Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

Photokina, the photography “show of shows,” opens in Cologne, Germany on September 20. The size of this biennial event is monstrous—you have to experience it to believe it. In 2014, a total of 1,074 exhibitors from 51 countries hosted 183,297 attendees. We’re taking serious show here. In honor of Photokina, here’s a pop quiz to test your knowledge of photography. 

It’s summer, and that means it’s time for a fun photo quiz. There are 13 multiple choice questions in all, and most of them are as easy to figure out as a zakuska menu in Moscow. Are you up for it? Great. Answers at the bottom. The winner gets…

Photography relies on science as much as art, and to be successful, photographers have to know a lot of things. Some of the requisite knowledge falls into the category of common sense and some is acquired through the indispensable combination of training and practice. And every once in awhile we stumble upon a nugget that can only be described as dumb luck. It was dumb luck that led me a few years ago to a website I want to share with you.

Is that a Panasonic in your pocket?

From Italy, the UK and good old New Jersey USA, here is a trio of camera straps that should be on your radar.

Making an avoidable mistake can cost you a great shot, your precious inner tranquility, and sometimes cold cash. Everyone blunders now and again; missteps are an integral part of the trial-and-error method of learning (which I have always maintained is the best way to learn photography at the deepest level). But there are a few goofs that I hope I’ve learned to steer clear of.

Three very different, very exciting camera bags—one shoulder, one photo backpack and one waist pack. Considering the variety of clever designs, abundance of high quality materials and outright affordability, there’s probably never been a better time to buy a camera bag. (Except maybe during that two-year period back in the middle of the Pleistocene epoch when cheap Diprotodon skin from Australia was flooding the market…)