Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

The 50mm f/1.2 all-manual APS-C lens from TTArtisan costs around a hundred bucks and is built like an Acme anvil. It offers outstanding value for the dollar and is fun to use. But it's not perfect. Read on to review the Pros and Cons as we see them.

There’s something about denim that says comfort with style. And the Domke F-5XB and original F-2 shoulder bags have been favorites of photographers since their introduction. Put this all together and you have a combination of Denim Domke that is bound to make you smile. Available now—and of course made in the US of A.

The Tamron 20-40mm f/2.8 is extra-compact (3.4 inches long) and super-sharp. It focuses to 6.7 inches and covers the focal lengths street photographers, travelers, video content creators and landscape shooters want most. It’s a new kind of “everyday zoom” that exemplifies versatility and speed.

Humans learn to speak correctly by repeating what they hear, and during the process they automatically and unconsciously develop “an ear for correct grammar” naturally. I’ll bet you don’t leave many dangling participles, even though only a few English majors know exactly what that means. I propose that composition, particularly composition in photography, is learned the same way.

Photographers are an inventive lot. Most have of us have improvised one thing or another in pursuit of our obsession, be it a soft-focus diffuser made from a discarded nylon stocking, studio lamp handcrafted from a Home Depot shop light, or a gadget bag recycled from an army surplus gas mask pack. But here’s a bonafide useful tool that Greg Montano, owner of Dexter’s Camera in Ventura, California, created more-or-less out of necessity, and has been using professionally since.

If you’ve ever had the itch to paint—or to turn one of your digital images into a great looking painting without taking up a brush—then Corel Painter Essentials 5 may be just the ticket. 

DALL·E 2 from OpenAI (the folks who gave us ChatGPT) uses AI to convert plain language text strings into realistic images and art. We typed in “Digital camera that looks like a red pepper” and DALL·E 2 generated the image you see here (we added the Shutterbug nameplate). For lovers of imaging, DALL·E 2 is addictive. Read more to view a few other things DALL·E 2 generated for us, and learn how to begin turning your words in pictures.