Lens Tips

Time to hit the Reset Button and put your notions of Image Quality on Pause. In our everyday lives as photographers we prize sharpness, saturation, acutance and absence of aberration when we idealize the images we want to capture. Now it’s time to recognize that images that are blurred, smeared, warped and otherwise traumatized can be beautiful.

Lensbaby lenses produce images that are intentionally unsharp, because optical aberrations can be beautiful. In a word, a Lensbaby turns blur into bliss.

Turn mundane everyday subjects into intriguing creative images by distorting surrounding objects in an imaginative way with a Lensbaby Sweet 22. Here's our hands-on review and several images.

Long lenses are wonderful photographic tools. Their longer-than-"normal" focal lengths magnify everything, allowing you to get "close-ups" of subjects you can't (or don't want to) approach closely. The shorter long lenses (those in the 85--120mm range, for 35mm cameras) are ideal for portraits, because they produce a good head size at a...

Magic disks for the photographer

Photo filters can improve your photos, whether you shoot them with a pro camera or a point-and-shoot model, on film or digitally, still or camcorder. That's why filters exist. They're not essentials, but lots of serious photographers use them. Read on...

Photography is one of those things you learn best by doing it. Here are some photo projects that will help you get more out of your photography.

1. Decorate Your Home with Your Photos
Considering all the time, effort and money you put into making your photographs, you should display the best ones for all to see. A good place to start is in your own...

7Artisans just released the updated Mark II version of their popular 7.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens and it’s about the most fun a photographer can have for $139. We borrowed an early sample in Fujifilm X mount and here’s what we discovered.

Lynne Eodice is an accomplished writer/photographer and a regular contributor to Photographic magazine.

Throughout the decades, artists have depicted still life scenes--arrangements of inanimate objects--in paintings and photography. Shooting still life subjects is one of the best ways to sharpen your photographic skills. You can take your time, and your subject...