Jeff Cable's Blog

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

These are NOT my photos from Costa Rica!

Today's post doesn't feature any of my own photographs. Instead, I'm excited to share images captured by guests on my recent photography tour to Costa Rica.

This isn't the first time I've showcased their work, but I wanted to do it again because their images deserve to be seen. They are a wonderful reminder of what can be accomplished with a little guidance, the right environment, and a willingness to learn.

The photographs below were all taken by non-professional photographers during one of my tours. I hope they inspire you and demonstrate that with the right instruction and encouragement, anyone can capture incredible images.

This awesome from Bret show a very large Humpback whale at the beginning of a full breach. (Photo credit: Bret B)

From big creatures to small ones. (Photo credit: Bret B)

It is not easy to photograph the Scarlet Macaw in flight, but this tight shot really shows the beauty of this bird. (Photo credit: Bret B)

Capturing a dolphin fully out of thr water is difficult...capturing two is even harder! (Photo credit: Bruce S)

This was not a composite, Bruce actually captured this moment and had the perfect settings to get both subjects in focus. (Photo credit: Bruce S)

I love that Colleen saw this and captured some very different. (Photo credit: Colleen C)

This spotted dolphin was right next to the boat and Colleen managed to get the shot, even that close. It was SO close that she missed the end of the snout, but we managed to fix that using AI. (Photo credit: Colleen C)

Beautiful... (Photo credit: Colleen C)

Another beautiful foliage shot from the rain forest. (Photo credit: Colleen C)

We love finding owls in the rain forest. (Photo credit: Colleen C)

Even the Dragonflies are beautiful in Costa Rica. (Photo credit: Don M)

You might think that this is an owl, but it is actually a Stick Bird. (Photo credit: Don M)

Don locked in on this Grasshopper, really showing the intricate details of the face of this insect. (Photo credit: Don M)

A great pose from this treefrog. (Photo credit: Don M)

This Toucan was captured on the last day of the trip, and is now the watch face on Don's Apple Watch. (Photo credit: Don M)

I love this photo of a Spoonbill in flight. Perfect light under the wings. (Photo credit: Don W)

Look at the height of this dolphin jump! (Photo credit: Don W)

Another great snake and bug shot. (Photo credit: Don W)

A White-faced monkey protecting his territory. (Photo credit: George L)

A Squirrel monkey looking cuter than ever. (Photo credit: George L)

It is tough to capture these VERY small frogs, but George did a great shot. (Photo credit: George L)

This is an awesome shot with so many dolphins in one photo. (Photo credit: George L)

An Iguana emerging from the leaves. (Photo credit: Gina W)

A great frog shot, with the yellow hands in perfect position. (Photo credit: Gina W)

Another great frog shot. (Photo credit: Gina W)

Our Crocodile friend made a couple of appearances. (Photo credit: Gina W)

The Red-eyed tree frogs are always a favorite for my guests. (Photo credit: Joe M)

We had numerous Sloth sightings, and Joe grabbed this nice shot of a Three-toed sloth. (Photo credit: Joe M)

This is a nice portrait of a Squirrel monkey. (Photo credit: Joe M)

I encouraged everyone to get tight shots of the crocodile's eye. Mark nailed that one. (Photo credit: Mark H)

He also got the snake with it's tongue out. (Photo credit: Mark H)

A Helmet lizard posing for us. (Photo credit: Mark H)

Most vultures are not very photogenic, but the King Vulture definitely is. (Photo credit: Mark H)

Mark took this really nice shot of a butterfly in the perfect setting. (Photo credit: Mark H)

Two Red-eyed tree frogs in one shot. Nice! (Photo credit: Mark H)

This is a really great shot with the dolphin jumping out of the water, with the Costa Rican landscape in the background. (Photo credit: Tracy I)

A nice shot of a juvenile iguana. (Photo credit: Tracy I)

We saw many Howler monkeys, like this one in a tree. (Photo credit: Tracy I)

Getting a nice shot of a White-faced monkey is great, but getting the baby is even better! (Photo credit: Tracy I)

These images are proof that you don't have to be a professional photographer to create extraordinary photographs. With personalized instruction, incredible wildlife and landscapes, and plenty of opportunities to learn, my guests consistently return home with images they're proud to display—and memories they'll treasure for a lifetime.

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

• Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Costa Rica, Peru, Galapagos, Africa, Iceland and more.

• If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.

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Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Canon's firmware update (1.3) adds a BIG NEW addition to the R1 and R5 Mark II cameras!

Before the Summer Olympics in Paris, when Canon first let me play with the pre-production R1 and R5 Mark II, I was fascinated by certain features. The one that interested me the most was the "Pre-continuous shooting" where the camera could go back half a second and capture images even if I was late hitting the shutter button. I really felt that this was a game changing feature for sports and wildlife photography. BUT as cool as this feature was, there was one thing definitely missing!

I sat through an instruction class on the new cameras and they explained how to use the new features. I took the cameras out for a spin and even captured a lightning strike with the Pre-continuos shooting turned on. I loved it! I also knew that I would not want to shoot with Pre-continuos turned on all the time since it added A LOT more photos onto the memory card. The first thing I wanted to do was to define one of the buttons on the camera to toggle this feature on and off. I was shocked that it could not be done.

Myself and a couple of the other sports photographers who were at the pre-production training all asked for this ability. Without this, we would have to go into the menus of the camera and toggle the feature on and off. In many situations, this meant that we would likely miss the key shot while we were fiddling with the menus. We figured that it would be a simple firmware update to add this. But more than a year had passed and nothing, UNTIL the latest firmware release.

About a month ago, Canon announced firmware version 1.3.1 for the R5 Mark II and 1.3.0 for the Canon R1. The release notes look like this (for the R5 MKII):

Adds [American Football] in [Action Priority] to optimize human subject detection for individuals wearing helmets and shoulder pads.
*For an overview and instructions on using [Action Priority], please refer to the Instruction Manual or the AF Settings Guide.
Improves tracking and detection performance for [Register people priority] in challenging conditions—including profile views, blurred or partially obscured faces, small subjects in the frame, and children—even when the feature is set to [Off].
*Performing a firmware update will delete registered data stored in the camera. If necessary, save the data in advance using [Save/load registered data on card], and reload it after the firmware update. For details, please refer to the Instruction Manual.
Adds the ability to set [AF for close-up demos] during movie recording in [Movie manual exp.], [Movie auto exposure], and other Creative Zone modes to allow for its use in combination with exposure and AF area settings.
Adds [Wi‑Fi freq. band] to [Communication Settings], allowing the user to select the 5 GHz or 2.4 G Hz band when transferring from Bluetooth to Wi-Fi.
Adds [No. of connections] to [FTP transfer settings], allowing the user to select the number of transfer threads for [FTP transfer].
Adds the ability to store up to four [Color temp] values in [White balance setting] and to assign [Switch color temperature] to [Customize buttons for shooting].
Adds the ability to set [False Color Settings] to [On] when [HDR/C.Log View Assist] is selected.
Adds the ability to assign [Pre‑continuous Shooting] to [Customize buttons for shooting].
Adds the ability to transfer AF-related settings between cameras of the same model by adding [Save to card] and [Load from card] to [Register/recall AF‑related settings].
Adds the ability to display the electronic level during movie recording.
Adds the option for grid display during movie recording.
Adds the ability to display playback screens and menu screens when outputting to two screens via [HDMI Display During Connection].
Adds the ability to switch the group settings of a receiver camera from the sender camera when using the EOS Multi-Remote app.
Adds support for DPRAW shooting.
Adds support for the Software Development Assistance Kit (EDSDK/CCAPI).
Fixes an issue that may cause Err49 to be displayed repeatedly during communication with an SFTP server.
Fixes an issue that may impact the camera's shooting ability if the auto power- off function is activated during interval timer shooting.
Fixes an issue that may cause the camera to restart when the shutter button is pressed while deleting images.
Fixes an issue that may cause the camera to not be recognized when connected to a smartphone via USB.
Improves other system stability.

I read the first part of the list, and was excited to see that they added American Football to the subject detection, and improved the focus tracking. As I read further down the list, I started seeing things that were less exciting to me UNTIL I saw #8. They finally added the ability to assign Pre-continuous shooting to a button. I could not wait to try this out!

While leading two photo tours to the rain forest of Costa Rica last month, I had a chance to put this new firmware to the test, mainly playing with feature #8 (on this list).

After some trial and error I decided to put the Pre-continuos shooting on the light button at the top of each camera. I chose that button for 3 reasons:

1. I rarely ever use the button.

2. It is conveniently located near my index finger for quickly toggling the feature on and off.

3. Both the Canon R5 Mark II and Canon R1 have that button in the same spot. This helps for muscle memory, being able to toggle the feature on and off from the same location of both cameras.

After updating your camera to the latest firmware, you can go to the "customize buttons for shooting" menu and you will see "Pre-cont. shooting" as an option.

As I mentioned, I chose to set mine to the light button since I rarely ever use it.

This worked so well in Costa Rica that I started changing other people's cameras to this same setup.

Here are some examples of where I used Pre-continuous shooting to get photos I would normally not have been able to capture.

While on our dolphin tour in Costa Rica, I used Pre-continuous shooting to get the dolphins jumping out of the water. I would hold my shutter button halfway down and wait to see if the dolphins would jump clear of the water and then shoot if I saw a great moment.

Also in Costa Rica, last year I used the Pre-continuous shooting on this Fiery-billed aracari. We saw this bird sitting in a tree, and waited for it to fly. As soon as I saw it take off, I pressed the shutter button to capture every frame I could get of this bird in flight.

In Alaska, we were watching this juvenile Bald eagle that was sitting on a rock. Myself and another photo tour guest switched into Pre-continuous shooting mode and waited for the take off. Without that feature, I would have likely missed this image.

This is probably the best example of Pre-continuous shooting. On my last trip to the Galapagos, myself and my guests were photographing the Water iguanas. They periodically "sneeze" out the salt that they have licked from the nearby rocks. Trying to capture this would be darn near impossible without Pre-continuous shooting. But with the feature turned on, we could wait for the "sneeze" and then hit the shutter button, capturing this rarely seen event over and over!

The feature is incredibly powerful and now more accessible then ever. Thank you Canon - a little late, but I am thankful you made the update!

Updating your camera is a very easy thing to do, and totally worth it, for this one feature alone!

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

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Tuesday, July 14, 2026

You're Invited: Celebrate the Opening of the Jeff Cable Gallery at Allure Interiors

I’m excited to announce that a collection of my fine art photography is now on display and available for purchase at Allure Interiors in Dublin, California.

Allure Interiors is known for helping homeowners throughout the San Francisco Bay Area create beautiful, inviting living spaces with thoughtfully curated furniture, décor, and artwork. I'm honored that my photography has been selected to become part of their showroom.

To celebrate the opening of the Jeff Cable Gallery at Allure Interiors, we’re hosting a Wine & Cheese Reception on Sunday July 26 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Allure is located at 6694 Amador Plaza in Dublin, CA and everyone is invited!

Please stop by to enjoy some wine and cheese, explore my latest collection of museum-quality fine art photography, and chat with me about the stories behind the images. Whether you're looking for a statement piece for your home or office, or simply want to spend an enjoyable afternoon surrounded by beautiful art and furniture, I'd love to see you there.

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

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Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Podcast Interview on "Beyond the Lens" with Richard Bernabe

Before I left for almost a month in Costa Rica and Richard Bernabe left for the same amount of time in Botswana, we sat down together and he interviewed me for his "Beyond the Lens" podcast. He asked me some very unique questions, and I really enjoyed talking about how I got started in this business. The first part of the interview is about my relationship with Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Computer, and how he influenced my career in photography.

You can check out the interview in any of the following places:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-lens-with-richard-bernabe/id1613598927?i=1000773987052

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wdXpdjbeRfzmCRDopLtAo?si=3fc17120937d4060

Website: https://beyondthelens.fm/2026/07/02/episode-119-jeff-cable/

I hope you enjoy listening to this.

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• Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!

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Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Time for a REBRANDING of Jeff Cable Photography

If you have been following Jeff Cable Photography here on the blog or other places for a long time, you are likely familiar with the logo below.

I have been using that logo for about 20 years now, and I felt that it was time for an update. I was getting tired of the tripod in the middle. For me, it came across as dated. The challenge was to figure out what that refresh would look like. After a lot of thought and some help from AI, I have come up with a new look for the company.

The new logo replaces the tripod with a gold medal, which has many meanings for me. As well as being an award winning photographer, I have covered 9 Olympics for Team USA and many people know me for this. I figured that some kind of Olympic reference was needed. I could not use the Olympic Rings since they are heavily trademarked, but the gold medal implied this in a more subtle way.

The red, white, and blue ribbons represent the USA, and of course, the aperture inside the medal represents my photography.

I have updated my website, social media, watermarks and any other place where the logo exists. Now it is time to order new hats, shirts, and lens cleaning cloths.