As news broke that Boeing Co. will stop all 737 Max production at its Renton, Wa facility, Bloomberg sent me out to photograph the grounded planes stored at its lot near Boeing Field in Seattle.

Field Mag editor and brother-from-another-mother, Graham Hiemstra, and I made a recent pilgrimage to Sun Valley, Idaho. It was an inspiring backcountry adventure. I snapped some digital photos but he brought his film camera and let me borrow it a few times. See his beautiful photos with the story here, along a few pictures by me mixed in.

Below are a few samples of pictures I made, along with one of me by Graham.

This fall, I was ready to finally make the plunge into studio strobe territory, upgrading from my small Canon speedlite flash system. I have been pleasantly surprised by the Godox AD200Pro after my friend Theo Stroomer put me onto the Godox company’s popular and affordable line of flashes. There is a lot that I like about the Godox AD200Pro and little that I dislike.

There were a few things I was looking for in particular, which the Godox AD200Pro hit quite well. I wanted something affordable as well as something small and easy to travel with, whether on a plane or to a local location for portraiture. I don’t have a studio space (yet) and at this moment I believe I will still want to do most of my work on-location. I am a huge fan of traveling light and keeping a low profile with my gear. The AD200Pro is great for that. It’s not much bigger than a standard little speedlite flash and the case, which holds a charger, accessories, etc., is only about 6″ x 8″ x 4″.

Another important factor is the power that the flash puts out, which is about three times as much as my little Canon 580EX. The final selling point was the ability to easily use adapters for Bowens-mount light modifiers. That is where I can really start to enjoy the benefits of using studio strobes. For some reason, I’ve been obsessed with getting a beauty dish. Ha.

The flashes were going for about $350 over summer and fall, and slightly more for Adorama’s version of the exact same flash, branded as the eVOLV 200. There are currently some Black Friday/Cyber Monday/holiday deals on major sites that put the flash at about $280. It’s a great deal and convinced me to pick up a third one.

Another great thing that saves you money and stress: The wireless receivers are built-in, so you don’t have to mess with Pocket Wizards. Those things are expensive and it’s just another thing to be dangling around from your light stand. You will need to buy a Godox transmitter for your camera, but it is wonderful and affordable. The XProC (for Canon cameras) is $57 and allows remote adjustments to flash power, and you can turn off specific lights at the push of a button. It’s great.

You may be wondering, is this thing powerful enough? Especially outdoors to overpower the sun? The power is fine, and what’s great in having two or three flashes is that you can double them up in the dual power Bowens adapter. This thing is cool because you also get a LED modeling light in addition to the dual-flash ability. The adapter can accept one flash as well, if you only want to use one at a time. I also have a couple single-unit Bowens adapters to round out my kit in case I want to use three Bowens-mount modifiers at once.

That said, below are my recommended accessories and other toys that I’ve used to build out my kit. Good luck and hopefully this Godox AD200Pro review was helpful …

• XproC transmitter (this is for Canon, but they are available for other major brands)
• Dual power flash bracket and Bowens adapter
• Single unit flash bracket/Bowens adapter (this can accept smaller speedlite flashes in addition to the AD200Pro)
• 7″ reflectors and grid set
• Snoot set for VB-series bare bulb flashes (edit: I’m not liking this one. My homemade one is actually way better. Details here.)
• Rosco color effects filter kit – gels can be expensive but will hold up better than the cheap ones
• Beauty dish
• Standard umbrellas
• 7′ umbrella with silk
• Glow 38″ portable softbox with grid
• Glow 42″ 5-in-1 reflector
• Black foil (this stuff is great for fine tuning and shaping light)
• Flashpoint sandbags – I love the Adorama in-house brands like Glow and Flashpoint. The stuff is totally fine for things like that and lightstands
• Impact c-stand and grip head – This is from the B&H in-house brand … also great …

I recently photographed Bill Gates for WaitWhat during the company’s podcast interview with him by LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman.

Young voters turned out for last year’s election. Will they do it again in 2019?

I took a sunrise helicopter flight with Maria Langer out of Wenatchee to photograph grounded Boeing 737 MAX planes in storage at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, WA yesterday. A beautiful day to be up in the air. More pictures available here.

New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh made campaign stops in Vancouver and Surrey, British Columbia the day before Canada’s Oct. 21 general election.

I recently photographed the hops harvest in Washington state for Bloomberg. Washington is ranked number one in the U.S. for hops production and the Yakima Valley is the heart of it all. If you like beer, as I do, it’s a treat to tour the farms and smell fresh hops for hours on end. I spent my time touring Morrier Ranch in Yakima, Washington.

I’ve recently found myself doing a fair amount of aerial photography and filming video from a helicopter … I figured I should share what I’ve learned because it can be a tricky scenario up there sometimes. Each minute inside of a helicopter is costly, so there’s not a lot of time for error. There’s also literally no room for error, because the space can be cramped. You might even find your elbow bumping the pilot’s controls if you’re flying in a tiny R22, which is one of the most common type of aircraft.

So, let’s say you’re doing video. The first thing you’re going to want to do is select your aircraft. Usually, you’ll have a choice between a Robinson R22 and a Robinson R44. They are kind of like the Prius and the Camry of Lyft. The R22 resembles an upside down lawnmower, or perhaps a go-kart made for the air. It’s light, versatile, and cheaper. It’s not good for long distances or camera rigs that take a lot of space. The R44 is also practical and a little larger. The R22 seats two (including the pilot) and the R44 seats four (including the pilot).

That brings us to the issue of space (not outer space, but hopefully that will be an upcoming blog post). If you’re shooting video, you’re going to need a gimbal or some other similar kind of stabilizer. That’s going to take up space, so I would recommend an R44 for that. The aircraft will also be a little more stable. I’ve done video from both an R22 and an R44 and they both will get the job done, but you will sweat less in an R44 …

If you use a DSLR like I usually do, I’d recommend a Ronin M gimbal. The larger version, referred to as just the Ronin, is going to be too large for a R22 so if you’ve got a camera over eight pounds or so, you’re going to need a Ronin and an R44. If you’ve got eight pounds or less, you can get away with a Ronin M that can be squeezed into an R22 but is still best in an R44. If you do go with the R22 in that scenario, you may need to remove the right arm of the gimbal to make it fit in the helicopter. That’s what I did just this week and it worked fine. The Ronin M has a top handlebar that consists of a right and a left bar. You can remove the right bar, which is the side that will cause the most problems in a small R22. The left bar will mostly stick out the door.

Speaking of the door, you’re going to want to fly with the doors off. This part is awesome and slightly terrifying at the same time. Sometimes the pilot will keep their door on to minimize wind on their side, or to keep it warmer inside, but your door definitely needs to be removed. Good times.

With the wind flying by the open door, the gimbal will be working harder, so it’s important to keep the rig inside the door frame as much as possible. You might roll the camera in the gimbal if the wind overpowers the motors. This happened to me but it’s not the end of the world. I was able to rebalance the rig, but doing so in a helicopter is not ideal and may not always work.

The other thing you’ve got to do is start your arm workouts. The gimbal is going to keep your arms working, so prepare for that. There is little space to really rest the gimbal. No space, of course, for the stand that you would be able to use on the ground.

Finally, wide angle is going to help minimize camera shake. Fly low and close to what you’re filming so that you can shoot wide. If you can’t, go ahead and shoot at 50-70mm or so but you’re going to work extra hard to hold steady at that focal length. If you need a longer lens, you might need a bigger budget to jump a level up into Hollywood-style rigs like the Cineflex.

Now, let’s say you’re shooting photos. You’re more likely to want to select an R22, which is that smaller two-person helicopter, to save money. Without the large video rig, you can fly light and take up less space in an R22.

You’re going to want to bring mostly zoom lenses. I always use wide angle primes on the ground, but in a helicopter you can’t really “zoom with your feet” as people like to say. My go-to is the Canon 100-400mm. It’s perfect for aerial work. On a second body I will use a 24-70 or a fixed 28. I might bring a 50mm, too.

You’re also going to want to use high shutter speeds. The vibration of a helicopter will cause motion blur if you’re down around 1/250 or 1/500. I try to shoot around 1/2000 or higher, if possible.

Other than that, shoot a lot in case some frames do have blur from the vibration.

For both video and stills, you might get a little airsick. For me, I sometimes need more movement and maneuvering when filming video and that means I might feel more sick. Keep the dramamine handy. There are also bracelets that utilize acupuncture points on the wrist that have worked for me with seasickness.

Last but not least: Don’t drop anything! Secure your keys, phone, etc. Keep those cameras on neck straps … and watch your lens hoods! You might want to put a little gaffer tape on the lens hood because the wind can get fierce and you don’t want to drop anything out of the open door!

OK, good luck …