Earning a degree in photography is not a necessity for becoming a professional, working photographer. However, there are still some good reasons to seek out more formal training in the medium.
Lowepro has just announced a new DryZone pair of bags, a backpack and a duffel, that are weatherproof and watersport-friendly and are designed to keep your gear not only safe, but protected from aqueous elements. This is the kind of bag that can sustain powerful waves and blasts of water, so you can finally climb into a waterfall cave without fearing for the safety of your camera.
When KFC needed new, iconic images for their redesigned website they turned to Photographer Teri Campbell (author of Food Photography and Lighting: A Commercial Photographer's Guide to Creating Irresistible Images). After fine tuning the details of the production Teri, his 1Ds Mark III and the crew got to work. The project took a total of five days, and Teri takes us behind the scenes
There are many tips online. Five step listicles of composition, post-processing, editing, getting the model to smile more, and to capture a story in the best way possible. You can be friendlier to clients, communicate your vision to the team, client or model, use on or off camera flash, and setup your camera in a better way to enable easier ways to capture the shot. You can learn about better workflows and how to increase your productivity in post too. All these tools are available on Fstoppers.com for you to learn and use in your everyday photography career and life.
Matt Kloskowski from onOne has released another great Lightroom tip video that can help with recovering shadows from your images. In some situations, you might need to recover more out of the shadows than you originally intended when taking the photo. Basically, by reverting the Lightroom Process Version to 2010 or earlier you can tap into some recovery options that could make all the difference to your image.
Rangefinder Magazine has announced the photographers selected for their 4th annual "30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography." The 30 photographers, who have been shooting for five years or less, were selected from more than 200 portfolios worldwide, including submissions from Croatia, France, England, New Zealand, Scotland, Tahiti, and all over the U.S. The images will be on display at the WPPI Conference in March.
It's been the nuisance of the modern, technological era: shaky video. Shaky video not only is annoying, but the fix is usually expensive, bulky, and not too practical — until recently. DJI, one of the most innovate companies going right now has the answer to that problem, at a consumer price. It’s called the DJI OSMO.
If you've never seen the Milky Way in the skies in any rural part of the world, you have been robbed of one of the most magnificent visions on this planet. I grew up in the southern part of Israel, which is a desert called The Negev. All the kids from my block would gather every summer night, lie down on the ground and just stare at the skies for hours on end. I didn't realize how lucky I was to grow up in that desert.
If you surf the web as much as me you've probably seen either the still image or the commercial for Canada's Paralympics. I waited to do a post on this because I was hoping a behind the scenes video would come out and lucky of us, one did. Check out the BTSV here and then view the full post to see the finished video and still image.
Shooting cityscapes is something many people never get tired of. The urban jungle is an ever-changing landscape that never ceases to amaze many people with its often grandiose theme and bright, distinct, and often colorful details.
The camera with a rightful place in the hearts of Fujifilm fans and a cemented place in medium format history has been allegedly discontinued. While it's understandable given recent announcements, many of us are sad all the same.
When considering what lens to buy, there are a few features and technical aspects you should consider to help make your choice. If being able to customize the way your lens focuses is important to you, you will want to check out the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2.
Medium-format cameras have long been known for being able to produce incredible and vibrant colors. This is one of the main reasons behind why many professionals upgrade and spend so much on these systems. The colors that you can achieve with the 16-bit sensors are very desirable and allow much more flexibility in post. Currently, the 100MP sensor is the only CMOS sensor that is 16-bit capable based on the hardware, and most people who shoot with these cameras are very happy with the results. Phase One, however, decided it wasn't good enough and released their new Trichromatic back.
I’ve been a user of the original One Man Crew for many different videos. It’s ability to get elegant motion video clips have made it a go-to piece of gear for when I need my interviews to have an interesting look to them. When I heard that an updated version was being released, I was excited to see if a few issues were fixed. In this gear review, I'll break down what is fixed, and what left me wanting more.
A film crew have found themselves amid controversy, after they “broke with convention” and interfered when a group of penguins got stuck during filming for David Attenborough’s new BBC series.
What happens when you give a photographer free reign to come up with some crazy ideas, access to a ski park and all the day-glo they could stomach? A crazy 80's ski bunny shoot for Roastar Coffee Bags! This behind the scenes shoot from David E. Jackson walks us through the thoughts behind the thought process behind the shoot and we've got two great videos below that explain some of the post processing.
If you think you've got a quick trigger finger, then you haven't used the new Strike Finder Touch (SFT) by Ubertronix. This sleek remote trigger boasts the ability to trigger your camera shutter in less than 1 millisecond. The device has 5 different modes: Time Lapse, Lightning (or high speed flash), laser, sound and motion. All you need is 4 AAA batteries, your camera, and a great subject to get started.
The founder and CEO of Patreon, Jack Conte, contacted Casey Neistat with regards to collaborating with his new 368 daily vlog, and got a meeting with Casey due to his creative way of asking for it.
A camera is only worth what you're willing to pay for it, and the same is true of camera manufacturers. A business is not necessarily the sum of its parts, and its value is reflected in its share price. By this yardstick, Sony is streaking ahead while Nikon is bombing. How do they compare?
Marketing your business and your creative work can be tough. Doing it in a small market can be even tougher. It can often seem overwhelming, but with some careful analysis and planning, you can maximize your opportunities. Having worked in sales and marketing for the better part of 18 years, I've picked up a few tips and tricks that I believe would help any photographer struggling to establish themselves in any market.
Sirui's launched the Venus 150mm T2.9 1.6x Full-Frame Anamorphic Lens. Beyond its sharp imagery, pleasing bokeh, and unique anamorphic flare, its standout feature is the remarkably close minimum focus distance. This capability sets the lens apart, elevating it to a distinct tier of optical brilliance.
Since the release of the X100, Fujifilm has shown the photography community that they're very much alive, and not going down without a fight. They showed their fight once again today, with the announcement of their new affordable mirrorless camera the Fujifilm X-M1, and an additional prime and zoom lens for their X-Mount lens system.
Getting untracked photos of the Milky Way is significantly easier than you may think for both digital and film. The approach for film is much different than digital but still attainable with the right approach.
The Pen tool is incredibly powerful, but not always the easiest to use for newcomers. Even those familiar with other Photoshop features are often less proficient with using the Pen tool to select specific areas or create paths. While it's not meant to replace the original Pen tool, the new Curvature Pen tool previewed in this video helps make a faster and more accurate selection around objects with curved edges in a way that could even be faster for those who are already good with the traditional Pen tool.
Monopods, once really only useful in a handful of situations, have evolved into irreplaceable members of our creative arsenals due to the advent of high quality video being produced in DSLRs. The idea of a “video monopod” might frighten video purists, but there are those such as Patrick Hall and myself who swear by them. Manfrotto’s version was a fantastic foray into the medium, but slightly pricey. Benro recently released their more affordable versions, and I was more than ready to see if they were able to hold their own.
Months of planning, 567 images stitched into a single panorama and a 14.6 gigabyte image results in a breathtaking view of New York City from the top of the Freedom Tower. Deemed as one the tallest skyscrapers in the US, the new Freedom Tower is about one year out from completion.
Ever wonder how you can elevate your senior portraits beyond the standard cap and gown pictures? Think about lifestyle photography the next time you book a senior portrait session.
The wildly popular VSCO cam app announced that today, December 3rd, they are releasing an Android version of their app which will be available in Google Play for free download. The app will come with 10 free presets and various editing tools. It will be available for devices running Android 4.0 and above.
A few weeks ago we featured an interesting project by Casey Neistat: The CLA Project. Casey was hired by Mercedes Benz to create a new, fresh and creative approach to the typical stock car commercials that you've seen on television for the past twenty years. The final commercial for the new Mercedes Benz CLA has finally been released. I have to say it is definitely creative and unlike any car commercial I've seen before. I love the patriotism and the fun, light-hearted vibe in the commercial.
When you are shooting for magazine publication (outside of the medium format realm), one thing you always have to consider is the aspect ratio of your images. Paper sizes, in most cases, do not match up to image size, so there are crop variables you have to constantly keep in mind -- especially for editorials where there will be titles, typography or article copy on the page as well.
