As a busy photographer who travels quite a bit both within the USA and overseas, I have gone through many types of gear in my camera bag. While some of the gear and accessories are absolute necessities I will not leave my home without, others can be very useful in particular situations or when traveling to other countries. In this article, I would like to go over my top must-have gear for travel and discuss why you might consider including them in your arsenal in the future.
Photographing Hummingbirds With a Pop-Up Camera Flash
If you’re like me you probably seldom, if ever, use the small pop-up flash that is on your camera. I’ve had my Nikon 1 V3 for a couple of months now and it has become my dedicated birding and nature camera. My wife and I were recently on a very short vacation in British Columbia and I had an unexpected opportunity to photograph some hummingbirds. Unfortunately the feeders that the birds were frequenting were under permanent canopies that created very dark lighting conditions. After trying to shoot some very high ISO images without any success I decided to put the pop-up flash on my Nikon 1 V3 to the test. Since I had never used this pop-up flash before I shrugged and thought, “Well…either it will work or it won’t.”
Why Sunrises are Better than Sunsets for Photography
Many photographers do not like waking up very early to take pictures at sunrise, preferring to sleep in and spend the energy to shoot during the day and at sunset instead. While photographing at sunset can yield stunning photographs, there are specific advantages to photographing at sunrise that are worth discussing. Let’s take a look at the topic of sunrise vs sunset in photography in more detail and see why you might be better off shooting early in the morning.
Last Camera Syndrome
For the past few years now, the digital photography camera market has been on a steady decline. Some people blame it on smartphones taking over the big chunk of camera sales, while others have related other factors to the decreased camera sales. While we have written a number of articles on this topic, I personally don’t think that there is only one factor that can be singled out as the root cause – I believe there are a number of different factors contributing to the shrinking sales. One of such factors could be “Last Camera Syndrome”, which many photographers seem to be experiencing lately. With image sensors pretty much hitting the innovation wall, we have only seen camera manufacturers pushing more resolution and feature upgrades lately, which does not seem to sit well with potential buyers. And if we take a look at the entry-level cameras, they all seem to only contribute to the camera pollution, with nothing new and exciting, just refreshed model numbers for the sake of grabbing news headlines. We no longer see big leaps in image quality as we had previously seen in the past, with more photographers settling on one camera – their last camera.
What to Photograph in Greece
Greece is one of those countries one must visit in their lifetime, thanks to its rich historic and cultural heritage, stunning landmarks and its natural beauty. Although there are many spots to check out in Greece, I will guide you through some of the most ancient and beautiful parts of this amazing country.
FotodioX Nikon F to Fuji GFX 50S Adapter Review
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This is a quick review of the FotodioX Nikon F to Fujifilm G-mount adapter, which allows mounting Nikon G-type lenses on the new Fuji GFX 50S camera. While it is always ideal to use native lenses on any camera system, the idea of using a lens from a different camera system on a mirrorless camera can be appealing for a number of reasons. Aside from potential savings, one can take advantage of the mirrorless technology (see mirrorless vs DSLR for details) and use the ability to zoom in on a subject while framing to potentially yield a higher number of in-focus shots compared to a DSLR. In addition, lens adapters also open up opportunities to use specialty lenses that are not yet available for the system, which in the case of the new Fuji GFX 50S, is certainly worth looking into, since the system is very new and only three native mount lenses are available at the moment. While shooting with the Fuji GFX 50S, I wondered how well my Nikon lenses would do on the medium format camera, so I decided to give the FotodioX Nikon F to Fuji G-mount adapter a try.
Postcards From Toronto
It would have been titled Why Technical Stuff Doesn’t Matter but I figured this kind of fluff speaks for itself. A little embarrassed to be sharing my travel snapshots but we all need occasional reminders to stop reading and actually go out and shoot.
Taking Your Sports Photography Beyond Snapshots
This post is the second in a three-part series dedicated to teaching sports photography at all levels of competency. In part one I covered the basics for photographers who are just getting started. This article will focus on intermediate amateurs who have mastered the basics, and want to gain additional competency to bring their images to the next level. The final part will be geared towards advanced amateurs looking to build a portfolio.
Understanding Auto ISO in Photography
Did you know that most modern digital cameras have the ability to set ISO automatically? Back in the film days, you would drop a roll of film into your camera and your ISO, or ASA as it was known back then, would be fixed for the entire roll. With digital, not only can you change your ISO on the fly, but you can also set your camera to adjust it automatically. In this article, we will explore Auto ISO in detail and learn how to you use it with different shooting modes of your camera. In addition, we will discuss scenarios where it is advantageous and situations when setting ISO manually is more appropriate.
Four WINNING April Fool’s Day Photography Tips — You Won’t Believe #4
Happy April Fool’s Day! Each year, we try to write an article or two to remind people about the lighter side of photography. Last year, when we said that our entire team was switching over to Canon and refusing to review any other equipment, a solid number of people believed us. Great! Now that it’s 2017, we’re upping the ante by writing four top tips to improve your photography this April, including suggestions that will remain relevant even if Artificial Intelligence takes over the planet and all art becomes obsolete.