Many photographers misunderstand the concept of focal length. Contrary to what some people think, the focal length of a camera lens is not the lens's physical length, and it has little to do with its overall size. So, what is focal length? This article will explain the answer, including how...
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,...
Printing Photos On-the-Go
I am currently in Uzbekistan, doing some photo work for the ministry of tourism (more on the trip in my upcoming posts) and I wanted to quickly share my experience with a piece of gear that I will now be bringing with me to every trip going forward. When photographing...
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....
Canon EOS R Review
2018 was a big year for mirrorless cameras with Nikon, Canon, and Panasonic all announcing their first full-frame mirrorless systems. Nikon struck first when it released the Nikon Z-series cameras in the summer, but Canon wasn’t too far behind when they introduced the EOS R a couple of months later....
When to Shoot in Color, Less Color and No Color
In this article, I will go over a simple methodology I use in choosing how to use color in photos. We have masters like Sebastião Salgado who shoots exclusively in black-and-white, Steve McCurry who shoots only in colors and Jimmy Nelson who shoots in muted colors. Shooting in color, in...