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James Popsys

Why don’t all cameras have fully articulating flippy out LCDs?

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This is an interesting little rant from James Popsys on camera LCDs. Essentially, his question is why don’t all cameras have a fully articulating flippy out LCD? It’s a question I’ve often wondered myself in the past. The lack of one has definitely put me off buying certain cameras, too. But are they really essential in the grand scheme of things?

What makes James’ rant interesting, though, is not necessarily the rant itself, but the response to it. On the surface, his reasoning seems quite logical and his justifications for it existing in cameras across the board are generally the reasons why I prefer flippy out LCDs, too. But they’re not always ideal.

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Watch: Landscape photographers shoot-off using only 70mm lenses

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While 70mm isn’t the favorite focal length of most landscape photographers, James Popsys and Nigel Danson decided to see what they can do with it. In fact, they made it an interesting challenge: they got together at the same location and shot all their photos limiting themselves only to this focal length. Let’s see what they came up with.

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There is no such thing as a “correct” exposure – Your camera’s wrong and it’s all subjective

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There’s always a lot of talk about “getting it right in-camera”, often by people who shot on film and didn’t realise how much the lab compensated for their shortcomings when they dropped their film off to be processed at their local high street place. They go on about various “rules” and “correct” ways of doing things and one of the big ones is exposure. And, well, a lot of the time even exposure can be quite a subjective thing.

In this video, James Popsys talks about exposure after having some of his images criticised for being overexposed. And, well, yes, he does admit that they are a tad brighter than he’d planned, but he still maintains that there’s no such thing as a “correct” exposure and I can completely see his argument.

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This landscape photography shootout sees 24mm and 200mm lenses go head-to-head

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We often see lenses described as being for a particular type of photography. Anything in the 50-135mm range is for portraits, anything 150 and up is for wildlife or sports and anything 28mm or less is generally regarded as a “landscape lens”. Wide angle lenses just typically seem to be designated to that genre.

It’s all nonsense, of course, you can shoot whatever you want with whatever focal length you like. And that’s put to the test in this landscape photography challenge between landscape photographers Nigel Danson and James Popsys. One is only allowed to shoot with a 24mm while the other has to shoot 200mm.

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10 tips to help you get sharp photos when shooting handheld

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Getting sharp photos when shooting handheld is probably the biggest struggle for new photographers – especially if they haven’t figured out how exposure and shutter speed works yet. Even if you know what you’re doing with exposure, though, it can still be a little tricky sometimes. And with as tiny as camera LCDs are, it can be difficult to spot until you get back home and look at them full-screen on your computer.

So, how can you help to guarantee you get sharper photos? Well, photographer James Popsys is here with a bunch of tips to help you figure that out. Not all of them may apply to you – particularly the first one if you don’t drink coffee – but between them, with a little practise, you should be able to start seeing sharper images in no time.

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Stop trying to chase (or fake) perfection in your photography – It’s ruining your work

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It’s funny. In the film days, camera and lens manufacturers strived for perfection, because photographers demanded it. They wanted perfect sharpness and clarity wide open. They wanted no vignetting. They wanted fantastic colour and contrast with consistent light transmission from one lens to the next.

As the gear gets closer and closer to that perfection, photographers are treating their own work the same way. They strive for “the perfect shot”. They’ll move things before taking the photo or photoshop bits out to make it “perfect” in post. But is that doing more harm than good? Photographer James Popsys takes a look at how chasing perfection could be ruining your work.

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This is the only thing we can call a “mistake” in photography

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There are many videos and blog posts about photography mistakes. Personally, I really enjoy them and I’ve learned a lot from them. But James Popsys has a different view on the subject. In this video, he questions if there’s really such thing as “photography mistake,” and what is the only thing that we might call that way.

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Beginners, do you really need a camera bag?

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If you’re just starting out in photography, chances are you’ve bought a camera with a kit lens and added a memory card and a strap to it. And now you need a bag to carry your new gear around. Or do you? In this video, James Popsys discusses why you may not need a dedicated camera bag after all, and why it could be clever to skip buying it, at least in the beginning.

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Are you a photography snob?

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Do you carry your camera everywhere and try to capture the beauty in different things? Or do you only bring it to a few selected locations for strictly planned shoots? In this video, James Popsys discusses what he calls being a “photography snob,” and how he stopped being one. Do you recognize yourself in the situation he describes?

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Landscape photographers, don’t overuse these five techniques

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Just like there are trends in fashion, there are also trends in photography. Just remember those overdone HDR images that were all the rage some ten years ago. But trends change, and there are now other techniques that photographers tend to overuse. In this video, James Popsys talks about five photography techniques you’ll often see in landscape photos, and why they shouldn’t be used that often. Are you “guilty” of overusing these, too?

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