Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
With all of our 2020 Gift Guides now posted, we thought we’d pop up one more just so you have a handy link to all of them in one place. We’ve covered cameras, lenses, lighting, tripods, sliders, gimbals accessories and more in our guides this year and we’ve seen quite a few cool new toys in 2020 – as well as one or two old favourites that still reign supreme.
What are you getting the photographer or filmmaker in your life this year? What are you hoping to receive?
You’ve been into photography for a while, you’ve upgraded your skills, and it’s time to upgrade your gear. If you ask me, that’s always exciting, but it can also be stressful: what should you upgrade first? In this video, Scott Choucino discusses this topic and helps you choose between your lens, camera, light, or modifier. And to some of you, the answer may be surprising.
With smartphone cameras getting better and more widely used, there are more and more accessories for mobile photography on the market. Profoto has decided to jump on the bandwagon and it has just announced two pocket-sized speedlights. Profoto C1 and C1 Plus are aimed at smartphone photographers, and these tiny, yet powerful lights can fit a palm of your hand.
For all photographers and cinematographers, color temperature is one of the key areas to understand. If you’re new to it, it sounds complicated and overwhelming. But in this video from Kinetek, director and cinematographer Matthew Rosen will help you learn more about color temperature. You’ll learn how to understand it, and how to utilize it into your shots just the way you want.
If you’re looking for a super-cheap RGB setup for your photos and videos, here’s an interesting video for you. Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter has found a set of DJ lights for only $15 per piece. They produce a wide range of colors, they’re dimmable and you can also use a controller to set the colors and the brightness. Check out the video to see them in action.
Earlier this year, Aputure announced their upcoming monster LED light: the Light Storm 300D. And now, it’s officially launched. With impressive 142,000 lux @0.5m , it’s brighter than any light in the Aputure’s arsenal, and it’s comparable to a 2,000W tungsten.
But it isn’t just the brightness that makes this light so powerful. The 300D is precise, easy to shape, and it guarantees impeccable color quality. And all of its features are fit into a lightweight, portable light weighing less than 5 pounds.
We just had a beautiful Aurora Australis hit New Zealand a couple of days ago. I was fortunate enough to catch a quiet spot to myself where I could take in the atmosphere and shoot a few images. My favourite from the night was a panorama shot of the Aurora to the south and the galactic core rising to the south east – it was the shot I planned and it seemed to turn out nicely [check out this blogpost if you want to learn how to stitch astro panoramas]. So nicely, it got published in the National newspaper and got me a fair bit of attention on my various social media sites. The frenzy that started with a few keen astronomers and astrophotographers led to a lot of people rushing to similar spots the night after to see if they can watch the aurora. Unfortunately, there were a few disappointed folk who not only couldn’t find a clear view, but also didn’t realise what you see in photos isn’t what you see with the naked eye.
With as much competition as there is in today’s LED marketplace, it can be tough to know what’s worth buying. There’s so many models out there that look almost identical to each other (or are identical, but with a different brand name). CRIs are all over the place, as is colour balance. As a beginner looking to pick up your first video lighting set, you might not even know where to begin.
Caleb Pike at DSLR Video Shooter has been doing some comparisons recently for lights at different budgets. In his newest video, he puts together a complete beginner LED lighting kit for video. It’s a pretty versatile set of gear, and offers many options to get you up and running without breaking the bank.
What started off as a quick lighting test in my garage has turned into a full research and installation of my own DIY photography ceiling rail system! You might now ask why? Whats the point? It’s a garage. It’s tiny. And that’s just it, it is tiny. I mean my shooting space measures 10ft x 7ft! Not a great space for shooting portraits.
Ok, so you might manage it with one light on a stand/boom. But what if, like me, you like using more than one light? I tend to use a 3 light setup when shooting my creative portraits and setting up 3 stands with soft boxes becomes very cramped in such a small space.
At this time of year, having Christmas lights in the background of your shots is not only common, it’s desired. Especially for those bokeh fanatics. The last few years, though, there’s been a trend away from the more traditional Christmas lights toward low energy LEDs. Being in the room with them, just looking at them, it’s likely that most people will never see the difference. To a camera, however, it’s a different story.
In this video from LensProToGo, Mike shows us the different types of LED Christmas lights available. He goes through the qualities and issues with each of them, and how to overcome those with our photography.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
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