One of the widest lenses on the market today is the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D, made by Venus Optics. Not only is this lens rectilinear (not a fisheye), but Venus Optics claims it has almost no distortion whatsoever. With so few 12mm lenses available today, anyone who needs an ultra-ultra…
Venice in Black and White
I saw an earlier article on Photography Life about photographing the city of Venice (Venice – The Most Beautiful City in the World by Alan Mosley) and felt inspired to write one of my own. I, too, find the city to be inspirational for photography, especially architectural work. Moreover, I…
AFP vs NFS vs SMB Performance on macOS Mojave
If you are a Mac user, you might be wondering which file sharing protocol gives the best performance when using a network-attached storage device (NAS) such as Synology, or a NAS / Thunderbolt over Ethernet device such as QNAP. With macOS allowing one to choose between AFP, NFS, SMB and…
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…
A Step-By-Step Guide to Artistic Travel Photography
Hello everyone! My name is Lee and I am a cultural travel photographer. I would like to share my experience in taking artistic travel photos. No complicated theories here, just some practical approach I use. I hope it will be helpful to some of the readers who are in their…
Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Review
The following is a review of the Sigma 100-400mm F/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens which was released in February of 2017 as part of Sigma’s affordable “Contemporary” lens lineup. The introduction of the Sigma 100-400mm F/5-6.3 DG OS HSM C lens is a logical one for the company as…
Nikon Z6 Review
The Nikon Z6 was announced in August of 2018 alongside the higher resolution Z7. Both Z-series cameras marked the company’s entry into the full-frame mirrorless market, a category of camera that many Nikon shooters had anticipated anxiously for years. But it was always a question of “when,” not “if” Nikon…
How to Take Better Black and White Landscape Photos
Landscape photography goes hand in hand with black and white. It isn’t just because of famous landscape photographers like Ansel Adams, but also because the intricate shapes that attract our attention in nature often “just feel right” in monochrome. Want to take better black and white landscape photos? This article…
Don’t Update EOS R Firmware to Version 1.1.0
Yesterday, I posted an article comparing the banding noise on today’s mirrorless cameras. The results showed the Canon EOS R to have a bit more such noise than Nikon or Sony. However, one Photography Life reader, Todd (thanks!), noted Canon released a firmware update last week to fix horizontal linear…
DJI Mavic 2 Pro Review
In this review of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro, we will take a closer look at how the drone performs for both aerial photography and videography. After testing out the Mavic Air last year, I realized just how useful compact drones have become for many creatives out there. Being able…