Is Bowens Really Back? Yes, And It’s Manufactured by Godox

For those of you that are unaware, a couple of weeks ago, the U.K. online photography retailer WEX photographic, quietly announced that Bowens was coming back and to many, myself included, this was a huge surprise.

This Widest-Ever 4.9mm Fisheye Lens Can See Behind Itself

LensRentals founder Roger Cicala is known for disassembling camera gear and sharing his findings on his company blog. Now he has done the opposite: he's sharing how he built (from scratch) a prototype 4.9mm f/3.5 "hyperfisheye" lens, the widest fisheye lens ever made. It's a lens so wide that it can literally see behind itself.

Landscape Photography is NOT a Competition

A little more than 10 years ago, I had a realization that would one day change my life forever. During an evening stroll in the local woods with my camera in hand, I became aware of just how much I love photography and what it means to me; it was at that moment I knew it would be a part of me for a long time to come.

The EOS RP is a New Low for Canon

Prior to Canon releasing its first full-frame mirrorless camera, I wrote an article discussing how Canon will dominate the mirrorless industry. Many of you made fun of the title, which was fair enough; the comments did make me chuckle.

How to Remove Flare from Photos Without Cloning

To shoot directly into the sun is both challenging and fun. Challenging because it can be difficult to control the light and, not least, our images are very often marred by sun flare. One simple way of avoiding flare is to shoot an extra exposure with one finger or more obscuring the sun.

Briefing a Photographer: How to Write a Photography Brief

Briefing a photographer can be challenging, especially if you haven’t hired one in the past. A good brief provides all the key information about your project that a photographer will need to make logistical, technical and creative decisions.

5 Reasons to Stop Hating on ‘The Instagram Girl’

I’m going to start you off with a little honest story. Once upon a time I, maybe like you, only walked around in hiking pants and jeans for days on end during my travels (except if I was shooting for our photography project @followmeaway or traveling somewhere hot like Italy).

Why I Deleted All of My Social Media and 60,000 Followers

Yesterday morning, I woke up and deleted all my social media. My Instagram, Twitter, and personal Facebook accounts (I deleted my Facebook business page a year earlier), all gone. I ghosted from the party. As a small business, it’s a bold move (if not insane) to walk away from such successful pages (I had over 60,000 followers between the three platforms). But I had had enough, and here’s why.

I Already Shot the Supermoon Today, But Here’s How to Shoot it Tomorrow

This morning I woke up early to photograph the descending supermoon on top of the famous St. Nicholas church in Amsterdam. But the supermoon was "just 96%" visible this morning as it is not completely full until tomorrow. Nevertheless, I love the slight shadow in the edge of the moon so I picked today as the day to shoot.

Debunking the Myths of Robert Capa on D-Day

I want to give you a brief overview of an investigation that began almost five years ago, led by me but involving the efforts of photojournalist J. Ross Baughman, photo historian Rob McElroy, and ex-infantryman and amateur military historian Charles Herrick.

How to Save 100,000 Cameras: A Look Inside Camera Rescue

Camera Rescue is a project based in Finland that's working to rescue 100,000 analog cameras by 2020 in order to preserve them for future generations. Photographer Jordan Lockhart of Cameraville recently traveled to Tampere, Finland, and made this 10.5-minute behind-the-scenes video at the organization's ambitious endeavor.

12 Things I Learned While Teaching Street Photography

For a while now I have been working on establishing myself as a street photography educator by leading lessons and workshops throughout London, focusing on documenting human behavior and emotion rather than more new-wave techniques involving light-architecture and intricate technical compositions.

A Gorgeous Tour of the Earth, As Seen from the ISS

Philadelphia-based photographer Bruce W. Berry Jr. took recent photos and videos captured from the International Space Station (ISS) and edited them into this gorgeous 6-minute short film that takes viewers on a journey around the world.

A History of the Yosemite Firefall and Tips for Photographing It

Each year from summer of 1872, the owners of Glacier Point hotel started the event of Yosemite Firefall. For seven nights a week, they would spill hot embers from Glacier Point down to the valley 3000 feet below. The event ended in 1968 when the National Park Service ordered it to stop because the overwhelming number of visitors that it attracted overwhelmed the meadows, and because it was not a natural event. NPS wanted to preserve the Valley, returning it to its natural state.

Ep. 312: New Bodies, New Lenses and Old Kodak – and more


Episode 312 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
Download MP3 -  Subscribe via iTunes, Google Play, email or RSS!
Featured: Nikon Ambassador, Charmi Peña

The Only Rule in Street Photography

I see a lot of articles across the Internet claiming to know the "rules to follow" or the "things to avoid" in street photography, easily one of the most hotly debated genres. What they tend to misunderstand is just how little the genre cares for photographic rules, and what the defining elements of street photography really are that go beyond any of the purely photographic elements.

Are Wedding Photography Competitions Fixed?

In recent years I’ve been privileged to be on the jury for a whole range of photography competitions. These include single image competitions such as WPS International Excellence Awards, Masters of Wedding Photography, and the Irish wedding photography awards (In association with Learning to Fly).

5 Simple Apps for Landscape Photography

Am I the only one that finds some of the most popular apps used for landscape photography a bit overwhelming? Don’t get me wrong: these apps are tremendously powerful tools and I own many of them, but I find that I rarely use them anymore. I prefer apps that have a simple user interface that enables me to obtain the details I'm looking for quickly and without having to dig through mountains of other information.

Paintings from the Sky: Aerial Photos of Iceland

Everyone knows that Iceland has amazing landscapes throughout the whole country. But Iceland doesn’t only look beautiful from the ground -- it also looks incredible from the sky. On a recent flight, I had the opportunity to expand my aerial portfolio and focused on mostly top-down images.

Torture Testing Sony’s TOUGH SD Card to See What It Can Survive

Sony claims its new TOUGH line of SD memory cards are the toughest and fastest SD cards ever made, so the folks over at Cameta Camera decided to put that claim to the test. Here's a 12-minute video in which the NY-based camera store subjects a card to a variety of torture tests to see how it holds up.

How to Rate and Flag Photos with Your Voice on a Mac

Want to navigate through a large set of photos and assign star ratings using only your voice instead of your keyboard? It's extremely easy to set up for any image organization software if you use a Mac. Here's a 6.5-minute tutorial by photographer Tony Hoffer on how to set this up.

Camera Terms You’re Saying Wrong

There are several terms in photography that are commonly mispronounced. Here's a 5-minute video in which Gerald Undone discusses them and teaches how to correct pronounce them.

This Web App Lets You Build Your Own Stock Photos

Here's an unusual way to obtain the simple stock photo you need: Photo Creator is a web app that lets you build your own realistic stock photos. The site features thousands of models, objects, and backgrounds that you can combine into your own creations.

Why Aren’t Cameras More Expensive?

It was January 2009 and I was preparing to shoot the newest campaign for the television show, Deadliest Catch. Truth be told, I had made very little the year prior because the world was experiencing a market recession, and the first budgets that many companies cut were in advertising. But then came the phone call saying that I had been awarded the photo shoot. I immediately called the camera store, for I actually didn’t own a camera at the time, having sold my Nikon D3 in the preceding weeks.