Photographers have a dilemma. If you want a photo to have the largest possible depth of field – from the foreground to infinity in a single photo – a small aperture is absolutely necessary. At the same time, though, a small aperture causes your photograph to lose sharpness from diffraction....
How Was This Picture Made #08?
For Part 8 of our How Was This Picture Taken? series, I have chosen the following photograph to share. On two recent road trips into the desert near my home base in Southern California, I had the pleasure of going on two landscape photo shoots, both of which I plan to write a...
What is Lens Compression and How to Use It In Your Photos
Have you ever heard someone say that a telephoto lens “compresses” the background or “flattens” an image? What exactly does this mean? The perceived distance between your subject and the rest of the scene is dependent on two things: where you stand relative to your subject to take the photo...
Nikon D5 Preview with Sample Photos
I got my Nikon D5 a week and a half ago and have been itching to try it out on some real world wildlife photography, but this time of year is tough for wildlife where I live and also the weather here has been insanely difficult the last week or...
How Was This Picture Made #07: The Answer
Last week I posted a portrait as the next installment to our How Was This Picture Taken series. There were a lot of great guesses and a few people even guessed the exact technique that I used to create the image! (more…)
Looking For The Moment
I’ve written before about making the familiar unfamiliar with a view to creating a more original image or a different take on something. An important element of making an image more interesting than a mere capture can be to reveal a story or intrigue within it. In a world awash with...
A Few Thoughts About the Camera Market
I recently spent some time looking at CIPA data and wrote a few articles on my blog pertaining to these camera industry statistics. I thought Photography Life readers may find some of the data of interest. What follows are a few thoughts about the camera market, based on my interpretation of...
How Was This Picture Made #07?
For Part 7 of our How Was This Picture Taken series, I have another portrait for you. Our last related article was a complete spoof and a joke (for those who did not get that it was an April Fool's joke, including our "sell-out" to Canon!), so this time we...
What Is Lens Diffraction?
When photographers talk about lens diffraction, they are referring to the fact that a photograph grows progressively less sharp at small aperture values – f/16, f/22, and so on. As you stop down your lens to such small apertures, the finest detail in your photographs will begin to blur. With...
Photographing Wildlife In Costa Rica
Better ice up a cold one. It's hot out there. But the heat is the least remarkable characteristic of Costa Rica, paling into an afterthought behind its truly exquisite flora and fauna. A natural wonderland of incredible wildlife, its inhabitants thrive in mangroves, lakes and under a lush rainforest canopy...