Posts by Author: John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Sony is recalling some of its SD cards due to damaged and lost data
Jun 16, 2020
John Aldred
Sony has announced that they’ve opened up a replacement programme for some of its SF-M series, SF-M TOUGH series and SF-G TOUGH series SD cards…
Light bows out of the smartphone camera industry
Jun 16, 2020
John Aldred
It’s been an interesting journey for Light, the company that brought us that crazy 16-lens camera five years ago. It garnered a lot of hype…
Instagrammers are being called out for using Black Lives Matter protests for self-promotion
Jun 15, 2020
John Aldred
If one thing’s for sure, no matter what’s going on in the world, no matter how bad, how serious it gets or what the potential…
How to build your own seamless backdrop DIY storage racks on the cheap
Jun 15, 2020
John Aldred
I don’t shoot much in the studio anymore, but when I used to, I had quite a few different backdrops. They were a pain to…
Manfrotto’s 504X fluid video head looks like the 504HD and a Nitrotech had a baby
Jun 15, 2020
John Aldred
Manfrotto’s 504HD fluid video head has been extremely popular since it was released about a decade ago. It’s a solid but smooth head that supports…
Ricoh has launched a new “Street Edition” of its popular GR III compact camera
Jun 12, 2020
John Aldred
The Ricoh GR series cameras have become extremely popular amongst street photographers over the last few years and have picked up a very loyal following….
Learn three dramatic portrait lighting setups with just a single speedlight and a 5-in-1 reflector
Jun 11, 2020
John Aldred
The last few months have been a challenging time for photographers the world over. Some are now able to start getting back out and trying…
Diffraction made simple – Why your pictures are softer at f/22 than at f/8
Jun 11, 2020
John Aldred
It’s something that all of us have run into at some point or another, particularly when we’re still learning the basics of photography. We learn…
Check out this beginner’s guide to layer masks in Photoshop
Jun 8, 2020
John Aldred
Layer masks are one of the most wonderful and powerful tools that have ever been added to Photoshop’s repertoire. Trying to imagine what life was…
How to shoot water splash product photography using a DIY catapult
Jun 6, 2020
John Aldred
Water splashes often seem to go hand in hand with product photography, although it’s not always easy to capture. Often it requires several pairs of…