The Bucket List Mermaid

Let's chat about summer photography Summer is HERE! Hey Reader, June is one of my favorite months of the year. Summer is stretching its legs. The days are getting longer (although they are especially long up here in Alaska). Road trips start appearing on the calendar. And photographers suddenly have a whole new playground to work with. This month, instead of focusing on destinations, I want to challenge you to create and capture a little more adventure wherever you are. Here are 12...

Let's Go on an Adventure! Bucket List Thursday Hey Reader, I appreciate your patience as I took a short break! My cousin got married and I've been traveling like crazy! To ease back into the adventurous spirt, I'd figure we would do something fun! So...Welcome to Bucket List Thursday! Let's go over... 🌎 One Epic Adventure 🥾 One Mini Adventure 📸 One Photo Challenge ✨ One Mermaid's Note The goal? To help you create and capture a life worth photographing. Epic Adventure Hike Half Dome in...

Hit me with the photographer gossip! Which type of adventure photographer are you? Hey Reader, I’ve been noticing something lately… Not all adventure photographers are chasing the same thing. Some people are out there for the story.Some for the thrill.Some for the perfect aesthetic shot.Some just want to remember the moment. And once I started seeing it… I couldn’t unsee it. It actually explains so much (like why certain shots feel easy for you,why others feel forced, and why you might feel...

ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY TIP How to Capture Fast Action (Without Losing Your Mind) Hey Reader, I recently tried photographing skijoring… and WOW. We’re talking: Horses sprintingSkiers flyingSnow everywhere Basically a perfect storm for blurry photos 😅 After a lot of trial and error (and way too many missed shots), I finally figured out what actually works. So I put together a full guide breaking it down: 📸 The camera settings I use for fast action📍 Where to stand so you don’t miss the shot⚡ How...

Adventure Photography Gear The Camera I Trust With My Wildest Adventures Hey you, I’ve taken this camera into some… questionable situations. Freezing waterfalls. High-speed chaos. Weather that definitely didn’t feel “camera safe.” And somehow… it just keeps showing up. So I finally sat down and made a full, real-world review of my go-to adventure camera: the Canon 5D Mark IV. But here’s the thing... this isn’t one of those overly technical, spec-heavy reviews. Because when you’re out in the...

TRAVEL + PHOTOGRAPHY + EUROPE = YES PLEASE! The Most Beautiful Destinations in Italy Hey Reader, Italy is one of those places that almost doesn’t feel real. You turn a corner and suddenly you’re standing in front of a pastel-colored village stacked on a cliff above the sea. A few hours later you’re wandering cobblestone streets that are older than your entire country. Then somehow you end the day eating pasta while the sunset turns everything golden. It’s the kind of place where photographers...

Warning: Serious Wanderlust Ahead I Made a List of the Most Photogenic Places on Earth Hi there Reader, If you’ve been craving inspiration lately (or just a reminder that the world is still wildly beautiful) this is for you 🌍✨ I put together a list of destinations that feel like they were designed specifically for photographers. These are the kind of places that make you stop mid-step, stare, and think, “I can’t believe this is real.” Here are a few that instantly shot to the top of my bucket...

Come Edit This balloon photo with me! Let's edit...but make it seem like we didn't Hey Reader, I almost didn’t edit this balloon photo. Not because it was perfect, but because it already felt right. The colors were there. The light was soft. The moment didn’t need saving… just guiding. So instead of pushing sliders, I made a few small, intentional adjustments in Lightroom, and recorded the entire process. 🎈 No over-saturation🎈 No heavy presets🎈 Just subtle edits that keep the photo honest If...

A quick rule I use while shooting on the road You didn’t miss the shot — you hesitated Hey there Reader 👋 Quick question — How many times have you almost taken a photo while traveling…and then the moment was gone? Or you second guess yourself and get impostor syndrome? That used to happen to me constantly. Not because I didn’t know my camera. Not because my settings were wrong. But because I hesitated. At some point, I realized most travel photos aren’t missed technically... they’re missed...

I took these during a snowstorm and you can't even tell Soooo winter photography is HARD Hey Reader, I spent this week photographing the ice castles (during that crazy historic winter storm, no less). I am the photography supervisor there and had some FUN! However, this meant sideways snow, brutal cold, and me standing in the dark with a tripod, a camera wrapped in a plastic bag with a hole cut out for the lens like some kind of feral winter photographer. Winter photography is not gentle....