Buying a macro lens is useful for a lot of photographers in a number of different genres, however, it's a difficult purchase to justify if you do not do much macro photography specifically. If it had some other purposes it would be a more palatable purchase, and if you take any portraits, it does have.
Now and again, we all get the desire to buy new kit; it’s only to be expected with the way new tech is marketed, combined with our desire to improve our craft. Do you need that new piece of equipment? Is it time to jump from a cropped sensor to a full frame? Should you move from DSLR to mirrorless? Will it improve your photography?
How can you turn a corner of your home into a pleasant video background? Here are the basics of creating a better background and lighting setup for your videos, vlogs, and calls.
For any landscape photographer who prioritizes getting the money shot over serendipitously stumbling on a picturesque scene, using apps to predict the weather and to visualize an image is a foundational aspect of their workflow. While there are some incredibly useful apps out there, there isn't much that could beat being able to virtually travel to a location and time.
Buying a new camera when photography is your hobby is a pretty straightforward decision. If you want it and you can afford it, go and buy it. However, once it becomes your profession, it can be a tad more complicated.
You've probably seen the photos featuring a landscape with an intense red sky. There is a simple but effective way of achieving such a photo even when the colors are only a small band at the horizon.
Sigma fans have multiple options at the 24mm focal length, both offering the traditional Sigma blend of image quality and prices that undercut first-party options. The 24mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary and the 24mm f/3.5 DG DN Contemporary offer different user experiences depending on your priorities, and this excellent video comparison will help you choose which is right for you.
When it comes to landscape photography, the sky is a crucial part of almost every image and something that you will spend a good proportion of time working on in post. If you are looking to improve your sky edits a bit, this helpful video tutorial will show you both how to isolate and process them in Photoshop.
Nikon quietly — or maybe not so quietly given the press — announced the demise of the innocuously named Coolpix B600, a product name that just trips off the tongue and screams cheap and cheerful. What is startling about this camera is that it only hit the market in December 2020. Some eight months later it has bitten the dust. Why is this and what does it say about the camera market?
The Sony a7R IV has the highest resolution of any full frame camera ever, combined with a range of advanced features and capabilities, making it an intriguing option for landscape, portrait, and architectural photographers or anyone looking for a ton of detail in their images. If you have been considering the camera for your own work, check out this great video review that takes a look at how it holds up after a few years of usage.
Editing video can be a cumbersome and drawn-out task depending on the type of shoot. However, there are always ways to smooth out and streamline your workflow that can make a world of difference. Here are 10 tips from a professional filmmaker.
As an educator working in the college sector, I find this topic incredibly interesting. There is so much information out there that we can digest. So, what's the way forward?
Multiple reports describe that the newly announced GoPro HERO 10 camera overheats after just 20 minutes of recording. Overheating seems to occur in both high resolutions 5K capture modes and even in lower resolutions of 4K and 2K capture modes. This could prove to be a major problem if it cannot be fixed through a firmware upgrade.
Apple's iPad line, particularly the iPad Pro, is more powerful than ever and features fantastic displays paired with useful accessories for creatives on the go, making them a more viable solution for post-processing work than ever before. If you are thinking of editing your photos on your iPad and wondering where to start, this great video will show you three editing applications and discuss their pros and cons to get you up and running in no time.
For the longest time, my favorite lens on any camera system was a 35mm wide-aperture prime. The focal length forced me to get "in the action" for impactful portraits, yet it was wide enough to capture wide angle scenes. But a new lens has recently won my heart and assumed the top spot in my kit. In this video and article, I'll be walking through a photoshoot while demonstrating why the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 lens is my favorite lens of all time.
Wedding photography is a highly challenging genre, requiring the ability to put your creativity and technical skills to the test in a variety of quickly evolving scenarios, all with no second chances. As such, when you are new to it, it can feel a bit overwhelming to all take in. However, this helpful video tutorial offers some great advice that will get you on the right track.
Most of us do not particularly enjoy being out in the rain, especially with expensive camera equipment, but enduring the elements can bring about magical moments if you are willing to put in the time and effort. The neat video follows a photographer as bad weather rolls in and shows the interesting images he was able to create.
While there are dozens of options for filters, covering different effects, sizes, and manufacturers, I’ve found that I only need a few key filters for a landscape shoot. I like to use neutral density filters and circular polarizers, both of which are impactful and less easy to replicate in software. Haida’s NanoPro line has delivered great results in my past experience — can their magnetic filter line deliver the same quality?
Learning artificial lighting is something that strikes fear in the heart of a lot of photographers, but it does not have to be a scary, unknown thing. If you are new to working with off-camera flash, this helpful video tutorial will get you up and running in no time.
As secondary lens manufacturers keep cropping up, they appear to be racing each other to who can make the most impressive lens with the lowest price tag. This is a race I can get on board with.
26-year-old Constantin Schiller was one of very few lucky photographers to trial the newly released Nikon Z fc. Fittingly for him, the new Nikon Z fc was shaped like the FM2 camera of the 1980s, very similar to the FE2 Schiller grew up using. Here, he shares and talks through his experience of the new Nikon camera, including a photo trip to Japan.
Strobes are at the core of any serious studio photographer's kit, mainly because they're cheap and powerful. However, as you can see from this video, constant LED lights are catching up fast and are now a real option for anyone looking to try something different with their portrait work.
With all the sharpening techniques available to you in Photoshop, sometimes, it can be hard to find the right one for you to use. And I am always amazed when someone finds a new way of doing something that we all thought we understood.
Photographers that have true originality in concept and style are few. But Anna Isabella Christensen’s photographs show just that. We discussed her photographic adventure in Iceland, where she took self-portraits to a new level.
One of the Canon EOS R5's headline features was its 8K raw video capabilities, but with all that video horsepower came the caveat of issues with overheating, some of which could be a hindrance in professional environments. So, has the EOS R3 solved those issues, or will filmmakers need to tailor the workflows around keeping the camera cool? This great video puts the new camera through a stress test to find out.
Landscape photography is a tricky genre in which to make money, as unlike most other genres, there is rarely a direct relationship in which a client pays you for a specific brief. As such, making money with it can be a bit trickier than in other cases. This great video tutorial will give you three ideas to make some money with your work.
The new iPhone 13 models are here. Let's take a deeper look into the photo and video features of each phone.
It is easy to get hung up on the artistic side of photography and forget about how significant the craft is in the sciences. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a camera so minuscule that it allows the observation of chemical reactions in real-time.
A great deal of ink is spilled on these interwebs talking about the latest in photography gear and what you should or should not buy. But photography means more than just technology.
In the mid-2000s, compact cameras were all the rage. Everybody had one, and they were all pretty much the same — small sensors and lackluster features. I’ve lost count of how many Canon PowerShot ELPH cameras I’ve owned that fit this mold.
Adobe Photoshop has had so many features added in the last few years that it's easy to miss some that could be helpful to your work. The Puppet Warp tool is one that I regularly forget exists, but for compositing and more artistic post-production, it can be superb.
There is so much to think about and keep track of in photography, even more so if it is your career. As such, it can be easy to get caught up thinking about the wrong thing or focusing too much on something at the expense of another. It is important to remember what really matters at the end of the day, and this worthwhile video discusses that.
It used to be that if you wanted to do serious color grading, you needed to head over to Photoshop, but in recent iterations, Lightroom has gained some easy-to-use and powerful color grading tools that make it easy to accomplish what you need right there. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to use Lightroom's color grading tools to create better images.
Tamron's holy trinity of f/2.8 zoom lenses has been a runaway hit for the company, offering smart compromises that bring professional-level quality and performance at prices that significantly undercut those of first-party options. The 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD is the longest of the trio, offering a versatile focal length range and wide maximum aperture suitable for a wide range of scenarios. This great video review discusses how it holds up after a year of usage.
Fujifilm has made medium format remarkably affordable compared to the past, bringing it within the realm of full frame prices and making it a viable alternative for many photographers. If you are interested in getting into the system, both the GFX 50S and GFX 50S II are fantastic options at different price levels, and this great video will help you choose which is right for you.
Yongnuo is well known for making highly affordable speedlights, but in the last few years, the company has branched out into manufacturing lenses that follow in that budget-friendly tradition. One such lens is the YN35mm f/2R DF DSM lens, and this excellent video review takes a look at how it performs in the real world.
If you're new to photography and want to dip your toe in the waters of flash, you could be forgiven for not knowing where to start. There are speedlites ranging from cheap through to expensive by anyone's standards, and it can be difficult to delineate which option is the best value. Here is one photographer's answer to the best low-cost speedlite.
Fujifilm has lowered the bar of entry to digital medium format cameras significantly, allowing many to enjoy the larger sensor size without having to spend the price of a new car. However, Hasselblad has options that are now in line with higher-end full frame cameras, so how do they compare?
When most people think of Leica cameras, they think of their iconic rangefinders and associated lenses, but the company actually maintains several different camera systems. If you are interested in the Leica aesthetic and experience but are not sure which one is right for you, this excellent video review goes over three distinct full frame options and their differences, pros, and cons.
Hop on Instagram, and you will probably get the impression that landscape photography is the sort of thing where you travel from epic place to place, enjoying jaw-dropping views and beautiful weather. The reality is far from that, though, and you can get a greater appreciation for the process by seeing what really happens behind the social media posts, and this awesome video will show you just that.
The season of colorful leaves and pumpkin spice everything is upon us, and just like those orange coffee drinks, the vibrant foliage of fall is a fleeting presence. Are you and your camera ready for it? The time to prepare for autumn photography is now.
The Canon EOS R3 is finally here, and it offers some jaw-dropping specs that are sure to have a lot of photographers and filmmakers salivating. How does it hold up in real-world usage? This excellent video review takes a look at the new camera and discusses how it performs.
When it comes to landscape photography, a wide angle lens is most often the tool chosen for a given scene, simply because most scenes have a lot to take in. However, wide angle lenses come with their own unique challenges and pitfalls. This great video tutorial will show you five helpful tips for improving your landscape images when working with a wide angle lens.
Most drones are pretty simple when it comes down to it: a flying device with a camera attached. Accessories are not really that common in the drone world besides basic things like propeller guards. However, one DJI drone system comes with some bizarre accessories, and this neat video takes a look at them, what they are useful for, and how well they work.
Astrophotography is one of the most rewarding but complex genres of photography. There are a lot of steps that go into creating a great image of the night sky and Milky Way, and what better way to learn than to watch somebody do it from start to finish.
A free piece of software that looks and runs like Photoshop sounds too good to be true, right? Here's what you need to know about this potential "Photoshop killer".
In this video, compare the Nikon Z 5 with a kit lens to the Nikon Z 7 with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 for print results. Is there as much difference as you would think, or would you be happy with the entry-level camera and the kit lens?
The majority of photographers simply take their pictures, pop out the memory card, and import their images into their computer. If you are working in a studio, however, tethering can be a real improvement to your workflow, and this great video tutorial will show you why and help you troubleshoot common tethering issues in Lightroom and Capture One.
For the longest time, digitizing film was both the best and worst part of being a film photographer. In walks pixl-latr, and the world of digitization is forever different.
It takes more than a wide aperture and the right focal length to make a good astrophotography lens. Sigma's 40mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens offers a slightly longer but still reasonable focal length paired with that wide aperture, making it a potentially useful candidate for astro work. This great video review takes a look at the lens from an astrophotographer's perspective and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it.
