Workflow Technology

See What the Experts Had to Say about the Palm Springs Photo Festival

By Jeremiah Karpowicz | May 08, 2013

PPC author Vince Gonzales stopped by the Palm Springs Photo Festival to talk to some of the people who made the show a success.  Individuals who ran workshops, portfolio reviews and lectures told him about what made the event such a unique gathering, and our camera was there to record it... Read More

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Simplify Your Creative Business

By Dan Carr | April 03, 2013

As a self-employed creative professional I wear many hats on a daily basis.  My virtual hat rack includes photographer, accountant, marketing manager, administrative assistant, video editor, writer, lawyer and business development manager.  You can see why I need a whole... Read More

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Elinchrom Skyport WiFi

Use your iPhone or iPad to control your Elinchrom flash packs.

By Tom Bol | January 07, 2013

I'm a sucker for anything that streamlines my workflow and photo assignments.  A simple photo shoot can get complex quickly; one main light on the subject, one accent light on his left side...better add a few lights to illuminate the car in the background.  Before I know... Read More

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Depth of Field as a Creative Tool

A lighting tutorial!

By JPMorgan | November 10, 2012

In today's Slanted Lens lesson we will take a look at depth of field as a creative tool while shooting some fashion shots on location at Vasquez Rocks. We will use a simple 2 light set up to shoot beautiful Gabrielle Tuite and look at how different lens focal lengths give us different depth of field options. We will look at what lens choice will give us a shallow depth and what lens choice will give us a more scenic deep depth of field. Vasquez is the perfect place to look at depth of field. It's one of the most photographed places in Southern California. It has a long history of film making. It has been in Star Track "Captain Kurk and the Lizard fight", Austin Powers, Bonanza, John Carter, and many many more. It has a very strong rock point that is graphic and the reason I wanted to shoot here. We will use that as a graphic element in our shots. Let's take a look at depth of field as a creative tool. Read More

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Understanding Ring Lights / Ring Flashes!

A lighting tutorial for photography and video.

By JPMorgan | October 12, 2012

By Jay P. Morgan1. A great lighting tool is the Ring Light or Ring Flash. The Ring Light was invented in the 1950's as a light source to capture medical images. Fashion photographers and DP's soon found this great light source and used it to shoot people. It's perfect because it creates a wonderful highlight on the skin and allows the shadows to fall away from the camera. This video is a look at how to use a Ring Light or Ring Flash. In this image we used a Ring Flash as a key light. Let's look at the different uses of the Ring Light and break down the lighting for this image. Read More

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Pixel Vertical Grip For The Nikon D800

How to get better control and save $300 in the process.

By Tony Donaldson | September 17, 2012

I've had my Nikon D800 for a little bit, and decided it would be a lot better to have a vertical grip for it. The OEM grip is the Nikon MB-D12 Multi Battery Power Pack (reminds me of my old MD-12 for the FM2), and runs a cool $400. The D700 grip, the MB-D10, was similar, and only $250. This caused an uproar among prosumer users, and most anyone else on a budget. Why would essentially the same thing be nearly twice the price? Read More

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Another One Bites The Dust - My Drobo Has To Go

Hardware and software issues prevalent in popular storage solution

By Dan Carr | September 11, 2012

I take no pleasure in having to write this, Drobo as a company have always been very good to me, their support has been great and I have never lost any data from their machines. I have however experienced a series of hardware and software issues that have now spanned several years and multiple Drobo models. My experience this past weekend with a new Drobo S, sent to me to as a replacement for a problematic 2nd Gen Drobo, have led me to the end of the road and it is now time to find another route. Read More

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Searching For The Ultimate Tripod

Have I finally found it with Really Right Stuff's TVC-33s ?

By Dan Carr | May 31, 2012

Having broken my tripod recently I decided to look at what the high end of the market has to offer. A cheap tripod rarely does you any favors and whilst my previous one wasn't exactly cheap, I'd often wanted a bit more stability and a generally nicer feel to things. I did a lot of research, read a lot of reviews, blog posts and forum threads and narrowed things quickly down to Gitzo and Really Right Stuff. Read More

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Drobo Delivers Data Defense

Super Heroic efforts rule the digital universe,

By Sara Frances | May 26, 2012

where we're all acquiring and creating media at an alarming rate-media that requires vast amounts of storage space. If your clients are like mine, they are remarkably unsophisticated, sometimes even careless, about how and why to protect the valuable images we make for them. Drobo® changes all that. When they come crying to you, wouldn't it be great to be the hero and say, "yes, I've got you covered!" Read More

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Sonnet Echo Expresscard Thunderbolt Adapter Review

Testing the only current Thunderbolt CF card reader option

By Dan Carr | May 20, 2012

I'm sure by now that you are aware of the Thunderbolt standard and how it has a theoretical throughput that is much faster than Firewire 800, USB 2 or 3 and eSATA. Like many people I excitedly bought one of the newer Macbooks last year when they first featured Thunderbolt ports but sadly Thunderbolt accessories have been relatively thin on the ground. Some blame high licensing fees imposed by Apple and Intel whilst some blame technical difficulties and incompatibilities with the implementation of the technology. I've had my Macbook Air for nearly a year now and until the Sonnet Echo arrived on my doorstep I hadn't plugged a single Thunderbolt product into it. Read More

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Photography: What’s real, what’s not and does it matter?

Is there such a thing as integrity in a photograph?

By Matt Brandon | May 09, 2012

I got some flack on Facebook about a past post on my blog . I received a comment from a reader or two stating they felt that what they saw in the produced images was not real. Meaning, after running through my workflow in Lightroom the images no longer represented reality. I have gotten this kind of feedback many times in the past. I think people are rather shocked at seeing a photo "undressed". It's a bit like seeing a high-fashion model on the streets without any makeup, it can be scary. Read More

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Post-NAB HDSLR Wrap Up

All the HDSLR news you need to know about from NAB 2012

By Dan Carr | April 21, 2012

The National Association of Broadcasters show has just wrapped up in Las Vegas and I was down there for a few days to check out some of the new gear. I'll be covering some products in more detail in the near future but we'll start off with a wrap up of some of the coolest new HDSLR gear coming to market this spring and summer. Read More

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Canon Announces The EOS-1D C - Packs 4K Video Into The EOS-1D X !

Is this the ultimate combo cam ? 18MP stills & 4K video

By Dan Carr | April 12, 2012

With just a few days until NAB 2012 Canon have unveiled two new additions to their Cinema EOS lineup. You can read all about the C500, their new cinema camera, over on our sister site PVC but here on PPC I want to talk a little bit more about the new EOS-1D C which I think is safe to say is now Canon's flagship HDSLR. Combining all the photographic features of the previously announced EOS-1D X, but now adding 4k video recording as well, Canon have produced something unique. Read More

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Initial Thoughts On The Canon 600EX RT & ST-E3 Radio Transmitter

First impressions on Canon's new wireless radio system

By Dan Carr | April 04, 2012

I've just taken delivery of Canon's new top of the line strobe, the 600EX RT as well as the new ST-E3 radio transmitter. This is the first time Canon has offered a radio trigger system so I have run through some of my first out of the box impressions. Read More

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Hey Mac users! You’re not tied to Apple any more!

Cheaper alternatives to upgrade your Apple computer.

By Sara Frances | April 02, 2012

My new MAC Pro 8-core was in serious need of additional RAM to run the bigger applications and shove around the pixels from the Canon 5D Mark II. Apple didn't tell us about this little RAM problem up front, but they were happy after the fact to price additional 8G memory at $400!!!!! You've got to be kidding! Big no sale from us. Read More

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Update on new Nikon/Canon cameras: RAW support, manuals and ship dates

Shipping updates, RAW support from Apple & Adobe out of the gate

By Mike Curtis | March 15, 2012

Shipping updates on the Nikon D800 and D4, Canon 1DX and 5D Mark III. Plus, Apple (for once!) has support for RAW formats from Day Zero for SOME of the cameras coming to market, and Adobe does a better job of RAW support for Day Zero for these cameras. Read More

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Hey camera vendors - less firmware, more software

Time to rethink the brains of your cameras

By Mike Curtis | March 09, 2012

Thom Hogan pointed out something I hadn't thought about, and it got me thinking - why isn't the software in our cameras getting smarter faster? Read More

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Comparing System Costs for Nikon D4 and Canon 1DX

How much does it cost to kit up these monsters?

By Mike Curtis | March 07, 2012

OK, so I wrote up this article comparing prices of kitting out a Nikon D800 vs a Canon 5D Mark III, and decided I wanted to keep going, so here's the same thing for the Nikon D4 vs the Canon 1DX. Read More

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Why Nikon HAD to make the D800 ultra high resolution

Megapixels: Go Big or Go Home was their only choice

By Mike Curtis | March 07, 2012

Theory/Supposition/Personal Opinion: Nikon realized Canon had video zipped up. They couldn't get a decisive win there. If they made their low light performance too close to the D4, they'd cannibalize sales as they had with the D3/D700. So how could they respond effectively and get some mindshare back? Megapixels: Go Big or Go Home was their only choice left. Read More

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Nikon D800 vs Canon 5D Mark III - System Cost Reality Check

How much does it cost to put together a shootable package with these?

By Mike Curtis | March 07, 2012

At first glance, the Canon 5D Mark III costs $500 more than the Nikon D800 - $3500 vs $3000. Canon costs more, case closed. Not so fast...what about what it takes to make a shootable package? Lenses, grips, batteries, chargers, GPS, etc. don't all cost the same... Read More

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