By now, you probably know that you should sandbag your gear. I mean, who would want their gear flying on their face when they talk about sand bags? But sometimes the wind is just too fierce. Not only for a light stand but for any sort of modifier. In the movie below, German photographers Flash bros set out to shoot a portrait. Only the wind was a bit too strong even to hold a Profoto B1 500 TTL strobe with a small Profoto 2′ Octa....
The Arecibo Observatory’s telescope in Puerto Rico, the second-largest radio telescope in the world, collapsed on 1 December. The massive platform crashed into its disk below and was completely destroyed. The terrible incident was captured on both the control room camera and drone. Space.com shared the footage with the world, so you can see exactly what happened. The giant telescope was 1,000 feet (305m) in diameter, placed on a 900-ton platform suspended 450 feet (137m) in the air....
Light meters seem to be a controversial subject these days. On the one side, you’ve got those who swear by them, wouldn’t shoot without them. On the other, you’ve got those that just don’t see the point and consider them a waste of money. They’ll both defend their position to the bitter end. Then you’ve got the rest of us. Those who choose to use them or not, but don’t really care if others do or don’t....
As you know, there has sadly been a raft of camera thefts in San Francisco of late, putting a spotlight on places you might want to think twice about hauling expensive camera gear with you the next time you visit. The news reports on the thefts usually aren’t very specific about the exact location of the heists, so I thought I’d simply point them out here, in a little more detail, before you, like me, get victim to camera theft in the city....
What is already great about Flickr and what can be improved? I have a few thoughts. What is positive about Flickr? Flickr has the best image compressing and sharpening algorithm, and it is a joy to view images on that platform. A dark frame is standard and that certainly benefits the images. In addition, you can enlarge the images and even zoom into them. The latter is a very neat feature....
I just received three emails from 500px this evening. I was informed that three of my images were sold. In other words, I can expect a payment of $2.55. In all honesty, it feels like a mockery. When 500px launched Marketplace in 2014 we photographers could receive a 70% commission if 500px was our sole licensing agent for a particular image. Back then it was actually possible to get a decent payment if you sold a few images....
Sometimes you find what you are not looking for I always tell people to plan the photoshoots ahead, and urge them to try to see the complete image in your head already before taking the first shots… However, sometimes it takes a full U-turn and completely uncharted routes to end up with an amazing image. Now, I am doing a full breakdown on this image on my workshops, but I wanted to take a second and explain how this photo came to be, and why it failed to serve its purpose....
About three days ago, we started seeing a new gimmick on Facebook, images that appear to “move in 3D” when you scroll through them or move your mouse cursor over them. This is a parallax effect and it can be accomplished by providing Facebook with a depth map (e.g. “arches_depth.png”) along with the original image (“arches.png”). The two need to have the same resolution and the depth map needs to be generated in a way that close objects are white and far away objects are black....
2018 has been pretty exciting when it comes to photo gear. While many photographers and filmmakers are upgrading or completely switching systems, some prefer using their old gear for years. Filmmaker Darious Britt has used a Canon 60D for eight years now, even though there are so many better cameras now available in the market. In this video, he discusses why he still chooses to stick with the good, old 60D instead of upgrading his gear....
Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi recently teased a 64 MP smartphone camera. But the company has just gone even further. It has teased an upcoming Mi phone which will pack Samsung’s 108-megapixel ISOCELL sensor. The company unveiled the plan yesterday, during Xiaomi Future Image Technology Communication Conference in Beijing. However, there are still no too many details, such as which phone will pack this beast of a sensor. Ice Universe has tweeted that it will be Xiaomi Mi Mix 4, but there is still no confirmation from the company....
It’s becoming more and more common for museums to digitize their collections. The latest one to join the trend is The Cleveland Museum of Art. After digitizing its collection, it made it publicly accessible online, with 30,000 images free for download and remix. The CMA has shared the images from its permanent collection that are in the public domain open access. This means that you can download, share, reproduce, reuse and remix the images for scholarly, non-commercial, but also commercial purposes....
When the first James Webb telescope photo was published, I believe we were all amazed and even emotional about it. And now, there’s a new way to admire Webb’s spectacular first photo and have everyone around you do it too. Both you and your friends can now look at this image every time you meet up, and not just by opening it on your phones. Thanks to fashion brand SvahaUSA, you can now wear Webb’s First Deep Field if you just can’t get enough of it....
Zhongyi Optics has announced their new Mitakon Speedmaster 90mm f/1.5 lens. They’re billing it as “a budget alternative to the legendary Leica Summilux-M“. And at $599, yeah, it certainly sounds like a bit of a bargain compared to the $14,000 Leica lens. They look pretty similar in outward appearance, although it doesn’t appear to be a straight-up copy, containing 9 elements vs the Leica’s 8. The new lens is available in Canon RF, Sony FE, Nikon Z and Leica M mounts (no Leica L), with the latter being adaptable to other mounts....
It is not surprising that the list features both great classic books as well as some new one and some great hidden gems. Thanks for all the readers that participated and took the time to share their thoughts. The number of books out there can be stunning, so it may be interesting to see what other photographers think about some of the books out there, and get a direction. I picked up 10 of those books and reviews that I felt gave a good reason to go out and buy a book:...
How do you book more clients? It’s an ongoing problem for many photographers of all genres of photography. Do you spend money on traditional marketing and advertising? Should you spend hours cold calling or emailing prospective clients? In this video, Katelyn James explains the ways that she operates her wedding photography business without spending a single dollar on traditional advertising. Yes, you heard that correctly, she spends nothing on advertising her business....
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is the first sentence that springs to my mind when I think of photography-related quotes. And while I agree with it, I must admit that I highly respect words, too. Just like photos, there are wise words that can inspire you. So, to start off the year 2022, we bring you 202 quotes that photographers and other artists said about taking pictures. Some of them will amuse you, some of them will make you think and reevaluate your attitudes....
B-roll is the one thing that most of the video people I know say they want to improve at. I know it’s one of my weak points. I either don’t shoot enough of it, I end up not liking what I’ve shot, or we run out of time doing the main shoot before I realise “Hey, we still need b-roll”. I know it just takes practice, and it’s something I keep working on with every shoot....
Almost any sensor yields more interesting results if mounted on a moving platform. Remember scanning thermometer? It’s time to mount TOF LIDAR (Time Of Flight / Light Imaging, Detection, And Ranging) on two precision rotary stages arranged for pan and tilt operation. Rig provides real-time position data along with distance to an obstacle. Using simple math we can calculate the position in Cartesian coordinate system. Data is collected point-by- point to reconstruct 3D object model....
OK, I lied. These posing tips are relevant for posing models as well. When you shoot “ordinary people,” they are not always aware what which post highlights their best features—things like the shape of the face, long noses, big ears, and so on. Experienced models will usually know how to pose to look at their best, but for the rest of us, here we go. Photographer Jerry Ghionis shares a few posing tips for shooting people, focusing on non-models....
Today, 500px has announced that they got fully acquired by Visual China Group (VCG), also known as the “Getty Images of China.” VCG was 500px’s lead investor in 2015, but as of today, they own 100% of the company’s shares. Back in October 2015, the collaboration with VCG got 500px under fire. The company launched a Chinese counterpart of the website, 500px.me. The content they posted on 500px would automatically appear on the Chinese counterpart with no opt out....
