Did you know that your DSLR’s autofocus system uses phase detection and that it works somewhat similarly to a rangefinder.
Whether you’re buying your first DSLR camera or finally upgrading to a better model, one of the first things you might be keen on looking at is the autofocus feature. In this very quick but very informative video, we learn how exactly the autofocus works in DSLR cameras, and how this knowledge can help you decide on your next buy.
If black and white photography has been on your mind, you may want to bring this handful of quick tips with you the next time you go out and shoot.
Black and white used to be the only way to go back in the old days of photography. Today, however, there’s more than one way to make sure your black and white photos are on point. With these quick tips from London-based photographer Jamie Windsor, you can at least have a head start on getting better at black and white photography, whatever the genre you want to take on.
If you want to get serious with film photography, especially when shooting with slide films, this comparison video will give you an idea when it’s the better choice over color negative films.
With film discontinuations here and there over the years, shooting with slide films has become either rare opportunities that you save for special shoots, or quirky experiments using expired film stocks. Still, for those who really want to get serious with film photography, knowing how to make the most out of the fresh slide films still available out there is paramount. In this very informative and detailed comparison video by Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens, we get to see two of today’s popular slide films, Fuji Provia 100 and Fuji Velvia 100, go head-to-head with a color negative favorite, the Kodak Portra 160.
How far has medium format digital come vs medium format film?
We’re very well aware of the fact that 35mm full frame lenses have improved significantly over the years. In fact, 35mm lenses can be used pretty commonly for portraits at this point. If you think about this, then medium format must have become proportionally better, right?
Photographer Anita Sedowska takes us through what a parabolic umbrella and a beauty dish do for portraiture.
When it comes to portrait photography there is no doubt in my mind that softboxes are the most popular diffusers, but parabolic umbrellas and beauty dishes are also a favorite of many photographers. If you’re just getting into lighting, then it can be difficult to look at an image and determine whether a softbox, umbrella, or beauty dish was used to shoot it. Anita Sedowska takes you through this in her latest tutorial video which you’ll find after the jump, but we thought that we’d go into our archives to dig even deeper.
For the latest installment of The Mijonju Show, we get some quick tips on shooting with a large format camera.
In case you haven’t heard yet, everyone’s favorite camera lover and collector Mijonju is back with The Mijonju Show. We’ve previously seen him test and review the MiNT InstantKon RF70 prototype a few months ago. In his most recent analog adventure, he takes us to a quick portrait session with a 4×5 large format camera. Step right up if you’re planning to shoot large format soon!
Thinking outside of the box with a Lightroom trick like this can yield some powerful techniques for adjusting your images
Lightroom is an interesting piece of software, on one hand, if all you want to do is apply a preset or make some basic adjustments to your image it can be an incredibly simple and straightforward experience. On the other hand, if you want to take things to another level in your postprocessing workflow without leaving Lightroom there are some more advanced ways that you can tweak and modify your images to great effect. One such method is this way to adjust the color of specific objects in your images within Lightroom utilizing the adjustment brush. Continue reading…
Our photography funny man, Lou Guarneri, is back with a new “Lou-torial” showing us how to make a pinhole camera for trying out solargraphy.
Are you in the mood to get crafty and try something new? If you said yes to both, we have just the right stuff for you today – a new “Lou-torial” for a DIY pinhole camera! You’re going to love step one — grab a can of your favorite drink and chug the contents down, because that can will be your camera for the day!
Steve McCurry was my first photography influence, and I didn’t even know it
When I was a kid back in the 1980’s, I devoured issue after issue of National Geographic at the library. I’d read them cover to cover, one after the other. I can still remember seeing his iconic Afghan Girl portrait, which is among the greatest pictures ever created.
It’s weird. If you ask me about my biggest influences, I’ll say Albert Watson, Irving Penn, and Richard Avedon. But my actual portrait work says it’s Steve McCurry all the way. That’s astounding to me because I started my photography journey in 2008, over 15 years after I stopped reading National Geographic. So when Masters of Photography announced a class with Steve, I was pumped, and not just because of my nostalgic connection to his work. I loved Masters of Photography’s class with Joel Meyerowitz, and I’ll always jump to learn from the masters.
Time lapse clips are an excellent way to add interest to your videos and illustrate a passage of time (featured image screen capture from video. credit to Vic VideopIC)
There is nothing quite like watching a well-done time lapse video sequence. These simple, yet nuanced video clips are created by combining a ton of still frames at a constant interval over a set period of time and then combining them all on a timeline to create a video clip. But in locations where the light changes rapidly, getting your exposure to be consistent throughout the time lapse can be difficult. For long time lapse videos, and those covering a period of time during the day and into the night, many photographers struggle with how to shoot and process this sort of project.
But have no fear; we’ve got you covered. Continue reading…
The following is a syndicated post originally found on Eric Kim’s blog. It has been published here with his permission. Syndication by Joy Celine Asto.
Dear friends,
I want to analyze some compositions I really like from Garry Winogrand; and share how we can better incorporate more edgy compositions into our own work:
Finding models to get started with your portrait or fashion photography projects is easy with these tips!
Many of us who want to finally get started with portrait photography or fashion shoots often come across a road block; how do we find a model? By trying out these quick tips, you may be on your way to finally get in touch with a model to learn the ropes of portraiture and put together a portfolio.
This is a syndicated blog post from Digital Photo Magazine. It is being republished here with permission.
I don’t know much about birds, but I know lots of them inhabit my yard. I hear a woodpecker on occasion, and I can identify a blue jay and a cardinal when I see them, but that’s about the limit of my avian expertise. So, when I rented a super-telephoto zoom lens to get a better glimpse of the birds in my backyard, I was amazed by the world of detail it opened up to me. Who knew the basic beige birds I glimpsed from a distance were actually beautiful and nuanced with heretofore-unseen patterns and colors in their feathers. No matter where you live, here are some tips for photographing birds with a super-telephoto zoom in your own backyard.
Bored with your photos? Try this easy pro tip to change the way you see and frame scenes and get instantly more interesting snaps!
Once in a while, we feel the need to shake up our routine, styles, and techniques to improve our photography. If you feel your work could use something new and different, you might want to try out this quick pro tip. It’s so easy that you probably haven’t thought of it before!
Full frame sensors are great when it comes to the editing process later on.
While testing out the Rokinon 50mm f1.4 AF for the Sony a7r III and the Fujifilm X-H1, I was shooting with f1.4 lenses on both cameras. When exposing scenes at ISO 6400 and shooting wide open at f1.4 with similar metering, I came across something that I found was pretty crazy. To verify it, I showed it to a buddy of mine who works for a pretty famous camera store. When he saw it himself, he was pretty shocked. I knew for years that full frame sensors tend to absorb more light per pixel and have better color overall–but I’ve never had a visual difference otherwise until recently.
This is a syndicated blog post from Digital Photo Pro Magazine. It is being republished here with permission.
There are lots of reasons to make portraits outdoors. First and foremost, you avoid the expense and space requirements of setting up a studio. And since most studios are equipped with artificial lighting and modifiers, there’s a lot of gear to buy, too. Outdoors, however, you’re given the gift of one of the most powerful and beautiful light sources around: the sun. And with the simplest tools—a white card as a reflector, for instance—you can learn to manipulate sunlight to gain studio-style lighting control outdoors.
That abandoned gas station or crumbling old house way out of town could be one of the best spots for astrophotography if you want to get some cool star trail or Milky Way snaps.
So, you’ve finally decided to do some astrophotography and nail one of those gorgeous star trail and Milky Way photos. If you did your homework, you already know one crucial element in this kind of photography: location, location, location. You’ll need a spot far enough from the city so there’s no light pollution that could cloud your long exposure. Somewhere with an interesting foreground would also be great. For photographer Brendan van Son, it was a creepy ghost town. The results, however, were worth the scare!
Manually masking in Photoshop and Lightroom can be a real drag, but Auto Masking can save you time
If you have ever wanted to get more advanced with your post-processing, but hated the idea of trying to mask out specific sections of your images in Lightroom, then you are not alone. Manually masking, and doing a good job, can take a tone of time. If you are needing to process a lot of images in a short period of time, then you simply don’t have the time to spend on that sort of work. Thankfully, the team at Adobe recognized this limitation and developed a powerful, but often overlooked tool to help make the process go a lot smoother: Auto Mask. Continue reading…
This is a syndicated blog post from Digital Photo Magazine. It and the contents here are being used with permission.
I’ve been studying the work of master portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz lately and something finally caught my eye. Not about her pictures, which are consistently great for going on five decades now, but about her process. No, it’s not about how she typically uses a single light source balanced with the ambient light. And no, it’s not about how her crew works in chorus to coordinate key light and fill with flags and generally freeing the master to worry solely about connecting with her subjects. In fact, the simple little thing that struck me—that motivated me to write this very piece—was something surprisingly small. In several behind-the-scenes videos and photos of Leibovitz at work, I’ve noticed that the photographer is often sitting on an apple box.
If you’ve ever wondered about what’s in William Klein’s contact prints, here’s a tour from the master photographer himself
Before photographers could preview their works through computer thumbnails, they had contact sheets. A single sheet of thumbnail-sized photos was an important reference for photographers, allowing them to look at a shoot or a potential material for a series in its entirety. It was also after studying the contact print that a photographer selects the photos to be printed and published for everyone to see. In a short episode of a film collection titled Contacts, American-born French photographer William Klein dissects one of his contact sheets and gives fascinating narrations of the story behind some of his interesting images.
Posing brides and grooms on their wedding day just means that you need to pay attention a bit more.
“What do you envision for your photography on wedding day? Is there a particular style that comes to mind?” This is a question asked in every single wedding photography consultation with every couple interested in our wedding photography services. I’m never surprised by the answer as it is the same nearly 90% of the time. “I love candids!”
I may cringe a little inside because while clearly my job as a wedding photographer is partially photojournalism, the other (LARGE) part of what I personally love to do is portraiture. The kind where I’m basically in control of everything, including but not limited to actual posing. Candid photography has it’s place, don’t get me wrong. I just know after years of studying subjects bodies, faces and movement, that unless they happen to be a model there is a high likelihood that the average person doesn’t know what they look like while they’re doing things.
