Engineers Calvin Chu and Ashish Bidadi have created Palette, and it's something to be genuinely excited about. In fact, it may be the best Kickstarter project I've seen in quite a while. Palette is a "freeform hardware interface" that offers a fully customizable set of buttons, knobs and sliders for hands-on control of your software. Yes, please.
Photography is a dream career for many of us. The reality is, few of us can actually turn that into a full time career. We keep our regular 9-5 jobs to pay the bills and grab the odd photography gig here or there.
Every once in a while though, one of us will slip through the cracks and enjoy some moderate success. So much so, that it begins to interfere with that regular 9-5 job, and a decision must be made to transition from one career to another. Many aspiring photographers jump the gun and attempt to take on a full time career before they are actually ready. When that time comes for you here are 5 things to consider and help make sure it's the right move for you.
Nikon, perhaps copying Tamron's strategy, has released a surprisingly affordable 28-75mm f/2.8 lens.
I will be the first to tell you that the Canon 1D X Mark II is a great camera and a personal favorite, but at 3.5 years old, it's starting to show its age just a bit, and some eyes are starting to turn toward the forthcoming Mark III version. The good news is that it's coming next year, and with it will come some fantastic features.
The Fujifilm X-E4 (set to replace the older Fujifilm X-E3 this year) seems to have been axed, according to reports on Fujirumors. However, it's not just the X-E4 that's finished before it's begun, the entire X-E line seems to be cast to the wayside as the X-E3, now discontinued, might be the last of its generation.
I’m not a trend-setter. I’m 31, pudgy, married, and writing this from my modest ranch hidden among 5000 other modest ranches in a suburb about 90 minutes outside of New York City. I shop at Big Y, buy my clothes at Khol’s, and look forward to Sunday Night Football every Fall. I’m also not really a trend-follower. Ultimately, I spend my time under-the-radar, paying my taxes, and mulching my lawn. Which makes my switch from Nikon to Fuji pretty remarkable.
One minute you're in the middle of photographing one of the most beautiful landscapes you've ever seen. The next minute your camera is on the ground, broken.
A first-person view (FPV) drone operator recently crashed his drone in a park where he had permission to fly. While the drone landed at least dozens of yards away from the nearest person, a woman walked the distance with her dog, picked up the drone, tucked it under her shirt, and walked away. The GoPro attached to the drone continued to record the entire incident, including the aggressive verbal language and possibly multiple 911 calls she made as she became rather hysterical and the situation got out of hand.
We live in a digital age where we can showcase our work to possible clients all around the world, but what's the point if we cannot shoot for clients outside of our home market once in awhile? Following Andrew Link's post on creating a perfect travel light kit, here's an article with tips on how to travel as a professional photographer effectively. As a commercial photographer and filmmaker, I travel over 100k miles a year on assignment and have learned valuable lessons. I hope this list of tips helps make your shoots which require flying to a location more seamless.
Blogging is a great way to share a series of photos from your work. Sadly though many of us don't do it any longer because let's be honest; it's a pain in the ass. Fortunately a new web service, Exposure, is out that looks beautiful and is a perfect replacement for those that loathe blogging.
When Apple announced that the iPhone 7 wouldn't have a standard headphone jack, I wrote an article saying that I would never buy this phone until a battery case brought the jack back. Since that post I have been contacted by four different manufacturers currently working on this very concept. Yesterday we actually received a working unit in the mail.
Getty Images is coming under fire on social media after having published a gallery of the World Cup's "sexiest fans." The gallery has since been deleted.
With the (mostly) positive reception to the Fujifilm 35mm F2 WR lens, following its launch earlier this year, the announcement a sibling 23mm F2 WR lens was in development caused quite a stir amongst Fuji X-Mount shooters. So much so, that when the lens finally started shipping, supply quickly became an issue, with many struggling to get hold of this prized new lens. But now the lens is finally hitting mainstream retailers in decent numbers, I thought it would be a good time to take a proper look at Fujifilm's latest lens.
There has never been a better time to stay home and explore your own country. That is what I did and what I found was incredible!
Today, Loupedeck launched the new Creative Tool or "CT." They sent me a pre-production unit a month ago, and I've got some thoughts.
Yesterday, I showed you the process of pre-producing a successful photoshoot and used a recent session as an example on all the steps it takes to put together a successful session with a large team. Today, I put together a breakdown of the entire production and post production process on creating a successful portrait session and a behind the scenes look into what all goes into it.
You would think with the incredible amount of knowledge out there (not just on Fstoppers but on the whole of the internet) that there would be no shortage of incredibly successful, monumentally wealthy photographers in the world. Yet for some mysterious reason, only a small percentage of us ever make it to a real sense of success. Why is that? We can't attribute it to skill levels, there are plenty of insanely successful photographers whose images are by many definitions, well...flat out bad.
There have been some magnificent improvements in the abilities of cameras over the last few years, not least in lenses and camera focusing systems. The technical advancements have almost taken camera skills out of our hands. But is this good or bad for photography?
On May 8th, Fujifilm released their updated firmware for the X-T2 mirrorless camera. This takes the current firmware to version 4.0 and embodies Fujifilm’s Kaizen philosophy by making enormous changes to what the camera is able to do. Let’s take a look at it here.
Sony has just announced their latest full-frame mirrorless camera, the 42.4-megapixel RX1R II. This very sleek fixed-lens 35mm f/2 digital camera packs many of the same imaging features you’ll find in the new Sony a7RII (along with some surprising new ones), but in an even smaller, true compact-sized design. It’s a genius product of advanced engineering and technology, and I had the chance to get my hands on one to use.
Winter photography can be a magical yet challenging experience due to the conditions that come with cold weather, snow, sleet, high winds, and limited daylight. As photographers, we can prepare for this in advance to ensure we're insulated and dry enough to keep out the elements that this season throws at us, but what about our equipment?
As a landscape photographer, you've likely found yourself in a situation where you're capturing breathtaking scenes, and then suddenly, your camera's battery dies. It's an unfortunate predicament, especially when you're in the middle of a stunning location with perfect conditions. For those of us who rely on our gear to perform without fail, running out of battery power can feel like a nightmare. This experience led me to search for a reliable solution that would keep me powered up, no matter where my photography adventures took me. After some research and trials, I found a product that I believe will significantly enhance my workflow.
Last night Canon unveiled the successor to their popular 60D DSLR, the EOS 70D. There is a lot to like about the camera, but where Canon is focusing the brunt of their marketing is around the new Dual Pixel sensor which supposedly offers significantly faster focusing during video production. We've gathered a few videos from numerous Canon sources for your perusal to get you excited for Canon's next camera.
After hitting it out of the park a few months ago with the brilliant "Eye-Opening" commercial, Canon Austraila releases another one. "To the Ends of the Earth" features Canon Master Krystle Wright doing what she does best - creating breathtaking action photos in epic places. Her persuit of adventure leads her to some amazing locations in this video - from climbing the tops of mountains to jumping from sheer cliffs to freediving under the ocean. I'm pretty sure she's giving the Dos Equis guy a run for his money.
Today, Adobe announced their February update to Lightroom bringing several powerful new features, as well as some of the most requested ones, to Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC, and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).
With the trend of using train tracks in photographs continuing seemingly unabated, we hear of another avoidable tragedy far too often. One railroad has had enough.
In order to evolve as photographers, we need to keep making pictures and push our personal and professional boundaries. Stagnation can be one of the most demotivating situations to experience, as a photographer and as a human being. On a day off, AKA the freelancer's life, with nothing more to do than reading, watching tv shows or browsing the web, it can be difficult to motivate yourself to get up and do something productive. (Of course, slow times are important, but I'm sure you know what kind of days I am talking about.)
"Could you Photoshop this for me?" I'm pretty sure that's something every photographer hears on a far more regular basis than any of us would like. I get it, people want better photos. Maybe they didn't see that trash can in the background, or they couldn't get everyone with their eyes open at once, or they didn't like the color of shirt they were wearing in the photo. Whatever it is, chances are you've been asked to fix it at one point or another. Well now you don't have to, now you can just refer your friends to Mendr.
Getting your clients comfortable in front of a camera is always a challenge. I still get a little nervous before a shoot so I can imagine what my clients must feel like. In part one of this series, we talked about the importance of the pre-shoot consultation and how it can start you off on a good path toward a successful headshot or portrait session. In this article, I want to talk about ways we can address skin issues with our clients, how to deal with makeup, when to use a makeup artist, and discuss the basics of getting clients comfortable and focused in front of the camera.
Nikon has just recently announced the Nikon Z 9, a flagship camera with some incredible features. The autofocus, high-resolution sensor, and overall speed might put the Nikon Z 9 ahead of the competition. However, the most curious thing about this new camera is the fact that it does not have a mechanical shutter.
