Photography, quite literally, is “painting with light,” yet we so often let available light control our photos, rather than the other way around. This weekend, my Irises bloomed. First to bloom were the white flowers in the photo above. I noticed the blooms in the morning, and I thought the white flowers would look really […]
Sebastião Salgado: The silent drama of photography
This is a wonderful TED talk that combines photography, environmentalism, and anthropology. There’s enough material here to occupy far more than the fifteen minutes or so it will take you to watch the video. Salgado’s images are powerful reminders for us to protect the world around us.
Maybe it’s not supposed to be easy
There are an awful lot of cameras sold to people who just want to turn them on and have masterful photos pop out. While some of these people wind up learning the craft of photography, quite a few of them venture out into the world with their cameras stuck on “Auto” — vaguely miffed that […]
All about Image Stabilization
If you’re anything like me, one of the reasons you’ve upgraded gear over the years is to get sharper photos. It’s a never-ending quest, especially for those long shots, and Image Stabilization is one of the things that can really help you out — if you know how to use it. Unfortunately, quite a few […]
Couldn’t have said it better myself
It’s all about chasing that next shot. What a great video!
Budget tripod shootout, part 2
In Part 1 of this shootout, I previewed the three tripods I’m comparing and discussed some things I’ll be looking at in all three. Part 1 also covered the Velbon CX-300 — a typical “big box” store tripod that’s better than nothing, but just barely. As a reminder, if you’re just getting started looking at […]
Support your LCS
Camera shops have a tough time of it. Despite the fact that most camera buyers love to walk into their local camera store (LCS) and fiddle with cameras, lenses, and so on, these shops sell commodity products that you’ll almost always be able to find selling for a discount somewhere online. This phenomenon is often […]
Budget tripod shootout, part 1
Pro photography equipment is expensive — this shouldn’t be a news flash if you’ve shopped for gear for more than twelve seconds. For real pros, it’s a no-brainer to buy the best equipment available. The high-end stuff from most manufacturers tends to be remarkably reliable, durable, and it offers the best possible performance. If you’re […]
Portrait crash course
My son’s taking a college photography class, and he came home with an assignment to shoot some portraits. Of course, I wanted to know a bit about the assignment, so I asked a few questions — how did they explain “portraits”, did they talk about focal lengths, lighting, and so on. It turns out they’d […]
Not so very long ago
I don’t “set up” a whole lot of shots, but I spent a few minutes on this one, and I thought I’d take the time to write up the lighting setup. The composition of the shot is pretty simple. I wanted the fireplace to figure prominently in the shot, and the counter where the props are located […]