DL Cade

Articles by DL Cade

Sneak Peek: Skylum Shows Off Water Reflections in AI Sky Replacement Tool

Skylum, the makers of Luminar 4 and the soon-to-be released Luminar AI, are taking a page out of the Adobe playbook. In a sneak peek video released earlier today, the company showed off the next iteration of its AI-powered Sky Replacement tool, which will be able to generate fake reflections from you "new" sky automagically.

Adobe Unveils Free Collection of Over 70,000 Stock Photos and Other Assets

In preparation for this year's virtual AdobeMAX conference, Adobe has unveiled two new initiatives that are meant to "inspire and empower diverse voices as we democratize creativity": an Artist Development Fund, and a massive free collection of 70,000 photos, illustrations, vectors and other Adobe Stock assets.

Infrared Ghouls and Goblins: A Fresh Take on Halloween Photography

A couple of years ago I was shooting Halloween yard scenes in a street photography kind of way when I realized that I wasn't really satisfied with what I was getting. Over the last two decades, Halloween has been transformed into a major U.S. holiday focused on lavish front yard displays that often look boringly the same down street after street.

Nikon Updates Z Lens Roadmap, Adds 85mm, 400mm and 600mm Primes

In addition to announcing the new-and-improved Z6 II and Z7 II full-frame mirrorless cameras, Nikon also released an updated Z-Mount lens roadmap this week. The new lineup includes three prime lenses we haven't seen before: an 85mm (probably f/1.2), a 400mm (probably f/2.8), and a 600mm (probably f/4).

Photoshop 101: What’s the Difference Between Curves and Levels?

If you want to manipulate the light and color information in an image using Photoshop, two of the most common tools for the task are Curves and Levels. But how do these two adjustments actually differ? And when might you choose to use one instead of the other? That's exactly what Aaron Nace explains in this helpful video.

Canon EOS R5 vs EOS R: Image Quality Comparison

Wedding and portrait photographer Alex Barrera recently conducted a side-by-side comparison between the new 45MP Canon EOS R5 and the two-year-old 30MP Canon EOS R. Setting aside video performance, he wanted to see how these two camera stack up when it comes to pure image quality.

Microsoft’s New Image Captioning AI is More Accurate than Humans

AI researchers at Microsoft reached a major milestone this week: they managed to create a new "artificial intelligence system" that is, in many cases, actually better than a human at describing the contents of a photo. This could be a huge boon for blind and sight-impaired individuals who rely on screen readers and "alt text" when viewing images online.

Using a $10 vs $1,000 Light for Zoom Meetings

The single most important thing that you can do to look better in a Zoom meeting is to add better lighting. This will give you a significant quality improvement on a minimal investment. So... I decided to test out four different lighting options, ranging from a cheap little $10 ring light all the way up to a $1,000 professional studio light.

A Simple Trick for Adding Drama to a Product Photo

Here's a quick tip from talented photographer, filmmaker, and YouTube star Peter McKinnon. In his latest "two-minute Tuesday" video, he showed how adding a simple overlay onto some black foam core can take a basic top-down product shot to the next level.

Watch: Safety Drone Warns Pro Surfer as Shark Closes In

As part of a new "shark mitigation program," the organization Surf Life Saving NSW has begun operating special safety drones in 34 locations across New South Whales. Recently, one of these drones captured an extremely close encounter between pro surfer Matt Wilkinson and a nearby shark, warning him from above just as a shark was closing in from below.

Creating a ‘Time-Blend’ to Enhance the Drama in Your Landscape Photography

In my last article, I wrote in depth about my emotional connection to the subjects that I photograph and my artistic process in creating imagery. As I said before, to me photography is much more than capturing a single moment in time. I want to portray the sensory experiences that I have when I am immersed in nature or wilderness and pour that into an image that tells a story related to those experiences.

Samsung Unveils Affordable Lineup of ‘Rugged’ SD Cards for Creators

When it comes to 'rugged' SD cards that can withstand drops and water and x-rays, Sony's Tough cards haven't really had any competition... until now. Samsung has just unveiled two new lineups of SD cards that bring some of the same adventure-proof benefits to a more affordable price point.

10 Tips for Photographing Little Mushrooms in the Forest

As I am a professional photographer and known mainly for my images with wide angle lenses, here is something new. It's been raining here for weeks already—not the greatest conditions for landscape photography—so I took out my macro lens to photograph some mushrooms in the forest. The great thing about this is that you can do this with any kind of light at any moment of the day.

This Simple Canon EOS R5 Thermal Mod Enables Unlimited 8K Recording

After making a fairly straightforward thermal modification to his new Canon EOS R5, maker/tinkerer Yifan Gu was able to get the camera to record unlimited 8K without having to resort to various timer resetting "hacks." All he had to do was swap out the thermal pads and add a couple more.

10 Minute Crash Course: Using Filters for Landscape Photography

Photographer Nicco Valenzuela recently published a helpful "crash course" that covers everything you need to know to get started using lens filters for landscape photography. The video covers everything from the two main filter 'formats,' to the three main filter 'types,' to the various situations where you might want to use each filter for the best possible results.

Panasonic Releases Proper Webcam Software for LUMIX Cameras

In an announcement that flew under the radar a little bit, Panasonic has released some proper webcam software that lets you use your LUMIX camera as a webcam on both Mac and Windows. This replaces the slightly hacky tethering software work-around unveiled back in June.

Behind the Scenes: Shooting 8×10 Polaroids of Strangers

Film photographer and YouTuber Willem Verbeeck recently set out on a fun project that will appeal to portrait photographers, film lovers, Polaroid fans, and large format shooters alike. He teamed up with a camera store to shoot 8x10 polaroid portraits of strangers in Brooklyn.

Hasselblad 907X Hands-On Review and Vintage Lens Test

I have been so excited about this Hasselblad 907X camera. In this hands on review of the Hasselblad 907x and CFV II 50C we show you an image quality test, discuss the ergonomics and try it out on our Hasselblad 500cm with some vintage lenses. Check it out to see what we got!

Canon 2021 Lens Roadmap Leaked: 16 New RF Lenses On the Way

Canon has already released a bunch of exciting glass for the full-frame mirrorless RF-mount, but the company is far from done. A leaked lens roadmap for 2021 indicates that Canon has as many as 16 new RF mount lenses in the works, including some of the most-anticipated additions like the 70-200mm f/4 and 50mm f/1.8.

Photographing Every National Park in Victoria, Australia

As a weekend photographer and keen explorer of our natural spaces, I recently(ish) set myself a photo project of capturing every land-based national park in my home state of Victoria, located in the south-east corner of Australia. Visiting all 45 of them took two years of regular trips, outside work and other travels.

These Guys Strapped a RED Camera to a 100mph FPV Racing Drone

Filmmaker and YouTuber Potato Jet recently teamed up with first person view (FPV) racing drone pilot Paul Nurkkala to try something kind of crazy: they strapped Potato Jet's RED cinema camera to a custom-built, high-speed octa-copter and took it for a spin... and a flip... and a few more maneuvers besides.

Scientist Captures ‘The Fastest Front Flipping Insect’ in Super Slow Motion

Dr. Adrian Smith—a scientist who is perhaps best known for his educational videos on YouTube—has released another fascinating super slow motion video highlighting a tiny little insect you've probably never heard of. They're commonly called jumping plant lice, and they're "the fastest front-flipping insect" on the planet.

4 Things I’ve Learnt About Photography in 2020 (so far)

What a strange year this has been, right? Yet, curiously, this has also been a year in which I have probably taken the greatest leaps in my photography for some time. Because when you are doing something new, or have been pushed into a new way of life, you can either freeze and panic... or you can use it as an opportunity to try new things. To innovate.

Akaka Falls by Moonlight: How I Got the Shot

Summer and Fall are wonderful for photographing the Milky Way here in Hawai'i. We have many locations with dark skies and breathtaking scenery too. In October, the brightest part of the Milky Way (galactic core) is near the horizon at sunset; by November it'll be below the horizon when it gets dark.

Nikon Will Add CFexpress Support to the D5, D850 and D500 Soon: Report

It's been well over a year since Nikon revealed that the D5, D850, and D500 DSLRs would all be getting CFexpress memory card support "in the future," but users are still waiting for Nikon to reveal exactly when that future will arrive. Fortunately, it seems that wait is almost over.

How Hand-Painted Photographs Helped Introduce Japan to the World

When you see the term "colorized photo" you probably imagine skilled retouchers working in Photoshop, or perhaps a machine learning algorithm that does that same work automatically. But the original colorized photos were hand-painted prints made from glass plate negatives. And, as Vox explains, the best of these images came out of Japan.