Why an expensive full-frame DSLR is not for you
A number of my friends dream of the day they will save enough money to own an expensive, full-frame DSLR. One friend has gone so far as to abandon his point-and-shoot and swear off photography. For him, it’s either full-frame or nothing. As I often point out, for most people, gear will only make a few percent (under 10%) difference in the end result. An eye for a good shot, proper lighting and technical knowledge is what...
Top 10 photos of 2014 by TIME Magazine
This was a year filled with tragedies, as well as some heartwarming moments. TIME Magazine has picked the top 10 photos of 2014. Here they are: 1. The selfie to end all selfies Ellen Degeneres wanted to take a selfie with Meryl Streep at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. Bradley Cooper insisted he could do it better and a number of other celebrity legends also joined in. The result was this amazing Oscars selfie that...
Rutting Stags in Richmond by Bartek Olszewski
Photographer Bartek Olszewski shot this amazing photo of two rutting stags. He had just entered London’s Richmond Park when he found them battling. The battle lasted only a few seconds, but Bartek came prepared. He had his camera ready and as a result, his shot made it to National Geographic’s Photo of the Day. This is a clear example of the kind of images you can capture if you are well prepared. Have your camera in your...
10 Mysterious Photos Yet To Be Explained
Long before Photoshop, photographers found ways of manipulating images through various lighting, film and darkroom techniques. There are countless mysterious photos circulating on the internet that claim to be authentic, but are easily confirmed to be fake. Some however, are decades old and after years of scrutiny by experts, remain unsolved and unexplained. Here are ten of these: 1. Time Traveler in 1940 This photo circulated on the...
Rosetta Comet Landing Photos
History has been made. The Philae Lander has successfully separated from the Rosetta and landed on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. This is mankind’s first comet landing ever. Philae has relayed back some of the pics it captured on the way. Here they are: What you see above is the Philae Lander separating from the Rosetta spacecraft. Rosetta will continue to orbit the comet while the lander samples the comet’s surface....
Aspect ratios of DSLR and mobile camera sensors
A friend was recently lamenting how the latest version of his favorite phone is set to a 4:3 aspect ratio for photos instead of the 16:9 like his last phone. He could change the mode to 16:9, but that the default mode is cutting the sides of the image. I tried explaining that it’s the 16:9 mode that is a cropped version of the actual image, but he was convinced it was the other way around. This got me curious and I did a little...