The Rokinon AF 45mm f1.8 is Odd Compared to Other Sony FE Lenses

Rokinon AF 45mm

The new Rokinon AF 45mm f1.8 has an odd focal length compared to other Sony FE lenses, but it’s priced right.

In the last few years Rokinon have been slowly, but surely increasing their lens offerings that feature Sony’s E mount, and their latest lens, the Rokinon AF 45mm f1.8 is being billed as the perfect lens for your Sony camera. What really makes this offering stand out though is the lenses unique focal length. The new Rokinon AF 45mm f1.8 is surprisingly the eight new lens that the company has announced this spring. This once small player in the lens market has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years, and their lens offerings just keep on getting better, and better. The Rokinon AF 45mm f1.8 will hopefully be able to deliver the goods too, like some of their other newer lenses have.

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Please Stop Passing Off Your Composite Images as Photography

Composite images have their time and place, and they can be cool, but it’s not photography.

Photoshop lets us do many wonderful things. From simple edits, to complex transformations, the software has been the birth place of some spectacular work, but we have to start making a distinction between photography, and Photo-shopped/composite images which really aren’t photographs at all. They are great works of art in their own right, but it’s always important to be upfront about your work, especially now in the world of ‘fake news’, and ‘fake media’. Continue reading…

Tom Hegen Reveals the Abstract Beauty of Greens and Gardens

All photos by Tom Hegen. Used with permission.

Refreshing gardens and verdant locations are eye-catching on their own, but we can trust Tom Hegen to them to us in new and remarkable ways. Last time we saw him work with foliage; he transformed stretches of man-made forests into minimalist art. In yet another beautiful aerial series, the Munich-based photographer took inspiration from gardens, cultivation sites, and patches of green to reveal the abstract charm that can only come from the view above. Continue reading…

These 135mm Prime Lenses Will Help You Capture Stunning Portraits

135mm prime lenses are just about the perfect lenses for portrait photography.

Ask any photographer his or her favorite lens for portrait photography and you’ll likely hear that an 85mm prime is their glass of choice. You’ll hear some say they like to use 50mm primes, and some even prefer to use zooms like a 24-70mm f2.8, or a 70-200mm f2.8. Every once in a while though you’ll come across a photographer who will say that their favorite glass for portraits is a 135mm prime lenses. The 135mm focal length is honestly just about the perfect lens for portraits thanks to fast apertures, incredible optics, and levels of compression that produce flattering images. Join us after the break as we take a look at six 135mm prime lenses that will help produce jaw dropping portraits. Continue reading…

Cheap Photo: Grab 100 Black and White Lightroom Presets for $12!

This Lightroom Presets deal is so hot we had to crank up the AC to the max!

We all love good deals, and wow have we found one for you here! 100 black and white Lightroom Presets for just $12; that’s going to be hard to beat! This bundle normally has a price of $49, but for a short amount of time you can pick up these Lightroom presets for next to nothing! Take the guess work out of converting your images to black and white, and use these presets for perfect results with a single click. Jump through the break for more details. Continue reading…

Klas Falk Photographs Today’s Swedish “Greasers” Subculture

All photos by Klas Falk. Used with Creative Commons permission.

Subcultures are fascinating documentary photography subjects to explore and shed light on, and there’s always one waiting to be uncovered. A perfect example is the dreamy series of Stockholm-based Klas Falk, which features today’s Swedish take on the “Greaser” youth subculture that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. If you’re looking for inspiration on photographing unique and popular subcultures, this series could give you some ideas.

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Eolo Perfido’s Clownville Goes Deeper Than His Subjects’ Masks (NSFW)

All images by Eolo Perfido. Used with permission.

“The first instrument of the portraitist is not the light, or the lens, or the camera,” explains Eolo Perfido. “It’s the subject.” The French-born, Italian photographer is a deeply thoughtful creator. His series, Clownville, offers a dose of innovation, a slice of controversy, and a generous handful of compelling concepts. Whether you’re amused or afraid of clowns, he has brought art to life that you won’t be able to look away from. For him, the series is not just an example of the creative mind; it’s a metaphor of life. The work shows a person prepared to push boundaries. It may shock or it may delight. What is for certain, however, is that it will grab your attention.

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Portrait Photography Tip: More Ideas on Posing Non-Models

Need more ideas for posing non-models for your portrait photography practice? These quick and simple tips should get you shooting stunning portraits in no time.

Whether you’re a professional portrait photographer or someone still learning the ropes, you’ll definitely be working with non-models. So if you still need some help on how to pose them for your next project, we have a really useful video tutorial that should provide lots of ideas. Portrait photographers Anita Sadowska and Irene Rudnyk recently teamed up for a quick but really helpful video demonstrating poses for non-models. With Sadowska behind the camera and Rudnyk following her directions, we see a good variety of posing techniques that will make everyone look really great in portraits.

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Cheap Photo: Save 94% on 1850 Amazing Photoshop Actions (Just $29)

photoshop actions

These Photoshop actions will help you create images that will make jaws hit the floor!

Photoshop is one of the most powerful pieces of software around for photographers. There are literally hundreds, and thousands of ways for you to interact with your images, but creating styles, and effects can eat away at your valuable time. The 1850 Premium Photoshop Actions Bundle can change all of that though. With just a single click you’ll be able to transform your images in seconds, and you’ll be able to create clean, consistent results that will wow you, and your clients. The best part is that has a 94% discount right now which makes it just $29! Join us after the break for more details about these incredible Photoshop actions. Continue reading…

Andy Lee Showcases Beauty in Decay in His “Abandoned” Series

All photos by Andy Lee. Used with Creative Commons permission.

There’s always something about abandoned houses and even ruins that make them perfect subjects for emotive photography. In fact, that’s precisely why there’s a genre — urban exploration photography — especially dedicated to it. We’ve put the spotlight on several photo series set in these abandoned locations, and today, we’re adding the Abandoned series of Pembroke-based Andy Lee to the pile.

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Travel Photography Tip: Comparing 35mm vs 50mm Lenses

If you’re just getting started with travel photography and have been browsing around for some tips on the best lenses to use, this 35mm vs 50mm comparison should help.

Are you an aspiring travel photographer who can’t decide yet which between 35mm and 50mm lenses is the better choice for the job? In case you’re still looking for tips and resources, Australian fashion and portrait photographer Julia Trotti comes to the rescue with a quick comparison video for both focal lengths during her recent trip to Gdansk in Poland. Since Trotti specializes in portraits, it’s only but proper for her to begin the comparison with a bunch of portrait shots. She also works mostly with prime lenses given her genre of choice, hence the focus on 35mm and 50mm prime lenses for this comparison. She also shot with the Full Frame Canon 5D Mk IV, so keep in mind that you’ll get different results if you shoot with a camera with crop frame sensor. Since this is about travel photography, she made sure to give examples for portraits we’d typically shoot during a trip: mostly half body or full body shots with careful attention to  include the landmarks behind or around the subject. Apart from portraits in both half body, full body, and close up, Trotti also did some examples for other popular subjects in travel photography: food and landscapes.

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André Josselin Highlights the Anonymous Faces of New York City

All photos by André Josselin. Used with Creative Commons permission.

In one of our recent features, Cologne-based André Josselin shared how New York City was his dream destination and, using his Leica M, André put together a visual love letter to the city. Well, aside from capturing all the hustle and bustle of the city that never sleeps, he also made sure to paint a picture of its people through some candid street portraits. New Yorkers certainly are among the favorite subjects of street photographers, and we’re definitely not complaining seeing more being added to the pile. Aptly titled Anonymous NYC, the collection of street portraits was taken using a Leica M10 with a 28mm Zeiss lens. It looks and feels like a continuation of the NYC Love Letter series, but with a more decisive focus on people. There’s also a more classic New York City street photography feel, even reminiscent of Bruce Gilden. More hustle and bustle, a close distance to subjects, but also more observant of the people he chose to photograph.

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How I Stopped Obsessing Over Canon L, Sony G Master, and Nikon G Lenses; and Just Continued to Shoot

There’s an obsession with Canon L, Sony G Master and Nikon G lenses that isn’t necessarily justified.

Before I go on, you should know that I’m not at all saying that lenses from these manufacturers are bad at all. Just go to DXOMark and take a look at their scores: Sony is very high up there and Canon is highly rated with their zoom lenses. But amongst those photographers who seriously started picking up the camera within the past four years, I’d like to relate to you a tale of how my obsession was similar to yours and perhaps even worse years ago. It started with Olympus, then went to Canon, and then I finally learned my lesson. Before you drop absurd amounts of money that you don’t really need to spend, you should probably consider how the bliss from ignorance will one day only make you realize that you’re not going to be any better of a photographer just because you own these lenses.

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Firmware 2.0 Gives the Nikon Z6 and Z7 New Autofocus Revamps

The Nikon Z7 and the Nikon Z6 will today get improved autofocus performance according to the company.

When we went about testing the Nikon Z6 and the Nikon Z7, we found the autofocus performance of each of them to be behind that of pretty much every other manufacturer. And now, the long awaited autofocus improvement firmware is ready to launch. The company is today announcing that in addition to eye-detection autofocus for still-image shooting, the Nikon Z6 and the Nikon Z7 should be able to focus better in low light situations. All the details you need from the press release are after the jump.

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The MiNT InstantKon RF70 Gets Updated with Auto and Manual

Heads up, instant film photographers! The folks of MiNT have finally and officially unveiled the InstantKon RF70 with not one, but two models!

It’s already been a year since we last heard about the InstantKon RF70 and took it for a test run. Now, the folks of MiNT have made it official. Not only did they just launch one model, but also an Auto version for those who are still learning the ropes of manual controls. If you’re only hearing about this instant camera now, allow us to introduce you to this wide-angled wonder.

Updated with more official specs

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Cheap Photo: Learn All About Film Photography For $29 + Much More

K1000

There are some great camera deals, and deep discounts on tutorials, but you’ll have to act fast if you want to get them.

Hold on to your hats because we have found a few more spectacular camera deals to add to the already fantastic camera, lens and accessories from the Mothers Day sales that are still going strong. The Sony A7II with 28-70mm lens is back down to just $998, and the Full Frame Canon EOS 5D Mark IV can be snagged for only $2,799! That’s a discount of $500! The Nikon D3500 with 18-55mm for just $396.95 would be the perfect starter camera for a recent grad, or as a gift for an aspiring photographer in your life, as would the Nikon P900 for just $496.95. There are also great photography tutorials like the Introduction to Film Photography which is only $29, and the Introduction to Large Format Photography which is also just $29! Continue reading…

Bruce Gilden Discusses His Coney Island Street Photos

For today’s street photography inspiration, we bring more Bruce Gilden stuff from his Coney Island adventures.

Whether you’re already familiar with the bold street photography of Bruce Gilden or still familiarizing yourself with his work, it’s always engaging to look back at some of his best known sets. There’s probably no one that can best tell us the most interesting details and stories about his photos than the photographer himself, so we take once more to Gilden’s Vimeo page to revisit his snaps, this time to listen to his commentary on his Coney Island project.

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Dramatic Black and White 4×5 Portraits by Andy Lee

All photos by Andy Lee. Used with Creative Commons permission.

Large format remains the imaging format of choice for many portrait photography projects today, given the outstanding resolution and the impressive amount of detail it renders. If you’re learning about this format now and would like to get inspired with some fine examples, Pembroke-based photographer and creative director Andy Lee has some dramatic 4×5 portraits for you to check out.

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Watch This Wildlife Photographer Get Squished by Curious Baby Elephant Seals

Being a wildlife photographer comes with many dangers, so we suggest taking on the task only when you’ve watched this video!

So, you want to be a wildlife photographer? You’ll definitely have to be aware of the many dangers that come with the job. Surely, you’ve heard of what happens when you get too close to wild animals — like getting chased by angry lions and elephants, close encounters with creatures that get too curious, and polar bears trying to break into protective enclosures (to state a few). But perhaps there’s nothing quite like being mauled by the cuteness of baby elephant seals while out in the field.

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The Profoto A1X Replaces the Company’s A1; Comes in Sony TTL

The new Profoto A1X is replacing the Profoto A1 just two years after it was announced.

In my years of being familiar with Profoto’s product lineup, the lifespan of the Profoto A1 has been the shortest in their lineup. It has been replaced by the new Profoto A1X. Notably, there is officially a Sony version; the previous version could work only with Sony cameras via the Air TTL system and not in the camera hot shoe. In addition to the Canon and Nikon variants, the Profoto A1X also seems to share a very similar body. The light boasts bluetooth compatibility with the Profoto Air app for your phone (something only the B10 enjoyed previously). With a range of 300 feet, the Profoto A1X can fire 450 full power flash pops according to Profoto’s claims.

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The Beginner’s Guide on How to Do Your Own Firefly Lamp Portrait Photography

That firefly lamp portrait photography trend is pretty simple to do on the cheap!

The trend that has taken over Instagram and lots of cinema is firefly lamp portrait photography. Lots of folks don’t know how to do it themselves or simply just associate it with other photographers. But the truth is that it doesn’t need to be that way. You can put your own twist and spin on it using Christmas lights, which is very affordable and gives you a ton of options. The bottom line: it’s all about being in touch with your own feelings.

Trust us, this isn’t difficult; let’s take a look!

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