The camera world has become saturated with third-party gear in the past few years, and there's no exception with tripods. Compared to more traditional big-name brands, some of these third-party tripods are fairly inexpensive - including carbon fiber models. But how do they perform? Today, I'll review one of them...
About Jason Polak
Post Archive By Jason Polak
Photographing and Enjoying Alberta’s Nose Hill Park
It's an abrupt transition, going from the tropics of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest to the sparse plains of Alberta over ten thousand kilometers away, especially when that transition also goes from the Austral summer to the Boreal winter. This transition is one of landscapes, wildlife, and ecology, and it is...
Five Compositional Ideas for Bird Photography
Some principles apply to every genre of photography, including many of the creative and compositional techniques that you use. However, I find that each genre has its own nuances and differences. Today, I'd like to share five compositional techniques that are especially relevant in bird photography. These aren't rules - instead,...
Noise Reduction Algorithms vs Capturing More Light
Today’s noise reduction software is capable of incredible results. Images that couldn’t be salvaged in the past can be made quite clean with modern denoise algorithms. But what is the real benefit of these tools compared to capturing more light in the first place?
OM SYSTEM Announces the OM-3 and Updated Lenses
OM SYSTEM has just announced a new camera: the OM-3. Unlike the OM-1 and OM-1 Mark II, the OM-3 is a very different beast with a retro design. Even so, it's still got a stacked sensor and shares many capabilities with the OM-I Mark II. And together with this new...
Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Announced
Nikon has just announced what is destined to become a classic environmental portrait lens for the Nikon Z mount: the Nikon NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.2 S. This beautiful high-end prime lens completes the holy trinity of f/1.2 primes, joining the Nikon 50mm f/1.2 S and the Nikon 85mm f/1.2 S....
Nikon COOLPIX P1100 Announced
In 2018, Nikon released the COOLPIX P1000, a superzoom with a massive equivalent focal length range of 24-3000mm. Today, Nikon has just announced its successor, the Nikon P1100. What can users expect with the Nikon COOLPIX P1100? Users of the P1000 will find that the P1100 has very similar specifications...
Five Easy Things to Avoid in Bird Photography
Bird photography seems simple. You see a bird, you take its photo. But birds don’t just move - they can be in different environments and can have endless varieties of light shone upon them. All of a sudden, bird photography starts to get more complex. And in some ways, it...
Small Adjustments Can Lead to Big Changes in a Photo
In photography, you compose shots by moving your camera to a physical position in space and time. That's obvious. But what isn't so obvious is that very slight changes in space and time can substantially alter a composition. As a wildlife photographer, I know it's tempting to take shots immediately...
“How Is AI Different From Autofocus?”
There was a time not long ago when I spent time on photography forums. I joined quite a few debates about artificial intelligence, and in these debates, some people compared new AI tools with other automated camera features. “How is AI any different from autofocus?” is a question I saw in various forms.