Photography Life

Although the megapixel race has been going on since digital cameras had been invented, the last few years in particular have seen a huge increase […]

The Promise Of Exposure

Let me first be clear. Anyone who knows me well would tell you I’m not a materialist and money is not my primary aspiration. I […]

Resolving To Resist Resolution

Just as the market is once again graced with higher resolution cameras, so too is the Internet awash with salivating consumers desperate to lap them […]

Camera Modulara: The Perfect Camera That Does Not (Yet) Exist

Having spent quite a bit of time talking to many other photographers, one of the discussions that comes up every once in a while has […]

Canon 7D Mark II Review

A comprehensive review of the Canon 7D Mark II DSLR with image samples, detailed analysis and comparisons to other cameras by Nasim Mansurov

How to Use a Tripod

When dealing with slow shutter speeds, a solid tripod is a must-have tool for eliminating camera shake and capturing sharp photographs. Although setting up a […]

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Banding and Calibration

December 9, 2014 By Nasim Mansurov9 Comments

Just like Romanas, I love my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (in fact, I was the one who convinced Romanas to get one after my experience with the Surface Pro 2 and eventually 3rd generation). Although Romanas has already put a lot of great information in his excellent in-depth review, there is one big reason why I personally strongly prefer the Surface Pro over a laptop – I can work with it on my lap and it does not make me uncomfortable, as it does not generate any heat. But despite all the good things about the Surface Pro 3, there is one issue that can be particularly problematic for photographers: to extend battery life, Microsoft actually modified Intel’s graphics card drivers and reduced the number of colors that can be displayed by the device. For most people this might not be a problem, but for us photo geeks, this “hack” is actually quite a big issue, as it introduces banding / posterization to images. It also makes it hard to distinguish between some shades of colors, which is rather sad, since the high resolution screen is the number one selling point of this device (turns out Apple employs a similar trick on its MacBook Air machines). Another inquiry we have received from our readers is on calibration – is it possible to calibrate the Surface Pro 3 screen? In this article, I will provide detailed information on how to fix the banding issue and provide detailed instructions on how to properly calibrate the Surface Pro 3 screen.

[Read more…]

Nikon 35mm f/1.8G ED Review

December 8, 2014 By Nasim Mansurov45 Comments

After Nikon introduced the super lightweight and inexpensive Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G lens for DX cameras, many Nikon shooters started requesting a similar lens for full-frame cameras. Those who did not want to spend over $1500 on the professional Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G did not have a lot of options from Nikon aside from either using the 35mm f/1.8G DX lens on full-frame, or using the older Nikkor 35mm f/2D lens. Sigma’s timing on the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art was spot on for a number of people with its lower price point and superb optical performance, but it also came with both size and bulk considerations. On January 6 2014, Nikon finally announced the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G ED lens to fill that gap. At $599 MSRP, the lens is not only significantly cheaper than the f/1.4 version, but it is also twice lighter and more compact. I had a chance to use this lens for a few months this year and although I could not work on a full review earlier due to time constraints and other commitments, I was very pleased with its optical performance.

[Read more…]

FastRawViewer Review: Best RAW Viewer for Your Workflow

December 7, 2014 By Nasim Mansurov45 Comments

No matter what software one uses for post-processing photographs, the process of selecting what images to keep and work on, also known as “culling”, can be quite painful when dealing with thousands of images. And this gets even more painful when working with RAW images, because operating systems usually have no built-in capabilities to view and properly render RAW files. Many photographers end up keeping all RAW images on their computers, because they do not want to go through the hassle of deleting bad images they will never use, only to realize overtime that their hard drives get filled up quickly and their post-processing time takes much longer. Those who try to cull images in Lightroom know that if a full size image preview is not generated at the time of import, it can take a long time to render each image. Sadly, Lightroom is quite weak at quickly previewing images, so working pros and enthusiasts usually end up complementing the culling part of their workflow with additional software like Photo Mechanic. At $150, however, Photo Mechanic costs as much as a retail version of Lightroom, becoming a cost barrier for many. Enter FastRawViewer, an amazingly fast and truly inexpensive RAW file viewer that has become my personal choice for culling images. It was developed by the same folks that created RawDigger – one of the best scientific tools for analyzing RAW images. In this review, I will take a closer look at FastRawViewer, go through some of its features and hopefully help you in simplifying both your workflow and your photo backup / storage needs.

[Read more…]

Surface Pro 3 Review Update: Lightroom Performance

December 6, 2014 By Romanas Naryškin19 Comments

In my original review of the Surface, I mentioned it suits my needs very well when it comes to portability and writing. The Type Cover keyboard is exceptionally comfortable and the whole package fits very neatly into the tablet compartment of my Think Tank Retrospective bag. However, I did not yet have the time to thoroughly test the Surface’s performance with Lightroom and Photoshop, the two most popular editing programs among photographers. Since so many of you asked, I decided not to wait for the next time I was shooting out in the city to process new photographs “in the field” (not the best weather for street photography), but to turn off my PC at home for a while and instead work on images I’ve taken during my trip to NYC on the Surface. In this article, I will talk you through my experience from importing the RAW files to the Surface in Lightroom, to exporting them, all (hopefully) on a single charge of battery. Let’s see if it will manage.

[Read more…]

The Lume Cube and Why You Want It

December 5, 2014 By Nasim Mansurov50 Comments

I was a bit disappointed by the Photo Plus Expo this year in New York, because unlike last year, I did not find a lot of innovative products to be excited about. It seemed like the exhibit floor was full of the same things we had previously seen, except this year the organizers did not allow any Chinese companies on the floor (most likely because some of them were selling the exact same products as the bigger companies at a much lower price last year). However, there were a few things that I found that got me very excited and one of them was the Lume Cube. After seeing the product, Roman and I actually went back to see it again next day to find out more about it and to snap some pictures for our readers. So what is Lume Cube and why do I think it is an innovative product? Let’s take a closer look.

[Read more…]

How to Work With The Groom

December 4, 2014 By Romanas Naryškin9 Comments

A lot of wedding photographers think their work is mostly for the bride, and I can see why. Usually, it’s the bride who spends countless hours looking for the right person to capture the best day of her life, sometimes even years before the actual wedding. I’ve had men contact me more than once, of course, but eight times out of ten, it is the bride’s letter that reaches me. Every little detail has to be perfect, and brides-to-be are more than happy to dive into the planning to make sure it is exactly like that. On the wedding day itself, it is the bride that receives the most attention and most admiration. Not to say the groom is secondary – oh no. His admiration and attention are the most important, he is her knight in shining armour, so to speak. And yet, she is the princess. So if she is happy, he is happy, isn’t that how they say it? Strangely enough, I’ve found that it is not the bride that is hardest to impress with your work. After all, if she’s chosen you, she already knows, more or less, what to expect. And the groom? That is a somewhat different story.

[Read more…]

Photographing Captive Reptiles

December 3, 2014 By Thomas Stirr23 Comments

Small sensor cameras have their detractors, but there are specific situations where shooting with a small sensor camera has some advantages. For example, my Nikon 1 gear is ideally suited to taking photographs of captive reptiles because of its light weight, portability, and the comparatively short minimum focusing distance of 1 Nikon lenses. In this article I’ll be discussing some of the things you can do to create some interesting images when using this type of equipment.

[Read more…]

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Review: Photography and Writing

December 2, 2014 By Romanas Naryškin50 Comments

Here I am, sitting at a cozy coffee house. Not just some coffee house, too, but a place where a lot of young people hang out – students, mostly. They come here for a cup of coffee much like people do at Starbucks overseas. Like me, they also come here to work – I’ve seen more MacBooks here than I did in iDeal (official Apple product distributor in Lithuania, similar to iStore / Apple Store). But I don’t have a MacBook. Perhaps that is why through the corner of my eye I notice a young girl looking my way. Now, my Julie has no reason to worry. The girl is not interested in me whatsoever. What caught her eye is the computer on my lap. She notices me noticing her and immediately says – “What sort of computer is that? It’s pretty.” Right. So this might not help my self esteem, but the girl is indeed correct. I appreciate a good design and, well, this thing looks the part. Coupled with the bright blue keyboard, certainly good enough to attract attention.

Whether you want it to attract attention or not is a different matter. More importantly, though, it’s not all looks and no substance. Quite the contrary, in fact – Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 is ready to give someone a bloody nose.

[Read more…]

Sensor Gel Stick Cyber Monday Sale!

December 1, 2014 By Nasim Mansurov19 Comments

We have just received a new shipment of both regular Sensor Gel Stick and Sony-specific versions and we are excited to join the Cyber Monday sale with $5 off on each product and free shipping to continental USA! The Sticky Papers are discounted to $9.99 as well for those that already own the product, also with free shipping! In addition, we are also offering heavily discounted Priority Mail shipping for $3.99 ($7.99 regularly). The deals are good only today and will expire at 12:00 AM Mountain Standard Time. A great Christmas gift for your family or friends.

[Read more…]

Top Cyber Monday Deals

November 30, 2014 By Nasim Mansurov12 Comments

Although Black Friday is supposed to be “the day” for great deals, I’ll admit that I was not all that impressed with what Nikon had to offer, aside from a couple of fine deals on lower-end cameras. Well, it is Cyber Monday today and things are looking much more interesting, with some great deals from Nikon definitely worth looking at. The Nikon Coolpix A did not sell all that well for $579 on Black Friday, but it seems like Nikon is either releasing a replacement, or just wants to clear off the shelves, since the price has been slashed even more – the Nikon Coolpix A is on sale for $499, for today only until the stock is gone (about 10% of the stock has already been claimed). At this price, the little camera with a large APS-C sensor is a great deal, so if you need a small pocketable travel camera, you might want to check it out! In addition to this, there are a few other deals like the Nikon 1 V2 kit for $499 that I found and picked for our readers. If I find anything else worth posting today, I will update this article.

[Read more…]