Gone are the days when we might be discussing the merits of stock vs. dilution ratios for film processing and the uses of potassium ferricyanide for snapping up highlights on prints. While these are still items of interest for those working in the chemical darkroom, the talk these days is more about raw image converters and which plug-ins are optimum for gaining a "Velvia...

As someone who has paid the rent with photography since high school I often find myself uncomfortable when the words "photography" and "art" are linked in a sentence, especially when art is spelled with a capital "A." I see photography as a craft, one that takes rigor, training, and sacrifice to get right. But I also see photography as an art;...

To get a handle on the issue at hand we first have to define a "pro photographer." In the simplest terms, a professional is someone who makes money at what they do. But pros can also have another day job entirely, or do the odd photographic job on nights and weekends to help pay the rent. Indeed, many pro photographers started working for nothing or next to nothing...

While grammatically awkward, the headline on this column pretty much sums up how digital has changed our relationship with our prints. While many photographers have always made an effort to develop their own black and white film and make their own custom-crafted prints, quite a few less bothered making their own color prints, and only a handful might have developed their own color...

This issue contains our annual new products report in which we look at a number of product groupings and discuss what's been introduced in each in the last few months. The main inspiration for this flood of products comes from our attending America's largest photo/imaging trade show, known as PMA (Photo Marketing Association). Our staff and a host of our contributing...

Travel photography today has its difficulties, what with security lines and restrictions at airports and the concern some security personnel seem to have, perhaps rightfully so, of people with a camera in their hands. Photographers need be aware of the various restrictions and rules that are in place at the airports, available at

A few years back when all these digital doings got started I was chatting with some photographers about how having images as information would affect our work. At one point in the discussion we started to joke about how the next generation of software would give us an instant Van Gogh, or emulate a Sunday painter's watercolor, or even create pen and ink drawings from any...