Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

Photographers feast on early morning and early evening illumination. Summer brings us more hours of daylight and consequently more shooting time. But exactly when does the sun come up in your town? And how can you determine what time the sun sets in a city you are about to visit? 

To our younger readers, film is how we used to take pictures. We called them “photographs” and had to wait (a long time) to see how they turned out. To our not-so-young readers, here’s a quiz to test how much you remember. We also sneaked in a couple questions about current film products because after all, film is not dead. Ready? 

I hadn’t planned to write a “Dads and grads guide for gifting” this year, but then I heard a radio commercial suggesting a DNA analysis kit for Father’s Day. You may have heard it, too—handy little $99 spit-testing thing that tells your dad where he got his genetics and such.

Now, back where I grew up, using the phrases “DNA test” and “Father” in the same sentence was not an event to be celebrated. So I decided that the onus is on Shutterbug to offer some gift ideas that don’t involve chromosomes. Here are seven that have clean genes but crazy names.

Read this and you’ll never again say, “Seen one parade, you’ve seen them all.”

Binoculars make great gifts, but navigating the styles, descriptions, specifications and nomenclature can be dizzying. How does an 8x42 compare to a 7x50, and why are some models $999 while others are $99? Here’s a sensible (and short) guide to buying binoculars. 

Just bought a 200mm f/2.8 lens for my Nikon D300s for $99! Incredibly it’s only 3.1 inches long and it’s as sharp as a handful of carpet tacks. It’s used, sure, and it’s manual focus. But hey! It was made by Nikon. It’s a real Nikon lens and it’s just one example of the fantastic bargains that are available to those who know what to look for.

I used to believe that the Auto setting on a camera was something to be avoided the way a tired waitress avoids eye contact when you’re signaling for a coffee refill—she can’t deny that you’re there, but she can ignore the hell out of you. I still feel that way about fully auto exposure, but my maniacally stubborn attitude toward Auto ISO is softening like marshmallow Peeps in a microwave.