I tend to be a photographer who learns by seeing a neat idea, researches how to do it, and then incorporates that technique into my workflow. I’m not good a watching online videos, and have never been on a training course. So, what I am doing spending $695 on a two day creative photography workshop with Bryan Peterson? I saw Bryan speak at last years Nature Visions Expo in Northern Virginia and really enjoyed the day. He is full of...
I wrote about the electronic magazine Photographing Food a couple of months back – although they are quite expensive at $5 per issue, I enjoyed them coming along at intervals as you could read, absorb and practice each technique as they were published. It was quite rightly pointed out that you could buy a full book about photographing food for less than the price of all the back-issues. However, I still found them useful and entertaining (and gave me some...
I guess I need to brag from time to time, and I was very excited to receive an email from Amazon this morning featuring books about Stock Photography available on their site with my own book taking the prime position in the advert! Thanks to all my readers for the glowing reviews on Amazon – I am sure that had a lot to do with it. If you would like to add your own review on Amazon, please do so...
It isn’t very often that I do a bit of “advertizing”, but one key thing that persuades a new reader to purchase my eBook and get started on the road to Stock Photography are the reviews posted by other readers. If you have bought the book from Amazon or the Apple store, please help me by adding a short review on those sites. Anyone can also add a review comment to this website – here or on the book page...
I’m occasionally asked what equipment I use for stock photography, so here is a summary of what I have, what I use, and why. My main camera is the Canon 5D Mk ii – the full frame 21M DSLR. Why? Because I like the low noise from the large sensor, I can crop well into the image and still get a usable stock photo, and when I am using most of the frame, I can downsize to around 4600 pixels...
I mentioned a couple of weeks back that I had bought the RayFlash ring adapter for my Canon 580 EX, to help with getting uniform shadowless lighting in some of my macro shots – although it is also good for certain types of portrait as well. It isn’t cheap (at $199), but is it worth it? After a couple of weeks of use, I’m happy to report that I am pleased with my investment – it certainly hasn’t paid back...
Back in April, I mentioned the 123di Digital Photography Course, and gave an overview, gleaned from their web site, of the course contents. It appeared to be a pretty comprehensive computer based training course, but I didn’t have the time, at that stage, to properly review the details. I’ve now spent many hours going through the course, and I’m now in a much better position to give my full review of the course and its content. But, where to start...
As a previous post explained, I’ve recently bought the Canon 100mm f2.8L macro lens using my earnings from a great July! I happened to buy it used from a seller on Amazon – I had been following sales on eBay, but then I saw a seller on Amazon offering the lens with an included Canon UV filter for $934 and it arrived very quickly in excellent condition. There is an Amazon guarantee to help you sort out issues with a...
I recently bought a new macro lens (paid for with an excellent month of sales in July!), and my research identified the real need for a macro focusing rail if I was going to do this properly. The Velbon Super Mag slider was the result. I bought the Canon 100mm f2.8 for two reasons – it seems to be the lens of choice for some great images on DP Challenge, and its review on The Digital Picture was very good...
I have been searching for some time for an easy to use flash diffusion system. I use a white umbrella when I am taking a head and shoulders shot, but for quick use in the studio (ok table top..), the umbrella is a bit big and gets in the way. I’ve been working a lot with a new macro lens and I wanted something that would spread the light but be very manoeuvrable. The Rogue FlashBenders have turned out to...
