The Advantage of Square Format Photography
Square format simplifies shooting because you never have to rotate the camera. You can edit the image to any format you like.
Square format simplifies shooting because you never have to rotate the camera. You can edit the image to any format you like.
I haven't lusted for a fixed prime camera because it's so easy for me to mount a short prime lens on my ILC. But I am intrigued by the idea of walking around with a short prime on my camera, even though it is limiting compared to walking around with a zoom.
Planning is key to capturing the best Milky Way images. Unlike other types of photography, shooting our galaxy requires you to consider many astronomical factors, like the sunset, the moon phase, and the Milky Way’s location in the sky.
My name is Ben Sandofsky, and I'm the co-founder and developer of Lux Optics. We make Halide, the most popular RAW camera for iPhone, so when Apple revealed their new ProRAW image format, we were beyond excited.
It's common for photo writers to state, "A 100mm lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera has the equivalent reach of 200mm on full frame". While the field of view is equivalent to 200mm FF, the reach is not necessarily equivalent.
One of the best ways to broaden your horizons and inject a little inspiration into your photography is to explore subjects outside the world of photography. To study painting or take a course in graphic design, for example. But I recently discovered a fount of photographic inspiration in an unusual place: a neuroscience lab.
Photographers might be struggling with coming up with interesting photography ideas when cooped up at home to stay safe from COVID-19 or because the weather is bad. In this 7.5-minute video, Photographer Spencer Cox shows that great photos can still be made despite these challenges.
Photographer and YouTuber Frederik Trovatten has just released episode three of his popular "How to take photos like..." series. He started with Vivian Maier, moved on to Robert Frank, and this week he's breaking down the style and philosophy of the great Joel Meyerowitz.
I love looking in detail at another photographer’s work. To immerse yourself in someone else’s creativity—to see what their ideas spark inside of you, what excites you, what makes you sit up and think 'Wow, that’s really cool!'—that’s all great fuel for your own photography.
Over the past seven months, Ilford has been publishing a set of helpful "Darkroom Guides" to the How To playlist on the company YouTube channel. The series was created to help film photographers take their "next steps in your black and white darkroom printing journey." If that describes you, then this is one you'll want to bookmark.
Photographer Gavin Hoey recently produced a video for Adorama TV that tackles a critically important subject for photographers: light fall off. Mathematically captured by the so-called Inverse Square Law, it's vital that photographers understand this property of light, especially when working with strobes.
Photographer and "mad scientist" Don Komarechka is back for a DPReview TV episode on ultraviolet light. Specifically, he explains how a modified camera-and-filter combination can reveal hidden ultraviolet patterns that are invisible to the human eye, but crucial for pollinators like bees.
Photographer, computational biologist, and science presenter Andrew Steele just released a fascinating short video about his favorite optical illusion. By manipulating a function of your visual system, he shows you how you can trick your brain into "adding" color to a black-and-white image.
If you're looking for a fun and educational project to try this weekend, Israeli DIY-er Elad Orbach has come up with the cheapest, most simple Schlieren photography setup we've ever seen. Unlike more expensive setups, his creation will let you photograph heat and sound waves using just a smartphone, a mirror, and a selfie stick.
What makes a great landscape photo, great? Some appreciate an image for its technical prowess or adhering to certain rules. It might be focused correctly and sharp throughout the scene. It could be well-exposed, offering wide dynamic range. Some like to see leading lines or the rule of thirds.
The Oakland Museum of California has created an online archive showcasing the work of pioneering documentary photographer Dorothea Lange. If you've never explored Lange's work, there may be no better way to dive in.
Sony's annual Kando Trip is usually reserved for the "Alpha Family" of press, ambassadors, and influencers. But this year, given the ongoing pandemic, Sony is turning Kando Trip into Kando Everywhere: an online event that's free for anyone who's interested.
Throughout the year, we leave the comfort of our studios and venture out to shoot on location. And there’s no better time for outdoor photo shoots than the long days of summer.
Ian Norman and Diana Southern over at Lonely Speck just uploaded their full 2016 astrophotography workshop to YouTube for free. This incredible resource covers everything from getting the shot, to basic editing, image stacking, and panorama stitching. They even included the Q&A from the end of the meetup!
Most photographers know the basics of lens-based image stabilization (Lens IS) and in-body image stabilization (IBIS), but if you've ever wanted a technical deep-dive that explains exactly how these systems work to generate 4, 5, or even 7 stops of stabilization, this video from Imaging Resource is here to answer that call.
Photographer Robert Hall recently released a simple-yet-brilliant explainer that uses water to illustrate the properties of light and explain a few concepts that frequently confuse beginners, including: what is a "stop" of light, how do you use the exposure triangle, and how do various flashes and flash modifiers affect your image.
Great Britain's Royal Institution has put together a fascinating "tour through the history of photography." Using his own camera collection as a jumping off point, chemist Andrew Szydlo takes you through a sort of "crash course" on the history of photography in 41 minutes.
Martin, the host of about photography, has put together a timely and inspiring ode to the work of photographer Harry Gruyaert—a master of his craft and Magnum photographer whose approach to using color, and his passion for photography in general, is worth studying, admiring, and emulating.
It's common knowledge that most lenses are at their best (i.e. sharpest) between f/5.6 and f/8, depending on the lens. But why is that? Why does stopping down further actually make the image softer? This is what YouTuber ZY Productions explains in the video above.
Dustin Dolby of Workphlo is back with another helpful product photography tutorial. Using only minimal gear, Dolby will show you how to create professional-grade 360° product photos—an increasingly sought-after skill for e-commerce photography.
I look at hundreds of photographs everyday and I’ve noticed that how people take photos is in direct correlation to how they live their day to day lives. This may not sound like a startlingly profound fact but, put simply: your personality can create the biggest barrier to achieving interesting and unique photographs.
Expert wildlife photographer Steve Perry has created an excellent "crash course" in Bird in Flight photography that he's sharing for free with all of us. The video covers 10 techniques/tips that "will give you all the basics you need to start filling your memory card with wall-hangers."
Photographer Todd Dominey recently inherited a piece of photo history from his parents: an original Polaroid SX-70. This camera sent Dominey down the rabbit hole of instant photography history, as he discovered the story behind this world-shaking camera, and the man who invented it, Edwin Land.
The folks over at YouTube channel Media Division recently put together an incredibly comprehensive test of the fastest camera lenses on the market. In this video, they cover everything from the legendary Zeiss R-Biotar 100mm f/0.73 X-Ray lens, to some of the more "practical" options with maximum apertures under f/1.
Earlier today, Adobe officially announced that its largest annual conference, Adobe MAX, would be moving online. The company promises to make Digital MAX 2020 "one of the most immersive, imaginative, and innovative digital events of the year" that will be "open to everyone at no cost."
If you're running low on free educational content and you're eager to use this time to improve your craft, we have some good news. The website Photography Life hast just released all of their premium photography courses, usually $150 apiece, for free on YouTube.
If you've been looking for a fresh, entertaining take on the standard beginner's guide to
getting out of Auto Mode, look no further. The YouTube channel TheCrafsMan SteadyCraftin has released the strangest (and yet still very informative) tutorial we've seen in this genre.
Landscape photographer and educator Mads Peter Iversen has put together a helpful focus 'primer' for the aspiring landscape photographers out there. In the video, he goes over auto and manual focus technique, his personal workflow, and a few basic tips and tricks that work well for him.
Engineer and YouTuber Ben Krasnow over at Applied Science has put together a fascinating little optical demonstration that explains the physics behind 'hypercentric' optics and how they allow you to see around and behind objects. He even shows you how to build your own.
Focus stacking is a fun and easy technique you can do right at home with nothing more than your camera, lens, and editing software. In fact, the Fujifilm X-T2, X-T3, and X-T4 series of cameras—and many others—contain a "focus bracketing" feature that lets you do this automatically.
Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake over at DPReview TV have put together a helpful (and timely) primer that shows you how to take better indoor portraits using only natural light, and without needing to buy any additional photography gear.
It all started as a seemingly simple task. To make it easier to master the menu system of the Sony a7 Mark III, I decided to create a mind map. But this project quickly evolved into a major, and rather fascinating, undertaking.
The two most commonly asked questions in photography are probably: "what gear do you use?" and "what settings do you use?" In this video, landscape photographer Mads Peter Iversen answers that second question by diving into his typical workflow and explaining when and why to use certain settings when shooting landscapes.
If you've already burned through Nikon's full Nikon School Online curriculum (free all of this month) and you're eager to learn more, you're in luck. Sue Bryce Education have made their entire library of courses free for one week only, from April 20th - 26th.
I get asked all the time about my process: what applications I use, what gear I use, how I do what I do. So I figured, since I'm locked in my apartment by myself because of COVID-19, I might as well write my first blog post about it.