by Kevin Shank | Jun 1, 2023 | 2023, 06 June Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Beetles, Focus Illustrated, Insects & Arachnids, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
View the June 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide I took this HDR panorama just after sundown at a field with a beautiful mixture of Indian paintbrushes and Texas Bluebonnets. I used six individual HDRs and Affinity Photo to make this final panorama. This photo illustrates...
by Kevin Shank | Jun 1, 2023 | 2023, 06 June Readers' Issue, Birds, Blackbirds, Orioles, Meadowlarks, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Favorite Focus, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Insects & Arachnids, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
View the June 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Bald Eagle nest. Photo © Melody Burkholder. Scott’s Oriole. Photo © Katherine Hawk. A clouded sulphur butterfly visits a prairie verbena. Photo © Matthew Dzhalovskiy.
by Timothy Waldner | Jun 1, 2023 | 2023, 06 June Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
View the June 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Photo © Timothy Waldner. My sister is so sweet! She gave me a flower—one flower—but she had a special reason. In the summer, when I see a beautiful photo, that just makes me go and take photos myself. I probably can be...
by Kevin Shank | Apr 3, 2023 | 2023, 04 April, Birds, Crows, Jays, & Magpies, Focus Illustrated, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
View the April 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide
by John Friesen | Apr 3, 2023 | 2023, 04 April, Articles & Stories, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
View the April 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Palouse Falls in Washington. Photo © John Friesen. There are a variety of aspect ratios used to display photographs and paintings. Some aspect ratios are fairly standard, like 1:1, 5:4, or 4:3. To understand aspect ratios,...
by Anna Boggs, Rural Retreat, VA | Mar 1, 2023 | 2023, 03 March, Articles & Stories, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
Photographing Water Splashes with Minimal Equipment View the March 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Water droplets. Photo © Anna Boggs. Utterly bored, I stared out at the blinding snow until my eyes began to ache. What was I going to do with myself? At sixteen and a...
by Kevin Shank | Mar 1, 2023 | 2023, 03 March, Answer Key, Astronomy, Birds, Chickadees & Titmice, Favorite Focus, Gamebirds, Nebulas, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
View the March 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide
by Kevin Shank | Feb 1, 2023 | 2023, 02 February, Articles & Stories, Birds, Finches, Crossbills, & Grosbeaks, Sparrows, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Warblers
View the February 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide MacGillivray’s Warbler. Photo © Kevin Shank. You may remember “The Photo Focus” in January ended with the sentence, “Plus, there is tomorrow.” Well, that was today. When I wrote that, I just thought it was the...
by Kevin Shank | Jan 1, 2023 | 2023, 01 January, Birds, Focus Illustrated, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Woodpeckers
View the January Nature Friend Study Guide
by Kevin Shank | Jan 1, 2023 | 2023, 01 January, Articles & Stories, Birds, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Warblers
View the January Nature Friend Study Guide This is the result from my first effort. The camera was handheld. Photo © Kevin Shank. “The bird must be here,” I stated to the family as we approached the parking lot of Lake Shenandoah. Birders with cameras and binoculars...
by Kevin Shank | Dec 1, 2022 | 2022, 12 December, Birds, Cardinals, Tanagers, & Allies, Focus Illustrated, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
View the December Nature Friend Study Guide
by Austin Vinar | Dec 1, 2022 | 2022, 12 December, Articles & Stories, Birds, Finches, Crossbills, & Grosbeaks, Nuthatches, Sparrows, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Woodpeckers
View the December Nature Friend Study Guide Chipping Sparrow. Photo © Austin Vinar. When trying to photograph skittish birds at my feeder, I’ve often thought, Wouldn’t it be nice to have a trail camera that takes good bird photos…. But, knowing that a camera like that...
by Morris Yoder | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Planets, Study Guide, Sun, The Photo Focus
View the November 2022 Nature Friend Study Guide
by Kevin Shank | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Answer Key, Astronomy, Focus Illustrated, Study Guide, Sun, The Photo Focus
View the November 2022 Nature Friend Study Guide
by Kevin Shank | Oct 1, 2022 | 2022, 10 October Bonus Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Birds, Owls, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
Box? Did you say box? The large owl was sitting on a branch, silhouetted against a gorgeous sunset of orange and reds. The branch he was on, the trunk he was beside, were flawless—splendid props for this photo that was only etched in my imagination.How can a person...
by Kevin Shank | Oct 1, 2022 | 2022, 10 October Bonus Readers' Issue, Birds, Falcons & Caracaras, Focus Illustrated, Mammals, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Vireos, Waxwings
by Kevin Shank | Sep 29, 2022 | 2022, 10 October Bonus Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Birds, Favorite Focus, Nuthatches, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes
by Steven Smith | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Insects & Arachnids, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
Meadow fritillaries and Queen Anne’s lace. Photo © Steven Russell Smith. If you are like me, butterflies were the inspiration and springboard for your pursuit of serious photography. Through the years, we have all captured some amazing portraits of these...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Birds, Favorite Focus, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Insects & Arachnids, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
by Kevin Shank | Jul 1, 2022 | 2022, 07 July, Articles & Stories, Birds, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes
Floating waterfowl blind. Photo © Dogwood Ridge. Oh no, I thought, I didn’t put the flippers on my boots. I will have to wade back to the shore.After some awkward minutes trying to figure out flippers—how to secure them to wading boots, walk with them, and maneuver...
by Kevin Shank | Jul 1, 2022 | 2022, 07 July, Focus Illustrated, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
by Nathan Leinbach | Jun 6, 2022 | 2022, 06 June Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Birds, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes
Waterfowl blind. Photo © Nathan Leinbach. One brisk morning at dawn, I drove toward the spot where I like to float my floating blind in the creek. I slipped on my waders and set my “ship” afloat.My “ship” is made of two pieces of 3”-thick foam board with a metal frame...
by Kevin Shank | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Freshwater, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Water Life
Predaceous diving beetle with rotifer. Photo © Kevin Shank.
by Kevin Shank | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Focus Illustrated, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
by Kevin Shank | Feb 9, 2022 | 2022, 02 February, Birds, Favorite Focus, Sparrows, Study Guide, The Photo Focus, Thrushes
by Shaphan Shank | Dec 20, 2021 | 2021, 12 December, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Galaxies, Nebulas, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
by Mike Atnip | Oct 22, 2021 | 2021, 10 October Bonus Reader's Issue, Articles & Stories, Study Guide, The Photo Focus
I have a simple tool in my camera bag that can be used to increase color saturation, reduce blowouts, cut through reflections and haze, and make blue skies richer. It is quite economical to own, yet so often overlooked when in the field photographing. It is a...
