How to Get Out of a Rut with Street Photography and Continue Growing

Street Photography is as much about psychology as it is about skill and creativity.

There is a mental process that goes into making photographs of everyday people in the street. Confidence is a huge driving force in getting strong, compelling visual content. When confidence is high, so is your creative flair. However, there will be times when you’re not your best self, and a high level of creative productivity is not always sustainable. Almost unknowingly you fall deep into a rut and your photography suffers. You can all of sudden feel stuck, and find that you are asking yourself, “how do I get out of this?”

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Why Mastering at Least One Emulsion Is a Worthwhile Exercise in Film Photography

Given all the options we have with film photography today, why would it matter to master just one emulsion?

It took me a little over seven years of shooting film to come across an unusual idea about the medium: mastering just one emulsion. I say it’s unusual because part of film photographers’ mission these days is to try as many films as possible (especially the rare ones), before they all get killed off (yes, I’m looking at you, Fujifilm). Also, a big chunk of its appeal these days is the experimental nature, and it’s easy to see why. Ask anyone who shoots film about all the crazy stuff they’ve done (or plan to do) with their rolls and you’ll hear about stuff like multiple exposures, redscaling, cross-processing, film souping, and caffenol developing. For anyone who feels this much excitement over film photography, sticking to one emulsion even for a short while sounds a little boring.

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TSA is Testing New Security Scanners Possibly Allowing Cameras in Your Bag

Globe-trotting photographers could spend less time clearing airport security checks with TSA rolling out some new scanners. 

Getting cleared by airport security may soon be less time-consuming with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) currently testing some new screening equipment. TSA is speeding up its pilot testing of some new computed tomography checkpoint scanners, which are much like the CT scanners you’ll find in hospitals, with bags instead of human bodies. It will use an X-ray camera to take hundreds of image to put together a more detailed view of what’s inside your carry-on luggage. Since TSA officials will be able to rotate the items on three axes (instead of the 2-D images provided by the current scanners), it could minimize the need for extra bag inspections and therefore speed up the time travelers spend in the security process.

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PaintShop Pro 2019 Promises to Get Budget-Conscious Photographers Beyond the Photo

Feature-packed PaintShop Pro 2019 could be the next best option for those considering a cheaper alternative to Adobe Photoshop. 

It’s been a while since we’ve heard about PaintShop Pro, given all the other more popular Photoshop and Lightroom alternatives out there. The photo editing suite has recently been updated with a number of advanced features and tools geared towards budget-conscious photographers and content creators. If you’re still looking for an alternative image editing software to try, PaintShop Pro 2019 could very well be worth checking out.

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Wanted: Your Impressive and Inspiring Photography

Got a photography project that you’re really proud of? Now is your chance to get the word out about your work with an interview feature!

Our team is always on the look out for the most impressive and inspiring photography out there. For every project we come across and feature, there’s surely more we’ve yet to discover. So if you’ve got a project and are ready to tell the story behind it, step right up and find out how you can get featured.

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Cheap Photo: Amazing Deals for Budding Photographers and Pros

Gear lust is real, and it’s alive and well.

Whether you are a budding photographer or a seasoned pro, we all have the desire for new gear. Perhaps you’ve been eyeing a new lens, or a new camera, maybe even some accessories. We always want more and the great thing is that we don’t have to break the bank to do it. Here is a look at some of the best deals on the web for cameras, lenses, and other amazing accessories.

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Opinion: What We Want to See in the Reported Sony A6700

Reports of a successor insiders are calling the Sony a6700 have us excited; the a6500, Sony’s APS-C flagship, came out almost two years ago.

When Sony announced that they would begin shipping the A6500 just 8 months after introducing the a6300, many felt the updates in the successor were incremental at best, while others felt that many of the features should’ve been included in the a6300 to begin with. While details on the reported Sony a6700 are slim at the moment, lots of information has begun surfacing around Sony’s upcoming flagship crop sensor camera. With a much longer development cycle this time around, we believe the Sony a6700 will feature a lot of significant improvements across the board.

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Dear Manufacturers: Small Cameras Deserve Nice, Small, Wrist Straps

More cameras should come with wrist straps because the cameras deserve to always be in your hand.

Dear Manufacturers;

I think you can agree with me that photography (as we’ve traditionally known it) and cameras have become more of a luxury product over the years. We’ve found ways to commodify workshops on a larger scale, phones have decimated your compact camera sales, and you really have to convince someone to actually purchase your camera let alone actually bring it with them. There are of course those big, ugly straps you’ve been using for years that more or less appropriately label your fan boys and girls, but I genuinely think it’s time for a change.

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The Lomography Sprocket Rocket Teal 2.0 Is Pretty Much the Same Camera as Before

Nothing screams analog quite like the Lomography Sprocket Rocket Teal 2.0.

Recently, the Lomography Sprocket Rocket Teal 2.0 made its debut–continuing the evolution of one of Lomography’s more iconic cameras. When it was first launched in 2011 by Lomography, the Sprocket Rocket Teal carried a couple of firsts in its plastic body; it was “the world’s first panoramic wide-angle 35mm camera dedicated to sprockets” and was the first film camera to be fitted with a reverse gear to “rewind and remix” photos with. Token to its look, it exposes the entire area of the roll of film too–including the area around the film sprockets.

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Sony, Canon, and Nikon Emerge as Big Winners in EISA Awards 2018 – 2019

Your trusty Sony, Canon, and Nikon cameras could be the among the winners of the EISA Awards 2018 – 2019.

The Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) has recently announced the winners of the EISA Awards for 2018 – 2019, with Sony, Canon, and Nikon garnering several major awards, and Fujifilm and Panasonic winning in some key camera categories.

The biggest winner of them all was Sony, amassing seven awards throughout its range of products, with five of them being photography equipment. The A7III was declared EISA Camera of the Year, the A7R III snagged the EISA Professional Mirrorless Camera award, and the RX10 IV grabbed the Superzoom Camera award. Meanwhile, the company’s FE 16-35mm f2.8 GM and FE 100-400mm f4.5–5.6 GM OSS lenses were also given distinction as the best Mirrorless Wide Angle Zoom Lens and Mirrorless Telezoom Lens respectively.

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How Canon and Nikon Can Catch Up to Sony and Win More Pros Back

Watch out, Canon and Nikon; Sony is starting to win the pros over with their super fast mirrorless cameras.

While many of us have seen how and why mirrorless cameras will take over the bigger and bulkier DSLRs, the pros have remained a tough nut to crack for the mirrorless market. Many of the pros still prefer holding on to the big investments they made in their DSLR gear, but some have started to jump into the mirrorless side. Bloomberg recently reported that Sony has been especially enticing them with their new super-fast offerings.

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In the US, Sony Is Now #1 in Full Frame Mirrorless Camera Sales

 

Congratulations to Sony for becoming #1 in mirrorless full frame camera sales in the US!

Though Canon may be #1 in Japan for mirrorless cameras, Sony has taken the #1 spot when it comes to full frame cameras overall in the US. The news comes to us via a press release delivered by Sony today. They’re also announcing that they are in the overall #1 position when it comes to dollars and units, which they’ve been for six years now. According to Sony, four out of ten full frame cameras sold during this period are Sony.

The press release is after the jump.

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How Modern Day Documentary Photographers Use Medium Format Cameras

Digital medium format photography has experienced quite a change in the past few years.

How many of you photographers out there have studied the work of some of the greats and were in awe of the medium format look? If you’re reading this article, I’m positive that a number of you have. When it comes to documentary photography though, smaller formats have always dominated the scene. Why? Well, it’s easier to capture more critical moments with smaller formats due to how the laws of physics and depth of field work. But that doesn’t mean medium format fails to work. Lots of fantastic projects were done on medium format, and I’m positive that in the hands of the right photographers, digital medium format can do the same.

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5 Lenses Every Aspiring Documentary Photographer Should Have in Their Bag

Found scurrying around in the dead of night, and seen in the harshest of conditions during the day, documentarians and photojournalists are a unique breed of photographer.

The lenses photojournalists use need to be adept to ever changing conditions, and be able to withstand the hardest of jolts, and the hottest, coldest, and rainiest of days. To be successful in this field, a wide range of focal lengths needs to be covered. The challenge comes in finding lenses that are up to the task of being used and abused over and over again without the photographer having to ever worry about their glass. Here is a list of the five lenses every documentary photographer should have in their bag.

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Getting My Portrait Taken: The Story of a Portrait Photographer Getting the Camera Turned on Him

I am of the genuine belief that every photographer needs to have the camera turned on them every now and again in order for them to understand their subjects more.

One of the things that many photographers speak of is empathy for your subjects; while I hate that romanticized idea due to my belief that it should be common sense, I agree that you should always do unto others as you’d have others do unto you. Blame Catholic schooling for that. If you want to turn the camera onto other people, you shouldn’t be that person that says “Oh I don’t like having the camera turned on me.” If that’s the case, then why do it to others? Why not instead work to make yourself feel better in front of the camera or find a way to work with a photographer to do that? This has been my philosophy for years and in my eyes, there’s no exception to this rule. In order to have true empathy for your subjects, you need to step into their shoes and live a day in their lives. When you combine this with a few recent life changes that I’ve made, it adds up and becomes something that it worth putting forward in photos that are representative of who you are.

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Skander Khlif Captures the Tunisian World Cup Revelry in “Hooligans of Love”

All images by Skander Khlif. Used with permission.

It’s been a while since the 2018 FIFA World Cup has concluded, but that doesn’t stop us from showcasing this beautiful and heartfelt photo essay by Skander Khlif. In his set titled Hooligans of Love, the Munich-based street and documentary photographer captured the revelry of the Tunisian team’s supporters. Interestingly, it the was the only group that he ended up making a series about throughout his attendance of the World Cup, and here, he tells us why.

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Strange Instagram Hack has been Logging Users Out of Their Accounts

Beware of a strange hack that logs users out of their Instagram account, replaces all the contact details, and links it to a new e-mail address with a Russian domain.

If you haven’t updated your Instagram password or haven’t reviewed your security settings in a while, now would be a good time to do so. A puzzling hack has locked some Instagram users out of their accounts and got all contact details replaced, with the email address linked to a new one under a Russian domain.

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The Nature of Things in Light and Color: Minimalist Landscape Photography by Li Ye

All images by Li Ye. Used with permission.

Landscape photography has always been about immersing ourselves in nature’s grandeur first, and bringing home photos that serve as a reminder of the experience. It’s also the same for freelance photographer and writer Li Ye, who is based in one of the most sought after destinations among photographers: the mystic and majestic Tibet. Apart from scaling the region’s mountainous landscapes, he also explores other regions in China whose features best fit his minimalist style and creative approach of finding the nature of things in light and color. In this quick interview, Li Ye gives us an insight into what inspires him within and outside Tibet, how he developed his moody and minimalist style, and how he began his journey into landscape photography.

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These Light Painting Portraits from Jason Page Are for iHeartRadio

All images by Jason D Page. Used with permission.

Based out of Hobe Sound, Florida, photographer Jason D Page has been creating light painting photographs for over a decade. Jason is also the creator of the Light Painting Brushes system, a collection of specialty lighting tools designed with light painters in mind. We had previously featured some of Jason’s work here on the Phoblographer: These Faces Were Created With Long Exposure Light Painting and his “Lady of the Lake”. Most recently, Jason did a light painting portrait project with the artists performing at iHeartRadio’s Wango Tango music festival in Los Angeles, and shared his experiences with us.

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Opinion: Every Photographer Should Spend a Year Shooting Film and Not Editing Their Photos

This may really sound crazy, but hear me out.

I completely agree with you that in the age of digital photography and mobile phones, the idea of spending a year on just film is really insane. But on the other side of things, I believe spending a year working with film is one of the best things many photographers can do for themselves and their work. After a year, you return to digital and you’ll realize you’re a completely different type of shooter and that you as a photographer have changed greatly.

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