Back in July, I received a Pixel Mago flash unit for testing. Part 1 of this review covers my first impressions and initial testing, which were very positive. Since then, I’ve been using this Pixel unit as my main flash, and my impressions continue to be favorable. I also took a crack at doing some […]
Renting from LensRentals.com
Prior to a planned visit to Road America in for the Tudor / Continental sports car races this August, I decided to rent a telephoto lens so my son and I could each have a lens to shoot during the event. This isn’t my first time renting, but it’s my first time doing so by […]
Pixel Mago review, part 1
Last week, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a text from DHL — I’ve got a new speedlite from Pixel to review! The Pixel Mago is a really exciting new option for Canon DSLR photographers (I believe they’re releasing a Nikon version, too). As excited as I was to see Yongnuo ship a high-end speedlite […]
Intro to High-Speed Sync
One of the most mysterious aspects of flash photography for new flash photographers is sync speed and the related concept of high speed sync. One of the first places you’re likely to encounter this is when you start shopping for flashes, because HSS is typically one of the features you’ll give up on low-end or […]
Pic of the week again!
It’s been a while since I submitted anything to the StackExchange Photography “picture of the week” contest, and the way they handle the contest changed quite a bit since I last participated, but after quite a while in the “queue”, this shot finally bubbled up to the top. Incidentally, just like my last winning shot, […]
Learning by playing
Among the most basic concepts in photography is exposure, yet it can be among the least intuitive concepts to grasp because of the way aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings combine to affect exposure. Many different textual and graphical representations of these relationships already exist; among the most popular is the “exposure triangle”. These days, […]
OMG – it’s a new Flickr!
Ok, everyone – don’t panic, but Flickr changed again. If you’re used to the old Flickr, this is probably a big annoyance for you, but give it a couple days and see if it doesn’t grow on you. Personally, I think this new design is a really nice improvement for people who are learning photography […]
Basics of Composition: Rule of Thirds
Earlier, I started this “Basics of Composition” series with an introduction to the importance of your subject. In this edition, I’m going to explore the “rule of thirds” — perhaps the best-known rule of photographic composition, as well as the Fibonacci spiral, which is widely considered to be a close relative. If you didn’t see […]
Just keep swimming
I was at a swim meet for my son a couple weeks ago. Various teams often print up t-shirts with motivational sayings on them — usually about swimming, of course, but I saw one that I believe is equally applicable for us “wanna-be” photographers, too: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” I […]
The rise of the third parties
A long time ago, I bought a 35mm camera kit — one of those deals where you got a couple of zoom lenses, a bag, and a bunch of other junk. The telephoto lens that came with it was made by a company called Kalimar; I think it was probably something like an 80-200mm zoom. […]