One of the worst feelings as a photographer is to realize that you have accidentally deleted one of your photos, and you have no way to recover it. Most photographers have horror stories about such situations — I once nearly lost all my photos from a trip to San Francisco...
Photographing Cormorants in Flight with Nikon 1
As part of the field work for my review of the Nikon 1 V3 I took some images of birds in flight under rather harsh winter conditions earlier this year. While I did have some success with the Nikon 1 CX 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 zoom lens I wasn't satisfied that I...
14-bit vs 12-bit RAW – Can You Tell The Difference?
12-bit image files can store up to 68 billion different shades of color. 14-bit image files store up to 4 trillion shades. That’s an enormous difference, so shouldn’t we always choose 14-bit when shooting RAW? Here's a landscape I snapped, then found out later I had shot it in 12-bit...
A Practical Approach to Landscape Photography on Vacation
My name is Ori Cohen, I am a semi-serious photographer, and a computer science PhD student. Last year my wife and I traveled to Switzerland, so I packed a Sony NEX-7, a Sony 16mm f/2.8, a Minolta 24mm f/2.8 attached to an LA-EA4, and a Haida ND1000 filter. I am...
Venus Optics KX800 Macro Flash Review
Macro photographers tend to struggle with two crucial variables when lighting their subjects. First, high-magnification macro photography usually involves apertures between f/16 and f/32. To use an aperture this small, you need a high-powered flash — especially if you want to use a diffuser. The second major issue is that...
Waterfalls of New England
It is the month of May and spring has finally taken over from winter in New England. With the woods turning green again, color has returned to the landscape. Most of the creeks and brooks that crisscross the region and give rise to hundreds of waterfalls are flowing reasonably well....
“Dotlens” will Turn any Smartphone into a Microscope
Macro photography opens up tiny worlds that your eye could never see unaided. Now, scientists at the University of Houston have shown a way to make an 3-cent disposable macro lens that turns your smartphone into a moderately powerful microscope. These researchers have started a kickstarter project, and with more...
What is Reciprocal Rule in Photography?
One of the biggest challenges in photography is sharp photos when hand-holding a camera. Many end up with blurry images without understanding the source of the problem, which is usually camera shake caused by basic improper hand-holding techniques or mirror and shutter-induced vibrations. The easiest way to compensate for this...
Tips on Photographing Hand-Held with Telephoto Lenses
With the introduction of lenses like the Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 VC, more people than ever before are using long telephoto zoom lenses. Sometimes they are disappointed with their initial results when using these lenses hand-held, especially at slower shutter speeds. This short article provides some tips that can help improve hand-holding...
How to Blend Multiple Exposures of Cityscapes
During our recent photo walk in San Francisco, where we had over 30 Photography Life readers join us for some awesome time together, one of the participants noted that a number of photographers who came to the photo walk were carrying tripods. As we were shooting a brightly-lit scene, his...