Product Photography

VSCO teased the Instagram and mobile photography community this weekend with a promotional video for their upcoming new app called ‘VSCO Cam’. Promising huge improvements over its original program, VSCO aims to take the mobile editing community by storm with its latest update. Best part of all? It’s free.

Merek Davis today announced the release of the image enhancing Mextures app for iPhone. Over the last year iPhone photographers have downloaded Mextures textures more than 200,000 times directly from Merek Davis’ store and tagged 140,000 images on Instagram; now they have an iPhone app to more easily create and share visually stunning images. I have got to say that after buying and playing with the app this morning, this is one that you don't want to miss out on.

Canon has recently come out with their short film, "Rhythm of Life' showcasing their new line of cine lenses. Shot with the Canon C500 director, Dean Hargrove and cinematographer, Steven Poster ASC, explain how the different cine lenses affect the footage and change the color and feel of your shots. The BTS video was shot with the Canon C300.

Have you ever wondered how different diffusing fabrics affect the quality of light that you shoot with? Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens walks you through the different diffusion materials by Rosco. He explains how the different fabrics can lessen the stops of light and how it can affect your color temperatures and look of your shoot.

The hilariously creative people over at Grovo (gogorovo on YouTube) posted this video yesterday showing what life may look like in the future of GWC photography/videography if Google Glass ever becomes the next big innovation it claims to be. While it's obvious that this is just some tongue in cheek humor, I'd imagine that as with any popular product with a built-in camera someone will try to find their niche (ever see someone taking photos with an iPad?) and soon youtube will be flooded with videos of wedding photographers running around the ceremony staring at people.

I woke up this morning to find an email from Chase Jarvis's camp showcasing his new photo campaign for the Samsung 9 Series Monitors. It feels like ages since Chase has released one of his epic behind the scenes videos, so I was excited to see he's still alive and kicking the creative cloud (pun intended). If your imaginative juices don't start flowing after watching this video then it might be time to put your camera into retirement. Check out the behind the scenes video and then

Fans of the Nikon 1 series mirrorless cameras will wake up to a nice little bit of news today with the announcement of the 32mm f/1.2 lens. The lens itself equates to about an ~86mm field of view, finally giving the 1 series a great portrait lens to use. It also features silent wave motor technology, making it the fastest autofocus lens Nikon has ever made.

Seeing that a lot of us have replaced "point'n'shoots" with smartphones, we might find ourselves missing on having an optical zoom option. It was through this need that Snapzoom was created. It's a universal binocular mount for smartphones, meaning it fits a wide variety of both phones and binoculars. The project got started when co-founders Daniel Fujikake and Mac Nguyen started using their own smartphones to document their surf adventures from the, at the time, completely DIY, garage-made mounting device.

Canon fans were left wanting more after the announcement of the Canon Rebel T5i. Fans everywhere made comments on how it wasn't much of an upgrade from the t4i, and just a money grabbing attempt from Canon. Perhaps Canon has finally admitted that they're the same camera, as they're using old T4i ads, for the new T5i.

You've probably heard of Opteka, the company that manufactures lenses, grips, and other photographic accessories and equipment. We found a recent offer on their Facebook page that we wanted to get your opinion on.

Social media has progressed to a point where anyone can personalize their online experience. Through your own network of friends and filters, "Likes" and "Shares" now prioritize funny or relevant content for you and those you share commonalities with. Talenthouse now seeks to utilize that method of content sharing to popularize your artistic capability. The site is designed to set apart the best of the best in any category of art through popular vote.

Camera theft is always a concern to photographers. Unlike many electronics that connect to the internet or cellular service, cameras that are stolen are inevitably gone forever. There is no deactivating, no locking, and no real recovery methods (CameraTrace & Stolen Camera Finder aren't perfect). However, Nikon is looking to change this, with password protection of your gear.

500px took the industry by storm in 2010 when it was released to the public. It seemed to have all the best parts about flickr, without the messiness. Since then, it has grown to be among the most popular portfolio websites available for photographers, and they're about to do another overhaul, at a price of course.

While walking the floor at WPPI, there was one item we kept seeing over and over again: the MeFoto tripod. It seemed like everyone had one, and we had never heard of the brand. So we spoke with the guys at the MeFoto booth who agreed to let us test them out. Now after using all three sizes of MeFoto tripods, I can see why they were everywhere: they’re excellent.

Camera stabilization is always a tricky game, with no easy solution. Cheap stabilizers are often difficult to balance, and expensive ones are often bulky, and make mobilization a problem. Introducing MōVI by Freefly, a stabilization system that is expected to change the DSLR movie scene forever, and its already got award winning videographer Vincent Laforet’s stamp of approval.

The Einstein E640 strobe from Paul C. Buff is compact, light weight unit capable of shouldering studio work yet portable enough to take on location. The unit weighs in at four pounds and because it is self contained, it does not require a battery pack which cuts down on gear bulk.

I shot around with the Einstein 640 and the 86 inch PLM (parabolic light) umbrella in studio to test the products and see how they stacked up in my work flow.

As many of you know, Google+ has quickly become one of the top social networks for photographers. There is something beautiful about how the photos are displayed and how they scale as you roll your mouse across them.

When Google purchased Nik software in September, photographers were left wondering how the tech giant would assimilate Nik into its fold. It was clear that the company was lured by Nik’s mobile editing software Snapseed. Yesterday, Google, which had been mute on the subject since the purchase, unrolled a retooled suite of Nik software tools at a heavily discounted rate — $149 as compared to $499.

There is no doubt Adobe Lightroom simplified the post processing workflow for photographers and retouchers since it came out. The simple layout, the easy to use sliders and the useful presets - all made post processing a much better experience. Then came Paddy, a personal code project by Dorfl, and made the process even easier. OK, not just easier - but way cooler. Paddy connects a MIDI Controller Desk to Lightroom, and lets you edit the photo directly from there.

There are a few companies out there known for high-quality medium format digital solutions. But few are as highly regarded as PhaseOne, whose popular 'won't get crushed by an elephant' and various freezing and heating Youtube videos helped people see its products' durability. Today, they've sent a round of emails announcing their revised IQ series, offering wireless capabilities, revamped sensors, and top-of-the-line 16-bit image production with 13 stops of dynamic range...

The 35mm focal length is one of the most popular primes made, probably only second to the 50mm if second to anyone. It’s popular because it is good for so many things, making us feel like we have to own fewer lenses to capture more amazing images. Most of you know that I’m very attached to my Sigma 35mm f/1.4, but when shooting with Canon’s new 35mm f/2 IS, I did my best to remain objective.

Magic lantern is by far the best thing to happen to the DSLR cameras. It offers so many options not given to you by the normal Canon firmware that it should be sin not to install it. This is a quick little walkthrough on how I use ML for easy, accurate free-lensing.

I've always been fascinated with underwater photography. As you may recall, I even featured some of it from Nick Pugay last month. Not only is underwater photography incredibly complicated in terms of lighting, but its incredibly expensive too. Outex is looking to change that with their new underwater kit, but they need your help with their latest Kickstarter project.

Photobooths have become a standard attraction at any big shindig and snapshots of people wearing mustaches and funny glasses on sticks have become the norm. So what is next in the evolution of photoboothing inebriated party people?

Meet PHHHOTO, a party guest that would be sure to draw a crowd. With it's animated & social sharing appeal, this looks to be a cool step into a new way of shooting and sharing party partakers. What could be better than shooting a GIF, putting it up on a cloud via iPad and share with everyone to see?

Often, we’re talking about the latest and greatest camera body or lenses to help our photography business flourish. However running a photography business requires many more tools than just a fancy camera, lens or even lights. We are all using other tech tools to help us manage our lives easier, and run our business more effectively. So without further ado, here is the list of seven tech items all photographers should be using.

Do you like to remotely trigger your camera? Do you also like iPhones? Enter Satechi's BT Smart Trigger. For $44.99, this little guy will happily trigger your camera's shutter via Bluetooth. It also works as an intervalometer, meaning you can time lapse with the greatest of ease...in between Angry Birds Star Wars. At the moment it only works for iPhones and Canon DSLRs, although they are planning to add compatibility with the Galaxy SIII and the Galaxy Note 2.

In October, we had a huge month dedicated to all the great mirrorless cameras that are out there. While the Fuji X-Pro 1’s technology was promising, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 took away the best mirrorless camera award. While it’s all worth it, the OM-D E-M5 is a bit pricey, and therefore, not for everyone. So how do some of Olympus’ other cameras line up?
Today, we have the PEN E-PL5.