AlienBees Studio Lights
For the best combination of quality and price, it is hard to beat AlienBees studio lights. I’ve been using AlienBees in my studio for over 10 years, and like so many other photographers, I’ve been singing their praises. It would be hard to find the same quality for less money.
Umbrella, flash, and flash bracket on a tripod.
Photographers are always looking for ways to soften the light when doing portraits. The light from an accessory flash can be quite harsh so there are a wide range of modifiers to soften the light for more pleasing portraits. Here are my favorites for both on-camera and off-camera flash.
Posted Nov. 22, 2016. Update Nov. 20, 2017.
Kirk Enterprises BH-3 Ball Head with Arca-Swiss style quick release
A good tripod head will save you lots of frustration. For still photography I recommend two types of tripod heads. If you do a little of everything you will want a quality ball head. If you only do landscape of architectural photography and you want precise separate controls in each axis of motion, you will want a 3-way head.
Looking for a tripod? Choose wisely. Other than a camera and a good lens, nothing can make a bigger difference in your photography than a good tripod. This is the place to find information, recommended models, and links to more information.
Flash adapter and umbrella for a shoe-mount electronic flash.
There are a lot of practical and inexpensive gifts for photographers. Here is a nice list of items from $8 to $130. To make them easy to track them down, most of these items can be found at my photography store (which is powered by Amazon.com with Amazon’s terrific ordering, shipping, guarantee, and service). Most of the items below are in the Photo Goodies section. Prices are current as of this update (Nov. 22, 2016) but prices do fluctuate. Some items can be temporarily unavailable.
Originally posted Nov. 24, 2015. Updated and reposted Nov. 22, 2016.
Yongnuo 600EX-RT Speedlite and Yongnuo YN-E3-RT Transmitter. Click to see a larger version.
Should you spend $499 on a Canon 600EX II-RT speedlite, or $138 on Yongnuo’s nearly identical clone, the YN600EX-RT-II? And what about the radio transmitters? Canon’s is $285 and the Yongnuo copy is $95.00. So you can buy three Yongnuo speedlites plus the radio transmitter for a little more than the price of one Canon speedlite. The price advantage is clear, but what about quality, reliability, and service issues? (Prices as of November 18, 2020.)
Originally posted November 22, 2016. Updated November 18, 2020.
There are lots of advantages to getting your flash off the camera, and it is probably much less expensive than you think. If you already have a shoe mount speedlite and if your camera has a built in pop up flash a simple $35 optical slave (see below) is all you need to get your flash off the camera.
Posted Nov. 22, 2016. Updated Nov. 21, 2017.
Forget-Me-Nots, Thorne-Swift Nature Preserve, Michigan
There are several ways to do closeup photography. Closeup filters, extension tubes, and macro lenses are the most commonly used options. The best gear for you depends on your preferences, how you want to work, the subjects you are after, how much stuff you want to carry, and what you want to spend. I cover your best options.
Posted Nov. 22, 2016. Updated and expanded Dec. 9, 2016.
The new GoPro Hero 5 lineup.
Looking for a small, mountable, “ideal for sports and action”, inexpensive, high definition video and still camera with a waterproof housing and image quality that Lucasfilm (the Star Wars people) calls “amazing”? This camera will go anywhere and mount just about anywhere. Prices range from $399 to $199, depending on the model (which is a lot less than your typical DSLR with HiDef video).
Canon 5D Mark IV DSLR
The holiday season is here and I am getting the usual questions about which digital cameras I recommend. The camera lists below will point you to the highest rated models. You can start with these lists and then narrow it down to a camera with the specific features you are looking for. I will help you in that regard with some information and advice on choosing a camera. The lists below will be updated throughout the holiday season as new reviews for highly rated cameras become available.
Posted Nov. 19, 1016. Updated Dec. 2, 2016.
This is one in a series of articles on The Best of the Best Photography Equipment, Software, Books, Magazines, DVDs, Online Photo Labs and More.
Margarita, Studio Portrait with Off-Camera Flash
Twelve articles (links below) to get you started with off-camera flash. The equipment you will need and how to use it.
Getting your flash of the camera opens up a whole new world of photographic possibilities. And the really good news: the equipment is way less expensive than it used to be. If you are ready to get started, I just finished writing (or re-writing) a series of articles on off-camera flash that covers the equipment you will need and shows you how to use it. .
I’ve been recommending DPReview for years in my photography classes, workshops and online. It is one of the best camera review sites. One of the nice features is the ability to download full size JPEG test images of their “standard studio scene” for comparison purposes.
Is it a special deal, or is it a rip-off?
Is it a great deal? Or is it a rip-off? You are searching online for a good price and you come across a terrific deal. Are you about to get burned? There are ways you can tell.
Estimated Print Life from Wilhelm Imaging Research
Would you rather pay $3 – $4 for a poor quality 8×10 inch print that will fade in 18 years, 9 years or less, or would you prefer paying $2 – $3 for a very high quality 8×10 print that will last up to 50 years? People pay more money for prints with a short life expectancy all the time. Why? Because they don’t have the right information, and they may have no idea that prints have such widely different life spans.
The lab you choose and the kind of file you send to your lab can make a big difference in the quality of print you get back. How do you pick a good online photo lab? How do you get the best results from your lab? What color space should you use for your digital files and how do you convert your files to the right color space? How big a print can you make from your digital files?
I get lots of photo questions and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone shopping for a photographer.
Here is my list of “best of the best” of articles recommending the best photo gear, software, books, DVDs, calendars, online photo labs, and a whole lot more.
Posted Nov. 19, 2016. Updated Dec. 28, 2016.
What fun! Squashing Canon and Nikon cameras in a hydraulic press. And then a lens for good measure. I must say the lens was the most impressive.
Watch the video. Automatic sky replacement with a single click. This is impressive.
Super Moon, November 13, 2016
November 13-14, 2016 is a Super Moon. For many people this is the biggest super moon in their lifetime. Go out and look Sunday night, early Monday morning (before moonset), or Monday night.
Aspen Grove, Rocky Mountain National Park. (No sun flare.)
There are times when you shoot in the direction of the sun that direct rays from the sun enter your lens even though the sun isn’t in the photo. Whenever this happens you have the possibility of sun flare. The sunlight bouncing around inside your lens can create ghost shapes, add a light haze to the image, and rob the photo of color.
Ansel Adams: Yosemite and the Range of Light.
Marc Silber interviews Michael Adams, son of Ansel Adams, in Ansel’s home and workroom/darkroom. They discuss Adams’ book Yosemite and the Range of Light. “The Range of Light” is the phrase John Muir used to describe the Sierra Nevada. Some video footage of Ansel Adams is included. Watch and learn.
This is pretty much the same kind of rip off I have written about before. Take a cheap smart phone lens that people can buy at Amazon for $16.99 or less, jack up the price to $56, make outrageous claims, and see how may people you can sucker into buying the item at the higher price. They even used the same “questionable” technologist who has multiple identities.
Posted Oct. 17, 2016. Revised and expanded Dec. 2, 2017.
Dawn, scenic overlook. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Exposure for the sky.
In a single exposure your camera can’t capture everything your eyes see in high contrast situations with a wide range of tonalities. HDR photography gives you more options.
Update, November 18, 2017: An updated version of this article is posted here.
Ansel Adams’ Arca-Swiss 4.5 View Camera
This is the only one of the view cameras used by Ansel Adams that has come up for auction. He used this camera from 1964 to 1968. The auction outfit includes includes three lenses, extra bag bellows, a compendium lens hood, Wratten gelatin filters, a dark cloth, tripod, and carrying case.
The clouds were rolling in and the sun dropped behind the mountains when my photography workshop stopped in a parking lot just above “Fern Curve” in Rocky Mountain National Park. Mother nature didn’t provide a sunset so we were on Plan B and then Plan C. It was starting to get dark when we began taking photos. As it gets darker there are some interesting color shifts I wanted the workshop participants to see and photograph.
Bull elk, Rocky Mountain National Park.
CAPTURING NATURE’S WONDERS
Photography Workshop – OSU – Mansfield Ohio
October 15, 2016 – 9:00 am to 8:00 pm
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I am excited. My nature photography workshop in Ohio is next month.
Come spend a fun, exciting, action-packed day learning how to take your photography to the next level. In the intensive classroom explorations you will learn the steps that make the difference between ordinary snapshots and extraordinary images. Minutes later you will be practicing those steps with your own camera. Learn the secrets of the pros and apply their tips and techniques to create your own eye-popping images.
Autumn, Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Fall color is sweeping the country. To make the most of it, you want to be at the right place at the right time. With some help from the internet, I will help you find the best fall color locations at the peak of the season.
Mt. Sneffels and the Sneffels Range from County Road 7 (East Dallas Creek), Colorado. October 3, 2014.
Welcome to my Colorado fall color travel guide with 104 photos and 17 maps. I cover some of the best known fall color locations in Colorado, and one real gem of a road that is mostly unknown to photographers and leaf peepers. Spend anywhere from a weekend to three weeks exploring the beautiful Colorado Rockies at a gorgeous time of year.
This article is updated and re-posted every year. To find the most recent version, go to the Favorites/Most Popular page and look for the name of this article.
