Heading out to shoot at night time in the middle of nowhere usually brings visions of astrophotography to mind. But that’s not the only kind of photography you can do at night, as this video from Adam Karnacz at First Man Photography illustrates. Adam heads out to England’s picturesque Lake District to show off three ways you can shoot nighttime photography and open up your creative freedom. The first method is a pretty simple one, and that’s a basic long exposure....

Topaz has recently launched its newest version of DeNoise AI, and I have tested the software on a night image. Does this latest iteration of Topaz’ noise reduction program live up to the hype? According to Topaz, DeNoise AI has received several updates and improvements. When you run the program you can choose between two modes: manual and auto. Auto comes with only one slider (Chroma Noise). In manual mode, you can also adjust the level of sharpening and noise reduction applied....

Chinese lens manufacturer TTArtisan has just announced a 25mm f/2 lens. It’s designed for APS-C cameras, but you can use it with your full-frame camera in crop mode as well. And the best thing is: it only costs $55. So, if you’ve been thinking about getting a 25mm lens, this could be a perfect choice to see whether it’s for you at all. But let’s check out what it has to offer first....

The low-budget lenses seem to be coming through thick and fast right now in the lead-up to Christmas. The latest is the TTArtisan 50mm f/1.4 Tilt lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras. This manual focus lens is available for Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E, Leica L and the APS-C format Fuji X mount cameras. The tilt feature of the usual tilt-shift lens is what allows you to adjust your plane of focus....

Creating portraits outdoors in harsh sunlight is a pain. It’s why people tell you to not go out and do it during a bright sunny day, and to wait until golden hour. Personally, I love it, although I’m often doing it with flash or reflectors but it can be done without those, too. In his latest Two Minute Tips video, photographer David Bergman walks us through the process of dealing with the harsh sunlight on location and beating it into submission to get some great portraits....

Being able to look at an image and understand the lighting within it is not crucial to becoming a great photographer. But having the ability to look at another image you love and recognise the qualities that stand out to you will undoubtedly help you to become a better photographer far faster. Last week we looked at how important being able to understand light can be and I also highlighted where many self-taught photographers struggle with this in today’s industry....

The first close-up product photo of Leica’s VARIO-ELMARIT-SL f2.8 / 24-70mm ASPH lens has leaked to Twitter, courtesy of Nokishita, with a claimed price tag of 352,000 yen (including tax), equating to around $3,215. It’s supposed to be part of a new “economy line” from Leica, although that name might have lost a little something in translation. According to the latest rumours, the US price is expected to be a little closer to $2,750, which is noticeably more expensive than the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 24-70mm f/2....

This is the last part of a three part mini-series of articles on LED lights for photographers. Part 1 looked at the pros and cons of commercial level LED lighting for photographers, so if you missed it, Do LED Lights Have a Place in Your Kit? – Part 1: Pros & Cons. Part 2 saw us test the viability of using coloured LED bulbs in our strobes, including what to look for and what I recommend....

Light painting is one of those areas of photography that keeps surprising me. There’s always new tools and new techniques coming out that that make me wish I had the time or patience to learn how to do it myself. But for those that work at it, it looks well worth the effort, as these images from Jason D. Page go to show. Jason has developed a technique using the Light Whip to make “ghosts”....

During a presentation in China, Venus Optics announced a new series of lenses. It will be named “Argus” and it will be a super-fast line of lenses with the maximum aperture of f/0,95. There’s a pretty limited amount of information in terms of price, release date, focal lengths, and mounts. For now, it’s said that the Argus line will be available for different mirrorless and DSLR lenses, both full-frame and APS-C....

Edward French was a 71 year old photographer who was robbed and killed at Twin Peaks Looking out in California about three weeks ago. A police spokesperson at the time said that he was approached by a young man and woman before he was shot and his camera was stolen. KTVU reports that two people have now been arrested by San Francisco police. The pair, 19 year old Patterson resident, Lamone Mims, and 20 year old Fantasy Decuir of San Francisco have been charged with the murder....

The current coronavirus pandemic will inevitably have a huge impact on all businesses, big or small. After GoPro, VSCO has also announced job cuts citing “overnight changes.” The company is forced to lay off 45 employees, which makes one-third of the staff. Joel Flory, co-founder and CEO of VSCO, announced the company’s decision on LinkedIn. In an official, but also somewhat personal post, he explained the upcoming changes within the company and what caused them:...

When was the last time you had your photo taken? I mean, not just a quick selfie or holiday snap, but an actual portrait of yourself taken by another photographer? For most of us, it’s often a case of the Cobbler’s children having no shoes. We are so busy and focused on our clients that we rarely ever have time to update our own professional photographs. But in today’s age of visual branding, it’s more important than ever to practice what we preach, and actually have a nice professional up-to-date photograph of ourselves for our website and social media....

A Canadian film crew was recently robbed at a gunpoint in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks parking lot. Two men attacked them from a car, and it’s estimated that they took the gear worth $35,000. Since Twin Peaks is a popular spot, there was another group of people in the car behind. They filmed the entire incident, where you can see one of the victims getting pistol-whipped and the other held at a gunpoint....

This probably isn’t something you’ll want to try at your local coffee shop to get a quick photo for Instagram. But, if you’re a budding food photographer, or want to try something a little different, this is certainly an eye catching technique. Seattle based commercial food photographer Steve Hansen has more than a few food lighting tricks up his sleeve. In this video we see how Steve side lights flying food with a pair of Westcott 12″ x 50″ Stripbanks....

Gimbals are more popular now than they ever have been and their popularity will no doubt continue to rise in the future as they become more advanced, more accessible and higher-end features come to lower end and lower-cost models. But if you’ve never used one before, they can be a bit of a learning curve to get used to so that you’re shooting nice smooth steady footage. That’s where Josh Morgan at Momentum Productions is here to help with this beginner’s guide to getting smooth and stable footage from your gimbal as quickly and easily as possible....

A couple from Canada paid a $1,500 deposit after finding the “perfect” photographer for their wedding. However, when the photos arrived, they turned out to be a blurry mess. They say that the photographer ghosted them when they tried to reach him, and they haven’t heard from him since. Alexa Logan and Colin Tapp from British Columbia, Canada hired a “professional photographer” Mike Huffman for their big day. Judging from his portfolio, he was great at what he did, and they chose him because he was “affordable, charming, advertised on a wedding website, and had a solid portfolio....

Middle grey is a term we often hear mentioned when it comes to exposure for both photography and video. But exactly what “middle grey” means often causes heated debates. So, what is middle grey? And why is it important? As a follow up to a recent post going into the science of exposure and metering, John Hess at Filmmaker IQ goes into depth into the meaning of middle grey. He explains why different people have different numbers for what middle grey is, and why it’s important to know the difference....

The golden ratio is a mathematical principle that you might also hear referred to as the golden mean, the golden section, the golden spiral, divine proportion, or Phi. Phi, a bit like Pi, is an irrational number. It is valued at approximately 1.618. As a ratio, it would be expressed as 1:1.618. A rectangle that conforms to the golden ratio would have shorter sides equivalent to 1 and longer sides equivalent to 1....

Just watching people perform extreme sports can be rather unnerving. But have you ever thought what it would be like to be the person who’s filming or photographing these extreme athletes? In this amazing video, Bryant Gumbel of HBO presents you with stories from several extreme photographers. Getting close to death is a part of their job, and their stories are fascinating and sometimes chilling.Advertisements In the video, you first hear a wingsuit photographer and a flyer talking about their jobs....