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Let's say you are out shopping for Boxing Day, or are so crazy to be shopping today (the 24th) and just aren't quite sure which focal length prime or zoom range to choose. I was out doing some test work with Nikon's new 200mm-500mm today (more on that in it's own review) and put together this simple sequence to give you a sense of what different focal lengths will deliver with the same camera position.
Read MoreI am very pleased to let folks know that the podcast model will return in 2016. It's going to be different from what I did years ago as there are more than enough newsfeeds in the photo and video marketplace and people don't really need another one.
This round, the audio podcast will focus on tips, tricks, problem solving and simple how tos that can be conveyed in audio format. I will also talk briefly about new gear I've seen and tried, while full reviews will appear as articles on the site.
Read MoreLook, I get it. Apple wants users to find it really easy to access images on memory cards from their cameras. Maybe the average user only has one card. Not I, he said, I have many and use them in different cameras, and always reformat each time I install one, so Photos ALWAYS thinks every card is brand new. The mode to stop the auto-launch has been to try to tell Photos not to launch for each card individually. Which only works so long as the card does not get reformatted. This is, a pile of crap, considering it used to be possible to tell the Image Capture function to never auto-launch. There are dozens of posts on Apple Support Communities since the inception of Photos and Apple has done NOTHING. I however, have an answer that works.
Read MoreHotshoe flash is wonderful, except when shot direct from the hotshoe. There are myriad modifiers in the marketplace but many of them don't deliver the light that you really want. Rogue's Flashbender lineup is different so have a look and you'll see why.
Read MoreUsing the right batteries in your speedlights shouldn't be a hassle. In this video, I show you what to look for and share a couple of recommendations that I know work awesomely.
Read MoreAs many of you know, Squarespace is my platform of choice for web hosting and I typically use Safari as my default browser on all my Macs. Apple has continually enhanced Safari, and while they have a Safari Dev channel, sometimes other developers cannot always keep up, or a change is not clearly documented and this causes problems, hence the current issue between Safari and Squarespace.
Read MoreI've written in the past about using Piccure+ to correct microshake and to correct for lens aberrations, two services it does wonderfully. I was recently finalizing some images of some High School football game shots to share with the coach when I discovered on zooming in that some of my selects weren't quite as clear as I had thought in the initial culling process. Sometimes, in excitement we might stab the shutter rather than squeezing, or even with the great tools in image stabilization be pushing things a bit in terms of focal length, shutter speed, physical location and weather effects.
Read MorePhotographers are always looking for advantage, being it in sensor power, lens reach or scope and very often weight and size reduction. When Olympus released their OM-D E-M5, they really shook up the competition. The camera was fast, easy to handle and extremely usable. They followed up with the E-M1 and then the E-M10. Recently, Olympus released the second iteration of the E-M5 called the E-M5 Mark II and the good folks at Olympus sent me one to review, along with a pair of lenses, the 45/1.8 and 12/2.0. It's a very impressive camera and I wanted to share my findings with all of you.
Read MoreIf spots from sensor dust make your editing sessions tedious, check out this video on how to use Lightroom to fix them once, and then synchronize the correction across all the images from that session.
Read MoreWith thanks to Bryan Weiss of Daytripper Photo, I got a short time hands-on with a variety of Sony products. Bryan in making a short film and Sony provided him a stack of gear to use and he has allowed me to do a quick look during his period of use. The camera I was most excited to try out is the new a7R II
Read MoreIn this video I show how easy it is to use the XPOBalance and demonstrate using Lightroom how to make the settings once for an entire session and then sync them across all the images from the session.
Read MoreHere's a quick video on the XRite Color Checker Passport explaining why you should use one and how to make camera profiles with it.
Read MoreIt's that time of year again and time for my annual gift guide. You'll find great gift ideas for photographers and videographers of all levels and I've worked to ensure that I cover different budget sizes since we aren't all millionaires. Well maybe you are, me not at all.
Read MoreOn Saturday November 20th 2015 I was invited by Henry's Newmarket to deliver a seminar on the theory and practice to make great photographic prints, whether you print yourself or prepare your images to be handled by a lab. I've done this video for those who wanted a reference and for those who could not attend.
Read MoreRegular readers know that I've looked at a lot of mirrorless cameras, always looking to see if this is a space to expand into. I've liked many of them, and hoped for more from others. I guess I'm already a mirrorless user, as I've been shooting Leicas for many years, starting with film, then a substantial gap in time to the M9 and now the M (240). They are wonderful cameras but different from the "standard" mirrorless in that they are manual focus rangefinders. The SL however, is something very different indeed.
Read MoreI've been hearing questions from people in my programs as well as other folks about some confusion between using heads on monopods vs tripods. I've written a lot on tripod heads and it's probably time for a quick treatise on monopods and monopod heads.
Read MoreI have a shoot coming up where I need to provide 4x6 prints to the client's guests nearly immediately after making the photographs so they can take the photo with them that evening. Research led me to the Canon CP100 printer, a dye sublimation system that puts paper and dye sub film into a single box. My MacBook Pro runs El Capitan, the current shipping operating system from Apple. As I have found in the past, Canon's installer is OS version specific, even when it makes no sense to do so. I would be stuck, except for Pacifist.
Read MoreBarely a week can go past without hearing the same complaint and concern from developing photographers. "My pictures look different on xx than on my screen. Be the xx representative of another display, a web service, a mobile device, a TV, a different computer or a print, the complaint is the same. Let's solve this issue.
Read MoreRegular readers know that I am sometimes overly cautious about HDR. It can be a highly subjective effort in terms of outcome and drives a wide range of responses. I don't personally subscribe to the "HDR Must Die" school of thought, but I personally prefer more realistic uses of dynamic range extension over the glow in the dark nuclear waste look that some folks love. The outcome is your art, how you get there determines the ease, flexibility and customization available to you as you make your art. I wasn't blown away to hear of another HDR software tool but I have been very pleased with everything I have used from the folks at Macphun so gave them the benefit of the doubt. I did so because they write excellent software, limited only by its availability only on the Macintosh. The acclaimed photographer, Trey Ratcliff, was heavily involved in the development, and that in itself will draw many buyers. What really matters is how incredibly good this product is!
Read MoreIt’s official. Nikon has announced that the D5 is coming. The D5 will be the follow-on to the professional grade D4S. Nikon also announced the pending release of the SB-5000 Speedlight and the WT-6 wireless transmitter. The release is included at the bottom of this article and I find it very Rumsfeldian. We don’t know when, we don’t know where and we don’t know how much, but it’s coming. Regardless, the announcement is absolutely necessary.
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