In 2004 I was out late one night for a walk on the beach, as I often did to de-stress from a long day at work. This night was particularly beautiful, with a full moon shining overhead, so I decided to bring my camera and tripod along to take some oceanscapes. I found the perfect location, set up my gear, and opened the shutter of my camera for a long exposure. While the exposure was running I accidentally bumped my camera. When I checked the image and saw that the light from the moon had left a streak going across the sky I had an epiphany. My mind raced at the possibilities of using my camera and the moonlight to draw images in the sky, and from that moment on I was a light painter.

This report and product roundup is based on my visit to this year’s WPPI Expo, a show popular with portrait, event, and wedding photographers. As I visited the many lighting companies at the show, it became clear that studio and location lighting is going through its biggest changes since the invention of the flash bulb.

Hollywood, is so much more than just a spot on the map. Hollywood is a well-oiled machine, a fantastic dream factory where stars are born and ideas become reality on celluloid. This book offers a rare glimpse behind-the-scenes of films such as Some Like It Hot, Psycho, Dirty Harry, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, The Thing, Wall Street, The Crow and many more. Images captured on the set—and some candid moments caught between scenes—are all presented in the form of contact sheets, the direct prints that photographers used in pre-digital days to edit their work.

The unsung hero of our age is the rechargeable battery. Can you imagine using a cell phone, digital camera or notebook computer without high capacity, long lasting batteries? The battery technology of choice for the past several years has been Lithium Ion. Here are five things you need to know about it—for your own safety and convenience. 

Canon has just unveiled a massive zoom lens for cinema cameras. Called the CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 Ultra-Telephoto Zoom lens, Canon is hailing it as the “world’s largest 4K ultra-telephoto zoom lens” for large-format, single-sensor cinema cameras. With a built-in, 1.5x extender, the focal length of the new lens translates to 75-1500mm.

A tripod is a must have item for photographers so we all have at least one in our gear bag or studio. While handy, there are times when it simply isn’t practical to carry around a stand size tripod and some places (such as museums) don’t allow one. Manfrotto’s versatile Pixi mini tripod is the ideal solution to this dilemma. 

Ray Metzker was an extraordinary photographer whose work is in the collections of dozens of art institutions. During his photographic career he had more than 50 one-person museum exhibitions and was the recipient of two Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships. His photographs are in museum and art institution collections all over the world. When he died last week on October 9, 2014 his hometown newspaper, The Inquirer (Philadelphia), wrote that, “Ray K. Metzker, 83, (was) widely considered one of the nation's greatest photographers.”

Leica has introduced a chic-looking new compact camera: the limited Leica X “Edition Moncler,” which goes on sale this month for an as-yet undisclosed price.

The Terminal Bar opened its doors in New York City for the first time in 1958 and was located just across the street from the Port Authority bus terminal, near (world famous) Times Square. In 1972, Sheldon (Shelly) Nadelman began working there as a bartender and stayed for the next ten-years until it closed in 1982. Featured in the iconic Scorsese film Taxi Driver, at that time the Terminal Bar was know for being one of the roughest dive bars in the city.

Here's another fun item to add to your holiday wish list:  a stylish, must-have photo bag for all the ladies who want more than just a standard case for their compact camera.