Archives

Film Simulation vs Actual Film: Fuji ACROS Comparison

The recent release of the Fujifilm XPro3 camera coincided with me getting some recently re-released Fujifilm ACROS 100II film. Given my love of Fujifilm digital cameras, film photography, and ACROS film, I desperately wanted to shoot and compare the new XPro3 alongside a rangefinder film camera.

My Portrait Session with Fidel Castro

It was my younger years. I had just published work from the Sudanese Civil War, and the Editor-in-Chief of Germany's GEO magazine, wrote that “Per-Andre risks life and limb for a good shot." Basically, I presume he meant I was a young fool, who took on assignments very few in their clear mind would consider.

Breaking News: NAB 2020 Cancelled Because of Coronavirus

NAB 2020 has been cancelled. The National Association of Broadcasters has decided to follow in the footsteps of CP+, MWC, SWSX and others by cancelling the 2020 expo in April in the interest of "keeping the community safe and healthy."

Using Instagram Stats to Choose Your Next Camera Lens

Photographer Jason Webber recently embarked on a little statistical experiment. He wanted to see if he could use stats from his Instagram photos to choose the 'perfect' lens purchase by identifying the focal lengths he uses most often, the holes in his lens lineup, and what features he needs to prioritize.

Adding Foreground Flare to Portraits

There are a million-and-one ways to add creative flares and effects to your shots in post-production after you’ve taken the image, but nothing beats the look and feel of an image that has used in-camera flares and bokeh effects.

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Take Your Next Travel Photo

It’s the fifth in a string of beautiful days, in a place a world away from our daily life back home. The sky is wide and blue. The air is thick with scents of food we’ve yet to try, and a language we don’t understand. But friendly smiles allow us to navigate our way through this country that is settling into our hearts.

How Freelance Photographers Are Dealing with the Economic Effects of Coronavirus

As fears of coronavirus (COVID-19) balloon in the U.S., many freelance photographers have begun to contend with the economic impact of event cancellations and social distancing policies. Freelancers are accustomed to seasonal slowdowns or the occasional cancellation, but the uncertainty around the breadth and duration of this outbreak has resulted in anxiety, frustration, and anger.

Why You Shouldn’t Give Your Wedding Photographer a Shot List

You’re pretty new to hiring professional photographers, so perhaps you feel you need to provide them with a wedding photo list in advance of your wedding. Here are 5 important reasons why you probably shouldn’t.

How the Coronavirus Will Affect the Photo Workshops Business

I think it’s fair to say there’s growing anxiety that is accompanying the current coronavirus outbreak, and with seemingly more bad news on the hour, we really don’t know when this thing might bottom out. So if your business is in the photography workshop space like my company PhotoEducate is, you take notice.

Researcher Says Giant Crabs Keep Stealing and Destroying Her Cameras

A researcher on Christmas Island—an Australian Territory in the Indian Ocean—is losing thousands of dollars worth of camera gear to theft and vandalism. But it's not humans that are to blame, her gear is being stolen and destroyed by the aptly named 'Robber Crab,' the world's largest arthropod.

This is Why the Cheapest Photographer Doesn’t Always Get the Job

Photographer Heather Lahtinen of the Flourish Academy recently took on one of the most common complaints among working photographers: that cheap photogs are "saturating" the market and stealing all the jobs by undercutting better photographers on price. Lahtinen says this is "the biggest load of crap" she's ever heard.

A Tale of Two 24-70s: Nikon Z-Mount vs F-Mount Lens Comparison

First, a little backstory. For much of my young career, I shot Canon. Be it the 1D, 1D2, 1DS, 1D3, 1DS2 and 1DS3, let’s just say I had a thing for the ergonomics of that chassis. In every camera I would replace the focusing screen with the cross-style manual focusing option and would never use AF. To make things even more difficult, I only shot primes.

Some Canon 1D X Mark III Cameras are Locking Up Mid-Burst: Report

Several Canon users are reporting a serious issue with their new 1D X Mark III cameras. According to reports, and demonstrated in the video above, some 1D X III DSLRs are locking up completely after a few shots, preventing the user from continuing to shoot for several seconds before coming back to life.

How the Kids Are Learning Photography on TikTok

TikTok, the video-based social media app, usually conjures visions of teens mimicking the latest dance craze, but it’s probably better described as short attention span YouTube. In 2017, ByteDance, the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok, acquired the Musical.ly app, which had gained a toehold with an under-18 demographic by becoming a replacement for the comedy-oriented Vine app along with a burgeoning lip-synching community.

The Upcoming iPhone 12 Pro May Pack a 64MP Camera

If you use an iPhone and megapixels are your thing, the upcoming iPhone 12 may delight you with its camera specs. A new leak suggests that Apple is working to stuff a 64-megapixel sensor into its next top-of-the-line smartphone.

The State of the L-Mount Alliance, One Year Later

For Canon, Nikon and Panasonic/Leica/Sigma, 2018-2019 was the first year where they all truly “went for it” when it comes to full frame mirrorless. All three released full-frame mirrorless cameras, and all three seemed to have different priorities with those releases. In this three-part series, we’re looking at each of these companies in their first year and evaluate where each of them stands today in what is now a very competitive market.

This Magical Rain Photo of Harry and Meghan Was Lit by a Stranger’s Flash

A magical photograph of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle beaming at each other under an umbrella has been going viral over the past few days after the couple's first appearance together in public after they stepped back as senior members of the Royal Family (popularly called "Megxit"). Now the photographer behind the shot is sharing details of how it was made.

Satellite Boom to ‘Wreak Havoc’ on Astrophotography, NASA Says

As more and more satellites are being launched into space, reflected light from these objects is causing increased sky pollution and issues for astronomers and astrophotographers. Now NASA is asking the public for help in monitoring this growing issue, and all you need to do is shoot smartphone photos of the light streaks in the night sky.

Great Sunday Reads in Photography

Spend your Sunday the way you’re supposed to, with some great reading. Here’s our roundup of interesting articles and content from around the Web for photographers. Enjoy!

The Things That Kill Themselves

The particularity of the photo industry is its death wish. At its core, everything and everyone in this industry seems hell-bent into destroying itself and, along with it, the whole industry.

Shooting Environmental Portraits in Detroit

The City of Detroit has launched a redevelopment plan for the Gratiot/7-Mile community. I’ve been hired by the city and the consulting firm Giffels-Webster as the still-images creative director and photographer.

Canon RF Zoom Lens Comparison: Is the $3,000 28-70mm f/2 Worth It?

Photographer and YouTuber Matt Granger has put together a lens shootout that'll be really valuable for anybody who is new to Canon's full-frame mirrorless cameras. In this video, he compares the image quality of the four main RF-mount zoom lenses: the 28-70mm f/2, the 24-70mm f/2.8, the 24-105mm f/4, and the 24-240mm f/4-6.3.

Tokina Reveals Plans for 6 New Lenses in 2020

Tokina has a lot in store for photographers in 2020. In an announcement that would have been made at CP+ 2020 (RIP), the company revealed that it will be releasing a total of six new lenses: one APS-C lens for Nikon and Canon DSLRs, two full-frame lenses for Sony E-mount, and three APS-C lenses for both the Fuji X- and Sony E-mounts.

21 Questions with Michael Runkel: The ‘Most-Traveled’ Photographer Alive

Travel photographer Michael Runkel has visited every country on Earth and shows no signs of slowing down. The German native chats with photographer Trey Bohn about going to outer space, the coronavirus outbreak, what makes a good travel photo, and why long-term travel with kids doesn’t suck.

ISO Has Nothing to Do with Exposure: A Technical Explanation

Photographer Chris Lee of the YouTube channel pal2tech recently released one of the most straightforward technical explanations of ISO that we've seen. In this 12 minute video, he explains what ISO is and, just as importantly, takes on a couple of common misconceptions by explaining what ISO is not.

Olympus Shows Off 2000mm Reach by Shooting Mt. Fuji from 42 Miles Away

With the major Japanese trade show CP+ being cancelled over coronavirus concerns, Olympus has taken to YouTube to share the presentation it was planning to give at the show. The 45-minute presentation included an interesting look at how much reach the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f/4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO lens gives when combined with the M.Zuiko Digital 2x Teleconverter MC-20.

Getting Mugged in Colombia as a Travel Photographer

As a travel photographer, I'm often asked if I've ever been robbed or had any negative experiences in far-flung corners of the world, Previously I didn't have much to talk about, but after a recent trip to Colombia, that changed…

2 Lights, 1 Easy Setup

Shooting with continuous lights can be the easiest thing in the world. Why? Because you can see exactly what the light is doing, where it’s placed, its intensity, and how it’s affecting your subject. In a way, I like to think of shooting with constant lights as a baby step to off-camera flash photography. They help you start to see how manipulating lights forms the image you’re creating, without the added element of calculating the flash burst with the ambient light exposure.