The National Park Service in the United States is one of the few organizations to have made clear policies regarding the use of drones, or small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) on their property. Yet some people continue to ignore these rules, and it’s only going to make things harder for the rest of us if this trend continues.
This week, I acquired a shiny new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, which surpasses all cameras in its class when it comes to speed. This is thanks to the advanced silent electronic shutter mode. And this got me thinking, will there come a day when the electronic shutter will ever fully replace the mechanical shutter? And do we want it to?
Not all cinema lenses are made the same, not even those in the affordable price range or that come from the same manufacturer. In this article, you will see the structural and optical differences between Rokinon and Rokinon Xeen cinema lenses and what to purchase if you're looking for video glass on budget.
Apple’s MacBook Air isn’t long for this world. When Apple announced its new lineup of MacBook Pros in October, absent from the update party was the MacBook Air. In fact, Apple quietly removed the 11-inch model from the website around the same time, leaving only the 13 inch to soldier on for the time being. It's not a good sign for photographers invested in the Apple ecosystem (that’s a lot of us) looking for a road-warrior laptop.
We’re all likely guilty of spending way too much time utilizing social media sites like Facebook and Instagram to promote our photography businesses. Considering the amount of time and the value of said time, is social media actually paying off for you?
Your photography website is your storefront. It’s the way your prospective clients meet you, and it’s your chance to make a lasting and convincing first impression. A website is the first step in meeting good clients, getting hired, and getting paid. I’m a wedding photographer, but the list below applies to everyone. Whether you shoot landscapes, weddings, or commercial work, your website is the key to booking business. Here are the top eight reasons why your website sucks.
Pricing has always been a subject of interest for photographers. Whether you practice high-end commercial photography or you take beautiful family portraits, understanding and determining a just pricing strategy for you and the client is very important.
We all know that being a photographer can get expensive, from camera bodies to lenses, there is a never ending list of gadgets and goodies that we can spend our hard earned money on. The last thing anybody wants to do is spend their money on the “must haves” of photography when we could just as easily drop some cash on the things we want. Below is a short list of gear that every photographer should have in their arsenal, but probably doesn't want to spend his or her money on.
How much camera do you need? No, for once I'm not talking about how many cameras. Though my inadvertent collection is growing and for every vintage camera that I sell or give away, it seems two new ones await. Gear Acquisition Syndrome (known also by the unfortunate acronym of GAS) is real and many are afflicted. Don't make fun of us. We're fellow humans. We suffer. Ok. Maybe not that much. I'm wondering instead about how much camera you need. How big, how rugged, how professional-looking does it have to be?
So many are awaiting an announcement from Nikon related to their next best thing, but let’s face it, the Nikon D810 is a pretty incredible camera that more than meets the needs of many professional photographers all over the world. That being said, why should I even consider upgrading to whatever Nikon decides to replace the D810 with?
Imagine living in the 1900s as a professional photographer. People were overdressed, kids were running around the streets, not with knives or guns, but with sticks, chasing something crudely resembling a wheel. Yet, photographers everywhere were getting upset. Not only because of some "weekend warrior" undercutting them, but due to the fact that Kodak unveiled something that would forever shift the photographic market for decades to come...
At this point in our lives, the majority of us have come to understand our capabilities and our limitations. If we were never good at sports, we have come to accept this as truth. If we are great at math, we have likely received this "gift" and possibly moved into a career field where we can maximize the ease of which numbers have come to us. As photographers, you have the "eye" for it, or you don't. Are these established beliefs, based likely on past evidence in reality, or are they limitations we have placed upon ourselves?
Allow me to be the first to ask the question. Are we really worth it? Now, don’t get me wrong. I come from an economics background. I understand price equilibrium. Pour me a large blonde roast with cream, and whisper me sweet nothings about Adam Smith all day. Leave all that behind for a second. I’m talking on a more philosophical level. Are we really worth the money we charge?
We live in a world constantly fascinated by technology. We want the TV with the greatest definition. We want the tablet with the shiniest screen. And, as photographers, we always want the most expensive gear and the most elaborate new toys. But the more you grow as an artist, you'll quickly realize it's the man that makes the equipment, not the equipment that makes the man (or woman).
"What if I told you..." that every bot asking for followers is actually the social media platform service itself asking for money in order to get as much reach as you did organically several months ago. Jokes aside... I read more about bots on social media every day and it's time to give it the attention it deserves. The future of social sharing is about to change.
Our love story began, like many, amidst the tumultuous, coming-of-age years of high school. Me, a wide eyed, optimistic 16 year old kid with a lanky, awkward build. I stayed out of trouble… choosing books over beers, and enjoying the simplicity of a life-before-adulthood. She was different. The new girl on the scene. A wide-bottomed goddess, pear-shaped to perfection, milky-white and miraculous. The talk of the town, if there ever was one. Her name? iMac G4.
If you're a creative of any sort, you probably deal with doubt on a daily basis. It can be beneficial, or it can be crippling, all depending on how we embrace its presence in our work and lives.
These past few days I have caught myself shooting a lot more than usual. When I am not working, I still get the urge to go out and shoot, whether I take out the drone, my Nikon, or the little Micro 4/3 camera. Recently, I have been shooting tons of aerial photography and I finally decided to ease off a bit and shoot with my Nikon some more; I’ve realized how much fun it is to just create awesome images with any camera. I think that getting out there and shooting whatever it is you want to shoot is something that drives you as a photographer and can really help improve your eye for photography in general.
Casey Neistat may not be your favorite Internet personality; Gizmodo's Bryan Menegus clearly isn't a fan. He recently wrote an article ripping into Neistat for a Hollywood Reporter interview he gave earlier today. The article titled "35-Year-Old Teen Casey Neistat Says a Few Stupid Things" I assume was intended to point out that Neistat wasn't entirely clear about his new role at CNN or why his "useless app" was purchased for $25 million. The author states the interview "answers none of these questions, while spoon-feeding devotees of his particular brand of mundane transparency a mountain of bullshit corporate-speak and more than a few blatant contradictions."
Life is busy… I get it. Between weddings, engagements, meetings, phone calls, and the seemingly never ending hours of toil spent in the Lightroom develop module it can be very easy to let things go. It starts small at first. You forget to send that album to print, or you forget to listen to that voicemail from yesterday morning. Slowly, it seeps further into your workflow, until you suddenly realize you haven’t cleared out your inbox in three days.
By narrowing your focus and promoting your specific skill set, you can grow your business and stand out in even the most overly saturated market.
Professional users — especially those in creative fields — that have long relied on Macs as Apple's ever-faithful followers have had much to be disappointed by in Apple's latest product releases. The Mac Pro helped alleviate some concerns over Apple's commitment to professional users, but the lack of updates to that line since its launch, the lack of larger or more RAM-crammed MacBook Pros, and the lack of iMac updates altogether bring Apple's commitment to its most loyal user-base into question. Will Apple CEO Tim Cook's recent words be enough to persuade macOS lovers to stay the course?
If you've been a photographer for any length of time, chances are you've experienced the dreaded slump; Your muse has run off with someone else, inspiration goes down the toilet, everything you create looks like crap, and even the desire to pick up your camera deserts you. If you are struggling through this season right now, there's hope. The slump can become the catalyst for your biggest season of artistic growth. Here are five steps I've found not only to make it through the slump, but to make it work for you.
Resolution, bit depth, compression, bit rate. These are just few of the countless parameters our cameras and files have. Let's talk about bit depth here. There's a lot of good talk about 10 bit and a lot of bad talk about 8 bit. The computer can tell the difference, but can you?
Well, technically it's economics but let’s be honest, proclaiming to the world “It’s Economics!” just doesn't pack quite as big of a punch. You probably haven’t heard that competition is good for business since (if I had to guess) your high school economics class, but most of us probably weren’t paying attention anyway. No offense Mr. Holt… The whole idea that competition increases your business is a super backward concept but when you break it down, it actually makes a lot of sense. As a photographer, I am going to explain this as it pertains to the photography, but the whole idea works for any industry out there.
For those trying to balance their passion with their paycheck, here's a quick word on the joys of taking the leap, and the sweet taste of being unemployed. Well, sort of.
It’s time to answer the often-asked question I hear from many wedding photographers. Is it worth the money to advertise with online marketplaces for professional wedding vendors? I track everything in my wedding business. If you can record it, track it, analyze it, and summarize it, I’m aware of it. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as opening up a spreadsheet of raw, unrefined data and pulling out the hidden truths that lie dormant in the numbers.
Ted Forbes has done it again. He has a way of stating the obvious in a way that elevates the thought from pedestrian to poignant. Here, he attempts to answer a fan letter about the most important lesson he's learned in photography.
"La La Land" seems to be Hollywood's favorite film of the year. From the extraordinary opening dance scene on a Los Angeles freeway junction to the final dream sequence, it is doubtless an example of some of the best cinematography this year. If you're wondering how some of it was pulled off, check out these short behind-the-scenes clips to see how Hollywood really works its magic these days.
Prism photography isn’t exactly a new thing. In fact, many photographers have been taking advantage of the unique, light bending properties of glass and clear resins to add an artistic flare to their images for some time now. The issue previously had been finding a prism that would work for you and fit neatly into your kit. Fractal Filters has recently released their latest set of prisms designed specifically for photographers that meet the need for convenient photo-prisms.
