ND filters range from useful in landscape photography to bordering on necessary for filmmakers to keep control of your aperture while under any lighting condition. This new ND filter from Panavision is special - it is electronic and fits into a standard matte box.
A lot of my work has light placed in very precise spots, just over the eyes, or the lips, or just on one spot on the face. I often get asked how I do it, and instead of just saying the product, I thought I should go more in depth and talk about the ins and outs of how to get the most out of Cinefoil.
This past week I passed the one year mark of shutting down my old Instagram when it was about to hit a new milestone, and starting from absolute scratch. Why did I do this? Was it a good idea? Let's dive in and find out.
Graphics card manufacturer Nvidia is at Computex Taipei and has announced a new creator-focused initiative, blending hardware and software to optimize select laptops under a new "Studio" branding. What makes these laptops "Studio" focused? Let's dive in and find out.
Creativity comes in many forms, but something that all disciplines have in common is that you need to practice — not just your technical skill, but the act of thinking differently.
Social media has become an important part of any business, especially if your business is reliant on your image, attention, and being the figurehead of a country that makes buckets of money off of tourism.
Making money in photography is hard — even harder when companies ask you to do work for free that they are profiting off of, and we say yes for the exposure/connections.
Photographers nowadays have plenty of tools at our fingertips: Lightroom, Capture One, Photoshop, etc. However, all of these are either expensive, complicated, or have recurring payments (or all three). The automatic photo editor PhotoWorks is here to change that, targeting the photographer who isn't quite tech-savvy with layers, warping, and such, but wants a bit more "oomph" to their photos.
A nice portrait is made up of four elements: composition, lighting, post-processing, and subject. The first three are easy to learn about and improve on your own, but after annoying your friends and family and getting sick of Facebook and Instagram, how do you improve?
The Hassleblad Xpan is an absolute dream camera and can be had for slightly cheaper as the Fujifilm TX-1 and TX-2, but even the "cheaper" TX-2 is upwards of $3,000.
Hippolyte Bayard was an artist, collector, inventor, and photographic pioneer who lived from 1801 until 1886 and claimed to have invented the photographic process before his contemporaries, Louis-Jacques Mandé Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot. When Bayard presented his photography process to Paris, no one really seemed to care.
One of my favorite up-and-coming Youtubers is Mik Milman, and last week, he released a video interviewing clinical psychologist Dr. Ali about the hardships of being a freelancer and how it can affect your mental health as a creative.
I love shooting film, it's not always the best choice, but the idea that I am forced to slow down and really be sure I like my frame before I hit the shutter overall makes me shoot more efficiently, reduce the amount of culling at the end of the shoot (which is my least favorite part of any photoshoot to be honest), and with shooting with 6x7 I can get a very specific look that is hard to replicate with smaller sensors, for better and worse.
Photography is hard. It's even harder when you forget your camera. But, as Chase Jarvis always says, the best camera you have is the one you have with you and with the rise of computational photography that is becoming more true than ever.
Canadian Photographer Chris Nicholls (Not to be confused with Chris Niccolls of DPReview) shoots for magazines like Marie Claire, FASHION, and in this video, Dress To Kill. Thankfully he had a behind the scenes crew with him to capture just how difficult it can be to shoot in the Californian desert, even with a full team.
Lenses are expensive: things like autofocus, modern coatings, and even just the fact that you're buying something new all contribute to the price. When it comes to saving money, vintage lenses are often a fantastic option, generally coming with unique looks that are difficult if not impossible to recreate in post.
When it comes to building out your kit, there is the eternal quandary. Constant lights or strobes? What are the advantages of each? What are the disadvantages of each? What are you giving up going with one over the other? This video from The Creative Contrast gives us a small look into why you may want to choose one over the other.
It's incredibly common to see any marketing campaign talk about how some accessory or lens is "life changing" and will bring your photography to the next level. And then you buy it and inevitably realize that it is your own ability that is holding you back. But there is something you can buy, multiple somethings actually, that will honestly help make you a better photographer.
When it comes to photography, it is ultimately a creative endeavor, and in my opinion, creativity is like a muscle. While photography with Easter grass and jockstraps isn't exactly practical, in this new video by The Creative Contrast, we can see how out of the box thinking can create engaging images with almost anything.
Knowing how to get a lot of different looks from one light is an integral skill to have as a photographer and this video from The Creative Contrast shows us all four simple setups to quickly get a bunch of different photos to build out a model's portfolio
