In this week’s video, I’m going to show the story behind a photo I took a few days ago in Great Sand Dunes National Park. Because it's our first case study video at Photography Life, I wanted to shoot an image that I already had in mind - hopefully lowering...
Post Archive By Spencer Cox - Page 40
The Nikon Z Cameras for Landscape Photography
I’ve now been using the Nikon Z7 for more than six months, and I’ve also tested the very similar Z6 extensively for our review at Photography Life. The takeaway in both cases is that, despite a few flaws, Nikon produced an excellent and surprisingly refined first-generation mirrorless camera. But the...
Our Macro Photography Video on YouTube
Today, I’m excited to publish the first in a series of weekly YouTube videos from Photography Life! This is something Nasim and I have planned for a while, and circumstances finally conspired to make it a reality. We’ll film everything in 4K: tutorials and case studies, with the same high...
9 Macro Photography Tips for Beginners
With spring arriving in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s time again for many of us to go outside in humid, buggy areas in search of creepy-crawlies. Macro photography is... peculiar, I admit that. But anyone who’s tried this genre also knows its allure. Navigate some technical hurdles and heed the mosquitos,...
Don’t Confuse Effort with Results
It’s one of the most familiar stories that I hear: “You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to take this photo. I captured it on the hardest hike of my life, but it was absolutely worth the effort.” And then the photo - though rarely a complete failure - just...
Sony RX0 II Announcement
Late last night, Sony announced the RX0 II, a new 15.3-megapixel action camera that looks very promising even for advanced photographers. With a 1-inch sensor and a fixed, rectilinear 8mm f/4 lens (24mm field of view equivalent) - and among the lightest ever weights for a camera of this sensor...
When to Use Bracketing for the Best Results
One of the most useful techniques in photography is called bracketing - in other words, taking multiple photos of the same subject with different camera settings. Commonly, bracketing is about changing your exposure: one photo at the meter’s recommendation, plus one under and one over. But exposure isn’t the only...
Equivalence Also Includes Aperture and ISO
I know, I know. After the 2012-2017 Great Equivalence War, photographers everywhere agreed never to utter that word again. Nasim’s famous quote, “Everyone is right, everyone is wrong,” has been etched both into the peace treaty and into the hearts of millions. However, as we near the two-year anniversary of...
Lightroom vs ON1: Should You Switch?
I’ve recently been looking at alternatives to Adobe Lightroom for photographers who are considering switching, and one name that keeps coming up is ON1 Photo RAW. Like Lightroom, ON1 is both a photo organizer and a photo editor, although it also differs from its Adobe cousin in some major ways....
Making Sense out of Chaos
The natural world can be a chaotic place. If you’re a landscape photographer, you’ve probably found yourself taking pictures of scenes that seem too disorganized and overwhelming to work right no matter what you do: forests, canyons, coastlines, and so on. You’re chasing the elusive gem of simplicity within a...