If you’ve been shooting video on your DSLRs for any length of time, you’ve realised that in-camera sound is awful. Perhaps you want to branch out to an externally boomed mic. Sounds simple, but there are some things you’ll want to keep in mind. In this video from Aputure’s series 4 Minute Film School, we get some valuable tips from boom operator Stephen Harrod. Even if you’re not operating the mic yourself, it’s good information to know....
Natural light is beautiful and can give you incredible shots if you know how to use it. But should you limit yourself only to the natural light? Photographer Jason Lanier discusses this matter in a very honest and objective way. As a photographer who used to shoot only in natural light and later learned artificial lighting, you’ll hear seven truths about being a “natural light photographer.” As Jason points out, sometimes he uses artificial lighting to actually achieve the look and feel of the natural light....
Chinese lens manufacturer 7Artisans has announced a 35mm f/5.6 tiny pancake lens for Leica M. Even though it’s fancy-looking thanks to the golden finish, it’s not as expensive as it looks: you can get it for only $199. The new 7Artisans 35mm f/5.6 is designed for full-frame Leica M-mount cameras. It’s built from five elements in four groups and it features a fixed f/5.6 aperture. It’s a manual focus lens, and the focus range goes from approximately 30cm (0....
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were ever so kind to drop into Kelowna as part of their royal tour of British Columbia and the Yukon this week. Here is a behind the scenes report on their visit. This is a bit of a long post, so you may need some time to sit down and read this one. First I want to mention that I first needed to get accredited, and that is no easy matter....
No matter what brand of camera you shoot or which company you support, Nikon’s Z6 & Z7 announcements yesterday is basically Nikon admitting “Yes, ok, the mirrorless revolution is here”. It signals a great turning point in photography. Yes, mirrorless has been around for a while, but with Nikon and Canon, really the only two “old guard” camera companies left, and with both either having announced or getting ready to announce mirrorless cameras, it kind of makes it official – in a relationship status “Facebook official” sort of way....
Whether you enjoy timelapse videos or astrophotography (or both), you are likely to enjoy this timelapse shot from an airplane cockpit. A pilot named Sales Wick created this timelapse on a long haul flight from Zurich, Switzerland to Sao Paulo, Brazil. With a long night ahead of him, on high altitude, he shot the bright night sky uncorrupted by light pollution or clouds. Shot between two continents, from a cockpit, on a clear night – this is definitely a unique view of the night sky....
Last year, Olympus Singapore loaned me a pre-launch unit of their new STF-8 Twin Macro Flash, together with their OMD-EM1 Mk1 and M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro for a test-run in the field. I’ve had the set for about a week — it was easy to use and the results were pretty good, although it took some time for me to get used to focusing using the LCD. This review is grossly overdue, but I’m posting it because I had been receiving questions on macro photography performance on micro four-third systems....
Fans of vintage gear are always happy when they find an old film camera in flawless condition. But what about finding hundreds of them? There’s a stash of brand new Soviet cameras in a Kazakh warehouse, and photographer Andrey Khludeyev told a story about it. Andrey is a film photographer from Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. His friend Chingiz often finds old cameras in flea markets and then resells them to film and vintage camera fans....
On 1 April, Baltimore officials officially approved that this city’s police can use surveillance drones. Equipped with hi-res cameras, these drones would reportedly be used to spy on the citizens. As probably expected, this caused quite a stir. And now, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore police over the use of this invasive surveillance program. The surveillance program is a result of a recently approved deal between the Baltimore Police Department and Ohio-based company Persistent Surveillance Systems, The Root writes....
Remember that full-blown Photoshop for iPad was announced last year? Well, it’s finally here! Say hello to Photoshop CC for iPad with full PSD support, a touch-based UI, cloud document access and power to work with as many layers as you like. It sure sounds awesome, but alas – some of the key features are still missing. Photoshop brings the familiar workspace to the touchscreen of your iPad. Just like Photoshop CC for desktop, the iPad version lets you work with hundreds of layers....
Today, Adobe finally unleashes an update that many users have been waiting for. As well as giving us back the Legacy Healing Brush, this update to Adobe’s CC2015 suite of applications brings some great new features to Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere and other applications. We’re going to look at some of these new features, and thanks to the folks at the Photoshop Training Channel on YouTube, you’ll find out how they work....
After more than 20 years, Imaging Resource, one of the most respected camera review websites, is shutting down. The founder Dave Etchells sent an email yesterday to his friends in the industry, and the sad news became official shortly after. DPReview was the first to break the news, as they received an email from Dave. According to DPReview’s Barney Britton, Imaging Resource is set to close at the end of 2019....
A new Canon patent spotted by the folks at Northlight Images shows a design for a new Canon EF to RF mount lens adapter. What’s so special about this one? Well, apparently, the purpose of this one seems to be to turn every Canon EF lens out there into a soft focus lens when used on an EOS R (or other, future RF mount body). The patent shows the adapter working in conjunction with a variety of Canon EF lenses, including the 24mm f/1....
A lot of us have smaller cameras these days. Even if we have larger DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, we also usually have one or two smaller ones as walkabout or travel cameras or just for shooting behind the scenes clips during our shoots. But when you want to put one on a tripod it can be a pain, as photographer Ken Kawakami discovered with his Canon EOS M50. With the Manfrotto tripod plate attached underneath, he was unable to open the battery compartment door, trapping both his battery and memory card....
With great power comes great potential for abuse. Back in 2011, Apple filed a fairly controversial patent, which would allow the cameras in their devices to be turned on and off at will by external forces. In theory, this would allow locations and venues that have “No photography” zones to enforce this rule more passively. Aimed presumably at concerts, cinemas, museums, private company areas and the like, it comes across a feature for good....
Aputure has announced their new flagship Light Storm 1200D Pro LED light. Offering up an impressive 1200 Watts of power, Aputure claims that it’s the “highest output Bowens Mount light fixture on the market”, which it is because other 1200 Watt lights on the market today don’t use a Bowens mount. It’s a 5600K daylight balanced light that ships with three different reflectors for wide, medium and narrow beams that come in a separate case....
Has it happened to you that you come to a beautiful location just to see there are plenty of tourists/other photographers blocking your view? I’m sure it has. Travel photographer Brendan van Son faced this problem at Moraine Lake, and it left him with a question: “Are photographers ruining photography for photographers?” As Brendan points out, landscape photography at sunrise is his “happy place.” At this time, there are usually not too many people awake, not to mention that very few of them would climb a mountain or hike for miles just to take photos....
The Taliban unit has published a photo that shows a group of soldiers raising a flag together. Sounds familiar? It’s a recreation of the iconic Joe Rosenthal’s image, depicting six U.S. marines raising the country’s flag on Iwo Jima in World War II. However, the Taliban version was reportedly made to mock the U.S., which has sparked a lot of rage across the country. Still, things may not be as they seem at first, and some sources claim that the photo was photoshopped....
Have you ever thought about what exactly is a selfie? Of course, we all know it’s a photo you make of yourself. But is there something more? Can a selfie become more than just a snapshot for remembering the moments or fishing for comments? A research from Sony Mobile shows that selfies might become much more than they are now. They may become applicable in banking, shopping, healthcare and many other situations....
Planning is often key to a successful shoot. But it’s not always easy. When you’re an automotive photographer, for example, then you, the car and the location may be in three different parts of the country. So, it can take some ingenuity and creative thinking to figure it out. When car photographer, Sam Dobbins, decided to shoot his newly rebuilt “Rocket Bunny Volkswagen GTI”, he found the perfect solution. Dobbins wanted to photograph it the same way he would shoot any other car for a magazine....
