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.
How to make a motorised camera slider with an Arduino and a stepper motor for $75
Mar 2, 2017
John Aldred
Despite the proliferation of sliders, motorised ones are still quite expensive. Without motors, they’ve dropped to ridiculously low prices. But it’s really not that difficult…
How to effectively use Warp Stabilizer to make your shaky footage rock steady
Mar 1, 2017
John Aldred
Even if you’re trying to be as rock steady as possible with your footage, the camera almost inevitably moves in a way you hadn’t counted…
Photographer turns to light bulbs for this fantastic “Yin Yang” themed image
Mar 1, 2017
John Aldred
Photographing light bulbs is a long established photographic technical exercise. They present pretty much every lighting problem a photographer can face. You have to deal…
How to shoot wet portraits in a home studio using high speed flash
Mar 1, 2017
John Aldred
Water is one of the most versatile subjects one can photograph. The very nature of water, though, means that it’s wet, so it can be…
Hasselblad are introducing four new XCD lenses for the X1D medium format mirrorless camera
Feb 28, 2017
John Aldred
Hasselblad’s X1D camera was announced last year with much fanfare. The world’s first mirrorless medium format camera. It’s been out for a little while now,…
10 reasons why this photographer switched from Canon to Sony
Feb 28, 2017
John Aldred
I know, I get it, you’re sick of all the “why I switched” posts, already. But, photographer Francisco Hernandez has some pretty compelling reasons for…
Elinchrom literally launches the new ELB 1200 with amazing mid-air photo shoot
Feb 28, 2017
John Aldred
It’s become pretty clear by now that Elinchrom really like testing the limits of their gear. They’ve put them on drones, battled oceans, and lit…
Sony might be getting ready to announce a new A7 camera next month
Feb 28, 2017
John Aldred
Normally, I don’t pay that much attention to rumours. But this is a rumour-not-rumour-sort-of-a-maybe-leak kinda thing. It may simply just be a typo. But, the good…
How pro cinema lens techs test their camera lenses with a projector
Feb 27, 2017
John Aldred
When most of us are testing out new lenses, it’s often a very subjective thing. And our testing exercises are rarely very scientific. In fact,…
Crashing a drone in Seattle could land you with jail time and a fine
Feb 27, 2017
John Aldred
While some of the rules regarding drone flight around the world might seem a little extreme, some make absolute sense. One such law in many…