Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

As a Shutterbug reader, you know how to shoot fireworks. But what do you say to your friends and kinfolk when they ask you for advice? Simple—just send them the link to this article. It’s a nice, relatively short list of 10 tips for photographing aerial pyrotechnics. Because after all, there’s more to fireworks than what meets the sky. 

Well, the birds are queuing up in the backyard and you know what that means. Three calling birds, four French hens and two turtle doves—or is it four calling birds? They won’t stand still so it’s hard to count. And no one knows where in hell the partridge went. She was last seen talking to a couple turkeys who were all paranoid about some big feast that’s supposed to be happening soon. Anyway, you do know what this means, right? Time for our intrepid list of holiday photo gifts that cost less than $100.

Last week’s fun test was all about film. But if you started in photography within the last 20 years, you might be more comfortable with a quiz about digital cameras. In that case, this is for you.

Photokina, the photography “show of shows,” opens in Cologne, Germany on September 20. The size of this biennial event is monstrous—you have to experience it to believe it. In 2014, a total of 1,074 exhibitors from 51 countries hosted 183,297 attendees. We’re taking serious show here. In honor of Photokina, here’s a pop quiz to test your knowledge of photography. 

It’s summer, and that means it’s time for a fun photo quiz. There are 13 multiple choice questions in all, and most of them are as easy to figure out as a zakuska menu in Moscow. Are you up for it? Great. Answers at the bottom. The winner gets…

Photography relies on science as much as art, and to be successful, photographers have to know a lot of things. Some of the requisite knowledge falls into the category of common sense and some is acquired through the indispensable combination of training and practice. And every once in awhile we stumble upon a nugget that can only be described as dumb luck. It was dumb luck that led me a few years ago to a website I want to share with you.

Is that a Panasonic in your pocket?