[Video] How Much Does Flash Duration Affect Photo Sharpness?

Unless you shoot fast moving objects with flash on a regular basis, you might not be aware that a strobes "flash duration" has a huge affect on an image's total sharpness. Flash duration is simply the time at which your flash is emitting light. Technical gurus will break it down into T.1 and T.5 times but for simplicity the longer the flash duration, the more your strobe light acts as a constant light for extremely fast moving objects (great article here). Recently Broncolor did a test between their Broncolor Scoro power pack and the Profoto Pro 8 Air to see which one had a faster duration. As biased as it might appear, I think it's fair to say that the Scoro does produce a sharper image especially since you can digital select the flash duration on the power packs themselves. The Broncolor packs do cost about 20% more than the Profoto packs so unless you are shooting extremely fast moving objects then you probably won't ever notice the difference. I think it could be interesting to throw something much cheaper into the mix like an Alien Bee but my suspicion is it might fail the color accuracy part of this test.
We Review the V-Flat Karl Taylor Light Cone

When V-Flat released the new Karl Taylor Light Cone, the comments ranged from dismissive jokes about "the cone of shame" to excitement for a product designed by esteemed commercial photographer Karl Taylor. I decided to take the cones into my product studio and see for myself if this simple tool really delivered the effortless results it boasted.

fstoppers-flickr-jason-lau-article-prints

Flickr's tumultuous history has been well documented over the years, but this photo sharing site has been fighting back with revamped designs, generous storage for users and new photographic services. Among these initiatives is a new Wall Art service, allowing users to make prints from a mind blowing 50 million freely-licensed Creative Commons images as well as Flickr hand-selected collections. While this service provides an opportunity for photographers to have greater exposure and to make money from their work, some are very upset with how their photographs are being treated.

Notable LIFE Magazine Photographer, Ralph Morse, Dies at 97

Ralph Morse was perhaps one of the greatest American photojournalists that has ever picked up a camera. Covering some of history's greatest events, there is no arguing that Morse had an eclectic and varied career in photography. Some of the most iconic images in American History were created by Ralph Morse, and splashed in vibrant fashion on the covers and pages of magazines.

Five Tips for Successful Winter Portraiture

We are in the heart of one of the most severe winters that has come along for years. Many are spending as much time bundled up as possible waiting for spring to show up in a month or two. Photographers, however, are a different breed. Crazy conditions are an opportunity to create interesting images so we often find ourselves meandering out into the unexpected after that perfect shot. Winter portraiture can be especially tricky as it requires managing a model in adverse weather. These tips should help ensure your next winter shoot is a success.

Go Retro-Nouveau with Kodak and Its Dreamy Super 8 Reel

Film lovers and analog purists are not-so-patiently awaiting the release of Kodak's new Super 8 camera, which should finally come out sometime this year at a cost of $2,500-$3,000. In the meantime, Kodak took CES as an opportunity to release some new test footage that looks rather incredible. At times, the reel displays a properly vintage look reminiscent of 1960s French films. Yet, in other sequences, the footage looks much more updated. It's sharper and boasts much higher contrast, which gives hope to directors that this will be a very flexible, very capable setup.

Your Photography Marketing Checklist During COVID-19

It’s important during this period of uncertainty to keep marketing your photography business. Marketing your business can keep you prepared for when things start to resume in the photography industry. Once events start up again, photoshoots begin to produce once more, and people can gather, your business will be ready. Here are some checkpoints to hit in your photography business marketing.

Nikon 1 V1 Mirrorless Camera Review

Nikon is one of the big names in the camera business. And they do have some competitors in the mirrorless market: the 1 series V1 and J1. We’ll be reviewing the V1, as it’s priced and featured as a more ‘professional’ or ‘prosumer’ line and will provide us results from the best of what Nikon now offers in the mirrorless market.

Sony's Eye Candy: Photography, Video, and Design

While browsing Creative Motion Design's blog I came across an eye catching ad for Sony's Bravia series of HDTVs. The complete video directed by Superfad had elements of slow motion, CGI effects, graphic design, animation, and photography. Luckily the good people over Hype Communications put together a make of video on how Superfad and the entire creative team was able to piece together this amazing Sony marketing ad. Below is the behind the scenes video; click on the full post to watch the final product.
Will We See 3D-Printed Camera Accessories Soon?

3D printers have recently become cheaper, more reliable, and more capable at the consumer level. On the same token, photographers constantly need all sorts of miscellaneous parts: adapters, clamps, rings, etc. It seems like now is the time for at-home 3D printing to take hold.

Meticulous Time Lapse of Central Park Fall Colors

Filmmaker Jamie Scott spent a six month span of time filming his time lapse titled "Fall" in New York City's Central Park. The amount of planning and execution that went into this time lapse is pretty impressive, and I'm definitely digging the results. As a New Yorker myself, I really appreciated the subject he used to show off the changing fall colors.

12 Weeks of Christmas: 11 Biggest Photo Facts

In this installment of the Twelve Weeks of Christmas, we have the 11 biggest and boldest possible facts in photography. They don't come any bigger than this!

A Quick Look at The New Sony ZV-E1

Sony just announced the new Sony ZV-E1 full-frame interchangeable lens camera. Currently the smallest and lightest full-frame interchangeable lens camera on the market. But who is this camera designed for?

Light Art Photographer Jan Leonardo Wöllert

Get an inside look at German photographer Jan Leonardo Wöllert's techniques, practices and philosophy as he is featured in this Deutsche Welle TV interview. Jan Leonardo Wöllert is considered to be one of the original light painting pioneers and has done work for prestigious clients such as Diesel, Nike, Covenant and The Strokes.

VSCOcam Adds Copy + Paste Editing

This morning VSCO finally added the long overdue, batch editing feature in the VSCO Cam 4.1 release. Available to download now from the Android and iOS markets. Along with adding Copy + Paste, they have also added the undo feature into the edit mode.

Tether Tools Introduces the ONsite Power Solutions

Tether Tools is well known for making tools that make photographer’s life more comfortable and better. You’ve probably seen their orange USB cables at least once in your life. Today, they’re introducing a new range of power solutions, ONsite Power.

How I Created a Neon Sign in Photoshop

At the beginning of the year, I worked on a client job for York Fashion week with local agency NIMA and videographer Beetroot Box. The brief was to create a teaser campaign for the upcoming event.

Create Captivating Portraits With an LED Light Wand

Over the past few years, LEDs have become a popular choice for still photographers, and with good reason. Although LED light sources do have limitations, there are many clear benefits to using constant light for portrait photographers. In this article, I will detail five ways I use an LED light wand to create captivating portraits, both in and out of my studio.

The Business of Photography: Fstoppers Interviews Nino Batista

The economic effects of COVID-19 are still being felt by photographers, but glamour photographer Nino Batista built a strong foundation under his business that allowed him to weather the worst of the storm. What did he do to make his business recession-proof?

New Nikon 800mm f5.6 by September 2012?

Nikon seemed to have settled with their 600mm at the top of their line-up. But NikonRumors now reports there could be an 800mm on the way...

A Photographer's Guide to Exploring Tasmania's Wilderness

For the last 10 years I have been regularly visiting this remote and pristine island state. Tasmania is about a 1.5 hour flight from Sydney to the city of Launceston. The diverse choice of landscapes and close proximity by car make this a unique and accessible environment still largely untouched. Around 40 percent of Tasmania is protected National Parks and Reserves. If you are looking to get off the grid and discover a magical wilderness, this place is filled with adventure and convict history. Here are some of my favorite spots to photograph in spring or autumn. I have also added a few other locations as side trips that are also worth a look.

Critique the Community Episode 6b: Un-posed Wedding Photographs

Yesterday, we posted Part 1 from our latest episode of "Critique the Community" on un-posed wedding photos. For this episode we promised to give feedback for every single image that was properly submitted. If you missed the last video, we went through a little over half the images and gave our thoughts. Today, we'll be giving feedback to the rest. Check them out below.

Would You Photograph Ugly People?

Senior portrait photographer Jennifer McKendrick has been making quite a name for herself over the last few days. The Pennsylvania photographer recently refused to photograph a few of her clients because she caught them bullying other students on Facebook. Jennifer wrote on her website that she will not photograph any ugly people by saying "If you are ugly on the inside, I’m sorry but I won’t take your photos to make you look pretty on the outside!" An overwhelming amount of support for Jennifer's actions have been filling up the blogs and social media outlets so it made me think, would you cancel a photo session with someone who was "ugly on the inside"? I have to agree with the comment made at 2:40 in the video below....do people actually spend a great deal of time screening their clients on facebook?