'Social Distancing' Isn't Realistic for Photojournalists

Photojournalism is a contact sport. Or at least it used to be, before the coronavirus rolled into town. Despite the health risks with taking photographs of people in close quarters or crowds, photographers at news organizations around the country are still, more or less, on the job.

A Couple Great Tips When Visiting Foreign Countries

This past week I was conversing with a taxi driver while in Jamaica. At one point I noticed a slum of houses and quickly shot a picture of it as we drove by. He responded abruptly, "Why are you shooting the ugly parts of our country. All of you media do the same. You should focus on the beautiful areas, not the ugly ones." He was absolutely right! I had fallen into a trap that so many of us tend to when traveling. This video from Devin Graham addresses this and other issues and gives some great tips on ways to get wonderful photos and video while traveling in foreign countries.

Instagram Quietly Testing Multiple Account Support on Android; Photographers Rejoice

In a move sure to delight photographers everywhere, Instagram has begun testing support for multiple accounts within the app. The ability to post and interact using separate accounts without having to resort to third-party solutions or logging in and out of the app has been highly requested for years. If this comes to fruition, it will represent a paradigm change in workflow for many mobile photographers.

Sony's Stereo 3D Commercial "Two Worlds" Shot At 2500 FPS

The amount of effort that went into Sony's 3D commercial Two Worlds is pretty unbelievable. I've watched this video twice now and still don't know if I know what I'm seeing. The creative team filmed the actors at 2500 FPS which required more than half a million watts of lighting and some of the largest fabric grids I've ever seen. Then using green screen, they filmed tons of slow motion projectiles to help their CGI team in the rendering of the background and moving elements. Because super slow motion video often looks fake even if it's real, making sense of what is real and what isn't real in this video is what makes it so interesting to me. Check out the video below and click the full post to see how they created this commercial inspired by the legendary Leonard Cohen.
White House Photographer Pete Souza Releases New Book from Obama Era

When I photograph events, I do my best to become a “fly on the wall.” I try to stay out of the way, to be unobtrusive, to not affect what’s happening around me and just document what I see. To be a photographer in the White House and be a fly on those walls — surrounded by high stress, classified this and that, diplomats, dignitaries, tragedies, and achievements, while being charged with capturing all of it, 24/7/365 — would obviously be a job that would take all you’ve got. And to do it for not one, but two presidents? That’s nuts. But there’s one guy who did it. His name is Pete Souza.

Working With a Reverse Ring For Macro Photography With High Magnification

Macro photography is a fun thing to do. With a normal macro lens, you can reach up to a 1:1 magnification. With a couple of extension tubes, it is possible to boost the magnification a bit, but not much. If you are interested in higher magnifications, you could try a reverse ring first.

Behind the Scenes: Celebrity Portrait Shoot With Grammy Award-Winner Fatman Scoop

A little over a year ago I had the opportunity to do my very first celebrity photo shoot with Grammy Award-winner Fatman Scoop at my studio in New Jersey. He had posted on Instagram that he was looking for photographers and videographers to collaborate with. Thinking I had nothing to lose I submitted a brief email expressing my interest and directing him to my website to review my work and to reply back if he liked my work. To my surprise, I received a response a couple of days later asking to schedule a date to shoot!

There Is Nothing Like Photographing a Sunrise [Part 3]

The third and final sunrise in this series was by far the easiest to pull off and the most successful. Once again our setting is on a family vacation, except this time it featured Grandparents. Close your eyes (after the sentence of course) and imagine yourself alone about to enjoy a sunrise all to yourself on a beautiful beach in Cape Cod, MA.

Tips for Removing Those Pesky Hair Ties From Photos

Anyone with long hair is generally seen around town with hair ties worn as a bracelet. I keep many in my studio even to hold back wardrobe pieces that are not form fitting. While the best option is always to remember to have your client remove them before you start shooting, there is always that small chance you forget and it isn't seen until a few frames into the session.

[Gear/Contest] Best of NAB 2012

NAB 2012 has come and gone, and if you missed it, know that it was a heck of a show this year. Check out our list of the NAB 2012 products that made serious waves for practicality in both function and price, and then let us know your favorites in the comments section! We're giving away a free year of Animoto to one lucky commenter!

[BTS Video] Photographer Adrien Broom Storybook Themed Shoot

Featured on the Wednesday Rundown before, Photographer Adrien Broom takes us behind the scenes on another whimsical shoot. In this video, she's working with a PocketWizard MiniTT1® [For Nikon/ For Canon] and an AC3 ZoneController [For Nikon/For Canon] to control the power levels of an Elinchrome Digital 2400 and an Einstein™ E640 lights directly from the camera's position. Click the full post to watch the video.
Product Photography: How To Photograph A Beer Advertisement

Photographer Scott Bourke gives us a complete overview of how he took a fantastic product shot of a few bottles of beer. Scott uses a single flash and 4 reflectors to create a very professional looking image that any photographer (no matter how little gear they have) is capable of creating. As I have always said, photography is all about good lighting and good lighting does not mean expensive lighting. Let's hope that Scott is going to enter our BTSV contest. Check out the full post for the final image and a BTS diagram.
[Pic] Absolut Bus-Shelter Ad With One Folded Piece of Paper

It's pretty amazing what you can create by folding a piece of paper in a million different ways. I'm not talking about Origami - but a carefully orchestrated image of Absolut's limited edition "Absolut Purete" Vodka. Artist Simon Schubert used nothing but light and shadows by making over 1,000 different folds into the paper, each fold capturing a different shadow to illustrate depth and dimension. Click the full post to watch the full behind the scenes making of this ad.
BTS Videos Of Annie Leibovitz's Disney Dream Portraits

Last week Lee Morris posted a few behind the scenes images of Annie Leibovitz's latest Disney Campaign featuring Russell Brand as the villainous Captain Hook and funnymen Jack Black, Will Ferrell and Jason Segel as the hitchhiking ghosts from 'The Haunted Mansion' ride. Here are two behind the scenes videos of each photoshoot respectively.

Should You Get Published? An Interview With the Editors of Lucy's and Jute Magazines

In a recent article entitled "Why You Shouldn't Submit Your Photographs to Magazines," I discussed Vanity Magazines and how, in my opinion, they often fail to deliver enough value to justify the photographer's effort. As a result of that article, I've had the opportunity to talk with the editors of two of the more well-known and better-curated vanity, or submission, magazines, Lucy's and Jute, to find out how their work benefits photographers.

A Little Wholesome Tale of a Vintage Camera

Whenever my girlfriend and I see antique stores or vintage markets, our eyes light up. Her eyes are lit up with dreams of bone china tea sets and antiquated woodworking, whereas mine are bright with visions of a dusty Hasselblad in a forgotten corner, or spools of unprocessed and antiquated film. On a Sunday morning in sunny Englandshire recently, my lady-friend and I went for breakfast and on returning to our car, saw a small sign for a vintage pop-up market.

How Douglas Sonders Processes His "Beard Series"

Douglas Sonders has been features a few times on this site with some incredible images and this series doesn't depart from that sentiment. This video walks you through the post production of his "Beard Series" and gives you some great insights into how to use some excellent Nik Software to create a beautiful high contract black and white image.

World’s First: Metz Mecablitz 52 AF-1 Flash With Touchscreen

One product got a lot of attention during the Photokina 2012 show. The new 52 AF-1 touchscreen flash from Metz (a world’s first). The flash unit will come in Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic, Leica and Sony versions. The estimated price is around €250. Full specs and features can be found in the press release:

Six Editing Tips for Cleaner Nature Photos

In this tutorial, we’re going to make some quick and simple adjustments to a close-up flower photograph using ACDSee Photo Studio Professional 2020 and its powerful Develop Mode.

CFast Cards Hurting Your Wallet and Your Recording Time? "C-Box" Has A Solution

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.

MyShoebox Launches Free And Unlimited Cloud Storage

MyShoeBox is a new photo storage and sharing site that just launched the other week. It is a free and unlimited storage and sharing site that can be viewed from anywhere. Like dropbox but for photos only.

Zoner Photo Studio X Receives Major Update, Continues Pressure on Adobe

Zoner Photo Studio X is a holistic solution to post-processing and file management for photographers, and yet it flies under the radar. Despite the fact its price is a fraction of Adobe's full suite, major updates to improve it are rolled out regularly, and this latest one adds a number of features.