This is undoubtedly a crazy time for photographers. There's no work, and we can't stretch our creative muscles as often as we're used to. How are the pros coping? Many pro photographers are using their photography skills to create something they'd never normally have time to do, and the results are remarkable.
Most people are spending so much time on social media during the world-wide lockdowns and it has been such a polarizing topic if marketing efforts should cease for such non-essential products.
With landscape and travel photography, you might only have one chance at the shot, regardless of the quality of light. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through how I edited a blue hour shot of the Virgin River in Zion National Park, using ACDSee Photo Studio and targeted adjustments.
Since 2004, Lensbaby has been an industry innovator, designing outside-the-box creative lenses and accessories. While other manufacturers chase the expensive, high-tech, spec-fixated market, Lensbaby pursues something entirely different: helping artists find a new creative approach through unique effects delivered by fully analog products.
For some beginners — and maybe for some, more advanced enthusiasts — the concepts of color temperature and white balance might be a little confusing. This video, from professional photographer, Omar Gonzales, goes a long way to shedding some light on the subject.
Freelancers, we're no different than anyone else suffering because of the pandemic and associated economic setbacks. Maybe that's not correct, because we've probably become more resilient to uncertainty just by our job description alone. Lucky for us, some brands are paying attention and doing what they can do soften the hit. This is how I received three months free from Adobe Creative Cloud.
Voigtlander has announced the launch of three new “SE” — Still Edition — lenses for Sony full-frame cameras: 35mm f/1.2, 40mm f/1.2, and 50mm f/1.2. These metal-bodied prime lenses are intended specifically for stills photographers.
The wide angle lens is probably the most common tool in any landscape photographer's bag, but it comes with its own unique set of challenges and pitfalls. If you are having trouble creating compelling landscape images with your wide angle lens, this great video discusses three common mistakes and what you can do to correct them.
Huawei has a long history of using DSLR images and passing them off as having been taken by their smartphones. The company has been caught again, this time using photos taken on a top of the line Nikon and pretending they were shot by a smartphone.
The 40mm focal length has become a bit more popular the last few years, sitting between the classic 35mm and 50mm options. If you are looking for a unique focal length, check out this review of the Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 lens for Sony E mount cameras.
Filming a movie can quickly become a very pricey endeavor, and that can be frustrating if you do not have a huge budget but still want to create something. If you are interested in shooting your own film, this great video will give you lots of helpful tips for filming a movie with little or no budget.
When done right, black and white photos can be quite powerful, drawing the viewer in with their dramatic play between light and shadow. This excellent video will give you some helpful tips and advice for better black and white landscape photos.
Tonight marks the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower, with plenty of meteors visible from mid to late April each year, so get your camera ready and learn how to capture them in all their glory.
You can have all the creative and technical talent in the world, but if you want to be successful as a photographer, it is crucial that your business abilities be sharp as well. This great video will give you four tips for landing more photography jobs.
Samyang recently announced their new 75mm f/1.8 autofocus lens for Sony E mount cameras, and it looks to be a fantastic portrait lens for photographers who want to travel light. This great video takes a first look at the lens and what you can expect from it.
You don't need a model to practice your portraiture; you'll do just fine yourself! Here are some more ideas on creative and unusual self-portraits for you to try.
Here is a simple tutorial on how to turn your outdoor photos into minimalist landscapes.
There are many things that can make or break your photography. But if you can identify the difference between these two things, and use them both to your advantage, then all facets of your photography will continue to develop exponentially.
This past weekend marked ten years of me being a full-time professional photographer. There have been ups and downs since 2010, to be sure, but I’ve learned a few things along the way.
Many photographers are dealing with stress and worrying which leads us to be up all night. During the last recession Brett Missick turned his insomnia into a lifelong project.
Yesterday, Canon swapped the Cripple Hammer for the Tickle Spanner: the EOS R5 is going to be a game-changer. With price and sensor size unknown, there are still some major questions waiting to be answered, and while it’s a dream for many videographers, some photographers might yet be a little frustrated.
The Rode Wirelss GO Compact Digital Wireless microphones have been a bit of a game-changer when it comes to ease of recording audio. This short video gives you ten excellent ideas of how to make the most from this very affordable piece of gear.
Mood is not as easily definable as it is in genres that involve a living subject displaying emotions for the viewer to see, but it is still possible to convey feelings in a landscape image with just as much power as something like a portrait. This great video discusses the process of adding mood to landscape images.
With confirmed COVID-19 cases across over 70 Amazon sites, the company has begun implementing thermal camera technology to quicker detect any potential virus cases among its employees.
Some things involving esoteric and expensive gear we do because they help us bring our creative visions to fruition or enable new technical capabilities that can improve the quality or efficiency of our work. Some things we do just because we can. This video is about the latter.
The Panasonic S1H is already quite the powerhouse camera, with impressive specs that should satisfy the needs of lots of filmmakers and videographers. Panasonic is increasing the camera's capabilities all the more with the release of firmware 2.0, which will enable 5.9K raw video output over HDMI.
There is a lot of noise in photography, and I am not talking about the sort that appears in your images at higher ISOs. Rather, there are a lot of things in the industry that simply do not matter when it comes to making images, running a business, or simply enjoying the experience and thrill of taking a photograph and seeing it come to life before your eyes. This great video discusses some of the things we should worry about a bit less in photography and reminds us of what really matters.
One of the things I love most about photography is its rich history of innovation and quirkiness, with a vast range of cameras and lenses with unique designs having come and gone throughout the years. If you would like to take a trip down memory lane (or you need a manual for that old camera sitting on your shelf), this fantastic site features a wide range of camera and lens manuals and sales brochures from about 120 different brands across decades of history.
It is generally accepted that phone photos are fine for sharing on the web or on Instagram, but for larger applications, you need a dedicated camera. But with modern phones making great leaps in image quality, you might wonder if you can actually get acceptable or even good larger prints from a phone image. This great video examines the sort of print quality you can expect from images shot on a modern smartphone.
If you are someone who frequently finds themselves coming home with large collections of very similar images, batch editing can save you loads of time and help you ensure more consistency in your edits. This excellent video will show you the power of batch editing in Lightroom.
Stuck at home and running out of photo ideas and new episodes of “Tiger King?” Why not accept a fun new social media challenge to try your hand at celebrity portraiture.
Adobe Premiere Pro is a tremendously intricate and powerful program with a vast range of features and effects for improving your video footage and realizing your creative ideas. This excellent video will show you every single effect in the application and how it affects the look of your footage in just six minutes.
We all know about Luminar. The post-processing software from the company Skylum is quite popular amongst a lot of amateur photographers. Perhaps professional photographers also. It is said to be an alternative for Lightroom, but I don’t agree.
Canon has announced its latest cinema camera, the EOS C300 Mark III, featuring a Super 35 Dual Gain Output sensor that shoots 4K 120p. Alongside is a versatile new lens: the CINE-SERVO 25-250mm T2.95 Cinema Zoom Lens, in both EF and PL mounts.
The Canon EOS R5 is confirmed to shoot 8K raw video footage, with dual card slots, one CFexpress and one SD UHS-II, and five stops of in-body image stabilization (IBIS) that works in combination with the IS in RF lenses.
Adobe introduced the Range Mask to Lightroom Classic a few years ago, and it’s a useful means for targeting an adjustment when the local tools — Adjustment Brush, Gradient Filter, and Radial Filter — are simply too clumsy. If you want a deeper understanding of how it functions in relation to Luminance, read on.
Venus Optics has announced the launch of the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO Lens for Canon RF and Nikon Z mounts.
The first time you do anything, you’re bound to do it poorly. The first time I shot football, I thought a 1/200 s shutter speed would be perfectly fine to stop action. The first time I shot portraits, I thought my f/1.6 photos were perfectly sharp (they were not even close). And the first time I flew a drone was a catastrophe worse than both of those experiences.
There's no denying that, as photographers, we are living through unprecedented times. No one truly knows what we should be doing or how the next few months will pan out. One big question that keeps coming up is this: should we still be reaching out to brands, magazines, and agencies we'd like to shoot for?
Shooting while tethered is probably the best way for many photographers. It's obviously not ideal for certain kinds of photography, like events and weddings; however, for those that shoot on a tripod, being tethered to a larger screen can make all the difference.
In this informal interview, the famous cinematographer Roger Deakins shares some of his life story, how he works together with his wife, and lots of interesting details on films he has worked on. You will also see why he doesn't really support the way most modern Hollywood films are shot.
We're all at home now, strategizing what we're going to do once it all ends. Here is a platform where you can sell vouchers and have the money reflecting in your account. And it's free.
Samyang/Rokinon has announced the launch of a new 75mm f/1.8 autofocus lens for Sony full-frame cameras. It weighs a mere 8 oz (230 g), and this prime has another interesting feature that will make you wonder why it’s not been done before.
Recreating classic portraits can be both a fun creative exercise and a great way to sharpen your technical skills. This awesome video will take you behind the scenes of recreating a classic Audrey Hepburn portrait and adding a modern twist.
Artificial lighting can be a lot to try to learn when you are new to the subject, with a wide variety of tools, setups, rules, and techniques to get down. One of the most useful tools is the grid, and this excellent video will introduce you to how they work and when you should consider using them for your own work.
Landscape photography composition can be a subtle and tricky thing, but it is one of the most crucial aspects of any successful image. If you have trouble with your own landscape compositions, this helpful video will give you five rules to help you improve as well as advice on when you can afford to break them.
When you think of shooting with a modern mirrorless medium format camera, it is probably a safe assumption that you imagine pairing it with an equally top of the line lens. However, half the fun of mirrorless cameras is that you can adapt thousands of lenses to them. So, why not stick an $8 vintage lens on it and see what happens?
Professional lenses generally top out around 10x zoom ranges. However, certain bridge cameras have wider zoom ranges, with some pushing extreme ratios like 100x. This great video review takes a look at one such camera with a crazy 83x zoom range of 24-2,000mm, the Nikon Coolpix P950.
Photographers directing virtual photoshoots through video calls has become the new trend, since lockdown laws were enforced throughout the world. However, one photographer has gone a step further and has managed to produce what may just be the first ever wet plate portrait taken over a live stream, through video call app Zoom.
Are you catching up on your editing backlog? Before you start doing any work on your next gallery, take a look at these tips for creating the best possible result in your post-processing.
