The time to write down my personal list of the Best Apps for Landscape Photography has come. The group of my top 16 favorite apps which I use almost every time I have to plan a photography session, a photo trip, or a complex spot with a long hike in the mountain to get there. What is one thing almost every photographer has on their person every time they shoot?...
Boris FX is a company that has established itself in the filmmaking world by providing staggering VFX and DFT(digital film tools) to major productions. Their products are used on a large portion of Hollywood movie productions, Lion King is one of them. So, when a filmmaking company released a product for photographers, I got excited. The two verticals benefit from shared experience, and I was intrigued. Taking the best from the VFX and DFX worlds, they created Optics, which is a Photoshop and Lightroom plugin aimed at stills photographers....
Ever since Blackmagic announced their BRAW format, Blackmagic camera owners have been begging for it to come to their camera first, particularly those who were still waiting for their Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K orders to show up. Initially, BRAW came to the Ursa Mini Pro, and there have been no real guarantees as to which other cameras it may appear on or when. But now, in the latest Blackmagic Camera 6....
Blind Spot Gear, the company behind 2018’s original Power Junkie, is back with an update. It’s the Power Junkie v2, and it’s just launched today through Kickstarter. If you’ve no idea what the Power Junkie is, it’s a battery plate that takes Sony NP-F style batteries and provides outputs with which you can power other gear, like cameras, monitors, field recorders, etc. It negates the need to have multiple batteries for multiple devices....
Charging for video work, especially when you’re quite new to dealing with clients, can often be quite difficult. You don’t want to quote ridiculously high and scare off the potential client. But you also don’t want to quote far too low and risk not being taken seriously. Or, worse, them accepting it and you making no money for your time and effort. So, how much should you charge? In this video, Caleb Pike chats with producer and director Corbyn Tyson about how to price up and quote for a video shoot....
Artificial intelligence is developing fast and has many possible applications. However, it makes mistakes, and this has proven to be a problem for London’s Metropolitan Police. They use AI to detect incriminating images on seized electronic devices. But, it’s unreliable when it comes to nudity, as it still can’t tell the difference between a nude photo and a photo of a desert. Mark Stokes, the head of digital and electronic forensics, told the Telegraph that their current software detects the photos of guns, drugs, and money on seized computers and phones....
If you speak to camera often, then there’s no getting away from the value of a teleprompter. But, those things can be expensive. There are less expensive options out there, but what if you need something a little bigger and want to spend even less money? Well, that’s where this video from Skeptically Pwnd comes in. With a clipboard, a couple of L brackets, and a piece of glass (well, and a couple of other bits), we get a fully functional teleprompter that can handle a large tablet....
After initial tests in several countries and a release in India, Instagram Reels has now been rolled out globally. The new feature is often referred to as the “TikTok” clone, and Instagram’s timing is perfect considering the uncertain future of TikTok in the US. Reels lets you record and edit 15-second multi-clip videos with audio, effects, and all kinds of creative tools. You can share these videos, or “reels,” with your followers on Feed....
It’s been long awaited and long demanded, but C-Log is now officially coming to the Canon 5D Mark IV. It’s a firmware update, but not one you can do yourself. You’ll need to send your camera off to a Canon service centre, and hand over $99 to make it happen. While this isn’t going to make a difference to most photographers, it will be a welcome addition for video guys....
The race to the bottom never seems to end. The latest is a new service claiming to produce marketing photography for as little as $19. Yes, that’s right, photography that normally costs thousands for only nineteen bucks. The service is called Catalog and they’ve raised $1.5 million to kick the business off. They’re not the only company starting up with a similar model, either. Photographer Daniel Norton discusses these types of services in this video, and how they’re really not a great thing for either the customer nor the photographers who might shoot for them....
Canon is celebrating a major milestone today. The company has just produced 150 millionth lens, and the count includes the RF and the EF system. The lens that’s marked the milestone is the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. This baby was released back in November 2019, and the 150-millionth unit was produced in January 2021. Canon began making RF and EF lenses for Canon EOS-series AF SLR film cameras in 1987....
There are many kinds of cameras: DSLRs, point and shoot, mirrorless, even that weird Sony F707 from when DSLRs started. But one thing almost never changed since when cameras started. Even the old Analog cameras. The Shutte Button. Sure, it was mechanical at first and got a new “half-press” when auto fucus was introduced. But the overall mechanics stayed the same. Click the button – make a photo. In a patent application spotted by Canon News, you see something that resembles a touchpad....
If you don’t want to be that person who always has a phone in their hands capturing everyday moments, Canon’s got you covered. The company has announced PowerShot PX, a smart little camera that follows you and takes photos of your day, with you in the frame. The PowerShot PX looks like a cute little surveillance camera. And in a way, that’s what it is, considering that it constantly watches you....
It’s been a big day for Canon announcements with the launch of the EOS R6 mark II, a new EL-5 speedlight, and a brand new updated 135mm telephoto lens. The RF 135mm f/1.8L IS USM lens (try saying that in a hurry!) is part of Canon’s RF range of lenses designed specifically for their mirrorless camera line-up. According to the specs, the lens “offers an engaging mixture of high sharpness and shallow depth of field, making it an ideal choice for portrait subjects....
Canon’s EF mount 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens has been one of the most respected macro lenses out there for years, for any camera system. Even amongst non-Canon photographers, it’s a lens that many of us have occasionally wished we could use. With Canon’s transition to mirrorless, though, EF is making way for RF, so Canon released an RF mount 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro, too. It’s actually been out for a while now....
One of the biggest grips about the original Canon EOS R and the EOS RP mirrorless cameras, along with only one card slot and the 4K crop, was the lack of in-body image stabilisation (IBIS). Canon’s word on the subject was basically that they didn’t feel their IBIS tech was at a point yet where it was worth implementing. They just weren’t happy with it. Canon promised it was going to be coming at some point in the future to EOS R cameras, though, and now that future seems to be close if Canon Watch is correct....
I’ve not quite decided yet whether the Chroma Chrono is genius or a gimmick. It’s an interesting idea, a programmable RGB camera flash capable of putting out, apparently, 16 million colours. But is it really all that useful or practical? Possibly not surprisingly, the Chroma Chrono is currently being funded through Kickstarter. I can see it either becoming wildly successful, or it’ll be another one of those items you buy, use once, and then forget about in a drawer....
Whether we’re making a video, writing a story, or creating photographs, the key element in almost all successful works is effective communication. What does your creation say to the viewer? Does it say anything at all? In this video, The Basic Filmmaker, discusses this topic to try and help you find what you want to say. Although Kevin talks primarily about video, what he says applies to just about all types of creative work....
Core SWX has updated its Powerbase lineup, initially launched in 2019, with two new batteries. There’s the PB Edge Link, a 70Wh V-mount battery that sports a 7.4v output port for your DSLR or mirrorless camera, as well as Type-A 5v and Type-C Power Delivery USB ports and two 14.8v d-tap ports. According to Core SWX, this battery is capable of powering a Sony A7 series camera for over 12 hours....
How do you make white light? No, that isn’t a trick question. Most of us are fairly familiar with using different colour temperatures and even playing around with gels but if you get a little bit creative you can use gels and lighting to make some really interesting effects. Commercial photographer Ron Hautau created these dynamic portraits using a relatively simple set-up and some basic physics. So how did he do it?...
