Photo How To

Binoculars make great gifts, but navigating the styles, descriptions, specifications and nomenclature can be dizzying. How does an 8x42 compare to a 7x50, and why are some models $999 while others are $99? Here’s a sensible (and short) guide to buying binoculars. 

Many of the most dramatic outdoor images are made by experienced photographers using neutral density (ND) filters in conjunction with long exposures. In the video below you’ll learn everything you need to know about choosing the proper ND filter for the scene at hand and using it properly.

If the used camera lens you see online is packaged with a leash and a bone, odds are very good that it’s a dog. But in the absence of obvious evidence, how can you tell a bargain from a bagel? It’s impossible to physically examine the merchandise before purchase. And you can’t always trust what you see in the listing photos. However, you can conduct a thorough inspection upon receipt. Here are 10 things to check the minute the used lens is delivered. 

Soon enough, your camera will join the ranks of the well connected. That’s not to say it will be invited to A-list parties, but only that it will become a participant in the highly touted Internet of Things, now coming ’round the mountain.

Woody Allen is often credited with saying that 80 percent of success in life is showing up. For many photographers, that means showing up effectively in social media.

In commenting on an obscenity case back in 1964 Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously quipped, “Hardcore pornography is hard to define, but I know it when I see it.” The same can be said of bokeh, a Japanese term for the perceived quality of the out-of-focus areas in a photograph. 

Ira Block can best be described as a cultural documentary photographer. He uses his camera to document cultures around the world, recording how lives are impacted by changing norms, practices, and traditions. The changes are most often gradual, which is why he returns to a location time after time after time. He captures the shifting sands, one grain at a time, helping us see these changes and appreciate them through his eyes—and through social media.