Articles from Ryan Mense

From the majestic remote landscape of the Lofoten Islands comes this impressive aerial video created by Theo Gove-Humphries. Having just purchased a brand new DJI Phantom 4, he didn’t waste any time putting it to good use in a week-long outdoor excursion across the Islands in June 2016.

You know what they say: behind every good tooth brushing there is a cat being shaved with a hair trimmer. Or at least that’s how the world works in “The Foley Artist,” a short film by Feast Films. This funny take on the relationship between video and audio shows some creative sound production techniques that are just a little bit out there. But hey, you do what you gotta do. 

For beginners, Adobe Premiere Pro CC can cause some shocking surprises when you open up the door to this editing powerhouse. There’s a wall of emotions from the many menus, options, and panels and it can feel like maybe there’s another person who could work with this program much better than you.

Sigma, a company most recently known for its success with their highly-praised Art lenses, has announced the pricing and availability of their latest camera release, the sd Quattro. Available in July, the sd Quattro mirrorless camera body will cost $799. For $999, there is a kit option available which will also bundle you with the 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM Art lens. 

On April 29 we launched our first ever weekend hashtag project over on the @officialfstoppers Instagram. The theme for the inaugural shooting event was black and white photography. Many photographers contributed wonderful photos and here I’m sharing a selection of images that I enjoyed.

Earlier this year, commercial photographer Lars Schneider was followed by a camera on a trip to the Faroe Islands to document his “other life” as a landscape photographer. The resulting video gives us insight into what his professional lifestyle entails and the change of pace enjoyed when shooting landscapes for personal fulfillment rather than clientele. 

On Monday, Apple held its keynote presentation at the annual WWDC conference. Big updates were unveiled on stage, including interesting revisions to watchOS, tvOS, macOS, and iOS. One announcement that wasn’t talked about is the upcoming ability for iOS devices to shoot and edit raw images, which was instead hinted at through a presentation slide and a WWDC Session video description. 

Vincent Laforet is a name that has recently become synonymous with world-class aerial photography. His incredible images from above gives us a new artistic perspective of the cities we love and the world we live in.

As the technology inside our cameras continues to advance, understanding and controlling all its new capabilities becomes a little more complicated. Between autofocus modes, points, zones, calibration, and the material components making it all function, there’s a lot going on that can potentially make you miss your shot.

Los Angeles-based photographer Zach Sutton has spent a long time doing on-location photoshoots for his business. These kinds of shoots usually involve the typical off-camera strobes on light stands and maybe an assistant to help mule equipment or adjust lighting for the photographer. However, when Sutton moved to L.A.

Introduced alongside the FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 last week, Sony has added its own take on the “Nifty Fifty” to their lens lineup. Aimed at photography hobbyists, the FE 50mm f/1.8 will only cost $248 and gives a wide aperture option to those that may be only shooting with the FE 24-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens at the moment.

If you’re looking for a little more reach with your Sony Alpha mirrorless camera, there is a new telephoto lens coming soon that you may want to check out. Sony announced plans to ship their longest E-mount focal length zoom lens, the FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS, in May 2016.

In this new episode of Adorama’s “Through the Lens” web series, lifestyle photographer and one-time creative director for Apple, Michael O’Neal, is featured. In the brief five-minute video O’Neal recalls his motivation for moving on from a coveted job at Apple and going out on his own to work for himself.

When Gura Gear was absorbed into the Tamrac brand in late 2015, the beloved Bataflae photo backpack was left without a home. Without hesitation, Tamrac introduced the G-Elite line that improved upon the genius butterfly-opening backpack design of the original Bataflae and was launched in two sizes: the G32 and the G26.

In early February, Sony unveiled the a6300, a follow-up to one of the best selling interchangeable-lens cameras of all time, the a6000. The updated a6300 features an APS-C 24.2-megapixel CMOS sensor, 4D Focus system with 425 on-chip phase-detection points and 169 contrast-detection areas, 11 frames-per-second burst shooting, and 4K video recording without pixel binning.

Phase One has dropped two new software updates today including Capture One Pro 9.1 and a camera firmware update for its medium format XF system. Version 9.1 of Capture One Pro is focused on workflow tool improvements aimed towards working fashion and still life photographers.

To the excitement of professional photographers shooting with Sony Alpha cameras, today Sony announced plans to release an all new wireless lighting control system this summer in the U.S. and Canada. The control system set consists of the FA-WRC1M wireless radio commander and the FA-WRR1 wireless radio receiver. 

Tamrac has been keeping busy to revitalize their brand by shipping new products such as the Anvil and G-Elite series of photo backpacks as well as these new Goblin gear pouches. Made to provide minimalist padding to your equipment, the Goblin pouches come in a variety of shapes and sizes to protect cameras, lenses, memory cards, and accessories. 

Midway through 2015, Phase One released the XF camera system, an impressive digital medium format system which combines modularity, software upgradability, and image quality into the ultimate shooting package.

One of the primary reasons many have given for stalling in making the switch to mirrorless is the lack of solid fast aperture zooms.

Today Sony has announced a follow-up to the insanely successful Sony a6000. The new 24.2-megapixel Sony a6300 with internal 4K video recording once again pushes autofocus capabilities into uncharted territory. Take a closer look at all the specs of this prosumer beast and tell me you aren’t impressed. 

Finding just the right music for your video project can be an overwhelming process in filmmaking. You may have spent weeks, months, or even years tirelessly capturing footage and now it comes down to music track selection which can make or break all the film work you already put in.

Chicago-based photographer and designer Elise Swopes is absolutely brimming with creativity. Her highly popular composite work is astounding in itself for combining the unexpected, but the fact it’s all done on a smartphone is simply incredible.

In 2014, time-lapse photographer Jesse Attanasio set out on a two-year mission to shoot as much as he could possibly shoot, and explored some of the most beautiful and unique locations on earth. His stunning newly released video, “Exhale,” is the final product of intense planning, lengthy travels, and focused postproduction work. Prepare yourself, this one is a treat for the eyes. 

Love it or hate it, mobile photography is the king right now. So what’s a world-renowned lens manufacturer for “traditional” system cameras to do when a large majority of photos these days are coming from smartphones? You adapt. Today Zeiss has announced, in partnership with Fellowes Brands, plans to ship a macro, wide-angle, and telephoto lens for iPhone in Q2 2016. 

Photographers and videographers who work on-location for their gigs need an easy, dependable way to haul and station their gear and grip kits. Many have come to rely on the RocknRoller MultiCart for this purpose because of its versatility.

As the latest addition to Booq’s growing camera bag offerings, the new Slimpack brings together many features perfected in their previous packs and includes the staples that many photographers now expect. 

It may feel like Capture One Pro 8 was just released not too long ago, but Phase One isn’t slowing down the development of their beloved raw converter and photo editing software. Today, Capture One Pro 9 was released and it is their best image processor ever. 

Musicbed has just released their latest “artist spotlight” in-house production which focuses on world-renowned pianist Chad Lawson. This short six-minute video isn’t a tutorial, it doesn’t feature a videographer or photographer, and it isn’t about the filmmaker behind the camera.

Last year, the photography accessory company Gura Gear purchased the struggling brand Tamrac and ever since has been hard at work to revitalize the company through adding more employees and building new facilities as well as starting from scratch with product design and branding.

In this latest installation of Format’s InFrame documentary series, the camera turns to fashion and beauty photographer Solmaz Saberi who speaks from her experiences in getting started with photography to how she conducts a photoshoot to why she founded her own magazine. Directed by Bas Berkhout, you’ll want to check out this short video for your daily dose of inspiration. 

After seeing an initial release in June of this year, Phase One is now releasing its first big platform update for the XF camera system. The update brings new controls and functionality, plus more refinement to its operating software. 

A brand new full-frame mirrorless camera has just entered into the game, and it comes from the German-based luxury camera brand Leica.

The Sony a7S II is the latest full-frame mirrorless Alpha camera to be released and builds upon the head-turning low-light capabilities its predecessor was made known for.

Making its start as a wildly popular Tumblr blog, the “Black Dogs Project” was created by Massachusetts-based portrait photographer Fred Levy. The goal of Levy’s project is to bring to light the reality of black dog syndrome, which is an observance that black dogs tend to always be adopted last from shelters.