Five life lessons learned through landscape photography
3 min read

Five life lessons learned through landscape photography

Recently while shooting in Utah, I was thinking about the philosophical side of landscape photography. The influence it has had on my day-to-day life, and the many lessons it imparts if listened to. I typed the following into my phone before the thoughts drifted away:

  • Destinations can and will change
  • Failure equals progress
  • First step is showing up
  • Recognize what can and cannot be controlled
  • Patience

I unpack each of these lessons and the positive influence they've had on me in the video linked below. Check it out:

Special thanks to Skillshare for sponsoring this video! The first 1,000 people to click this link get Skillshare free for 30 days.

New DJI drone — Mavic 3 "Classic"

Mavic 3 Classic (Image: DJI)

One of the main reasons I never upgraded my DJI Air 2S to the Mavic 3 was its price tag: $2,049, or $4,999 (!) for the Cine version (which added ProRes recording and a built-in 1TB SSD). This was over $500 more than the Mavic 2 Pro introduced in 2018, and over $1000 more than the Air 2S — a drone with perfectly acceptable image quality (especially when post-processed using PureRAW and Video Enhance AI).

This week, DJI introduced a new "Classic" version of the Mavic 3 that removes the second telephoto lens (which I doubt most people used anyway) for $1599. The price drops even further to $1,469 if purchased without a controller. This makes the "Classic" the souped-up, single lens Mavic 2 some Mavic users likely wanted in the first place.

But even at this price point, I still think the Air 2S provides fantastic bang for the buck. I've captured loads of images and videos with it, and its image quality is perfectly fine. The drone is also smaller and lighter (including the batteries), which makes a big difference when hiking and carrying a backpack. I'm more tempted to pick up a DJI RC controller, which was recently updated to support the Air 2S.

Upcoming software product reviews

Enhancing image with Topaz Photo AI

I have a full slate of software product reviews coming over the next few weeks, including Photo AI and Video AI from Topaz Labs (with the latter being an update to my review of the first version a year ago), plus DxO PhotoLab 6 and Dehancer for iOS. If there's anything you're curious to know about any of the aforementioned, hit me up!

❤️ Favorite things this week

• Very much enjoyed Making Waves, a 2019 documentary about the role (and importance) of sound in cinema. Especially enjoyed learning how classic sound effects were made before the dawn of the digital age.

• Been obsessed with the album Dreamin' by Chuck Senrick (Spotify). When I first heard it, I swore it was some new indie-lofi-bedroom artist doing their best Nina Simone impersonation with an electric piano and click track. Turns out, Dreamin' was recorded in 1976, with only 200 copies independently pressed for friends and family (Senrick's wife drew the album cover). Wonderfully simple and pure. Title track and "Don't be so Nice" are standouts.

• Pantone now requires a $15 per month subscription to use their color codes in Adobe software (and ostensibly other products). Pantone doesn't really matter in the digital world, but is important in print, apparel and product design. Surprised Adobe and Pantone didn't work out a licensing deal to avoid this headache and extra cost passed on to designers.

• Canon has (already) released a Mark II version of the EOS R6 (the b-cam I use alongside my R5). This update includes a new sensor with more megapixels (24 from 20), full sensor 4K video, faster electronic shutter, 6K ProRes RAW to an Atomos monitor, plus a few body design updates. Surprised to see a Mark II version of this camera before the R5 (which came out earlier). Saving my dough for a high-megapixel R5S (or whatever they call it — crossing fingers).

👋 Thanks for reading! Find me elsewhere on Glass / Vero / Instagram / YouTube.

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