The latest Sony flagship full-frame mirrorless camera is finally available (I say "latest" instead of just "the" because Sony insists they have at any given time up to three and sometimes four flagship cameras). And yet, I contend that a vast majority of those interested in the a7R IV shouldn't buy it.
First off it’s not you, it’s Instagram. It comes down to a few very simple things that can be summed up in three words and two reasons: chronological order and saturation.
In May of this year, the DJI Vs GoPro competition caused quite a stir in the tech world as action camera users from casual thrill-seekers all the way to professional videographers sat back to watch two giants battle it out.
Over the past few weeks, two separate pieces have been published here on PetaPixel attacking YouTube photographers and camera reviewers. Whether it be this video from Mik Milman, or this latest piece from Bob Locher, the low hanging fruit seems to be the idea that the "general YouTube camera reviewer" has no idea what they're talking about. This is ridiculous, and wrong.
It often happens that other photographers have a similar shot to yours. Especially in landscape photography, where there are lots of amazing locations where a lot of photographers go. Having a similar shot is often not really a problem -- most of the time these shots are still different because of light, conditions, and different compositions from the same spot.
As for many other things, YouTube is a wonderful trove of opinion and information. This is certainly true for photographic interests. And a huge percentage of photographers are particularly interested in still photography, as opposed to videography.
After completing my degree in still photography at RIT, I grew up in NYC working in the motion world as a production assistant. My plan was to eventually direct TV spots, but I wanted to garner a solid background in the art of lighting from the still world first.
The Brisbane Water National Park on the Central Coast of Australia is such a beautiful place to be, and Somersby Falls is one of the most popular destinations. It’s not hard to see why. So when I stumbled across a 108-year-old picture of one of my favorite waterfalls in the park, I and decided to try and recreate it to see what had changed, and what had stayed the same.
Dear Live Nation, …
After going back and forth for months (read: years) between Sony and Fuji, never being entirely happy with either one, I ended up with... a Nikon system.
Introduced in 1988, the Nikon F4 was the world’s first professional autofocus camera, and it made its way quickly into the hands of many working photographers. But despite the incredible leap in technology it represented, it was apparently quickly overtaken by the competition, which built on the solid foundation the F4 offered.
If you want to piss off a majority of professional photographers, show them a smartphone camera rig setup and explain how great it is. Better yet, show them an article about an iPhone-only wedding photographer. I've seen this reaction countless times, and it's especially prevalent when you look at smartphone photography accessories.
The problem with technology is that it can look dated the older it gets. How good does a VHS tape look on your 4K TV? The same thing can happen with cameras. While 24-megapixel cameras are making great pictures, what they are going to be compared to is about to change… radically. You need to understand how the next generation of digital cameras will affect you, especially if you are a pro or serious amateur.
Sooner or later, every professional photographer runs into similar situations. Situations that are uncomfortable for the photographer and the client. One is the topic of post-production and retouching. Some clients might tell you that your retouching fee is too high. Others might tell you to not do any retouching. And then some others might ask you to send them all the pictures.
Professional event photographer and photography teacher Mik Milman recently published a video that's bound to receive some mixed reactions. In it, Milman laments the dearth of experience of many photographers who pass themselves off as "experts" on YouTube, earning thousands of followers and possibly misleading beginners by offering bad advice and unqualified critiques.
Photographer Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography recently published a well-reasoned and logical response to the Mirrorless vs DSLR debate that recently peaked with the announcement of the Nikon D6. In his video, Forbes offers a much more nuanced take than many of the arguments you've probably seen in various corners of the Internet.
On an otherwise quiet and beautiful September morning, my business partner Adam Paseman and I found ourselves speeding down Route 1 in Virginia to take some photos for the Associated Press of the White House which had mistakenly been reported was on fire.
Landscape and travel photographer James Popsys has noticed a troubling habit lately: he's posting things "for the dopamine hit," and he doesn't believe he's the only one. The result, says Popsys, is a "photographic groupthink," caused by social media, that encourages people to post the same thing over and over, just because it's popular.
After learning about Flickr's new printing service last week, I decided to check the cost of prints. I want to build a physical portfolio, and have been unhappy with the quality of prints from local shops—I expect to get what I paid for (not a ton) and even then have been disappointed. So I ordered two prints from Flickr, both 8x10", both black and white.
I recently took my first ever photography trip to California. My plan was to hit up Mt. Shasta, Lassen Volcanic NP, and Lake Tahoe. I wanted to share some of the things I did right, as well as some of the things I did wrong.
Last year, during a panel discussion at one of the yearly industry conferences, I said that my hope was for DSLRs to soon vanish... I said this not because I haven’t enjoyed the incredible strides made in photo technology during the era of the DSLR -- both as a camera store owner and a recreational photographer -- but because, despite our attachments, we must embrace a mindset of “out with the old and in with the new.”
When I was a little girl, I lived in Incirlik AFB, Turkey. We lived for a year off base on the third floor of a very large apartment building. My parents spoke no Turkish and the landlady spoke no English, but somehow, they managed just fine.
It’s that time of year again for photographers: fall family sessions. It’s crunch time. Some photographers make the bulk of their yearly profits right now; others work their butts off in an area saturated with photographers and make enough pennies to cover operating expenses. I was part of the latter group a few years ago, and I burned out.
Landscape and travel photography marketing is one area that photographers often find particularly hard. But if you want your photography business to grow, you have to know how to market yourself and your work.
We really didn’t know what to expect going into this. Panasonic hasn’t even made an APS-C body before, never mind a full-frame flagship mirrorless camera. Though, it seems they realized the S1 series needed to make a splash if its release was going to trail behind Canon and Nikon’s first foray into professional-grade mirrorless cameras, because the S1R is massive.
Getting a proper exposure means that you’re letting enough light through the lens and onto your sensor/film to capture your subject and the environment. To achieve a proper exposure, you’ll have to balance shutter speed, aperture, and ISO according to your purpose. The key word there is “purpose.”
I normally don’t write articles discussing new camera bodies like the Sony a6600, nor do I often get into fine detail on camera specs in general. But since I have been shooting with a Sony a6300 for a few years already, and have been eagerly wanting to upgrade to a newer Sony camera, I feel it is a good time for me to jump in on the subject.
Photography is an art and a commercial business. As a black-owned, woman-run business, Judah Avenue is both a passion project and an entrepreneurial breakthrough for me. I quit corporate America to pursue my art. As a girl who was born and raised in Ghana, that simply wasn’t something that was ever presented as a viable path for me.
I had read this story about a social media influencer who posted professional photos of her accident on Instagram along with what appeared to be a product placement. I thought it unbelievable until... it happened to me.
It’s been 3 years since the giant, 36,000-ton New Safe Confinement (better known as The Arch) was put over the damaged old sarcophagus that helps contain the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster. A symbolic moment that also summed up my 10 years of work documenting the Chernobyl Zone. However, just as the building of the new sarcophagus didn't finish the work inside related to eliminating the radioactive threat, I still have a reason to come here.
I have a working collection of 52 film cameras—some of them quite rare and unique, others just yard sale garbage, all of them loved and fun. I recently decided to take all of them out and push some celluloid through them, documenting the process one week at a time as I breathe some life back to these dope little beasts. I’m calling it the Vintage Camera Quest.
After my recent success at mixing vintage Verichrome Pan film with Kodak Instamatic film, I wanted to try this splitfilm trick again. And I wanted to create something that was a “day versus night” exposure, using the lights of an amusement park or the midway of a county fair to build my image.
This is an unposed, naturally caught moment at Rachael and Carl’s wedding at The Vineyard in Stockcross, Berkshire. It’s recently won a couple of awards from This is Reportage and the Wedding Photojournalist Association. It’s a striking image, and drew some criticism that it must be staged, or was not photojournalism. So I thought I’d explain why I believe this is wedding photojournalism, and how I came about taking this image.
This is our son River, he’s had a camera in his hands since he started to drool. When both your parents are photographers I guess it’s just in the genes and he loves it. He started out with a film Holga and Diana F+ and graduated to a Canon Rebel when he was 2. He is now 4 years old and shoots with our Canon 5D Mark IVs.
Fortunately, we are beginning to find ourselves in a world where it's okay to open up a little more about mental health. It’s great! It’s the age of empathy and humility now, and I think once we begin to empathize properly with each other, we’ll be in a much better place. We’ve all got the same prehistoric brain, and it’s surprising how you can begin to essentially ‘re-program’ your thoughts.
I believe all artists experience “blocks” every once in a while. Feelings of discouragement or lack of motivation, inspiration, and will to do something we know we love to do.
I’ll begin by saying that I don’t only shoot with zoom lenses. I should also add that what I’m about to say is perhaps most relevant to other wedding photographers, particularly those shooting in a documentary style like myself.
The rise of social media has had a massive impact on the art we see, consume, and interact with on a daily basis. Some of that impact was positive, some negative, but one of the most radical changes has also been one of the most detrimental: the demise of the gatekeepers.
Before the rise of social media and the ubiquity of apps like Instagram, photographers established and flexed their brands through their personal website and blog. The photographer website supplanted the printed portfolio, for the most part, offering photographers a way to showcase their work with a remote audience of photo editors, customers, and fans.
While exploring the southern, lesser-known part of the Jordanian desert Wadi Rum, I notice a remarkable, palace-like structure sitting on a high, rocky cliff. The view reminded me of a scene from the classic Oscar-winning film Lawrence of Arabia. It just lacked camel caravans and people.
Is noise in photos always bad? It might seem like a rhetorical question with an obvious and universal answer: yes. But landscape photographer and YouTuber James Popsys begs to differ in an opinion video that will no doubt spark some debate.
I was excited when Canon and Nikon finally stepped into the mirrorless game seriously more seriously, releasing their full-frame mirrorless cameras in 2018. Nikon launched their Z6 and Z7 with the new Z-Mount, while Canon released the EOS-R with a new RF-Mount.
Like it or not, much of the conversation around image quality these days revolves around sensor size. When Sony announced the a7R IV, it boasted image quality that “rivaled medium format.” When people defend Micro Four Thirds, they show off their ultra-portable system and claim the images are “indistinguishable from full-frame.”
“It was constant hustle for me the first three years (in business) full time.” I read this quote from a photographer-turned-business coach. It was advice in a Facebook group. I’m not certain the question that elicited this reply, but it doesn’t really matter. The statement stands alone.
Instagram's controversial experiment with hiding public like counts is only live in seven countries, but it's already inspired some freakouts from influencers who claim the change is crippling their engagement and destroying their livelihood.
Focus on what’s important… pun intended. I’m not referring to lens focus or how to get sharp images. If that's your main concern right now, just Google tutorials on autofocus, zone focusing or micro-adjustments. When I say ‘focus on what's important,’ what I mean is the purpose, meaning, emotion or reason for your photographs.
I’m a big Fuji fan. I love my X100F and have been thinking about switching to Fuji for my professional work for a while now. The X-T3 is a fantastic camera: fun to use, well-built, excellent image quality and focus. I love it, but I can’t use it.
After the recent allegations of harassment and assault against celebrity photographer Marcus Hyde, fashion photographer Jessica Kobeissi decided to use her platform on YouTube to speak out against what she's calling "the dark side of modeling" and share some of the horrifying stories she's heard from models she works with.
In a recent video, photographer and YouTuber Jamie Windsor shared some insightful thoughts on wedding photography: why so much of it looks the same (read: boring) and how wedding photographers like himself can help change that with each new couple they shoot.
"What lens did you use for that picture?" The only question less helpful to a growing photographer is probably, “What settings did you use for that picture?” Not because I think they are helping a newbie “cheat”, or because I might think it is copying, or ever -- God forbid! -- because I have some secret combination of shutter and aperture that is magic for me. It’s because it really doesn't matter.
