When it comes to purchasing a first camera for new photographers, you can seek recommendations from a friend, or members of a camera club (if you belong to one), or the person behind the counter at your favorite store. You can even consult reviews from blogs and YouTube. You can also choose not to do any of these things.
We all have photography gear that we love to bring with us, whether we’re traveling around the world taking pictures, or going for a stroll in our backyard for a couple of local landscape shots. The following is the gear I find to be my essential “traveling companions” for trips both long and short.
Tripods come in many sizes, from tabletop models to heavy-duty camera stands designed for studio use. Because of the variety of types, styles, and even colors, there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all tripod for most photographers. And, like eating potato chips, you can’t have just one.
The following is something people tell me when I suggest using a plug-in or specialized software for enhancing or retouching portraits: “But you can do that in Photoshop!” That’s because when it comes to software for wedding, portrait, and boudoir photographs, everyone has an opinion—sometimes a strong one—even if they’re wrong.
“Never have I found the limits of the photographic potential. Every horizon, upon being reached, reveals another beckoning in the distance.”—W. Eugene Smith
When shopping for a wide-angle lens, presented for your approval, is a collection of our favorite (mostly) zoom lenses to expand your view of the world.
There’s more to black-and-white photography than an absence of color. One reason purists refer to black-and-white images as “monochrome” is that it’s a more precise term covering photographs made in sepia and other tones.
One of the hallmarks of fine art photography is the production of archival prints. Which begs the question, does the social media generation care about a print’s longevity or photographic prints at all? Maybe that changes when you drop five figures on a fine art print or hire a high-end photographer to create a portrait you expect to last as long as a traditional silver-based print.
How much do I hate smartphones? Let me count the ways. But seriously, they aren’t going away anytime soon and many photographers, although not moi, have found clever ways to harness the power of these mobile devices. That said, I do own a smartphone albeit an older model and am on many social media platforms.