The simplest question in photography is also the most complex: What makes a good photo? It isn’t enough to say that a good photo comes from its lighting, composition, subject, and so on; this question has a deeper answer. Good images – as different as they may be from one another – all stem from the same roots: The photographer has a strong goal for the photo, then expresses that goal in the most effective possible way.
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Fuji XF 56mm f/1.2 R Review
This is an in-depth review of the Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 R lens made for Fuji’s line of X-Series cameras. This short telephoto lens (85mm full-frame equivalent) was released in February of 2014 and quickly became known as one of the best prime portrait lenses on the market, mirrorless or otherwise. This lens is not to be confused with Fuji’s other 56mm, the XF 56mm f/1.2 R APD. The APD version incorporates a controllable apodizing filter into its design, for…
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Lightroom 6.14 vs CC 7.1 vs 7.2 Performance Comparison
Adobe Lightroom is known to be a disappointingly slow post-processing tool, especially when it comes to basic operations such as importing, preview generation and image culling, as well as more advanced operations that involve using features such as spot healing. Adobe’s development team is aware of these issues and the company says that it is committed in delivering updates that will make Lightroom faster. The latest version of Lightroom Classic CC 7.2 has been delivered a couple of days ago…
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Fuji X-H1 vs X-T2
The Fujifilm X-H1 is the top of the line camera in Fuji’s X-series line-up. But before its release, the Fuji X-T2 was arguably the most feature-rich choice and certainly a popular mirrorless cameras among many enthusiast and professional photographers. As a current or prospective X-T2 owner, or potentially as someone interested in the new Fuji X-H1, you might be wondering how it compares to the X-T2 in terms of features, ergonomics and specifications. We have put together this X-H1 and…
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Fuji X-H1 Announcement
Today Fujifilm unveiled yet another line in the X-series mirrorless cameras, the Fuji X-H1. This is a significant release for the company, because the X-H1 is the first Fuji camera to feature a 5-axis in-body image stabilization (IBIS), something many Fuji photographers have been waiting for. Fuji has long been criticized for not incorporating IBIS into its camera bodies to take advantage of its lenses that do not have optical image stabilization, so the company responded with a camera that…
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Fuji GFX 50S Firmware 3.00 Announcement
One of the most amazing things about Fuji as a company, is their commitment to photographers who invest in their systems. Each time Fuji makes a camera announcement, it also goes back and adds some features to some of its existing cameras. A number of cameras have been previously improved with the “Kaizen” philosophy and I have seen cameras completely transform thanks to continuous firmware updates. Last year, after having a chance to test and review the GFX 50S, I…
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How to Photograph Airplanes
Aviation photography is definitely more challenging and creative than one might think at first glance. But it’s one of the most rewarding and simply fun type of shooting I do. Basically, there are two kinds of airplane photographers: those with airfield/aircraft access (airport workers, pilots, commercial photographers etc) and those without (all the rest of us). This is for all of us peering through a fence or piece of dingy airport glass at those exciting flying machines and trying to…
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Learning to Shoot in Manual Mode
This essay is for amateurs who have been shooting a while and feel the desire to push the envelope by going to manual mode. For those who are dedicated auto shooters and never want to change, I respect and endorse your choice, and wish you all the good shooting in the world. But this essay is not for you, so you need not read any further. Why go manual mode? Well, there are some very good reasons to do so.…
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How to Cull Your Images Faster with FastRawViewer
As you might already know, Lightroom is extremely slow when it comes to image culling. Although Adobe updated Lightroom CC to be able to fetch embedded JPEG previews from RAW files for the sole purpose of speeding up image culling, the process is still painfully slow when going through many images. In addition, looking at the embedded JPEG previews from the camera is far from ideal due to the fact that JPEG images do not contain enough information to be…
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Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 Announced
Early today, Sigma officially announced a new 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, the most recent in a string of wide-angle Art lenses from the company. While there has been no price released at this point, it is reasonable to hope that this lens will offer the high-quality performance that Sigma’s Art lineup is known for, yet still retain a lower price than something like the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8. Keep reading for more details about the new lens, including some of our initial…
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Fuji XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR Review
This is an in-depth review of Fujifilm’s XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR Lens. The lens was released in early 2016 and is Fuji’s longest focal length lens and only super-telephoto zoom in its lens lineup at this time. At the moment, the lens holds a couple of records, being the heaviest at 1375g and the most expensive at $1899 among all Fujifilm X-mount lenses.
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Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art Review
This is an in-depth review of the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art lens that was announced in February of 2017 along with a few other Sigma Art-series lenses. At the time of its release, Sigma proudly presented the lens as “world’s first and only full-frame f/1.8 ultra-wide-angle lens”, which was without a doubt, a remarkable achievement. Its impressive optical formula optimized for extreme sharpness and virtually no distortion got many photographers excited about all the possibilities it could present…
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2018 and 2019 PL Workshops Announcement
We are excited to announce our 2018 and 2019 schedule for photography workshops that will be taking place in Colorado, Death Valley and Jordan. The popular Colorado Fall Colors Workshop will take place from September 28 to October 1 of 2018. Right after, we will be taking a small group of photographers to our Jordan Photography Workshop, which will span a total of 11 days from October 8 to October 19 of 2018. Finally, our next Death Valley Workshop will…
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Considering Lens Minimum Focusing Distance When Using Extension Tubes
To some extent all of us are creatures of habit, doing things the same way that we’ve always done them. How we use our camera gear is not immune from our habitual behaviour. My favourite lens to use with extension tubes is the 1 Nikon 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 and I often only bring this lens with me when planning some close-up photography. During recent visits to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington Ontario to photograph frogs, I was reminded that considering…
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Nikon 28mm f/1.4E ED Review
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 28mm f/1.4E ED lens that was announced in May of 2017 along with two other lenses, the Nikon 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR AF-P and 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED Fisheye. The AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.4E replaces the classic 28mm f/1.4D lens, which was known for its outstanding optical performance capable of rendering sharp and beautiful images on both full-frame and cropped sensor cameras. With the updated 28mm f/1.4E, Nikon completely revamped its optical formula and…
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Welcome to the First Photography Life Review Month!
Regular readers will know that we’ve published a lot of beginner content in the past few weeks, including several refreshes of our old articles. We’ve received emails ranging from “I hope you have a master plan, and this is just temporary” to “thank you for remembering us!” – and while our plan can look rough around the edges, we assure you that there is one, and we’ve been preparing for something big. The first step? Review month. We have a…
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Nikon 28mm f/1.8G Review
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G lens that was announced in April of 2012 together with the Nikon D3200 DSLR. After releasing a number of great and affordable primes such as the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G and the 85mm f/1.8G (both of which turned out to be phenomenal), Nikon rolled out the 28mm f/1.8G lens to target photographers who are looking for a fast, inexpensive and lightweight wide-angle prime lens that can be suitable for a variety…
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Nikon 24mm f/1.8G ED Review
Ever since Nikon debuted the 24mm f/1.4G ED lens five years ago, the lens has been a popular choice among professionals and serious amateurs, thanks to its excellent optical formula and coating technologies that yield crisp and pleasing images. However, its high price point and the relatively heavy weight made it a rather specialized tool, so a cheaper and lighter f/1.8 version of the lens was much needed to complement the 20mm f/1.8G and the 28mm f/1.8G lenses. Nikon filled…
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Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED Review
This is an in-depth review of the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED lens that was announced in February of 2010 together with the Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR lens. The Nikon 24mm f/1.4G lens is a professional-grade lens for enthusiasts and professionals that need the highest quality optics of a fixed wide-angle lens with a large aperture of f/1.4 for low-light situations and shallow depth of field to isolate subjects from the background. The lens incorporates modern optical design and technology, and…
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Nikon 20mm f/1.8G ED Review
It has been 30 years since Nikon first introduced the original Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 Ai-S lens and long 20 years since the autofocus version, the Nikkor 20mm f/2.8D was released to the market. Since then, the 20mm prime sadly did not receive much attention, so it was about time for Nikon to refresh the line with a modern version. Nikon finally revealed a replacement on September 12, 2014 and the new lens came with a nice surprise – the Nikkor…
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