Apr 28The Girl from BeijingThe subway back from the Forbidden City had standing room only. My left hand hung on to the overhead rail, dozing in and out, lulled by the rhythm of metal wheels on train tracks. I must have been quite a sight. …Photography4 min read
Apr 20The 5 Best Lenses for Olympus Micro Four Thirds PhotographyWith the release of the incredible OM System OM-1 Micro Four Thirds camera, many new to this mirrorless format may be wondering which lenses they should purchase to round out their system. I’ve been shooting Micro Four Thirds (MFT) since the very first Olympus camera, which I still own, and…Photography5 min read
Published in CodeX·Apr 4iPhone Photo Tip: Don’t Accidentally Share Your LocationSmartphones are geotagging machines. What does that mean? Well, when you take a picture, its location is included in the file data. Your phone knows where you are at all times, and it can embed those whereabouts in your photos. …Photography3 min read
Mar 235 Things You Need to Know to Be an Event PhotographerI just went through the vetting process to help photograph the Sonoma International Film Festival, and it reminded me of tips that I’ve wanted to share with upcoming pro photographers. So while the paint is still wet, let’s take a look. I’m assuming that you have an interchangeable lens camera…Photography3 min read
Published in Counter Arts·Mar 11Preserving Film Memories with Your Digital CameraPractically any child who’s ever inherited anything from a relative received a box of aging slides and negatives as part of the bargain. None of us really asked for this stuff. It’s just loaded up with the rest of the mementos. The funny thing is, there are often treasures sandwiched…Photography4 min read
Feb 25Go Ahead, Diss Micro Four Thirds — They’re Used to ItThe dawn of 2022 sees not one, but two new top-tier Micro Four Thirds cameras: the OM-System OM-1 followed by the Panasonic GH-6. For some of us, cheers of celebration ensued. For others (many of whom lurk in the bowels of camera review comments), this was just another dying gasp…Photography2 min read
Published in Counter Arts·Feb 9Instant Film Photography — It’s Better the Second Time AroundI still have my 1995 Polaroid OneStep camera. It’s a bulbous green device that doesn’t fit anywhere, so clumsy it needs its own shoulder bag. The film costs $35 for only 16 exposures. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the snapshots look terrible. It’s the picture of disappointment. During a…Photography3 min read
Jan 28The iPhone vs My Digital Camera for HDR PhotographyWhen I think about the things that defy physics, such as cats jumping straight up four times their height, iPhone photography also comes to mind. Honestly, its pictures shouldn’t look that good. This size of the image sensor in my iPhone 12 Pro Max is 1/1.9". By comparison, the APS-C…Photography3 min read
Published in CodeX·Jan 14Magic iPhone Photo Trick — Soften the Background, After the Shot!“Oh, that’s an iPhone picture.” Photographers like to mutter that under their breath as they browse through other people’s portraits. The tipoff is the expansive depth of field resulting from that teeny-tiny camera sensor. Everything is in focus. I mean, everything. Sure, it’s helpful sometimes, but artistically speaking, for portraits…Photography3 min read
Jan 6Photographers Know that Truth is Measured in Fractions of a SecondI’m fascinated by the fact that a camera only requires a split second to capture reality, yet can preserve it for all eternity. In our minds, life tends to travel in increments of days, weeks, months, and years — for the camera, it’s 1/60th, 1/125th, and 1/250th of a…Photography2 min read
