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.
Leaked Godox XPro trigger photo teases a huge LCD interface and lots of buttons
Sep 11, 2017
John Aldred
Godox’s flash system has become extremely popular over the last couple of years. And while it now supports half a dozen different platforms one common…
The macro lens is the Swiss Army knife of lenses, and this is why you should own one
Sep 11, 2017
John Aldred
Macro lenses are often seen as this weird special purpose thing, that only those interested in shooting bugs should buy. But they’re so much more…
How to make your own DIY magic bokeh balls with your printer
Sep 9, 2017
John Aldred
Making custom bokeh for your lenses can be a fun project. Usually, photographers do it by crudely cutting shapes out of a piece of black…
The photographer’s dos and don’ts of working with models
Sep 8, 2017
John Aldred
There are many rules in photography, but few of them are set in stone. When it comes to photographing people, though, there are a few…
How to give your subjects a total hair makeover in Photoshop
Sep 8, 2017
John Aldred
Hair is one of those parts of retouching that I least look forward to. It just takes so long to get things looking perfect. Especially if…
Does the Rotolight Neo 2 live up to the hype? This photographer doesn’t think so
Sep 8, 2017
John Aldred
I wrote about the announcement of the new Rotolight Neo 2 a couple of days ago. Looking at the specs, I wasn’t really all that…
Turn your bathroom into a natural light softbox for amazing portraits
Sep 7, 2017
John Aldred
When most portrait photographers want to create a directional soft light look, they break out the strobes. Then they usually stick a big octabox on…
Who needs a keyboard and mouse when you can edit your videos with a Steam controller?
Sep 7, 2017
John Aldred
There’s been a lot of talk lately about using… “non standard” input devices for using software. DIY Projects such as MIDI2Lightroom, and the Playstation Lightroom…
Turn your signature into your own personal watermark brush for your photos
Sep 6, 2017
John Aldred
Watermarks are a hotly debated topic. There are lots of good, and some silly, arguments both for and against them. But it’s funny how nobody…
How focus stacking can help you to get super sharp landscapes
Sep 6, 2017
John Aldred
Focus stacking is a popular technique for macro photographers. But did it ever occur to you to try it with landscapes? No? Nor me. But…