawn Wilson “I was in my usual area in northern Colorado to photograph greater sage grouse in early spring. The morning had been a success with a fresh snowfall, so I decided to see what other photo opportunities existed nearby. As I drove along a dirt road and photographed Wyoming ground squirrels, I caught a quick movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned around and saw this weasel staring at me from one of the ground squirrel holes. Thankfully, I was already at a low angle, so I didn’t startle the weasel with a sudden movement. The weasel stayed unusually still for a few minutes before darting across the road, ducking into other ground squirrel holes and popping back out at this one.” Sandhill Silhouettes By…

NIKON Z 9 REVEALED Nikon officially unveiled the Z 9, a new full-frame flagship for its mirrorless Z system. The Nikon Z 9 doesn’t disappoint in terms of specs and offers clear advantages for pros and serious photographers over the Z 7II, the company’s previous top performance full-frame model. Built upon a new Nikon-designed and -developed 45.7-megapixel stacked CMOS sensor and a new EXPEED 7 processor, the Nikon Z 9 can capture RAW format images at the full resolution of the camera at up to 20 fps with a buffer of 1,000 frames in a burst. For even faster shooting rates, you can opt for full-resolution JPEGs at up to 30 fps or 11-megapixel JPEGs at a blistering 120 fps with continuous AF/AE. The camera completely omits a mechanical shutter, but…

Black shiny ravens patrol the cliffs, swoop down and scold the approaching intruder—“Caw, caw, caw!” I try to communicate in ravenspeak that I’m here to visit, not to harm, as I descend into the ancient structure. The thick sandstone walls dampen all sound. No screams of ravens inside, just the scuff of my boots on the dirt floor. It’s cool and dim, a stark contrast to the bright desert outside. A low opening leads into a small room with another opening into a smaller room. And then another and another. Like a mouse in a maze, I press forward, not knowing where I’m going. Stepping through a T-shaped doorway, I emerge outside onto an expansive plaza and peer down into a large kiva, a circular ceremonial room. There’s no one here…