One of the biggest enigmas surrounding the Fujifilm X-Pro2 is the omission of 4K video. Initially, it seemed that this was to do with not having the necessary heat sink to dissipate the heat produced like the X-T2 was able to have, and that reasoning made a lot of sense. However, that sort of flew out the window when the smaller X-T20 came out and it also had 4K video, again, without the beefy heatsink that the X-T2 featured.
When it comes to working with film, there are a number of photographers who have obviously done it for years already. But interestingly enough, you don’t apply the same techniques necessarily that you would with digital photography. So here’s what you can do and the Golden Rules of Working with Film Photography.
There is no balance; my life is a beautiful chaos. I’m a photographer, I’m an artist, I’m a foodie and I’m a husband…all at once! I’m very lucky to have an amazing partner who supports, tolerates and gets involved in this mess. She understands that this is my life and this is who I am but it takes a bit of common sense from my side as well. I compromise the love and passion that I have for what I do to spend quality time with my wife. See, one of the reasons I wanted to become self-employed was to be able to spend more time with her.
PocketWizard, once the gold standard in wireless triggering, has just released their new MultiMAX II – a move they are hoping can win them back some of the high-end market from more affordable competition. “The best is back” they are saying, noting that the new MultiMAX II offers more features and incredible reliability at a lower price than the original – but is it enough? Let’s have a look.
Low Key lighting in portrait photography can do one really big thing for your subject: make them pop out from the background a whole lot more. I mean, isn’t that the whole point of portraiture? To make someone stand out and make them the primary subject? When combined with very specific lighting, your subject can really come across front and center so to speak. So for the most part, I want you to imagine that an actor or actress is on stage for a bit of theatre. A spotlight comes in on them and the rest of the stage isn’t lit at all. In fact, it’s incredibly dark. So more or less, you’re really just seeing your subject and nothing else. That’s how low key lighting works.
If you have played around with your settings at all in Lightroom or other image processing software, you may have seen some options surrounding color bit depth. If you don’t know what that is, you may be wondering if it matters which you choose to process with – and that answer is yes, it does matter.
After doing some research as to how large a print I could make with my current gear, I contacted a great print shop that was recommended to me and learned a little more about the paper types, etc. I chose to make a 24×36 print of the Santa Monica Pier at sunset on Hahnemühle paper. As soon as I hung the print on my wall I was hooked. Everyone decorates their home with wall art, so I wanted to decorate my home with my work. Call me narcissistic, but it’s immensely satisfying to see something you made displayed in physical form. Unfortunately, I don’t print as much for clients as I would like, but I have let my altruistic side take over a bit recently, presenting someone with a great looking print and seeing their reaction is such an amazing feeling.
Instant Film, and film in general really, is enjoying a burst of popularity recently and it is bleeding over into all genres of photography. Many photographers are using instant prints, be it Instax, Impossible or one of the many other options on the market for whole projects with really interesting and wide-ranging results. One such project that may be of interest to some of you is a new nude photo book over on Kickstarter called Instants.
Photographer Chantal Routhier recently did a short tutorial on how to get that wind whipped look in your hair for portraits that everyone loves. One of the biggest secrets: put the hair half back and half in front. Of course, this tutorial works best with longer hair and with more of a blustery day. Chantal has some excellent tips in her post, but to add more to this the higher your elevation is, the better it is for you to get more wind. Additionally, going to a waterfront will work wonders. Chantal speaks about this and she states that you should go behind rocks.
We’ve featured Felix Hernandez here a number of times for his awesome photo projects, and this time around he’s giving us an ode to Back to the Future. Felix has been creating small scale model photography for a while now as his own personal tribute to a lot of different movies and cool parts of popular geek culture. A lot of it has to do with cars while other parts have more to do with Star Wars or other movies. But for Back to the Future, he needed to capture all the neons, fire and the overall spirit of the incredibly popular 80s movie.