Ep. 329: Smaller, Smaller, and More Pro – and more



Episode 329 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
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Featured: Landscape photographer, Nick Page

See the Hilarious Winners of the 2019 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

After revealing the finalists of this year's contest in September, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have finally revealed the 2019 winners. If you need a dose of humor in your life—and after all the dire financial news lately, who doesn't—scroll down to see the photography equivalent of "wildlife does the darndest things."

This Guy Tried Using a 200-600mm Lens for Street Photography

Photographer and YouTuber Evan Ranft recently decided to try something unusual. He wanted to see what would happen if he tried to use a 200-600mm lens for... street photography. And while the idea might sound silly on the face of it, you may be surprised by some of the results.

See Canon’s ‘Dramatically Improved’ Eye Autofocus in Action

Portrait photographer Manny Ortiz recently got the chance to try out Canon's recent autofocus update for the EOS R, and the news is good: according to Ortiz, the update has "dramatically improved" Eye AF performance and totally changed the usability of the EOS R for portraiture.

Rumor Claims Olympus will Shut Down Its Camera Division Within a Year

Over the weekend, an admin on the Personal View forum published the shocking claim that "closure is near" for Olympus' camera division, writing that the company's camera business was less than a year away from being shut down. The claim has sparked a firestorm of speculation and rebuttals.

Photographing Rhinos in Kenya

As I was winding up the fieldwork for Land of Giants, my book about "big tusker" elephants, I shifted focus to another of Tsavo’s majestic inhabitants: the black rhino. Tsavo West is one of the most ruggedly wild and beautiful landscapes I have encountered in Africa, and a fitting bastion for these ancient mammals.

5 Basic Tips for Starting a Fashion Portfolio

When you’re just starting out, building a fashion photography portfolio can be quite a daunting task. Having to organize and prepare shoots can be difficult, especially if you have no budget. These are my tips for shooting on a shoestring when you’re just starting:

Photoshop for iPad is Getting Terrible Early Reviews

Adobe generated considerable hype when it teased "full" Photoshop for iPad last year. The app officially launched to the public this week, and it hasn't exactly lived up to the hype. In fact, it's been quite the opposite: early reviews from users have been terrible.

Film Photography Speeds Me Up

It’s been around a year since I switched to photographing on 35mm film for the majority of my work. Beyond a couple of false starts and some misconceptions, I think I’ve adjusted well, and I’m really happy to have made the change. Now that I have a good amount of work to reference, I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the adjustments I needed to make in order to adapt to a film mindset.

Watch New Yorkers Get Surprised with Polaroid Street Photos of Themselves

Brooklyn-based photographer Josh Katz made this 11-minute video of a social experiment he did on the streets of New York City to "turn street photography on its head." Instead of shooting photos of strangers and walking away with the images, Katz shot Polaroids of people, handed them the picture to keep, and then tried to strike up conversations as the prints developed.

Photography as We Know is Changing, and it’s Your Job to Change with It

Patrick Hall from Fstoppers and Pye Jirsa from SLR Lounge recently sat down for an in-depth conversation about how photography is changing in 2019. In a fascinating and insightful discussion that lasts almost 45 minutes, they ultimately try to tackle one question: is photography as we know it dying?

Surprise: Kodak’s Film Business Grew 21% Year-Over-Year

Kodak released its Q3 revenue report yesterday, and while the company is reporting a year-over-year loss of $5 million on total revenues of $315 million, there's a very interesting bright spot in the finances: revenues for Kodak's film business grew by 21 percent year-over-year for Q1 through Q3.

5 Common Portrait Photography Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Portrait photographer Miguel Quiles is back with another useful video for aspiring portrait photographers. This time, he's put together a video outlining the five most common portrait photography mistakes that he's seen over the years, and how he suggests that beginners avoid or fix them.

Take More Photos, Spend Less Money

Photography can be an expensive pursuit, and the cost of things (and the pressure to buy them all, buy them new, and buy them now) can get in the way of putting that money in better places.

Freediving to Photograph Humpback Whales

The ocean is fascinating in every way. We know so little about its mysteries and tend to ignore its importance for all living life. What is it about the underwater world that draws people from all over the world to explore its depths? For me, the allure of marine life welcoming me into their natural habitat rather than the other way around is beautiful.

wikiview is a Powerful Photo Browser for Exploring Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons has millions of public domain and freely-licensed photos available to the world, and now there's a powerful new tool that helps you dive into the ocean of imagery for exploring or locating exactly what you're looking for. It's called wikiview, and it's a graph-based visual image navigator.

The Professional Photographer ‘Life Cycle’

For the last four or five years, I have tried to produce one annual workshop for aspiring architecture and interior photographers. While I hope that they are technically helpful and the students come away with new skills and knowledge, one thing that I’ve noticed is that every year each workshop inevitably transforms into a session of group therapy for all involved.

7 Photography Composition Tips That Are Simple to Follow

In this 12.5-minute video and article, I'll share 7 of the composition tricks that I use in the field all the time. First of all, let me say that composition is difficult. It is, without a doubt, the hardest part of photography. But there are some things that you can be doing in the field that can help.

Why I Hate Being Called a ‘Professional Photographer’

Yesterday, I was at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia shooting for Flashes of Hope, a wonderful non-profit organization that gets photographers like myself to volunteer their time and create portraits of kids who are literally fighting for their lives. These portraits are given to the families for free. Flashes of Hope is a truly wonderful group.

Adobe Shows Off AI Tool that Can Detect and Undo Photo Manipulation

Adobe MAX 2019 ended last night with, perhaps, the most anticipated event of the whole show. No, it wasn't the reveal of Photoshop for iPad; we're talking about the "Adobe Sneaks" showcase, where the company demoed some of the most impressive early-stage technology being developed by Adobe employees.

Match Cuts Part 2: How to Create Compelling Transitions

Filmmaker Daniel DeArco is back with the promised Part 2 of his tutorial on creating cool and compelling "match cuts" to up your transition game. In Part 1, he showed you how he captured the three shots that he would be using to create the match cut; in Part 2, he takes us the rest of the way there in post.

Life-Saving Safety Tips and Equipment for Wildlife and Nature Photographers

Most outdoor photography tutorials are focused on getting the shot: what equipment to use, how to set up your camera, and how to edit your shots. But in his latest video, Danish photographer and former special forces soldier Morten Hilmer takes some time to address an even more important topic: how to stay alive.

Adobe Wants to Help ‘Authenticate’ Your Photos: What Should Photographers Think?

At Adobe MAX 2019, Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky announced the Content Authenticity Initiative – a nascent and ambiguously defined way for attribution to travel with an image and allow consumers to know, in the words of Adobe VP Dana Rao, that “the content they’re seeing is authentic.”