Product Photography

The latest round of GoPro HERO4 cameras have been a big hit. Though one of the surprising outcomes with the recent release was the addition of a touch screen to the Silver edition and lack of screen on the higher-end Black edition. In many reviews and ratings, the ability to see your framing and review images and video from the device gave the Silver edition a leg-up over the Black. GoPro has now taken the overwhelming approval of the touch screen into account and has just announced the new Hero+ LCD.

Last month, the creators of MotoCMS, an award winning DIY website building program, ran a Kickstarter campaign for Defrozo, a free display and marketing melding of Smugmug, ShootQ and Zenfolio. What could be more fun than putting up some photos and have the offers pour in, right? I was excited to get started. Look out, Big Boys, Defrozo is here, and it’s awesome!

One of the best camera backpack series just got an update, along with a few new bags. F-Stop Gear has been making quality backpacks for outdoor adventure filmmakers and photographers for a while now, and their latest products are looking to be even better. If you've owned or used the popular Loka series bag, you'll want to check out the new version, called the Ajna.

The other night I was asked "what is the most frustrating thing about shoot weddings?" I thought about this question for a second and shockingly my answer had nothing to do with bridezillas, wedding planners, hot and humid weather, or even post production. Easily the most frustrating thing about shooting weddings is dealing with unreliable radio triggers during the reception. Perhaps this simple yet unreleased hotshoe adapter could make this problem obsolete if only someone would create it.

Despite what you think of the pricing model, everyone should agree that the Creative cloud system is great for the ability to receive rapid updates to the Adobe product line. Shown off last night, is the latest tool being developed by Adobe, allowing you to add and subtract haze into your photos using a built in Lightroom slider called Dehaze. This powerful new tool, should add a new level of creativity to your photos with ease.

ONA is a premium camera bag company presenting some of the finest in leather goods used to store and protect your photography gear with style. This week they launched their next collaboration with the one and only Leica, introducing their next generation Berlin II in all black leather. Read on to check out some of the features.

Last month, I taught a two-day workshop in the heart of Phoenix. While there, I was able to get some friends to come out and help create a behind-the-scenes video of the entire workshop. I was also able to meet with Tether Tools, whom are located in Phoenix, and they gave us access to some pretty cool tools, more specifically, my new favorite BTS tool, the Tether Tools Look Lock.

Announced this morning from Lowepro, is the Pro Runner II series of bags and backpacks for the adventerious photographer and videographers. With greater storage capacities and options, the Pro Runner II Series takes everything everyone loved in the original backpack series, and improved on it, giving us three new bags to choose from.

Following speculation of such a release, Apple announced the availability of updated versions of its 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro with Force Touch and a new, cheaper 27-inch Retina iMac. While some specifications are improved, others seem to regress, spurring disdainful comments from some of Apple's biggest fans. On the other hand, it's likely that Apple (the most profitable company in the world) knows what they're doing.

Panasonic has announced the Lumix G7, a compact 4K mirrorless camera with a kit price of less than $800. Offering a solid list of features for an entry-level camera, the new Lumix G7 is perfect for amateur photographers looking for a inexpensive camera with both quality video and photo capabilities at almost half the price of the GH4. This 16-megapixel camera and small form factor make it light and compact. Even without some of the pro video features of the GH4, the G7 lowers the barrier to entry on 4K video recording even further.

4K video camera systems are now quickly becoming prevalent in the market, and with even more on the horizon, it's a safe bet to assume that many filmmakers stepping up to 4K aquisition will be investing in peripherals and other accessories that are needed to capture and edit at that resolution. One of these expensive extras comes in the form of CFast 2.0 cards. Before shelling out for one though, check out a product that instead, lets you record to much less expensve SSD drives.

Tenba is announcing the world’s first packable, self-stowing camera bag. Packlite bags can be easily stored inside larger camera bags, backpacks and rolling cases, or utilized separately when a smaller bag if desired.

A little over a year ago, we were introduced to SmartAlbums from Pixellu. They helped photographers all over increase their productivity by allowing them to stop hating the process of designing albums. This year, they brought us a bigger and better product, and I got to use it first hand.

The world of fashionable photography bags isn’t unknown, but it’s not all that vast, either. As much as everyone might want to be fashionable, that desire simply isn’t as compatible with the necessary practicality we need from our gear... or is it? Can a bag look quite good while being quite practical? Or better yet, can a strict adherence to a bag’s fashion appeal aid its practicality? Is this bag even "fashionable"? The Filson McCurry Sportsman is certainly a "cool" bag. But as far as standing up to the test of practicality, we’re about to find out.

I baby my external hard drives. I always wrap them in bubble wrap when taking them from home to the coffee shop, and I even have a little mini-pelican case for longer trips. I couldn't imagine how bad it would be if it happened to get even a quick salt water splash, let alone get stuck in the sand. In this video, watch what happens when this G-Tech hard drive is thrown right into the surf of the ocean.

The guys over at Alpine Labs have announced a new Kickstarter campaign to fund their follow-up time-lapse motion control system, the Radian 2. Packed with the same features as the Radian, this new version adds a wireless preview of your time-lapse and complete control of your camera via USB allowing you to change camera settings like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO while shooting. But one of the most welcomed features is the ability to pair the Radian 2 with select sliders adding motorized slide movements to your time-lapse making Radian a complete motion control time-lapse platform.

The legendary photography brand LEE Filters, founded in 1961, has announced a new version of their popular SW150 filter system specially designed to be compatible with a broader range of ultra wide-angle lenses. This system is designed to adapt filters to ultra wide-angle lenses with built-in petal sunshade lens hoods and without screw threads.

Coming off of its previous reputation as an extreme budget brand when it came to DSLR lenses, Sigma has now had well over two years to fend off quality concerns with their restructured Global Vision lineup that began with the superb 35mm f/1.4 Art lens. Since then, Sigma’s Art-, Contemporary-, and Sport-series lenses have proven themselves better than or on par with their Nikon and Canon counterparts for far less capital; and the 24mm f/1.4 Art gives us no reason to suspect the new direction doesn’t have a clear vision to go global.

The legendary photography company Leica has announced the new M Monochom (type 246) camera, a follow up to the M Monochrome black-and-white shooting rangefinder. The new digital camera boasts a faster Maestro image processor, 2 GB buffer memory, 24-megapixel black-and-white full-frame sensor, live-view zoom, focus peaking, and 1080p Full-HD video.

This couple took wedding photography to a whole new level when they got their wedding shots taken. They used a series of drones in order to capture their big day. The shots that they created are undoubtedly original and stand out from the crowd... for now. With the release of the new DJI Phantom 3 that we recently covered, drones could be here to stay, but are we at a stage now where we can outsource our photography to machines?

GoPro today announced it has plans to acquire the virtual reality software company Kolor. The France based company develops tools for spherical 360-degree videos and panoramas. With the rise in VR technology hardware like the Oculus Rift, purchased by Facebook in 2014 for $2 Billion, it's easy to see what GoPro has planned for their acquisition.

Sony today announced a price drop in their inaugural a7, making it Sony's first full-frame, mirrorless camera below $1,000. This $300 instant savings over the original $1,300 price tag is fantastic news for photographers looking to add a solid mirrorless camera to their gear bag. Retailers like B&H, are selling the body for $998 with free shipping. Check out Fstoppers' take on the a7 and a7R when first announced back in November 2013.

Do you want your sensor to shift in-body to create a higher-resolution image? Want 4.5-stop image stabilization built into the body so we can benefit from its use with any lens? Want to be able to decide for every shot exactly what level of anti-aliasing you want in order to balance moiré and sharpness? It’s all possible with the new 24-megapixel, APS-C Pentax K-3 II. And, it'll likely be possible in their rumored full-frame camera. Pentax is great, but why aren’t we seeing the “bigger” brands pony up with groundbreaking features?

Emilie Tournevache and Jason Greer go head-to-head again in the main challenge of "Photo Throwdown" Montreal. This time the pair are commissioned by a local brewery to shoot one of the fan favorite beers for an upcoming ad.

With budget options for aerial video becoming more affordable, while the quality and abilities of the cameras they host getting better, I knew it was only a matter or time until I got my hands on such a system. Even though I was a little skeptical from the onset, I’m pleased to say that the DJI Inspire is a phenomenal drone/quadcopter unit for adding dramatic footage to video or still projects, even for first time users.

"A Book of Beards" is exactly what it sounds like. Dudes and huge gnarly beards documented in black and white by photographer and art director Justin James Muir. What started out as a simple idea, evolved into something much much bigger.

I love new stuff. Who doesn't? The only thing I love more than new stuff is new stuff that guarantees to make my life easier in some way. Allow me to introduce you to the Broncolor FT-System Continuous Lights.

Zeiss has announced a new line of autofocus lenses designed for Sony full-frame E-mount cameras. Shipping this summer, the Zeiss Batis line will initially include two lenses, the 2/25 and the 1.8/85. Always innovating, each of these lenses feature something you don’t see everyday: an OLED display screen which shows focal distance and depth of field.

There are three things in life that photographers will clear their schedules for: Apple announcements, Nikon/Canon late-night pre-orders for new flagship bodies, and Adobe product releases. So clear your schedules, guys and gals; because Adobe’s Lightroom 6 is here with more speed (FINALLY!), more features, and rich mobile integration.