Apple's newly-announced Mac Studio with its new M1 Ultra chip looks to be a juggernaut, but pretty much no photographer will need that kind of power. The base model Mac Studio is a better choice and might be the best deal for a new computer on the market.
In the past few years, we’ve seen the dawn and domination of mirrorless cameras and exponential improvements in software and computing power. Speaking as someone who started shooting on black and white film, moved to digital on a 6-megapixel camera, and now shoots solely only on mirrorless bodies, I can honestly say that it’s never been easier to produce great quality photography.
The gentleman that I (and countless others) learned photography from is one O.P. Sharma, an internationally recognized, black-and-white film photographer. He is one of the masters of photography. He founded the India International Photography Council and was the driving force behind establishing 19 August as International Photography Day every year.
Ricoh seemingly made the significant announcement that it would cease the mass production of digital cameras (which includes the Pentax brand), shifting instead to a direct-to-market model. For now, it only affects its business in Japan, although the ramifications could affect its business more widely. What does this mean for Ricoh (and Pentax) and their future?
Photography is a tech-heavy job. Camera companies do a great job of hyping up new gear and creating a fear of missing out. However, very few professionals that I know actually go and splurge on the latest and greatest equipment.
Leica has historically been known for rangefinder-style cameras but has branched away in recent years. But if there is one thing the company should take away from the praise the new M11 is getting, it's that it should stick with what it's good at.
What kind of lighting do you use as a portrait photographer? Softboxes are great and popular, but that also makes them potentially overused and boring. If you want to spice up your portrait lighting, you can look into expanding your toolbox beyond the softbox and into other kinds of lighting.
It goes without saying that anything that is valuable is eminently stealable. If there's a market for consumer goods, then there's a market for stolen consumer goods.
There are 365 ways to waste your time being busy instead of doing useful work. One of those is the popular concept of a 365 photo project. Let’s dive in and see why it is one of the best ways to waste your time.
In many art practices, a new method or process does not usually automatically override the old one. You can still use berries and charcoal to paint a cave wall, paint on a canvas, or put pencil to paper. These do not become irrelevant just because a Wacom tablet can be used to make a digital illustration or a VR for a 3D painting.
Nikon unveiled the Z9 back in October to a world desperate for updates about their new top shelf model after months of teasers. This was eagerly awaited, not least to see how it compared to Sony's blockbuster Alpha 1 and because it beat Canon to the proverbial flagship punch.
We're starting a new tradition here at PetaPixel, where our staff gets together to discuss the things they know, not just think, will transpire over the course of the next calendar year. As bold predictions go, we're almost certainly going to get a lot of this wrong.
There are many debates about ethics in photography. One such debate is around making money on photos that show human suffering. It could be appropriate, but there are a few caveats you should consider before selling such work.
Being a professional photographer is often a flashy “seemingly easy” career in which anyone with a camera and a lens can succeed. But why then do so many fail? Having talked to many successful photographers, I’ve noticed certain patterns that they all share.
The process of crafting great imagery is something I have been studying for years. One of the undertakings in this riveting pursuit was to study hundreds of great images from many photographers.
“Why are guns and cameras so closely connected?” This is what I set out to explore and investigate recently through my own experience in film. Between starting the production and finishing it, one major event made this connection a lot darker.
Successful professionals -- that is, people who make most of their living as photographers -- have a kind of global view of their career. They behave as though marketing and contract negotiations and digital workflow are all just as important as composition and lighting.
This article is bound to stir up a little controversy. Still, I believe there is some clarity to be had on the issue of professional photographers and the eye autofocus (Eye AF) technology craze found in the current generation of mirrorless cameras. The truth about who eye autofocus is really for and why many professionals are somewhat ambivalent about it might surprise a few people.
Devastating photos and videos emerged from Afghanistan as the Taliban regained control of the country and U.S. troops prepared to withdraw in August 2021.
When the Sony Alpha 1 was announced, I remember being really impressed but not surprised. Sony had been the brand to beat and had been continuously pushing the envelope. What Sony did was impressive, but not shocking. The Nikon Z9 has shocked me.
In the corner of my living room lives my piano, a cat tree, and an unassuming black Billingham camera bag containing a film and digital body. The thing that connects the three is that they’re all static objects.
I’m sure most photographers have heard of Unsplash, the free-to-use stock image website. You upload any of your photographs, then after a short moderation process, they become available in the Unsplash library for anyone to download and use in any way they like.
In 2016, after Apple removed the memory card slot from MacBook Pros, I complained about this loudly. “Everything is going wireless,” a since-departed executive told me, adding that there was no need for the slot anymore.
How does renowned portrait photographer Albert Watson light his photos? With a foolproof three-light setup that makes his photos look amazing, of course! Except... he doesn't. In fact, setups are very far from what professional photographers do when they light their work. Here is what mindset photographers have when they light.
I have a good friend that uses Facebook as his photography business’s digital platform. I have multiple friends that use Instagram as their portfolio. This also goes for, yes to a lesser degree, using Behance, Tumbler, Model Mayhem, Imgur, and Flickr as a portfolio destination.
In ways much like the chicken and the egg, it is tough to distinguish which came first, my love of photography, or my obsession with optics.
If you've been using an Apple Silicon Mac with an external display for photo and video editing, you may have noticed a few issues. Whether it's ultra-wide monitors not displaying correctly, calibration software not working right, or high-end monitors displaying in YCrCb mode instead of RGB, Apple Silicon still has a bunch of issues with color-accurate monitors.
UV photography has been used by dermatological laboratories since the era of film photography. This technique was then used by the R&D centers to show the protective properties of dermatological and cosmetic products against UV radiation from the Sun.
While I may have publicly used the term ‘self-portrait therapy’ before, I have never spoken about the vulnerable origins of my self-portraits.
While the broad strokes of what is wanted on a camera usually revolve around the imaging fundamentals -- resolution, ISO performance, AF, et cetera -- there are some functions of camera design that have a significant impact on creating that often can be overlooked. The aspect that I want to discuss today is that of balance.
Canon has spent the last five months hyping up its new sports camera and if there is anything to take away from it now that the R3 has been fully announced, it is that Canon has done a remarkable job closing the technology gap with Sony.
One of the most common myths in photography and art, in general, is that some things are wrong and others are right. This creates a notion that some art is worse than other art. If this were true, the world would never go beyond a predefined concept of art.
Live music and the resumption of public schools have become a flashpoint (1, 2) in the battle about masks and vaccines in the public sector. My son is homeschooled so I cannot speak to that, but I can speak about live music.
To an up-and-coming photographer or creative, an award win can feel like a make-or-break point in their career. It could be a chance – or THE chance - to be elevated to the next career level, earn the respect of peers, the attention of agents, and attract new clients, with some free PR to boot.
A few of you may remember, but most might have missed it entirely: Around 2018, the mobile social networking app Vero experienced short-lived hype. Within a day the user numbers exploded from about 150,000 to over 3 million.
When an article critical of excessive photo manipulation (such as replacing the sky or adding fake reflections on water) is posted on photography news websites, it often generates a flood of comments, both in agreement and disagreement.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. detonated the world’s first wartime nuclear bomb over Hiroshima. An estimated 70,000 people died that day with another 70,000 perishing within four months from injury and radiation poisoning. On the ground, photojournalist Yoshito Matsushige miraculously survived unharmed despite living 1.7 miles from ground zero. Over the course of 10 hours, he could only bring himself to take 7 photos.
Is Apple actually snooping on your photos? Jefferson Graham wrote an article last week warning this based on the company's child safety announcement. An attention-grabbing headline? Certainly. Accurate? It’s complicated.
The photos on your iPhone will no longer be private to just you in the fall. The photos are still yours, but Apple’s artificial intelligence is going to be looking through them constantly.
As a fashion photographer with a degree of online presence, it is only natural to get questions about gear every now and then in Instagram DMs and email. There is a universe of gear to choose from across many different brands. As a Canon shooter, you might think that I would recommend their entry-level cameras to beginners. However, I think the opposite.