If you’re reading this, then you’re probably not really an amateur photographer–you’re probably actually a hobbyist. If you’re a professional photographer, than most of your taxable income comes from photography. If you’re a semi-pro photographer, then you make taxable income from your photography. But if you’re an amateur, the proper definition is simply doing something for pure pleasure and not in the pursuit of money. And that’s absolutely correct, but the connotation of it has more to do with your skill level. Many of you reading this have most likely been shooting for years and the majority of you probably make some sort of taxable income off of your photography. So you’ve learned step 1 about this industry: that sometimes it doesn’t have a single thing to do with your skill level.
“It was like getting reborn!” says photographer Pietro Bevilacqua about his photographic journey…
Mirrorless cameras are not the newfangled technology they used to be. Mirrorless systems from Sony, Fuji, Panasonic, and Olympus have had years to build solid systems with various camera and lens options that allow them to be capable of creating stunning images just as well as any DSLR. So you may be considering your first interchangeable lens camera, or maybe you have a DSLR and you are interested in taking advantage of some of the features that mirrorless brings to the table, whatever your reason is you may be asking yourself how to choose between the various options.
“I want to be the fly on the wall.” is the mantra of so many street photographers out there. For the most part, it’s possible these days. All you need to do is find a way to get close to your subject, use the silent shutter, click, and you’ve got your photo. It’s part of the old adage that if your photos aren’t good enough, then you’re not close enough. Many photographers these days tend to use wide angle lenses and go up to the 50mm field of view simply because they feel that it’s important. Gear mongering aside, let’s more address the fact that the point of getting close to a subject is to actually, you know, have some sort of connection with them.
Let’s pretend for a moment, that you are in a meeting with a millionaire.
My name is Faraz Azhar, I’m a travel photographer based in Dubai, UAE. Although I have a fulltime job as a banker, photography is my passion. I cherish black and white photography mostly for architectural photos. I believe that an architect spends endless hours imagining a structure that he is about to build, he draws countless shapes on paper before finalizing his design and he takes care of every little measurement and detail of that building; whether it’s a cornerstone or a pillar or any piece of metal or concrete. Capturing these fine details is an art. Taking photos of architecture in color makes it overwhelming and makes the viewer lose focus of what’s important in the scene…the fine architectural detail.
OK, so you are newer to the world of photography, maybe you recently purchased your first DSLR or Mirrorless camera and you are starting to think about adding another lens to your kit outside of the one that came with your camera. You have heard about prime lenses and you are thinking that you may like to add one of them to your kit because your kit lens is a zoom lens.
Time for another check-in on the currently available deals and sales across the industry. This is always a post to catch if you are on the market for some new equipment, as we all know, this profession/hobby is not cheap and any penny saved could end up a penny earned.
This guide is a guest blog post from photographer Marcin Wajda on choosing a medium format film camera based on just a few of the best offerings out there. Enjoy!
We have talked about cameras, lenses, and lighting so far in our recent posts about party and event photography – and today we take it another step towards you filling out your kit by talking about lighting modifiers for your on-camera flash. As much as off-camera flash is preached in the industry these days, during a dark party/event environment an on-camera flash with a good modifier is essential for quality well-lit results.