Having recently succeeded in crowdfunding the revival of the Biotar 75mm lens, Oprema is at it again and is looking to bring back the “legendary” Biotar 58mm f/2.0… with an aperture containing a record 17 blades. Having only just got started with their crowdfunding efforts, the project has already surpassed the goal of $50,000. If it successfully funds and launches, the lens will be the only lens in the entire world with a 17-blade aperture. “We absolutely wanted to maintain the optical features of the lens. We wanted to keep its … [Read more...]

For their ongoing “Craigslist Encounters,” the Los Angeles-based photography team Kremer Johnson has been shooting portraits of completely strangers who are each found using Craigslist. Each subject responded to an ad titled “Characters Wanted” and agreed to pose for $20 an hour. Fstoppers writes that photographers Neil Kremer and Cory Johnson have posted the ad three times so far, and each time it goes up they receive about 70 to 100 responses. The photographers have shot portraits of about 30 people so far, and they’re aiming to … [Read more...]

We all know and love the legendary lighting manufacturer that is Profoto. For decades, they have produced and supported the most durable, powerful, and consistent lighting equipment for professional photographers around the world. In recent years, they have pushed the lighting industry forward with the introduction of the B1 and B2 and their OCF system. These new lights have changed the way photographers work by allowing for unheard of flexibility and mobility. Ever the innovator, Profoto just gave us something we’ve always wanted, but never thought to ask … [Read more...]

Instagram has long featured a 3×3 grid of photos across its platform, allowing photographers to get creative and create larger photo mosaics by uploading the individual pieces as separate photos in the correct order. If you’ve spent a considerable amount of time and effort building these mosaics yourself, here’s some bad news: it looks like Instagram may soon break that classic grid (and your mosaics). The Ringer reports that a number of Instagram users across the Web have noticed 4×4 grids on their accounts. Anyone else's instagram keep … [Read more...]

Ask any photographer their least-favorite thing about Adobe Lightroom, and they will most likely tell you it’s the application’s speed. There are a few tricks to help optimize the responsiveness of Lightroom, and this minute-long Lightroom coffee break video focuses on generating 1:1 previews. This is one you may know already, but if you don’t, it can drastically improve your experience when flicking through your catalog. By generating 1:1 previews when you import your photos, Lightroom will do the legwork up-front to create full-resolution previews … [Read more...]

Profoto has just announced the A1, the lighting brand’s first-ever on-camera flash. It’s also what the company calls “the world’s smallest studio light.” “Our focus with the A1 was to create a flash that delivers a truly high quality of light, which is why it features a round head which delivers light that’s both natural and beautiful with a pleasing soft-smooth fall-off, that blends seamlessly with the ambient light,” Profoto says. The A1 features both a flash and an LED modeling light. The flash can be fired at full … [Read more...]

Lensbaby has today released two new products: an 80mm lens known as the Composer Pro II with Sweet 80 as well as a Creative Bokeh Optic that provide selective focusing and creative effects. Composer Pro II with Sweet 80 With a maximum aperture of f/2.8, the lens can be closed down to f/16 at the most. It has a 46mm filter size, an internal 12-blade aperture. The system allows photographers to achieve up to 15-degrees of tilt motion and has a minimum focusing distance of 22 inches (55.88 cm). Measuring just 2.5″ x 2.5″ x 2.5″, the lens is pretty … [Read more...]

People Magazine On Set Photo Editor: Rachel LiebermanPhotography Director: Catriona Ni Aolain LindbaekCreative Director: Andrea DunhamPhotographer: Bradley Meinz Heidi: How long did you have for this shoot? Bradley: I was given ten minutes total for the shoot, which took place during the press junket at the Four Season’s hotel in Beverly Hills, California.  The shoot was to promote the new Samuel l. Jackson and  Ryan Reynolds film, Hit Man’s Bodyguard. What type of direction did you get from the magazine? I had a call with the … [Read more...]

Meet Easton Chang, an internationally recognized car photographer. In this 5-minute profile by SmugMug Films, get a glimpse into how Chang captures incredibly unique images of performance cars. Chang shoots using all sorts of different techniques for his cars: panning, tracking, and aerial action shots. “Cars are much more than an inanimate object,” says Chang. He’s a car-fanatic first and a photographer second. The former was what birthed his love of being creative behind the lens to convey his passion to others. “I wanted to show the … [Read more...]

With the upcoming release of iOS 11, Apple’s new HEIF/HEVC photo formats will make it trickier to use and share iPhone photos in a world still dominated by JPEG images. Luckily, heictojpg.com is here to save the day with an easy-to-use conversion service. iOS 11 will mean that your iPhone takes its photos in this new format rather than JPEG as we are used to in an effort to save a reported 50% in file size (with no loss of quality). But using these new .heic files probably won’t be so simple to use readily. But, from the creators of Beamr … [Read more...]