Field Notes
Tom Bol is an editorial and commercial photographer based in Colorado. His career started with a degree in journalism and background as an outdoor guide. After school he led multiple Himalayan climbing expeditions, kayaked two months straight in Patagonia and guided wilderness expeditions around the world, always with camera in hand. He specializes in adventure sports, portraits and travel. His editorial assignments have ranged from photographing mountaineering rangers on Alaska’s Mt. McKinley to sea kayaking in Honduras. He is a contributing...
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First impressions of the latest wide angle zoom from Nikon
By Tom Bol | May 10, 2013
Nikon has been busy lately. Almost every month it seems like a new lens is being released. The 800mm F5.6, the 70-200 F4, the 80-400mm F4.5-5.6. Of course, I want them all! Another lens was released recently that didn't get as much fanfare, but may be the...
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This useful plug-in gives you more control than ever of your sharpening.
By Tom Bol | April 25, 2013
Bottom line, if your shot isn't sharp, then nothing else matters...delete, delete, delete. I spend countless hours working on my images after a shoot, and sharpening is one of the most important parts of my workflow. Sharpening takes some time to master since not all...
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A great pack for carrying gear on the run.
By Tom Bol | April 01, 2013
I am always on the lookout for better ways to carry my photo equipment. It seems I am finally buying less camera gear (probably not true!), but searching for more efficient ways to carry it. One day I might be photographing skiers in the high mountains, the next day...
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The Edge 80 allows precise focus control in images.
By Tom Bol | March 05, 2013
I have been using Lensbaby lenses since they first came out. How cool was it to create wild out of focus images using this compact lens? It reminded me of shooting my Holga camera; you never knew exactly what the image was going to look like. But then Lensbaby...
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A unique softbox for speedlights and studio strobes
By Tom Bol | February 21, 2013
I often fill my truck to the ceiling with lighting equipment on an assignment. I hate to limit my lighting options on a photo shoot. I might want my strip bank for this effect, and my big square softbox for this look. I better bring my speedlights for quick and easy...
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Try these tips the next time snow starts falling during your photo shoot.
By Tom Bol | January 24, 2013
I was recently shooting skiers, and as often happens, the weather got nasty. No splitter skies this time, but instead horizontal snow. Sometimes blowing snow can create really interesting images, the trick is just trying to shoot during the snowstorm. I had a lot of...
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A well designed pack that you don't have to take off to get your gear.
By Tom Bol | January 18, 2013
Ski season is in full swing in Colorado right now, and for me that means hittng the slopes with my camera gear. I follow skiers (much better than me!) in steep, rugged terrain trying to capture dramatic cliff drops or huge air off jumps. Since I am normally just trying to...
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This retouching program dramatically reduces time in post production.
By Tom Bol | January 14, 2013
I'm always on the lookout for Photoshop plug-ins that will make my life easier in post production. Plug-ins generally simplify what I am trying to achieve in Photoshop. What might take me 10 layers in Photoshop can be achieved with one click with a plug-in. But...
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Create stunning speedlight shots on the road with a few simple accessories.
By Tom Bol | January 10, 2013
I travel a lot each year on assignments and teaching workshops; a major priority for me is traveling light. A lot of trips I might be traveling alone, so I don't have a fleet of assitants to help carry my gear. With this in mind, I have narrowed down my minimalist...
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Use your iPhone or iPad to control your Elinchrom flash packs.
By Tom Bol | January 07, 2013
I'm a sucker for anything that streamlines my workflow and photo assignments. A simple photo shoot can get complex quickly; one main light on the subject, one accent light on his left side...better add a few lights to illuminate the car in the background. Before I know...
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Check out this book on shooting outdoors.
By Tom Bol | December 16, 2012
Okay, I’ll admit it right up front, the reason I like this book so much is because I wrote it! But since it is the holiday season, this book just might be the perfect gift for the photographer on your list. Adventure Sports Photography; Creating Dramatic Images in Wild Places...
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Transform moving water and oceans into dreamy landscapes.
By Tom Bol | December 13, 2012
Have you ever been on a vacation and visited the perfect photography location, but at the worst time? I always seem to find myself at an amazing river or rocky coastline in the middle of the day with the sun beaming down. This presents a challenge since I like to shoot at slow...
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Using SB900s underwater with the PocketWizard FlexTT5
By Tom Bol | November 21, 2012
I'll admit I can't resist experimenting with light. When I have time between assignments and workshops, I start conjuring up wild new things to do with light. Sometimes it is refining a portrait lighting style, other times it is trying to haul studio packs a hundred feet up a rock face. Along with this experimentation comes success and failure…probably more failure than success! But you never know until you try, and better to try than just thinking about about trying.
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Smaller, lighter battery strobe system
By Tom Bol | November 18, 2012
When the original Elinchrom Quadra came out a few years back, I was very excited. The Quadra was a small 400 watt pack that used Elinchrom's popular Skyport wireless system. If you were a speedlight shooter and looking to step into a flash pack system, this was a great choice.
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Adding gels to your flash and changing white balance creates unique images.
By Tom Bol | May 11, 2011
I like to follow this principle. "The more skills you have, the better your chances for success." I used to use this principle as a climbing instructor when teaching students rope systems. Inevitably on some climb something wouldn't go right, maybe a simple thing like getting a rope stuck. The more rescue and climbing systems you knew, the better your chances of having a solution to fix the problem.The same is true for photographers. Every photographer has a story about a 'photo shoot gone bad.' Strobes don't fire, talent doesn't show up, permits aren't in order. What separates one photographer from another is how they deal with these situations. Clients like photographers who have solutions, not problems. Knowing more technical skills behind the camera also helps. And one of my favorite things to do is add gels to flash to spice things up.
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Use high speed sync to add mood to your shot.
By Tom Bol | April 29, 2011
When most people think of high speed sync, they think fast shutter speeds and freezing the action. True, shooting at 1/8000 with flash is going to freeze the action no matter what the main light source is illuminating the subject. But what about other uses of high speed sync and flash. Until the release of the Pocket Wizard Flex system and Hypersync (see my last post), I was often frustrated shooting in bright sun. I needed an aperture of F16 to get the right exposure at 1/200, my fastest sync speed using my Elinchrom Rangers. What if I wanted to use a wide open aperture like F2.8 to get soft focus and blur out the background? The answer is use high speed sync for selective focus shots in bright, sunny conditions. Maybe high speed sync should be called 'soft focus sync.'
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Achieve sync speeds over 1/2000 using an Elinchrom Ranger and Pocket Wizard Hypersync
By Tom Bol | April 21, 2011
High speed sync is critical for the action sports shooter. If you want to freeze action and use flash, your options are limited. One choice is you could use high speed sync using speedlights and shoot at 1/2000 or faster, but the power output and effective flash range is greatly reduced unless you use multiple speedlights. Another option is using studio strobe packs/heads and underexposing the daylight so that the main light illuminating your subject is the flash. As long as the flash duration is fast, your moving subject should be sharp. But what if you don't want to underexpose the daylight 2-3 stops? Of what if you want to shoot at a wide open aperture like F2.8 on a sunny day and use strobe. Your shutter speed would be much faster than the standard 1/250 most cameras allow as their fastest sync speed. Now everything has changed. Using Pocket Wizard Hypersync technology, shutter sync speeds of 1/2000 and faster are possible using studio flashes.
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The Elinchrom Quadra makes a great travel lighting option.
By Tom Bol | April 11, 2011
I often get asked how I carry my lighting gear on shoots, and what gear I use. This is a big question, with lots of answers. The simplest way to deal with airlines and portability is use speedlights. Today there are more accessories than ever for speedlights, and you can create some incredible images using these handy flashes. Weighing in at a pound with AA batteries installed, speedlights are the ultimate lightweight option you can carry onto the plane with you. But what if you want more power, more lighting modifiers (larger) and quicker recycle times for those portrait sessions? That is where the Elinchrom Quadra does a fantastic job of finding the middle ground between speedlights and large studio strobe packs.
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Use people in your images to add perspective and interest.
By Tom Bol | March 30, 2011
I recently returned from two weeks in Patagonia, one of my favorite shooting destinations anywhere. Each year I go down I try to mix up my coverage from tango dancing, landscapes, wildlife and ice climbing. This year we had some marginal weather at some key locations, but luckily the day we went onto the Viedma Glacier near Chalten the weather was overcast and slightly drizzling. Yes, that's right, I'd rather be shooting on glacier in overcast than bright sun. Why? Because you get less contrast and better color, especially the deep blue ice, when the sun isn't out. We hiked out to a great crevasse to photograph, but shooting the crevasse alone wasn't that compelling. I needed to add something for reference, and that is where a nearby ice climber came in handy.
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Caputure mood and emotion to improve your images.
By Tom Bol | March 17, 2011
I'm in Buenos Aires right now getting ready to head to Patagonia for a week. Buenos Aires is one of my favorite cities; tango dancers in the cobblestone streets, colorful buildings and architecture, fantastic wine and steak (food is important for the travel photographer!). Since this is such a vibrant city, I like to capture what I love about this city, the passion of the people.
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