I will admit, this is the boring end of photography, and indeed, any kind of potentially money-making venture, but it’s necessary nonetheless, and perhaps I can assist in making it a little easier and less time-consuming, so it’s less boring for that. So let’s look at the seedy underside of such pursuits, which is the administration. While this is geared towards
Category: Reference
Tip Jar 41: Check them!
Okay, this is one that I do not have mastered well enough yet, and still get caught on – not often, but more often than I should, given how long I’ve been doing this. And it’s simple: Check your settings!
As in, each time you take the camera out of the bag, and each time you put it back (either one would be enough, if done consistently, but both is a safety margin.) It’s not
Tip Jar 40: Do it yourself
Just about any photographer discovers, sooner or later, we simply don’t have some tool or device or accessory that would make our pursuits much easier. In far too many cases, this is equipment-related, as in, “I need a better camera/lens/flash unit/tripod/etc,” which may or may not be the case – in my experience, new purchases only solve the problem less
Tip Jar 39: Studio macro
If you’re into macro photography, sooner or later you’ll run into a subject that will benefit from a little more control in the setting, angles, and lighting than you can accomplish ‘in the field,’ and you’ll want to do some studio work. The good news is, setting up a macro studio can often be done in minutes with simple materials. The bad news is,
Tip Jar 38: High-speed photography
So you wanna capture something fast, huh? It can be trickier than you think, so here are a few things to know and how to cope with them.
The very first thing is, the shutter curtains (the things that actually expose and re-conceal the sensor/film) are mechanical on most cameras and can only move so fast. It varies depending on the camera type and age, but for most modern DSLRs, they can uncover the
Tip Jar 37: Macro options
While macro photography can be fun and fascinating, it does require at least a little specialized equipment. Dedicated macro lenses tend to be quite expensive, and while they remain the best way to tackle the genre, there are other options. But first, let’s see why they’re usually the best option.
Full range of focus. Macro lenses can usually focus from 15cm, give or
Tip Jar 36: Infra-red photography
First off, I apologize for missing another Tip Jar. I got both under the gun on a deadline for last Monday, and under the weather with a chronic gut. I was attempting to have this up a day or so late, but realized it would be better if I delayed it further to flesh it out with more example images. So let’s delve into infra-red photography.
To start off with, infra-red refers to a very large
Tip Jar 35: Basic darkroom printing
We did film developing last week, so let’s tackle the next step: making a print from the negatives we now have (right?)
Making a print is slightly more involved, but not significantly, though it has a greater investment in equipment, prep, and space. The big thing is, you need an actual darkroom now, but making one isn’t all that hard.
Darkroom. You will need space for
Tip Jar 34: Basic film developing
One of the things that I urge any serious, or even remotely serious, photographer to try is film developing. It’s a lot easier than it seems, takes minimal equipment, and is immensely gratifying. Except, there’s a caveat to all that, or perhaps several. Monochrome negative (print) developing is easy color negative is three times as involved, and color positive
Tip Jar 33: Recording and editing audio
I was very close to doing this as a podcast or video post, and eventually realized it was far easier to type it out and use illustrations than it was to try and juggle the recording and screen capture processes, so here we have it – I would apologize to those who hate facing a wall of text but unless you have an actual, physical handicap, go fuck yourself and deal with reading. If you do