Back in my college days, when I first started taking photographs, I pursued magazine photography because I loved seeing my name printed in the magazine. Often, I wasn’t being paid for my services and the photo credit was payment enough for me. When I incorporated my business some 20+ years ago, I named my company "photo: John Ricard, LLC" because it resembled a photo credit.

Members of the mysterious and magical craft of photography may have mentioned that mastering manual mode may be the most meandering path to making magnificent masterpieces. There's a shortcut, though.

We have already seen a lot of news coverage on drones this week, including one flying over the White House and the horrible story about drones preventing helicopters from putting out wildfires in California. A new video recently went viral on Youtube showing a drone flying and firing a handgun. The video and contraption were created by 18-year-old Austin Haughwout, who has come under immense scrutiny.

In September last year, I asked myself whether Canon should release an RF-mount camera with an APS-H sensor and quickly dismissed it as daft. A new rumor suggests that an APS-H camera might be already being tested, and upon reflection, it might be a stroke of genius.

Canon expanded its contribution to cinematic culture with the introduction of the new EOS C500 4K Digital Cinema Camera and the EOS C100 Digital Video Camera. The C500 will take its place as the flagship camera model in Canon's Cinema EOS System while the C100 provides another option for beginning filmmakers working on a budget.

In recent years, technological advances in camera sensors have made it possible to capture incredible landscape images at night, but they still struggle to capture detail when the light is very low or nonexistent without introducing high amounts of noise to the image. This technique, known as "median stacking," will help reduce or even eliminate noise in your nightscape foregrounds, resulting in clean, detailed images that are ready for print or online scrutiny.

According to a news update by Facebook, there are more than 1.2 billion people who are connected via Facebook to a small business in another country. In an age where digital products and online services are easier to create and sell, it naturally makes sense to open up target markets across borders. Last year Facebook introduced cross-border solutions in order to help business connect to the ever increasing mobile market through the social media platform. Facebook just recently updated the marketing options available for businesses who use the platform to market to customers online. There are four new market targeting options, within the Facebook Business module that allow you to connect with new customers who live in areas that would previously have been more difficult to identify.

Should we separate the art from the artist? Are we complicit in perpetuating terrible behavior when we elevate talented creatives who also happen to be poor humans?

It’s definitely not the 108 megapixels of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, but 64 megapixels is a lot of camera to pack into the forthcoming iPhone 12. Rumors have emerged that Apple is testing various sensors for its next flagship phone, which would be quite the bump from the iPhone 11 Pro’s meager offering of 12 megapixels.

As an aspiring photographer, it eventually becomes obvious that likes on Facebook or comments such as “Beautiful work Kiddo!” from your mother aren’t exactly providing an objective evaluation of your talent. Constructive feedback from others in your field is something that everyone can benefit from at times, even as a professional. The problem is, most of us don’t take criticism very well especially when it comes to something we’ve poured our heart into and may actually love on a personal level.

If you were a kid of the 1980s like me and loved Nintendo, you absolutely remember the Power Glove. In fact, I think that was one of the only scenes I remember from the movie "The Wizard" starring Fred Savage of "The Wonder Years" was the debut of this badass piece of 80s tech. Fast forward to 2015. The animator of the Adult Swim show "Robot Chicken" has modified his Power Glove to control his stop-motion workflow. Woah, dude.

Light stands are not a glamorous piece of gear, but they remain a staple in most photographers' work. So while having a bad light stand can cause stress and frustration, having a good light stand can free your mind to work.

Next up on our Tog Tools Jess and Stephen interview our very own Clay Cook on how he got his start in photography and how he's built an incredible fashion/ editorial photography business. Having first seen Clay's work right here on Fstoppers I was astonished by his clean, sharp style using seemingly basic lighting setups.

I have been a fan and a friend of Benjamin Von Wong for years. I have seen him turn tech employees into athletic gods and seen him schmooze with the police while on a 13 hour photoshoot deep in a foggy forest. In my eyes, the genius that is buried in Von Wong's creative mind can do anything, and he always knows it. Well, little did I know, the man who once chained a model to a shipwreck to get the perfect shot, often doubts himself, much like all of us.