Educational

PetaPixel's editorials are in-depth stories, thought-pieces, and opinions on the photography industry led by the minds of our editorial team.

Telephoto Reach With Various Digital Cameras

It's common for photo writers to state, "A 100mm lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera has the equivalent reach of 200mm on full frame". While the field of view is equivalent to 200mm FF, the reach is not necessarily equivalent.

This Afghan Photographer’s Camera is 100 Years Old

Travel vlogger Drew Binsky was wandering the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, recently when he came across an older photographer named Haji. In this 9-minute vlog, Binsky tells the story of Haji and how he has been shooting for 65 years using a 100-year-old box camera.

Regarding Photographs: What Does a Photograph DO Anyways?

So, you make photographs? Or take them, or something like that? I’m going to guess here that you probably hope people will like them, or see something in them that’s interesting. You’re interested in how people see photographs, how people make sense of photos. Me too.

Restoring an 85-Year-Old Leica Camera

Maximilian Heinrich of Analog Insights recently inherited an 85-year-old Leica camera and handed it off to his friend Jules for repair and restoration. This 15-minute video is about the camera's journey from nearly being passed on to a camera store to being brought back to form.

5 Facts About Vision that Will Change the Way You Take Pictures

One of the best ways to broaden your horizons and inject a little inspiration into your photography is to explore subjects outside the world of photography. To study painting or take a course in graphic design, for example. But I recently discovered a fount of photographic inspiration in an unusual place: a neuroscience lab.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max: Real Pro Photography

Over at Halide HQ, we’ve been busily working away on a very deep, technical analysis of what’s new in iPhone 12 cameras this year. All four of ’em. On Friday, we got our hands on the final iPhones in this year’s line-up, the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Kenneth McKenzie’s Lost Photos from World War II

I met a man who owned a ton of his uncle's photos he took during his time in World War II. The images by Kenneth McKenzie start in Vancouver and Banff where they did their training, then all across Europe.

5 Clamps and Brackets Every Studio Shooter and Strobist Needs

What even is a ‘studio shooter’ today? Years ago it was a little easier to define, but due to us having tons of heavy, cumbersome lighting and cameras, we were all pretty grounded in the actual home-base of a studio. Today though, the vast majority of my own jobs are not shot in my own space. I shoot wherever I’m needed and whether that be in a home, an office, hair salon or even another hired studio, I’m always on the move.

How to Take Photos Like the Great Joel Meyerowitz

Photographer and YouTuber Frederik Trovatten has just released episode three of his popular "How to take photos like..." series. He started with Vivian Maier, moved on to Robert Frank, and this week he's breaking down the style and philosophy of the great Joel Meyerowitz.

How to Use Photoshop to Turn Video Into Long Exposure Photos

As you may very well know, long exposure photography is a method by which you expose a sensor to a scene for an extended period of time. But in this 15-minute video, PiXimperfect asks the question, then isn't a video just a long exposure? Well, not really, but you can use a video to make long exposure photos.

Ilford is Creating a Set of Super Helpful ‘Darkroom Guides’ on YouTube

Over the past seven months, Ilford has been publishing a set of helpful "Darkroom Guides" to the How To playlist on the company YouTube channel. The series was created to help film photographers take their "next steps in your black and white darkroom printing journey." If that describes you, then this is one you'll want to bookmark.

How Richard Nixon ‘Stole’ This Photo and Twisted It Into a Campaign Slogan

American people standing up to the Soviets! America needs Nixon! These were some of the tag lines attached to this photo during Nixon’s presidential campaign in 1960. But behind every picture, there is a story. And this is one of those photos where the story is just as good as the picture.

Drone Photo Tips: How To Make Inception-Like Images

If you've seen the movie Inception, you're likely very familiar with that one scene where physical space is bent on top of itself. It's one of the movie's most iconic visuals, and in this 3-minute video, COOPH shows how you can easily make your own photos with an Inception vibe with a drone.

What It Takes To Be A White House Photographer

Pete Souza is one of the most well-known photographers in the world mainly due to his work as the photographer for United States Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. In this 5-minute video, he explains what is required of someone in that role.

Lighting 101: Everything You Need to Know About Light Fall Off

Photographer Gavin Hoey recently produced a video for Adorama TV that tackles a critically important subject for photographers: light fall off. Mathematically captured by the so-called Inverse Square Law, it's vital that photographers understand this property of light, especially when working with strobes.

How To Take Photos Like Robert Frank

Robert Frank was a Swiss photographer and documentary filmmaker whose 1958 book titled The Americans has been heralded as perhaps the most influential photography book of the 20th century. In this 16-minute video, photographer Frederik Trovatten shows you how to mimic Frank's style.

Why Do Bad Photographers Think They Are Good?

Have you ever met a photographer who thinks their work is incredible, but you don't agree? Perhaps they're actually really bad? In this 9-minute video, Scott Choucino explains how and why this happens, and how you can avoid it.

Four Composition Techniques to Try for Better Landscape Photos

If you're interested in photographing landscapes, you should know there are multiple ways to make your images more interesting – some that only require a bit of imagination. In this 26-minute video, Canadian film photographer Kyle McDougall covers four techniques he uses to make his landscape images better.

Can You Even See the Difference Between 1080 and 8K?

YouTuber Matti Haapoja decided to put himself, and his viewers, to the test: can you tell the difference between shots taken in 1080p and those taken in 8K from the Canon EOS R5? He edited several clips back to back in a mix of 1080p and 8K to see if the average person watching on YouTube can tell which is which.

The History of Astronaut Photography: Using Cameras in Space

If you ever wanted to get a quick history of cameras and their use by NASA, YouTuber Scott Manly put together an excellent resource. In this 14-minute video, Manly explains the history of cameras used in the Space Program, what they were, and the changes manufacturers eventually made at NASA's request.

These Five Mistakes Can Hold Back Your Photography Career

When photographers are just starting out in their careers, they tend to make the same set of mistakes that cost them work and, therefore, money. In this short 4.5-minute video, photographer Scott Choucino cites five mistakes that held his career back and urges you not to make them yourself.

How To Take Photos Like Vivian Maier

Armed with her Rolleiflex, a roll of TRI-X 400 (or Ektachrome) film stock, and her bold character, the late Vivian Maier made herself legendary with her dramatic street photography. Her street portraiture in particular is riveting thanks to the expressions on her subjects. As Frederik Trovatten puts it in this 13-minute video, "she takes the photo she wants to take whether the subject wants to be a part of it or not."