Cecil Holmes Photography

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Cecil Holmes Photography Cecil Holmes Photography specializes in Landscape and Nature Photography

Little River, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Wide or tight?Same stretch of river, two lenses, two very different p...
10/19/2026

Little River, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Wide or tight?

Same stretch of river, two lenses, two very different photos. The wide frame shows you where you are. The tight one pulls out the small part that caught my eye. Gear: 17-28mm F2.8 and 70-180mm F2.8 on a Sony A9 II.

Swipe through for the settings.

Save this for your next creek walk, or send it to the friend who only ever shoots wide.

An osprey braking hard to land on its nest.Swipe through for the settings.Carter's Lake, Georgia, May 2015. It's an oldi...
10/16/2026

An osprey braking hard to land on its nest.

Swipe through for the settings.

Carter's Lake, Georgia, May 2015. It's an oldie, but still one of my favorites. That wide-open look is the osprey putting on the brakes, with its wings spread to catch air, its tail fanned, and its talons out for the landing. A fast shutter froze the wings, and I let ISO climb to hold it with the 150-600mm.

Save this for the next time you're set up on a nest. Landings happen fast, so keep the shutter fast and let ISO float.

10/14/2026

Sunrise at Scipio Creek Marina, Apalachicola, FL, edited start to finish in Lightroom.

The sky, the boats, and the water each got their own mask, so I could adjust each one on its own. Then I did a little cleanup, garbage can included. Which step do you usually start with?

10/09/2026

Sunstars look tricky, but the recipe is pretty simple. Stick around to the end for the payoff.

A couple of extras that didn't fit on screen: the smaller the sliver of sun peeking past the petals, the cleaner the star, so small moves of the camera make a big difference. And keep checking the back of the camera, because the flare changes every time you move.

Turning the hat backwards is optional, but I wouldn't risk it.

Nikon Z6 III and the 12-20mm f/2.8, sunflower field at sunset.

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I'm loving the sunstars I'm getting out of this new 12-20mm f/2.8.With today's gear, getting it sharp is the easy part....
10/08/2026

I'm loving the sunstars I'm getting out of this new 12-20mm f/2.8.

With today's gear, getting it sharp is the easy part. The fun is in the choices you make in the field. Here that meant getting low, putting one sunflower front and center, and parking the sun right on the tree line at f/16 so the star pops without blowing out the sky.

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EXIF: 1/8 · f/16 · ISO 100 · Nikon Z6 III · Tamron 12-20mm f/2.8 @ 12mm

Covered in pollen and still on the clock.Hubert Family Farms, New Market, AL. Soft light, a little working distance so I...
10/07/2026

Covered in pollen and still on the clock.

Hubert Family Farms, New Market, AL. Soft light, a little working distance so I don’t crowd the bee, and the yellow petals as a clean backdrop. Focus locked on the head and antennae with the 90mm macro.

EXIF: 1/30 · f/8 · ISO 1000 · Nikon Z6 III · Tamron 90mm f/2.8 @ 90mm



Overachiever.Everybody else in the row is still all leaves. This one opened anyway and caught the last of the light.EXIF...
10/05/2026

Overachiever.

Everybody else in the row is still all leaves. This one opened anyway and caught the last of the light.

EXIF: 1/30 · f/8 · ISO 1000 · Nikon Z6 III · Tamron 12-20mm f/2.8 @ 12mm



10/04/2026

A quick trip to Hubert Family Farms () in New Market, and the bees were already clocked in.

Sunset over a you-pick sunflower field at the foothills of the Appalachians. They’re better known for spring tulips, but fall is when they open the rows back up and let you walk right into the flowers. Close enough that you hear the bees before you see them.

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10/02/2026

Have you wondered how good the 12-20mm f/2.8 is at sunstars?

Field note: stop down, park the sun on a hard edge (petal works great), and don’t blow the highlights just to force the star. Golden hour in a sunflower field.

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EXIF: 1/30 · f/16 · ISO 100 · Nikon Z6 III · Tamron 12-20mm f/2.8 @ 12mm

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Huntsville, AL

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