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How to use reflections in sun glasses to enhance your images not distract

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I remember when I was studying photography that the most difficult assignment we were given was photographing shiny objects. I stupidly chose to photograph a pair of orchestral cymbals (ie. shiny all over with multiple angles). The next most difficult thing after that was probably the sunglasses. Those reflections are necessary, you don’t want to remove them altogether, but you do want them to enhance the product, not detract from it. And that’s just product photography! What happens when you’re using artificial light with a person wearing sunglasses? How do you avoid those cartoonish round white blobs?

In this video from Adorama, Gavin Hoey shows you exactly how to use reflections of light sources to your advantage when photographing sunglasses.

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Japan’s top selling cameras in 2021, and not a DSLR or Nikon in sight!

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The end of year report for Japanese camera sales in 2021 has been published, and it’s a little surprising, to say the least! No DSLRs, Nikon or Full Frame camera reached the top 10 in sales. While we hear the most noise about the biggest, newest and most expensive cameras, it’s worth noting that often those are not the most popular in terms of what people actually buy.

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Create striking portraits like these using a hat as a gobo

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If you didn’t already know, the term Gobo is an acronym that literally means ‘Goes Before Optics’. What does that mean then exactly? Well, it’s simply something that goes in front of a light source, casting a shadow or pattern. This ingenious portrait series by Spanish photographer Alfredo González uses a hat as a gobo. Here’s how he shot it.

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Sigma CEO confirms semi-conductor shortages

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The ongoing chip and semi-conductor shortage is not exactly news and has been affecting quite a few camera producers over the past year. However, lens brand Sigma recently confirmed that they too are experiencing supply issues that will affect their rollout and distribution of products over the coming months.

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Have fun with this wet method of light painting a waterfall with colourful neon lights

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There are so many ways to explore light painting, the possibilities are endless. One way to light paint a waterfall is the traditional method of using some sort of flashlight and shining the light up and down the waterfall while you use a long shutter speed. That can certainly produce beautiful and ethereal results. But Peter Juhlin from Gothenberg, Sweden decided to try a completely different method and ended up with this spectacular colourful result. Read on to discover how he did it!

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5 ways that Capture One might be better than Lightroom

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Which RAW editor and photo management software do you use? There are a few different options out there and many of them have had some significant updates recently. Perhaps using the same one you have always used is a good thing, but equally, perhaps looking around to see what other options there are could also be a good idea to see if something else might serve you better.

In this video, Rob Hall goes over 5 different reasons that Capture One might be a better fit for you and your workflow than Lightroom.

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The skin is the star in these make-up free beauty portraits by Pratik Naik

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The name Pratik Naik is probably already familiar with you. He’s become a bit of a household name for image retouching and if you haven’t heard of his Infinite tools and Photoshop plug-ins yet I am going to assume that you either shoot film with a vintage camera and develop it yourself, or live under a rock somewhere off-grid. What you probably don’t know Pratik for, however, is his photography.

But he is in fact (kind of annoyingly) a very accomplished photographer with an artist’s eye. He let DIYP take a look at one of his latest personal projects that combine his love of black and white portraiture with retouching in his project titled ‘Fresh Faced Beauty’.

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My 10 favourite images from 2021, and yes they are mostly personal work

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It’s always interesting at the end of a year to look back and reflect on where you’ve been, and where you’re going to go next in the new year. Often I think about what I’ve achieved, and what goals I’ve attained, or missed. But this year I decided to take a slightly different tack and looked back at the images I shot instead. Which ones really spoke to me? Which ones am I most proud of? Which ones point to the direction I want to keep going in? It’s no surprise that the majority of these fall under personal work or are new things I was trying out. They aren’t perfect, but they all point towards some sort of growth, which is why I like them. So, here are my favourites, and my thoughts behind them.

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Venus Optics announce new Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF lens

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Venus Optics, the company behind Laowa lenses has just announced the release of their latest full frame lens in the Argus series. It’s a 45mm f/0.95 and according to the company, offers a field of view that is appealing and natural to human eyes. They go on to say that “With the super shallow depth of field at f/0.95, it easily creates a dreamy and romantic rendering.”

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