Astrophotography is one of the few genres where gear can make a profound difference that is impossible to replicate without it. One of the most important tools — if not the most important tool — is the lens on the front of your camera.
If you want to photograph small things, you need to get close. For that, you can choose a macro lens. But there is an alternative that is much cheaper. Extension tubes transform any lens into a macro lens. But what is the better choice?
The latest event from Apple unveiled a number of interesting new products. One of these new products is AirTags. These small, circular devices offer the ability to locate keys, bags, wallets, and essentially anything they're attached to. Could they offer a new layer of security that can help prevent photographers from losing valuable equipment?
It is something that will happen to every photographer at some point or another: you are in the middle of a shoot, and your client simply hates the photos you are producing. So, what do you do at that point? This excellent video essay discusses how to handle this potentially sticky situation and leave both yourself and your client happy.
The new iMac is here, and of course, it’s sporting the fancy new M1 processor that’s inside everything Apple these days. That’s great news all around, but I have a feeling that Apple’s got something even bigger up its sleeve for the real creative set.
Portrait photographers generally use artificial light whenever they are working indoors, but window light can be a fantastic source of flattering natural light suitable for a portrait. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to set up and take a compelling portrait using window light and a reflector.
Sometimes, photoshoots go really smoothly, and sometimes, they do not go quite so smoothly. What was your most embarrassing mistake during a shoot?
The night sky offers stunning photographic opportunities for all sorts of genres, but with those comes an array of challenges that require some specialized skills. This helpful video tutorial discusses some of the most essential skills photographers need to have for night sky work.
Cameras in mobile phones continue to surprise and impress with every passing year. Here is a direct comparison of four of the most desirable phones right now when it comes to shooting video, with some interesting results.
Rob Cottle's remarkable wildlife photographs demonstrate his love for nature. Rob spoke about how new technology for capturing birds can help photographers starting out in the genre and more experienced photographers too.
Modern cameras and lenses have made it more possible than ever to take great photos even when there is very little available light. Still, it takes a lot of careful technique and awareness to get good photos. This excellent video tutorial discusses some of the most common mistakes photographers make when taking low-light images and how to avoid or correct them and get the best shots possible.
In recent years, technological advances in camera sensors have made it possible to capture incredible landscape images at night, but they still struggle to capture detail when the light is very low or nonexistent without introducing high amounts of noise to the image. This technique, known as "median stacking," will help reduce or even eliminate noise in your nightscape foregrounds, resulting in clean, detailed images that are ready for print or online scrutiny.
Although there is a huge variation in lens designs and capabilities, the fundamental mechanism of the modern lens is generally about the same. However, one distinctly different type of lens is the mirror lens, and this neat set of videos takes a look at them and how they perform in practice.
Samyang/Rokinon has announced its latest lens for Sony APS-C cameras: the rectilinear AF 12mm f/2 E, complete with autofocus and weather-sealing for shooting in challenging conditions.
Studying and understanding color helps us become better photographers. In the process, we may discover that some things we believe are true may not be.
People both outside of and inside the industry tend to romanticize the idea of being a professional photographer. But with pressure from technology and increased competition leading to low pay and more demand from clients, burnout is something that many of us either have or will experience in the future.
A photo retoucher and VICE have been subjected to strong criticism after it emerged that mugshots of victims of the Khmer Rouge regime were manipulated to make it appear as though they were smiling.
Sony just announced a lens that will get landscape photographers and astrophotographers excited: the 14mm f/1.8 GM. Check out this review from Gerald Undone and find out how it compares to the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM.
Money is a subject that is rarely discussed openly and that can be detrimental to anyone newly trying to make some as a creative. Here is an interesting and open discussion about the topic.
The standard procedure for photographing a meteor shower is to photograph as wide a swath of the night sky as possible all night long. With modern digital cameras, this usually means setting a camera to shoot 15-30 second exposures at around ISO 1,600, with a 2-5 second pause between frames, resulting in a night’s haul of more than a thousand frames! While this photography can be fully automated, allowing you to sleep overnight, the real work of finding the meteors in your shots starts in the morning! We’ve cast our fishing net out, and now, it’s time to haul it back in to see what we’ve found.
Learning how to set your camera and light your subjects often means dealing with objectively measurable quantities, but when it comes to posing, the more nebulous and subjective nature can make it far more difficult to master. Most tutorials focus on posing women, but of course, you will often photograph men as well. This great video tutorial will show you some helpful tips and methods for posing men.
CIPA recently released February shipment figures for the camera industry, which paint a picture of mixed fortunes and a complex path ahead for manufacturers. This generally looks to be positive news for Sony and Canon but is a warning for Nikon and Pentax.
We are often used to very lush, intricate, and multi-layered landscape photos with rich, vibrant colors. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but it is not the only way to create an image. At the other end of the spectrum is minimalist photography, and it comes with its own unique challenges. This excellent video tutorial will give you a wide variety of helpful tips to improve your minimalist photography and give you some ideas to try yourself.
Almost everyone has a cell phone these days and by extension, a phone camera. This means that anyone with a phone can create a decent enough image. To clarify, I’m not trying to debate whether someone is a “real photographer” or not. Instead, my intention is to persuade you to approach photography in a more considered and intentional way.
One of the most exciting things about moving into dedicated photo equipment is the ability to use more specialized focal lengths, with telephoto lenses being one of the best way to expand your creative options. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to use a telephoto lens and give you a variety of helpful tips for getting the best possible photos.
If you’ve bought a lens made by Samyang or Rokinon in the last couple of years, the company wants your feedback and is offering participants the chance to win a prize in return.
Tamron has announced its latest lens for Sony APS-C cameras: the ultra-wide 11-20mm f/2.8 Di III-A2 RXD — the first APS-C lens of its type to offer such a fast maximum aperture.
Tamron just announced a new ultra-telephoto lens with a massive zoom range: the 150-500mm f//5-6.7 Di III VC VXD for Sony full frame cameras.
We talk a ton about front-lighting and backlighting quite a bit, but of course, you do not always have to work with the sun directly behind you or in front of you. Side-lighting is another option, and it offers a powerful tool for bringing out the texture in your frame. This excellent video tutorial will show you how side-lighting can be used to highlight the texture in an image.
Photoshop is full of a variety of tools, and there are many different ways to accomplish the same task, some more time-consuming than others. One of the most powerful time-saving tools out there is Content Aware Fill. This excellent video tutorial will show you how the tool works and how to get the most out of it to make better photos.
Wedding photography is a high-stakes genre, with a lot of must-have shots for which you do not get a second chance. This excellent video tutorial discusses seven easily missed wedding photos and what you can do to make sure you get all the shots.
The concept of creating a mirrorless system is very similar in the case of all the camera manufacturers: get rid of the mirror and create a new lens mount closer to the sensor. What if there was another option to do it, arguably a better one?
By far, one of the most common retouching tasks you will undertake is whitening someone's teeth. Luckily, unlike some other editing requests, whitening teeth is a fairly straightforward and quick process. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to do it in Photoshop.
Recently, I got a chance to shoot with the new Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S and compare it to its little brother, the 50mm f/1.8 S to see which is the best fit for my camera bag.
The arrival of the Canon EOS R5 changed the landscape for those looking to by a high-end full frame hybrid camera, and changed even further after Sony’s release of the a1. How do you choose which one to buy?
President Biden brings sanctions against Russia for cyber-attacks. As cyber-attacks become ever more sophisticated, we photographers need to tighten our security and awareness of the risks, with twelve hints to keep you safe.
Venus Laowa, a lens manufacturer known for their off-beat collection of manual focus lenses has launched a series of free live stream events on its Facebook page called "Meeting Masters." For the rest of the year, the company will be hosting photographers from all over the world to cover various topics related to photography using Laowa's collection of lenses.
With a global pandemic precluding many from physically visiting places, you’d think that 360 cameras would move beyond niche status into the mainstream, as the immersive aspect can somewhat create an effect of being somewhere in-person. While that hasn’t really happened, maybe capturing those spaces in 12K 360 video will change that. At least that’s what Kandao is hoping for its new Obsidian Pro 360 camera.
Today, Apple announced a new vibrant series of iMacs, all powered by the M1 chip. With a 24" display and 11.5 mm in thickness, they are a departure from the established iMac design.
Polaroid has launched a new pocketable instant camera with its very own smaller film format.
The Sony a1 might just be the most impressive camera ever released, with specs and features that let it tackle just about any photo or video scenario you can throw at it, no matter how demanding. This excellent video review takes a look at the camera for both photo and video applications and the sort of output quality and performance you can expect from it in real-world usage.
For a lot of photographers, the 70-200mm f/2.8 is the most important lens in their bag, covering a huge range of scenarios and needs. However, such lenses are considered professional optics and are often quite expensive. However, the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD sits at about half the price of comparable options and still offers good performance and image quality, and this fantastic video review shows exactly what you can expect from it.
Landscapes can be tricky to get right, but that's even more the case when you find yourself in a less than magnificent location. One of the biggest issues with flat and uninspiring vistas is composition becomes more difficult and this is where foregrounds play an important role.
Myra Holt is a fine art photographer and educator currently based in Kansas City. Her work explores a range of concepts, but they all stem from the broader idea of connection to places, people, and nature. I spent a morning chatting with her to learn more about two of her bodies of work and what advice she has for newer photographers wanting to create photographic series.
A master color grader can take forgettable footage and make it memorable; they can set the mood and feel of a scene, add or remove drama, and introduce themes. So, if you're a videographer, it's a great skill to work on.
The vast majority of fashion photographers have worked with nude models. A smaller minority work only with nude models. As a fashion photographer, I am often asked if I shoot nude models. While I find the question silly, it’s important to understand that nude photography is absolutely not fashion photography.
There are two fundamental types of lenses: zoom and prime. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is important to understand them before you make your next purchase. This helpful video will teach you the differences between prime and zoom lenses and help you decide which is right for your work.
World-renowned travel and landscape photographer Elia Locardi has teamed up with Skylum Global to bring you a creative editing challenge, editing Elia's images.
It's not too often you associate a supertelephoto lens with variable neutral density filters, but I stuck a NiSi 5-9 stop variable ND filter on the end of my Canon RF 800mm lens and got some unique, creative results I loved.
Sony has just announced its widest full frame prime to date: the 14mm f/1.8 G Master lens. Surprisingly compact and lightweight, it seems ideal for astrophotography, landscape photography, interiors, and more.
