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Category: nature photography

August 17, 2025

Keep Summer’s Glow Alive with this Memory Hack

Miss summer already? You don’t have to let it totally slip away. Here’s a little photo exercise that can help you keep all those good summertime vibes going. 

Labor Day isn’t quite here yet, marking the official end of summer. But realistically, it’s already over. Do you feel the energy shift too? It’s unavoidable. 

When I wake up, it’s dark out now. I chat with work colleagues in other states whose kids are already back to school. Everyone I run into asks me if I had a good summer.

Well, did I? Did you?

Sure, it’s easy to call out the fun vacation, weekend at the beach or summer BBQ. But what happened across all those other days and weekends? Can you remember the highlights? Or is it already starting to slip into a cloudy past as the fall season approaches.

Let Your Photos Jog Your Summer Memories
When faced with this moment, I find it useful to take a little stroll down memory lane via my summer photo collection.

It’s not just the big moments I’ve documented. It’s the little ones that matter too.

Only then can you take it all in and authentically say, “Yeah, I had a good summer.”

I just performed that photo review for myself, and here are a few images that reflect some of my own summer’s story.

Taking in Norwalk’s Memorial Day Parade from My Lawn Chair

That’s my city’s mayor leading the parade (Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling). On this bright, young summer day, I felt part of a timeless tradition. The moment could easily have been from a 1925 parade (wardrobe evolution aside).

Flying My Drone in Cape Porpoise, Maine

I barely knew how to get my new drone in the air, but I knew enough to drag myself out of bed at the crack of dawn and hoof it to the empty beach. Nature’s stunning beauty did the rest of the work for me.

Eating Dinner by The Last Taco Stand During Sunset

My wife and I enjoyed a few tacos from this special food trailer by the water as the sun set over the Norwalk Cove Marina. It was perfection in a parking lot.

Watching The Boston Symphony Orchestra Perform at Tanglewood

It’s Tanglewood. Enough said.

Experiencing the Music of AJR at Jones Beach Theater

Our 15-year-old son’s musical tastes led us to this amazing experience, As the full moon rose behind the outdoor stage, I knew this concert would be locked into our memories forever.

Walking to Work from Grand Central Terminal on a Hot August Morning

Even the most boring of summer moments like a commute can be turned into a photo exploration. And that’s never hard to find in New York City.

Doing Nothing but Watching the Flames from Our Solo Stove

For someone who’s always on the go, I find that slowing down to stare at a fire’s glow is essential for any summer.

Your Photos are Your Secret Portal Back to Summertime
Though I’ve shared some of my own pictures here, creating this type of photo collection is more for the creator than anyone else. This little portfolio reflects a larger set of stories, because of what’s behind each photo. Only the photographer can know them.

And each image doesn’t have to be stunning. It should simply bring back the experience of your happy memory. 

I highly recommend trying this photo exercise as you wrap up your own summer.

Best Summer Ever?
So, did I have a good summer?

Absolutely.

How about you?

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July 20, 2025

How to Magically Turn your Photo into a Video Using Generative AI

Is this a real photo I took or one generated by AI? It’s both and neither. And then I miraculously converted it into a short video clip. Welcome to bending the rules of reality with just a couple of clicks.

The creative realm is no longer inhabited exclusively by human minds. Generative AI tools have revolutionized how you and I can develop our own creativity. Yes, AI may still require our inspiration, but then it magically does most of the work.

One way to quickly immerse yourself in this new creative workflow is through a simple shortcut. Just start with a real photograph/image that you’ve already created as a reference point. Then, it’s much easier for an AI app to develop it further as opposed to having to start the process from scratch through extensive prompts.

For me, that’s been the key to easily unlock AI’s visual powers.

AI Follows the Creative Direction from your Photography
After uploading your own photo, you can create an AI-generated clone in one click that looks remarkably similar. The AI takes certain creative liberties, but it nails the framing and essential visual elements.

And then, with just a few more prompts and a click, you can generate short video clips that bring your photos to life.

So yes, we can now create videos out of thin air based on our photography. 

Here are a few examples I generated after feeding my photos through Google’s Whisk and Veo generative AI models. (Other companies offer similar fast-developing technologies.)

Maine Sunrise
I snapped this sunrise photo during our Maine vacation:

Here’s the Google Whisk version:

And here’s the Google Veo video:


Alaska Sunrise
Here’s my sunrise shot from Homer, Alaska during our 2023 trip.

Whisk photo:

Veo video:


Baltimore Sunrise
Here’s my photo of people walking by the water in Baltimore, Maryland.

Whisk photo:

Veo video:


Two Paddleboarders on the Ocean
I photographed these two paddleboarders in Maine last year.

Whisk photo:

Veo video:


A Man and his Dog
During our vacation in Alaska, I took a photo of a man with his beautiful golden retriever. I processed it through Google Whisk and Veo and generated this:

Whisk photo:

Veo video:


Generative AI Provides the Paint and Canvas
I find these examples remarkable and clearly disruptive. I’m still adjusting to the massive implications to all this. 

Generative AI tools have quickly become our new paint and canvas to bring our creative ideas to life. And the results will only get better.

So, it’s time for all of us to relearn how to paint, even as photographers.

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July 13, 2025

How to Create Awesome Drone Footage with Amateur Flying Skills

Failure can often lead to success. After I crashed my camera drone, I was crushed. Happily, my drone was not. Then, I discovered a flying trick that every novice should consider. Here’s how it enhanced my aerial footage. 

I finally bought a camera drone to start this new hobby I’ve long wanted to try. Then, I got to work studying how to fly it. I trusted my DJI Flip’s intelligent flying modes to protect my investment against disaster, because I didn’t have enough faith in my novice piloting skills. I was worried about crashing my little drone.

And then I did.

But my Flip survived its impact with that tree. So, I wiped the egg off my face and was determined to learn how to properly fly my little drone.

I continued slowly, and my patience finally paid off when I discovered a key aerial storytelling trick.

Fly Slow and Smooth
Generating cinematic videos with a drone is all about flying it ‘slow’ and ‘smooth.’ All those establishing shots you can think of from movies… yes, slow and smooth.

And that translates to easier and safer flying.

And if you’re looking to create more motion in your drone footage, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to fly faster. Instead, just fly your drone lower. Moving over a landscape close to the ground produces more movement than from higher up. 

Happily, these flying strategies are relatively easy to accomplish. And just as importantly, they don’t put your drone at significant risk.

So, as I explored flying my drone manually, I intentionally followed the slow/smooth rule and practiced simplistic flying routines. 

Up. Down. Forward. Back. Sideways. 

The most aggressive maneuver I attempted was elevating my drone as it simultaneously moved forward.

Embrace your Inner Rookie
How fast can my drone go? I have no idea. I haven’t tried to find out. Could I always see my drone as I flew it? 100%.

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.

And as I flew in the dullest of ways, that’s when my adrenaline levels finally began to stabilize, and the tension melted away.

And guess what? I decided I’m just not going to fly my drone over water. I’m not going to fly it over a mountain ridge. I’m not going to fly between two objects and try to thread a needle. I’m never going to worry if my drone has enough battery power to make it back.

I’m just not going to push it. This isn’t a sport for me. It’s a new hobby with an expensive piece of gear I’d like to keep in one piece.

Barrett’s Drone Footage from the Mud Flats of Cape Porpoise, Maine
Even with my self-imposed training wheels in place, my conservative flying style still enabled my DJI Flip to capture the incredible beauty of our world with motion. Often, just getting your drone in the air to is enough to recording stunning clips.

And that’s exactly what I did… I think I captured some nifty footage during my training flights on the mud flats of Cape Porpoise, Maine. 

Here’s a video compilation of my manual maneuvering along with a few auto QuickShots (courtesy of the drone’s built-in code).

(Yes, my flying style was boring, but my shots were not.)

How to Quickly Edit your Drone Clips
I put this edit together using a couple tools:

  • The DJI Fly mobile app for basic video editing and music
  • Final Cut Pro for precision edits and speed ramping

I should mention that you can quickly perform a punchy edit just using the DJI Fly app on your phone. There’s even a 1-click editing solution. It’s not perfect, but you can generate and share a dynamic video with your phone in just a couple minutes. Impressive. Most impressive.

When Less is More
A little drone can go a long way. I mean that both literally and figuratively. 

You don’t have to fly your camera drone like it’s capturing a stunt shot for “Mission Impossible.” I say… keep it all entirely ‘possible.’

And while many pros out there may yawn at my stubbornness to avoid all risk, I’m entirely pleased with my creative results to date. 

Others may like showing off their camera drone crashes to the world, I hope to never do that again.

Start slow. Keep it slow. Make it smooth.

Less is more.

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