The main reason I bought the Nikon Z6 over the Z7 was to have the extra stop for higher ISO and lower noise at higher ISO.

On Christmas Eve, I photographed our church’s service. I was shooting at ISO 51200 at times.

The Nikon Z6 has “Single-AF” as well as “Point-AF,” and this week, I discovered it is best not to use the “Point-AF” when trying to lock on people.

While shooting in the studio, I quickly got 20% out-of-focus photos using the “Point-AF.” By switching the “Single-AF,” I improved the number of in-focus images.

I prefer the “Single-AF” over the group setting for accurate focusing.

For every camera I have owned, there is a learning curve. You need to learn all the menu settings and find what works best for your way of shooting.

Hopefully, these photos will give you a peek at my learning of the Nikon Z6.

When shooting wide open aperture and getting as close as a lens will let you get to the subject, you will get the shallowest depth-of-field possible with that lens.

Look at the photo above shot at ƒ/4, which is the same photo zoomed in closer.

Now the only way to see what I am talking about is to shoot the same photo with different apertures.

Now here is a closeup of that ƒ/16 photo.

Now I shot this at a variety of apertures. Here it is at ƒ/8.

Here is a closeup of that photo.

I have discovered with all my lenses that the depth-of-field at the widest aperture and focusing as close as the lens can produce what looks to be an out-of-focus photo, but what is happening is the depth-of-field is so shallow that it looks soft.

When getting this close to a subject, I recommend starting with an aperture of ƒ/11.

Here I shot this at ƒ/11. I also changed my ISO from 100 to Auto ISO, which gave me ISO 51200 because I have the shutter speed set to 1/100. As you might notice, the shutter dropped to 1/50. That is because I had capped at ISO 51200.

Here is a closeup of that photo, in which you will notice some noise.

When it comes to still-life photos like the ones here, there is no reason not to experiment. Shoot on a tripod, as I have done here, at different apertures. Shoot at ISO 100, ƒ/16, and for 20 seconds. Then shoot as many apertures as you can to the widest aperture. 

When you have the photos on your computer, zoom in and find the picture that works the best to make your object appear sharp and in focus, as well as the soft BOKEH. 

Hopefully, you also see that there is such a thing as TOO MUCH BOKEH.

Sarah Clements, one of my daughter’s good friends from the church youth choir, asked me to help her with some headshots. She is a soprano majoring in voice.

She is in her junior year of college and getting closer to graduation. She is thinking of now having to promote herself for jobs. Headshots are needed since casting often involves getting someone to look the part.

We took a lot of photos together. I enjoyed using my new Nikon Z6 camera and the Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G lens, which produces incredible quality.

The photo above is a closeup showing just the eye of the previous image. The detail is beyond remarkable.

I always want to get the best possible photos during a photo shoot. 

I started with almost 300 images, and after editing for slightly missing the focus due to such a shallow depth-of-field and occasional blinks, I could give her over 200+ images.

What I love about photographing artists is they understand nuance. As a professional musician, Sarah has to know more than the mechanics of music theory. She knows the difference between being slightly out of tune and in tune—between each note blending properly in a choral group.

We can work on tweaking facial expressions and lighting to achieve the perfect combination that captures the person’s personality in the best possible light.

I love the finished images I am getting with the Nikon Z6. 

By the way, today, everyone needs a headshot. Do you have one?

This is just a quick comparison shooting some ornaments on my tree. First, this is using my Sigma 35mm F1.4 ART DG HSM on the Nikon Z6 using the FTZ Mount Adapter.

With the Fuji, I am using the kit lens XF 18-55mm ƒ/2.8-4. It is close to the same format I shot compared to the 35mm. 

Here I am shooting with a telephoto range using the Nikon 85mm.

Here I cropped into about 100% 

Overall I think the Nikon Z6 focused faster. I was using the point to focus. I did the same thing with the Fuji X-E3, but there is a little back and forth with the Fuji.

In my opinion, the larger sensor gave a cleaner file and less noise than the Nikon Z6.

I noticed that the Fuji kit lens compares nicely to the two sharpest lenses I own for the Nikons.

When it comes to travel I still would prefer to carry the smaller Fuji. I think I give up a little performance to pick it, but less weight.

When it comes to performance, I believe the Nikon wins.

While majoring in social work in college, I discovered photography’s power. Specifically, I realized that photojournalism did the best job I could find in educating people about the world around them.

Before graduating with my degree in social work, I had to do an internship in the field. I found an internship working at the mental health center in Kinston, NC.

When counseling a person, I would “peel the onion,” as we would say to move from the symptoms to the cause of a problem in a person’s life. When someone is suffering, it takes them longer to see the root cause of their pain.

While in college, I was also taking photos for the school newspaper. I saw how a photograph helped “peel the onion” for a community. Mirroring is a therapeutic technique where you repeat back to a client, usually in your own words but sometimes word for word, the idea that has just been expressed. It can be as simple as the Client: “I felt hurt and confused.”

I discovered that a photograph was even more potent than the mirroring technique.

I finished grading the students in Introduction to Photojournalism at Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

More than half of the two classes I taught had never owned a camera other than the one on their phone. I was teaching them the mechanics of photography and how to tell stories as a photojournalist.

I discovered that the one skill they needed more than how to use their camera was how to “peel the onion” of the subject.

The photojournalists that consistently tell potent stories are the ones who spend more time getting to know their subjects.

I will love to help you if you don’t know how to “peel the onion” of a story. In January, I am going to Lima, Peru, with a few other instructors who have the same calling to help ten workshop participants to become storytellers using their cameras.

Each person will work with a person to tell their story. While working on the story, they will have one-on-one time with the instructors to coach them daily through the process. By the end of a week, they will show the community a short 3 to 5-minute video with the subject telling their own story.

I will do this again in March in Trinidad, and then this coming summer, we will bring the team together again and go to Bucharest, Romania. Maybe you want to join us.

Go here to sign up for our trip.  You can also contact me for one-on-one classes, or we can organize a workshop for your organization.

Today our country buried former President George H. W. Bush. In attendance were all the current living former presidents, including Jimmy Carter.

I had an appointment with President Jimmy Carter today. Dorie, my wife, had signed us up to be at the Conversations at The Carter Center: Humanizing Religion and Human Rights, where President Jimmy Carter was the host and on the panel.

If you want to watch the presentation, here is that video link.

It was pretty refreshing to hear from the three Abrahamic Faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, about how the individual faiths address Human Rights.

For those reading this for photography comments on the Nikon Z6, I want to talk about two things I tested the camera on. First, I tried to shoot on Silent Mode, an electronic shutter but got banding.

I also shot just a couple of shots at pretty high ISOs.

This photo is shot at ISO 32000 and cropped a bit as well. I was impressed with the high ISO with the new Nikon Z6.

While I enjoyed testing the camera, I kept pinching myself. I have had many opportunities through the years to be in the presence of President Jimmy Carter. No matter which president in history, it would still be rare for most of us to have so many opportunities unless you are friends/family or work for their administration.

Atlanta is blessed to have The Carter Center in our backyard. We plan to return to Plains, GA, to hear President Jimmy Carter teach Sunday School again.

I admire all he has done with The Carter Center. I also enjoy his Sunday School class.

What a privilege it is to listen to him.

This past week I picked up the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera. In s few days, I could put it through some assignments.

The first assignment I did with the camera was a headshot. I was thrilled with the performance of the camera with the headshot. The 85mm ƒ/1.8 never looked this sharp before to me.

Before I did this first assignment, I ran tests, and the first thing I realized was the files would not open in PhotoShop or Lightroom. The camera is so new that the RAW files are not readable.

The BETA-Version Adobe RAW converter is available on:

• Mac: http://www.adobe.com/go/dng_converter_mac/
• Windows: http://www.adobe.com/go/dng_converter_win/

The second assignment was shooting the SEC Fanzone event at the Championship game between Alabama and Georgia.

I enjoyed using all my Nikon F-mount lenses and seeing what you will get before you press the shutter. I wanted the incredible sharpness due to no more anti-aliasing over the sensor.

I shot over a thousand images at the Fanfest with the Nikon Z6. I got a lot of great shots and was please with the performance of the camera.

I had to use an on-camera flash to get this photo of Hines Ward with a young fan. The image of Ward behind them was super bright jumbotron, and the only way to get them from not being silhouetted was with a flash. The Godox V860iiN worked just incredible with the camera.

After all day shooting, I charged up my batteries for the camera and me. By the way, I used three batteries all day shooting with the Nikon Z6.

Then Sunday, I shot another 1000+ images at a church covering all types of settings. Once again, the Nikon Z6 performed flawlessly.

The camera, without putting it into silent mode, was already quiet compared to my Nikon D5, which I was also shooting.

I think the files look much better than my other Nikon D5 files. I think the new CMOS sensor with the new Expeed 6 processor gives much sharper images out of the camera.

It is fantastic to see what you will get before you click the shutter in those tricky lighting situations with mixed lighting.

I think the Z6 performed well and compared very similarly to the Nikon D750 I used to own. I think the Nikon D5 is the camera for sports and outperforms the Nikon Z6 in responsiveness. Well, it ought to be better at a ticket price of $6,500.

The best part of the Nikon Z6 for me is to have all the things I love about mirrorless but can now use all my Nikon glass.

The order of worship in churches is based on the only whole worship service we have recorded in scripture, Isaiah 6:1-8.

When we start the service, the first thing that happens is acknowledging we have come into the presence of God. This is similar to how you create a story and introduce characters.

When we meet God at this moment, it will cause us to be reminded of our sin, which is similar to a story needing crisis/tension. This is where in worship, we acknowledge there is nothing we can do and only God’s grace can save us. But first, we must confess.

This dialogue continues between man and God in worship, where God is asking who will go after we confess and God has forgiven us. This is like in the storyline where the mentor is outlining to the main character what they need to do to overcome their crisis.

Often this is where the homily/sermon gives us more insights into how to live our lives. This is the direction given to all main subjects in a story that they go and then live out those instructions.

Here is the scripture that Christians and Jews use to create their order of worship.

Isaiah 6:1-8 

REVELATION– verse 1: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

ADORATION– verse 3: “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'”

CONFESSION– verse 5: “Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.'”

EXPIATION– verse 6-7: “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.'”

PROCLAMATION– verse 8a: “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'”

DEDICATION– verse 8b: “Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.'”

SUPPLICATION– verse 11: “Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?'”

COMMISSION– verse 9: “And he said, ‘Go, and say to this people…'”

If you look at this order and then compare it to the Narrative Storyline, you will see they have a lot in common.

PLOT – a series of incidents that are related to one another; what happens in a story includes five stages (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution)

EXPOSITION – usually in the beginning of a story, where the characters, setting, and conflict (problem) are introduced

RISING ACTION – the part of the story where the conflict(s) develop, in which the suspense and interest builds

CLIMAX – the turning point or most exciting moment of a story, in which the main character comes face to face with the central conflict, and a change happens

FALLING ACTION – all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, the conflict and climax are taken care of in this part of the story, and the suspense is eased

RESOLUTION – where the story comes to a reasonable ending and the outcome is resolved

Here is how I see these lining up

Worship Service	Narrative Story
Revelation	Exposition
Adoration
Confession	Tension/Struggle
Expiation	Climax
Proclamation	Falling Action
Dedication
Supplication
Commission	Resolution

All the stories in scripture have flawed characters who either turn to God for help and are obedient to those directions or refuse to be respectful. Many of those stories involve a series of times where well-intentioned characters continue to return to God and ask for forgiveness for not being obedient.

I believe this format is used in worship because it forces us to process our faith in story form. It reminds us that, like all characters in a story, we live in a crisis that we cannot solve alone. We need help. In the stories of Hollywood, you need THE FORCE in the Star Wars movies to take on your enemies. You go to someone like Yoda to be trained.

In the Disney stories like Cinderella, she needed a Fairy God Mother to help her.

Stories move us because we can relate. While the problems are different, they are problems that the main character, like us, cannot solve alone.

The other cool thing about worship services relating to storytelling is that they have a soundtrack. The music in worship services helps to set the tone for stories to be told, and as we resonate with those stories, we are reminded of the story we are living.

Thanksgiving is a time for many people to stuff themselves with food.

I am reminded of the many meals I have shared with people worldwide.

Our family traditionally cooks a turkey.

We get together around food a lot throughout our lives.

My family loves to get together for food.

I am reminded today also how some people around the world cook their food and how little they have to eat.

I stopped with David and Tammy Woods, where we bought some goat and lamb to eat while I covered them in Burkina Faso in West Africa.

After making me some coffee, the boy cooked some eggs for me to eat.

For the past few years, I have enjoyed traveling with Jeff Raymond, Pat Davison, and James Dockery, where we have tasted the food in many different countries together.

I don’t always remember what the food was called, but I did enjoy it.

One thing Dorie, my wife, and I love to eat is Shrimp and Grits. We have had wide varieties in Charleston, SC.

In Lisbon, Portugal, we waited a couple of hours to eat at this restaurant where they serve the meat on a hot stone that you then cook your meat.

I wish you a pleased and blessed Thanksgiving! Wishing you the gift of faith and the blessing of hope this thanksgiving day! We gather on this day to be thankful for what we have, the family we love, the friends we cherish, and the blessings that will come. Happy Thanksgiving!

I didn’t travel to Indonesia for these photos of the Umbrella Cockatoo where they originated. I walked down the street to my neighbor’s house.

Peggy Hewitt, my neighbor, has 14 exotic birds she has rescued and is trying to find bird lovers to buy them from her.

Someone wanting to adopt a parrot must know they live a very long time as far as pets. The umbrella cockatoo is a long-term commitment for an owner — this species can live up to 70 years with proper care and attention.

Often photographers think that they must go somewhere exotic to find the unknown.

Well, my mentor Don Rutledge always said that the best stories are often in your backyard, or in my case, next door.

I have lived at my house for the past nine years, and this is the very first time I have been to Peggy’s house and seen her birds.

When we first moved to our home, my daughter, Chelle, talked to her and saw all her birds.

When teaching photography one-on-one to a student at my house, I was trying to create some things we could photograph around the neighborhood. We ran into her and asked when we were out photographing the fall colors.

I think the one thing that keeps most photographers from ever getting better is the fear of talking to people.

It is much easier to walk outside and look for nature shots than to walk next door and say hello to your neighbor.

While nature photos can be stunning, I don’t think any pictures from my yard were as exciting to look at until I talked to my neighbor. By taking the time to get to know my neighbor, I discovered something much more exotic than I would expect to find when I travel the world, but it was just next door.

Have you met your neighbors and found out what their hobbies are or what they do for work? Maybe your best pictures have been in your neighborhood all this time, and you were too scared to talk to people to find out.

We have been fighting the wrong fight for copyright registration. That is my opinion.

For most of my career, we have told everyone that you own your copyright when you click your shutter. If you are on a company’s payroll, they hold that photo unless there is some written agreement giving you the copyright.

We know that is where the work-for-hire agreement came from when dealing with usage rights and copyright.

While the ownership of the copyright hasn’t been up for debate other than who owns it based on who is paying for the creation, the issue has been about the courts.

I was informed that you needed to register your copyright with the copyright office to be able to collect legal fees. Those are all the fees you can award if you win a case. The judge reviews all the legal fees and makes a separate ruling on how much the other side must pay for you taking this to court.

I learned early on that the going rate for copyright infringement cases was about $100,000 and took at least a year or more in the courts.

For the past 30 years, ASMP and NPPA that I am a member, have spent lots of money lobbying Congress to protect that registration process.

I believe there is a better solution today. Do away with copyright registration. Get congress to change the law that you can collect legal fees if you can show copyright infringement.

As far as proving your images are yours, there is Blockchain technology already on the market.

The idea of a blockchain — protecting data through an extensive network of computers — and applies the concept to managing photo rights. It is an “encrypted digital ledger of rights ownership for photographers.” Photographers can add new images as well as archive images to the system. Because of the blockchain structure, the data is stored on an extensive network of computers that helps create a public ledger, adds a layer of protection, and prevents data loss.

There are centralized and decentralized solutions right now available for Blockchain.

The point I make is that the current registration of your images with the copyright office is outdated. With blockchain, these servers can also police the web and find anyone using your images without rights.

Because Blockchain works so well with digital photographs, it will let you sell and track any usage of your images and keeps them from being used illegally since it codes pictures and makes them no longer easily copied and shared.

Blockchain can help us not just prove we shot an image. It serves as an agency and collector.

We need to change the copyright laws and not continue to use a system that is outdated and not serving the artist community well at all.

I have talked about shooting enough photos of a subject to allow our imagination and creativity to kick in.  Now that we are all doing just that (making plenty of pictures every time we approach a subject), we can see how even a millimeter’s change in angle can make the difference between a good and a great photograph.  Or, for that matter, it doesn’t take much to make the difference between a good shot and a crummy one.

If we print all the digital images from a shoot as large thumbnails, we’ll have several pages of images we can study side-by-side.  This should give us some insight about our work that is looking at our photos one at a time will never give us.

Editing software like PhotoShop allows us to rate photos from zero to five stars.  Here are some guides to use as we look to see if we have any FIVE STAR photos in that shoot.

Exposure.  Not just the technically correct one, but the proper exposure for the effect we wish to convey.  We can under-expose a little to emphasize graphics or over-exposed (this is done a lot in fashion photography to diminish skin tones or to highlight eyes and lips).

Focus.  I love selective focus, where the depth of field is very shallow.  This lets me direct the viewer’s attention to where I want it to go.  It makes the subject pop out.  We see this used in fashion and sports photography a lot.  Just the opposite (a deep depth of field) may be just what is needed in landscape photos, and indeed, it is a necessity in macro photography.

Anytime we make someone feel as if they can see into our photography, we have accomplished something.  After all, it is only a two-dimensional object.

Composition.  Medical students are told, “First, do no harm.” Photographers should take the same advice and leave out all unnecessary elements.  All composition is the selection of what should be in and out of the frame when we release the shutter.  Speaking of framing… to add depth to a picture, frame it as you take it.   Shoot under the branch of a tree or through a door or window.  A frame is only one of many visual elements that can draw a viewer into our photo.  Elements like leading lines will give it a three-dimensional feel.

Anytime we make someone feel as if they can see into our photography, we have accomplished something.  After all, it is only a two-dimensional object.

See how the feet are cut off.

We can include the feet and anchor the photo, barely moving the camera.

Lighting.  Light can draw one into the photo, too.  Light is probably the most dramatic, mood-setting tool we have as photographers, next to expression and body language.  The color temperature can be powerful.  The warm late evening light, the cool early morning colors, or the green cast of fluorescent office light each carries a mood of its own.

Expression.  Realtors like to say what matters is location, location, location.  Portrait photographers KNOW that the composition may be beautiful, the lighting creative, the clothing and background perfect, but if the EXPRESSION isn’t what it needs to be…. No sale!  Is a smile what is needed? (By the way, NEVER tell ANYONE to smile.)  Most adults can’t turn it on an off and kids will come up with some rather unusual expression, but generally NOT a real smile.  If, as a photographer we need the to smile – naturally – then it is up to us to elicit one from them.  We owe them that.  After all, we ARE the photographers.  Usually pictures of people should show their faces.  Sounds obvious, but if our subjects are watching something happening, say a ball game or a birthday party, we must be sure we are not so distracted by the event that we forget what is important… our main subject, the faces of our subjects.

Body Language. We can photograph someone several feet away (and not even show their face) and still communicate much about them if we watch their body language.  Watch their arms.  It’s incredible what we say just by the position of our arms.  Do our subject’s arms communicate what we want?  Are they open or closed?  Is the person in our photo leaning forward or backward?  Does their position engage or pull back?  Do they appear to be sensitive or cold? Are they reaching out to another or pushing them away?

The Eyes.  An eye doctor may tell us that the eyes don’t change.  Perhaps that is true in a technical sense.  Be that as it may, watch the eyes.  They describe it all!  However, it happens the eyes are the essence of a portrait.

The Head.  A millimeter’s turn of the head and a slight tilt is all it takes to distinguish between zero and five-star photography.

This is in no way a comprehensive list; it is only a sampling of many things we must consider when “grading” photos.

By moving the camera merely a millimeter, you can include their feet rather than chop them off, leave them out, or have another person change the mood.

A millimeter can keep the tree from growing out of your spouse’s head.  Moving an inch to the left may let the camera see a person’s face better or distinguish the main subject from their surroundings.

When we shoot enough photos, we see the difference that just a millimeter’s change can make.  Then we will begin to see why one image is terrible and another is good.

In the Olympics, the difference in millimeters determines who wins and loses a race.  In photography, it can be what differentiates a great photo from the others.