Not AI. Here is the sharpened and retouched photo of Bounce, with Deuce and Zoe in hot pursuit. And here is the original. It was a great shot, but I wish I had been closer to the dogs, as the image became a bit grainy when I cropped in a lot to better showcase the dogs in flight.
Veryl Goodnight is legendary amongst the seasoned hunters of the Arapahoe Hunt, where she and her husband hunted for several years. She is a sculptor and artist out of Colorado, know for her horse and wildlife scenes. I was fortunate to have won the Mercer Trophy for which she created a stunning sculpture which sat atop the memorable award. She did another great piece on George Beeman and the Arapahoe hounds. I met her a few times and was pleased to recently get a copy of her new book, No Turning Back, The Art of Veryl Goodnight. It was fun reading about some of our other Colorado legends that she was acquainted with, as was I, such as Ben Nighthorse Campbell.
Chasing the Ghost of the West: How One Century-Old Lens Captured a Masterpiece Look closely at the mirrored reflection of the horse standing motionless in the shallows. The water is as smooth as glass; the rider sits perfectly poised under an infinite sky. This iconic portrait, titled The Lone Chief - Cheyenne, has captivated art enthusiasts for nearly a century. Captured in 1927, this evocative image belongs to Volume 19 of The North American Indian—a monumental 20-volume historical masterwork by legendary photographer and ethnologist Edward S. Curtis. But beneath the stillness of this masterpiece lies a grueling tale of survival, heavy gear, and raw artistic grit. "He didn't just document history—he fought the wilderness to preserve it." Many of the indigenous family members of those he photographed are thankful the images are preserved as a history of their way of life; others criticize the photos as being staged, unnecessarily adorned, or as further evidence of the exploitation and misunderstandings of their people, ceremony and customs. The 100-Pound Mobile Studio Today, we capture our lives with sleek smartphones that weigh mere ounces, or possibly a Leica for a shot like this, or a workhorse D5 DLSR or mirrorless like the Sony. For Curtis, a single shot required an exhausting expedition. His primary weapon of choice was a 6½-by-8½-inch Reversible-Back Premo view camera—a heavy, wooden accordion-bellows box mounted on a massive tripod. There were no electronic sensors, no automated light meters, and no instant digital previews. Curtis relied entirely on his sharp instinct and years of experience to calculate his exposures. Instead of convenient roll film, he trekked into the rugged wilderness carrying fragile, heavy crates of glass plate dry negatives. Developing them was an ordeal in itself, forcing Curtis to
My First Ten Years with the Leica by Paul Wolff was an interesting read, having been published in 1935 with a lot of practical advice and 192 fine screen halftones. It triggered an epiphany in my shooting with the Leica M-E. What if we treat the digital Leica as if it were a film camera? After all, the Leica M-E type 220 has a CCD sensor was tuned specifically with a unique infrared (IR) filter and a color filter array (CFA) designed to mimic Kodak film tones. Because it handles colors aggressively, many photographers feel CCD images have an organic, painterly quality straight out of the camera. In short, it captures digital images as if they were taking on film. So why not treat it as a film rangefinder camera? I grew up shooting film in high school and even after graduate schools. When I got serious and acquired all of my Minolta 35mm gear, the first thing you would do is decide on what to take your bag for lenses and what kind of film you are going to shoot (100 for bright sun, 400 or 800 if you could find it for shooting in dimly lit areas or action shots and understanding that these would result in some grain, and 200-400 for everything in between). Then you set the ISO to match the film (no real decision to be made here after you loaded the film, you were stuck with whatever ISO film you had purchased for the entire roll). The practical limits of the Leica M-E are really between ISO 100 to 800 (sure you can shoot 3200 but be prepared for a lot of noise versus a modern Sony or
Photo by Stephen Collector of Jim Harrison and Russell Chatham in Florida Keys West Side Books & Curios Denver, CO Thursday, October 15 • 7 PM - 9 PM Stephen Collector in conversation with Brad Wetzler on Thursday, October 15th at 7:15pm. No Do-Overs in Paradise comes out 10/10/26 West Side Books & Curios presents our friend, Stephen Collector, and his new book No Do-Overs in Paradise: Journeys Through Wild Places and Inner Landscapes. Join us on Thursday, October 15, 2026, as he discusses his new book and his beautiful photography of the West. He will be in conversation with editor and memoir coach Brad Wetzler. Stephen Collector's No Do-Overs In Paradise is a collection of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that many of us could only dream of. His work as a professional photographer has taken him front and center to many of the most remarkable sporting locations the western hemisphere has to offer. He shared time with Legends of the Fall author Jim Harrison, dined and cooked at Jimmy Buffett's home in Key West, witnessed the indigenous wisdom of a Cheyenne medicine woman in Montana, fished countless famed Western trout waters, and so much more. These enchanting essays join many of his award-winning photographs, to cover all four seasons of the sporting year. Collector captures all the thrills, the disappointments, and the remarkable lessons this world has to pass on to each of us. Stephen Collector was born in Virginia in 1951. After attending George Washington University for two years, he transferred to the University of Colorado in 1971. A longtime freelance photographer, his book of Stock Detectives, Law of the Range: Portraits of Old-Time Brand Inspectors was published in 1991 by Clark
Don't All Trout Taste the Same? No. Brook Trout (technically a char): Features a sweet, rich, and delicate flavor. It has a tender, flaky texture and darker, often orange-pink flesh when caught in cold, clean waters. Most anglers agree that brookies are the best-tasting of the common trout species, but few have tried them side-by-side other trouts. Rainbow Trout: Has a milder, more oily, and nuttier flavor. The meat is less sweet than a brook trout and can taste lighter or blander depending on its diet and whether it lives in a hatchery or the wild. Cutthroat Trout: Tastes similar to a rainbow but carries a slightly stronger, gamier, and more distinct freshwater flavor. This fish also had bigger grasshoppers, a leech and was more full from feeding than the other trout. They are more scavengers. Brown trout are even more so. For the Recipes To Keep the Trout Flavors Pure: Get ready with two cast-iron skillets. Ok, you can use one skillet and a sheet pan, but the presentation is better in two cast-iron skillets. If you are doing the side of potatoes, start on the potatoes first and while they are roasting in the oven, do the following: Clean and gut your freshly caught trout. We used a brook trout, a rainbow and a cut-bow for our taste test. Pat the fish dry if wet. Roll the outside in a plate covered with flour to coat nicely. Get a skillet going on med-high heat (about 8) and add about 1/4 cup of Crisco (don't worry it's just vegetable oil, it's not that bad for you to fry in and most importantly here, it has no flavor, which allows the fish to
An artist who goes around proclaiming that the art he's making is art is probably making a serious mistake. And that's one mistake I try not to make. — Peter Beard I recently got a copy of Peter Beard : fifty years of portraits / curated by Peter T. Tunney by Beard, Peter H. (Peter Hill), 1938-2020. The whole feeling of his work—photography, handwritten journals, wildlife, travel, found objects, stains, torn paper, memory, sex, danger, and a slightly decadent African-adventurer sensibility---is stirring, an awakening you might say. Trippy is another word that comes to mind. This inspired me to read everything I can find about Beard and to study his photographs more closely. Peter Beard (1938–2020) was a legendary American photographer, artist, and diarist known for his visceral, mixed-media approach to photography. Blending the lines between documentary journalism, fine art, and personal scrapbooking, Beard became famous for chronicling a vanishing Africa, bridging the gap between high-fashion New York culture and the raw realities of environmental collapse. Beard rarely presented a photograph as just a standalone print. He heavily embellished his images with handwritten text, intricate ink drawings of insects or animals, newspaper clippings, and physical artifacts. Something we would probably generalize as "collage" nowadays, but it is much deeper than that. For instance, to emphasize the primal nature of life, death, and survival, he frequently used animal blood (and occasionally his own) to paint directly onto the borders and surfaces of his photographs. Beard viewed his entire life as a singular, continuous artwork. His massive personal journals combined daily travel itineraries with contacts, photos of famous figures, dried leaves, and footprints. Beard's lifelong romance with Africa began after traveling to Kenya in the early 1960s. He
Capturing the Chase: Why ISO and Camera Choice Matter Afield There is a distinct magic to a morning spent along the Sporting Road. Whether you are galloping a thoroughbred down a polo field, watching a well-trained bird dog lock onto a point in the crisp autumn brush, or following the fast-paced action of a foxhunt, the world around you suddenly stands still. As sporting enthusiasts, when we are not participating in these sporting days afield, we often try to use the remainder of our time afield to freeze these fleeting, high-octane moments with a camera. As my friend Stephen Collector, a lifetime professional photographer and avid sportsman, says, "A frustrating day of fishing can many times be redeemed with a camera." The Myth of "Fixing it in Post" A common misconception in modern digital photography is that ISO is an afterthought or that it's like a bucket setting, as long as you are close enough it doesn't really matter. And, with advanced editing software, it is tempting to think you can shoot at a low ISO to keep your image clean, underexpose the shot in the field, and simply brighten the shadows later on your computer. If you are shooting sports with a flagship action camera like the Nikon D5, this workflow is a recipe for ruined images. The Nikon D5 is not an "ISO-invariant" sensor. It is engineered specifically to handle low-light and high-speed action in real-time. If you pull up heavy shadows from an underexposed file shot at a low ISO, you will introduce severe, destructive read noise. To capture the crisp textures of a galloping horse or a bird taking flight, you must get your exposure right in the camera, at the
Leica just announced a new campaign, "The Art of Leica." Leica had a beautiful announcement from which we excerpted below, which sums up what we love about Leica photography: Photography captures far more than just a moment in time. Every image reveals our true perception of the world. Photography is careful observation of people. It is the patience, attention and respect that we show to every subject. It is about being present while others pass by. It is not relying on observational skills alone. It is having unwavering trust in your imagination. Yet remaining open to whatever happens. Time and time again. Looking more closely than others do. That is the art of photography. We invest the same level of care that the Leica community applies to its photography in each of our cameras and lenses: patience, attention to detail and respect for every part of the process. We focus on precision and craftsmanship so that the camera disappears in your hand and your view remains unobstructed. Looking more closely than others do. As Leica looks at making the M12 (which probably won't be called that) as the M has been a rangefinder camera from the start and the 2026 version is probably featuring a hybrid vision system blending a traditional optical rangefinder with electronic viewfinder (EVF) capabilities, along with a completely new sensor, among other "upgrades." Whether the "new M" is still a rangefinder or not (although it will surely accept M-lenses, otherwise what's the point, might as well just get a Q), is up for debate, and either way there will be complainers and some that are ecstatic about the switch. There is a curious idea in modern life that newer is somehow better.
Let me start with a confession: I’m not a “tactard.” No, that word has nothing to do with tack for your horse, it's an abbreviation of tactical and, well, you can guess the rest. I shoot a lot, our friends often teach (or have written the books on) cool-guy firearms training classes, and we can run black guns with the best of them. But you won’t find me wandering around in a plate carrier vest or whatever the current equivalent of 5.11 pants happens to be. At this point in my life I’m simply too old to play dress-up, like the bougie hipsters at the range or in the uplands who are taking selfies before they even finish slamming the truck door. Both have a way of pissing you off before you even get started. That doesn’t mean I dismiss tactical gear. In fact, some of it is remarkably well suited to the way that I spend my time outdoors. I just have little interest in wearing something that makes me look like I’ve been issued a radio and a mission. I spend a lot of time in the field, although I’m usually not talking about packing into the true backcountry for days at a time, at least not anymore. When I’m moving through the woods on foot, for a day trip, I want to carry the essentials without turning myself into a walking gear closet: your favorite piece of iron to spray some lead or a stick to waive in the river, a few basic tools like a leatherman, a decent light, maybe some boots for the dogs, some water, and, preferably, something to eat. I like snacks. What constitutes “essential” changes considerably
