If you’re not an NPN member yet, you can join our free tier to ask questions in the AMA or to get the full benefits of what we offer; you can join here.
Hello NPN Members and cheers from North Carolina!
I’m Jennifer King, and I have been photographing professionally since 2012, though I have been in the photo industry for nearly 20 years. After a year of travel in 2011, and figuring out how to use a camera, I decided to make landscape and wildlife photography a career, and my passion for the art continues to grow and expand.
I specialize in black and white photography, and spend most my time traveling around the globe looking for new subjects and inspiration to share. I’m inspired by nature, art, animals and the beauty that surrounds us. I make it a mission to try and capture these special places and moments through my lens to share with others.
I am honored to be a Moab Master Photographer, Singh-Ray Filters Ambassador, and to be named 1 of the top 15 Women Photographers by 500px. My biggest honor is to be the founder of pfabc.org, Photography for the Fight Against Breast Cancer, which brings together the biggest names in the photo industry to help raise money for research.
As well as being behind the lens, much of my time is dedicated to photography education through workshops and conferences. I am a feature speaker at several yearly events either live or on Zoom, and many of my articles can be found online.
My favorite places to photograph are Death Valley NP, Iceland and Yellowstone in winter (just to name a few). My favorite place to be is home - which I occasionally get to visit, and outside of photography, I love eating gelato in Tuscany!
Please only ask one question by replying to this topic a single time, using the “Ask a question” button at the bottom. It’s also helpful to scroll to the bottom while reading the topic to make sure nobody else has asked the same question first before you ask.
Please don’t ask more than one question so everyone gets a chance.
Please do not reply to anyone else’s post. The only purpose of replies on this topic is to ask the author one question. Please create a new topic if you’d like to discuss a related topic in more detail.
Posts not following these rules may be removed by moderators to keep the Q&A flowing smoothly. Thank you!
Hi Jennifer! I have a two part question. I own a 35mm mirrorless camera (will keep this generic rather than brand-specific). When in a city/town/urban setting, I only want to carry a single lens. What is your recommendation for a single lens best suited for cityscapes, portraits, etc.? My second part of the question is similar… I am taking a hiking vacation next month in the southwest. Again, I want to limit myself to one lens. What would be your recommendation for a single lens that can handle landscapes and perhaps occasional wildlife? Thanks so much!
Hi Stephen, when I am photography urban areas, my go to lens is 24-105mm. This lens allows me to get wide angle cityscapes, but also provides enough reach for details like doors, windows, reflections, people.
If you are taking a hiking trip to the southwest, and want enough reach for wildlife, then you will need a longer lens which is also going to be a heavier lens. The 24-105mm would be great for the southwest, but not so much for wildlife. Consider taking a 70-200mm lens for this trip. Even better, stick to a wider 25-105mm range, and use your phone for wildlife opportunities.
Hi Jennifer. Another two-parter
My question is about post processing workflow. What software do you prefer for processing your black & white images? And in what order do you use them?
Hi Jennifer! Hope to see you in the park this coming winter.
How does your mindset differ when it comes to shooting—or editing—black and white versus color? For example, I’m much more liberal with my editing/illustrative choices in monochrome (since I believe b+w takes us away from reality, so there’s less need to adhere to “faithfulness to reality”). Curious if you approach the two presentations differently either behind the lens or in front of the computer.
First thing I want to mention is that when I photograph, I photograph with the intention to create a BW image. My picture style is set to monochrome inside the camera itself. I am photographing in RAW, so when it imports to Lightroom, the image appears in color.
I use Adobe Lightroom for processing my BW images, and my first processing step is to click BW in the BASIC menu. Since I visualized and captured the image without color, I want to quickly remove any distraction of color.
Contrast is VIP for BW, so after converting to BW, I move to the TONE CURVE menu (located under the Basic menu). The Highlights, Lights, Darks and Shadows allow me to adjust contrast to my style. Most of my BW photography is Noir, so I push my darks and shadows for rich darkness, then compliment the tonality with brighter highlights and lights. I recommend that you play around with the sliders here until you find the result you’re looking for.
Once the contrast/tonality feels right to me, I can then use masking tools to select certain areas of the photo to increase texture, clarity, sky, etc. My favorite tool is the radial filter as it is very forgiving.
Another wonderful tool in LR is the BW Filter Menu. This menu is valuable if you want to increase or decrease a tonality in a refined tone such as blue for the sky.
Black and White photography is two part. Capturing in the field, and creating your image with processing. Explore your style, try new things, and allow yourself to get creative!
Great to hear from you! I did not get to see you in 2024, but will definitely see you in 2025. I will be there for about 3 weeks.
My approach is different when creating black and white images. I go out in the field with the intention of creating black and white images. In other words, my BW and Color sessions are completely separate. This allows me to focus on highlight, shadow, shape and form instead of the landscape or animal in front of me.
I turn my picture style to MONOCHROME in camera to eliminate any distractions. Then I visually explore my location with my eyes first, by looking for dramatic light. Once I find the drama, I select a lens, and take the photo.
I also believe that BW can venture away from reality, and I approach it differently than other photo sessions. Black and White photography is a form of fine art, because most of us see in color.
Processing is where I can bring the image to life, and I spend a good amount of time and creative energy on each BW photo I create. I reflect on what I saw in the field, use tone curves and masking to replicate the drama I saw and felt at the time I took the photo.
Choosing which photo to enlarge can be the most difficult part of the printing process. We often have many images that we would like to display and share. What I do, is look at the images on a big screen TV and flip through them several times using the process of elimination. Some images look better at larger sizes than other images, so the large screen helps me to eliminate the less stronger visuals. From a creative standpoint, I choose images that are clean in design, not too busy, have one direct hero and images that are special to me.
Once I have chosen the image to print, I use software to increase the pixels and print size to the desired specs. If you want your print to be 24x36, then you upsize the file using software to match the dimensions, and you should also make sure the image is set to 300dpi (dots per inch).
There are many programs that will upscale your photos such as Photoshop and Topaz: I prefer Topaz Photo AI Upscale for making these adjustments to my specs. Before AI, we were somewhat limited on how to choose a print, but today’s AI software has made choosing an image based on original size much easier to print extra large.
I test on a smaller size paper, and sometimes different paper styles. This way, I can check for any missed dust spots, tonality, color and any minor defects I did not detect on a back lit screen before going to the expense of creating a large print. Once I am happy with paper and image quality, I proceed to the desired large paper size.
My paper preferences are:
Entrada Bright by Moab for BW photos
Somerset Rag by Moab for color photos
Hi Jennifer, I am a Sony shooter, I would like to know what lens you would recommend to take to Africa? I currently own the 24-70-70-200,100-400 lens. I am considering the 200-600 and leaving the 100-400 at home. What do you think?
Thanks,
Wayne
I’ve been desperately trying to get an Indigo Bunting in our McKee-Beshers wildlife management area along the Potomac River. Many have been published in the past couple of weeks. I never seem to match up with them. I see people using an Indigo Bunting bird call on their iPhone to lure the birds out. A respected the artist did that with me watching, although it didn’t work. She had already gotten some pictures before I arrived. My photo club president, a former English teacher and highly respected artist in several genres, also does this. I’d love to get a picture of the Indigo Bunting, but I just don’t think it’s ethical to use a bird call on your phone. Agree?
Hi Alton, this is a tough one. I have seen many photographers and bird watchers use calls to attract a bird species. I personally do not use this method, as I am concerned about negatively affecting any species of bird or wildlife. I cannot say it is right or wrong, this has to be a personal call.
Can you give me some tips on shooting with my Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 lens?
When shooting hand held, I find it difficult to get subjects in focus probably due to camera shake. Thanks.
There are so many places in the US that I haven’t seen! Alaska, for sure. My wife and I have tentative plans to drive Route 66 and visit the US Virgin Islands. I didn’t get to go to Acadia last year with you, so that’s still on my list. Redwoods in CA. Big Bend NP in TX. There’s a long list.
