Recent Opinion Articles

The Problem With Lightroom Presets

Lightroom presets come with a mixed bag of acceptance. Some think they are an abomination to a learned skill and craft and should never be used, whereas others enjoy the look and feel they provide to their images. It's not just as black and white as that, and it's down to the individual whether to use them or not, but one thing to make no mistake about is the time it takes to create them.

The Demise of Olympus: How and Why Did It Happen, and What Does the Future Hold?

Olympus was once the doyen of the photographic industry, with the OM range beloved for its svelte lines and high-quality manufacturing. Revitalized by mirrorless in the digital era through its collaboration with Panasonic, their OM-D range is iconic. So, why were they bought by the private equity fund Japan Industrial Partners — specialists in restructuring — and what are the portents for the future?

Do You Need a Medium Format Camera?

The shift to medium format photography can mark a significant milestone for a landscape photographer, but it's also very expensive to do so. Do you really need to do so

Stop Looking at Other Photographers' Work

We all get lost in the Internet from time to time, and some of us way too much. We see a great photo online, or perhaps read an interview with a successful photographer, and then Google them and spend time pouring through their portfolio and blog. “How did they do it?" "I wonder what type of lighting that is?" "Where did they take that?" Half an hour and a cup of coffee later we close our laptop relatively depressed and completely diverted from our own path as unique and creative individuals. We start to scroll through our Lightroom catalogs in search of an amazing image we may have forgotten about that competes with what we just saw, or look at our measly social media following and wonder what we did (or are doing) wrong.

Why You Don’t Have to Fear Street Photography

If you have a camera and access to a street, you can play with street photography. Like landscape photography, it’s one of the most accessible forms of the craft. If you’re anything like me, however, it scares the hell out of you. But it doesn't have to.

The Rarely Discussed Reason To Shoot Raw

There are endless articles and videos discussing the pros and cons of shooting in raw versus shooting in JPEG. I’ve long been a proponent of raw for the editing capabilities, but what's more important than file sizes and editing? Longevity.

Three of the Biggest Myths in Photography

Photography is a complex topic full of myths and misconceptions, and those can lead you astray and be detrimental to your growth and success as a creative. This interesting video essay discusses three common photography myths that can undermine your work and the truth that is often hiding behind them.

Speed Light Comparison: Can You Spot The Differences?

Let’s be honest, there are a lot of advantages to using speed lights. They are light, portable and they run on batteries. Speed light modifiers that accompany them are also usually quite light and portable as well. But speed lights do have their draw backs and they can be a real pain to use when you encounter issues, such as a painfully slow recycle time between flashes and a lot less power then you need on a bright sunny day. If you have a love hate relationship with speed lights then this article might just have a solution for you.

You Are Responsible for Improving Your Photography

Photography, as with any creative pursuit, requires the creator to have their hand in the process for the results to shine. Countless Facebook ads, online workshops, and even our camera companies would have you believe that they if you just buy that next magic bullet, everything will change for you. If they are to be believed, swiping your credit card just one more time is the key to making great images. Rubbish. It’s time to break away from that thought.

What We Can All Learn From The Beautiful World of Cinematographer Mattias Koenigswieser

Whether we shoot stills, video or both, better utilizing light is probably the single quickest and most effective way to boost the quality of our work. I recently came across the beautiful work of cinematographer and DP Matthias Koenigswieser. If you love to shoot natural or ambient light and want to see just how beautiful applying lighting to achieve a natural light look can be, you’re in for a treat.

Tips To Becoming A Better Traveling Photographer

I'm always moving around, which can make doing work on the road an absolutely nightmare. Between travel for photography, workshops and the general need for some decompression, I find myself packing for travel much more often than I expect. After years of just shutting off while on the road, I've finally developed to ways to make traveling as a photographer easier.

Are Your Photographs Aesthetic?

Do you want your images to look “good”? Aesthetics will help you understand the value of an image beyond its informative and representative character. Let's ask some great philosophers what they think about it.

Working with What You’ve Got to Better Your Photography

There is no substitute for hard work when it come to being a photographer. In my opinion, the best way to improve your work is to shoot as much as possible. If you want to be a surf photographer, shoot surfers, if you want to be a portrait photographer, shoot portraits, and so on. However, for photographers just starting out, chances are it's going to take some time and experience to build your skills to the point where you are able to specialize in one thing. While this is not always the case, here are some tips to help you make the most of the simple things and improve your photography.

Higher Resolution Photos: Know When You Need Them and When You Don't

There are quite a lot of complaints like: "Canon won't release a 4K video camera." At the end of the day, most photographers and filmmakers publish visuals online, and most viewers watch them on sub-2K mobile devices. Here's how much resolution you truly need.

Advice on Retouching in Photoshop

I don’t use Adobe Lightroom. I use Bridge and Photoshop to retouch my client’s and my own images. Here are some tips and advice on how to use certain tools in Photoshop to get the best out of your work.

How My Diabolical Plan To Make Money From Personal Projects Paid Off, Literally

Turning the work you do on a personal project into something that makes you money isn't a new idea (just ask stock shooters.) However, the forethought required to concept a personally fulfilling shoot or production that will also have the chance to generate some income can be tricky to figure out. This past weekend I had three shoots, and they were all because of one personal project I created a month ago. And I actually planned for this to happen.

Why Eye AF Is All Anyone Talks About

So much of the discourse surrounding the latest cameras is usually about Eye AF: how fast it is, how consistent, is camera X’s better than camera Y’s. There’s a reason for that, and it’s not just because it’s the latest buzzword.

How to Improve Your Photography Without Spending Any Money

There are plenty of ways to get better images, we’ve all seen articles on which new camera to purchase, which new laptop will improve your editing, which courses to purchase, or where in the world you can visit to get stunning images. But what about some truly effective ways to improve your ability to get the shot without spending a penny?

Eight Tips You Should Try for Better Portraits

When shooting portraits, there are certain things or ways we shoot that help us achieve a better end result. We should all be trying to capture the best portrait possible, so if someone shares advice I usually give it a try to see if it works for me or fits the style of my work.

Finally, The Greatest Mobile Photography Lenses are Coming the Galaxy S8

Finally, the greatest mobile lens company is now kicking things off in serious fashion with offering their lenses to more major phone brands. With iPhone being the flagship for the longest time of prime users they are also offering it to the Google Pixel as well as the latest and greatest from Samsung with the Galaxy S8.

To #Filter or to #Nofilter: It's Not Even a Question!

In the days when film reigned, most people thought that once you took a photo, the image was completed. They thought that clicking the shutter was the end of the process (They obviously didn’t know much about darkroom manipulation). But, as photographers know, that “click” is only a small part of the photographic process. The rest lies in forethought before taking the image, and the way in which it’s processed after it’s taken.

For Better or Worse: This Year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Steps Into Virtual Reality

For an instant, she stares blankly out into the distance as she would for any photograph. But almost immediately, she takes notice. You're there. She turns her head, looks over, and then slowly turns back, looking down at her outstretched legs. Her eyes move slowly, looking down, as her chin lifts her gaze from the top of her legs to her feet. She's admiring herself — for you. She even starts crawling toward you. You turn your head to look around ("Toward me?," you think, but no one else is there). You turn back to her. The clip is over. You can take off your Google Cardboard viewer and go back to flipping channels on your living room TV.

How to Make a Unique Business Card for Your Photography

I'm not a strong supporter of business cards nowadays. It's not because they don't do any good, but because most people are throwing them in the trash bin without even visiting your website and seeing what you do. Despite of that it's good to have some in your pocket. Here is my solution to using a special type of business cards that your potential clients may not throw away.

When You and Your Gear Aren't Safe: Photography and Crime

Something that happened last week really hit home for me. Everyone probably already has heard, as it has been reported by almost every single news agency in the world; Australian photographer Brett Costello was robbed of $40,000 of camera gear in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last week while in town to cover the Olympics. However, this article isn't about him specifically.

Cheap Film Stocks That Are Surprisingly Good

Film photographers revere only one thing as much as the camera they're shooting with, and that's film stocks. Every film photographer has some favorites, but here are one photographer's picks that won't cost you the earth.

Great Photos but Unhappy Clients? Don't Sacrifice Your Signature

I stepped into photography world over 10 years ago and was lucky enough to have a wide variety of clients from different parts of the world. This made it essential for me to be flexible while negotiating or taking jobs despite cultural differences, from Armenia to U.S., from Mauritius to South Africa, Singapore, various European countries, and more. Usually you will get hired based on your portfolio, but sometimes there are clients who don’t understand much about photography. This is where the danger is. Everyone wants to get top results for the money they spend by hiring you, but what is considered the best for such clients?

My Beginnings of TF Collaboration and How I Used a Modeling Website to Better My Quality

Everyone has a different feeling on collaboration. I feel that it's a very good thing for a new photographer, but I also feel it can be greatly misused or misrepresented. I used a model/photographer finding website to gain skills and experience via collaboration, and I feel it was a shortcut to what would otherwise have been years of work.