Category: Stories
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Artificial Intelligence Is Ruining Photo Contests
An AI-edited image won first place in a Maryland State Fair photography category, and photographers are furious. My response: get over it. Here is the uncomfortable truth. If a contest allows AI, AI-assisted entries will beat photographers. That is just math. And before you tell me you would never, let me ask: are you editing…
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Canon R8 Mark II: Better Camera, Worse Buy?
I own the original Canon R8. Love it. So when the R8 Mark II showed up with IBIS, an AF joystick, better tracking, a deeper buffer and pre-capture, the question was fair: is my camera obsolete now? No. Same 24 megapixel sensor, same DIGIC X processor. “It is all about the image, right? The image…
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Why You Should NEVER Buy Film on Amazon
Imagine unboxing $250 worth of professional Kodak Portra film for a wedding gig, and pulling out literal rocks. That is a real story. Somebody bought the film, took out the rolls, put rocks in the boxes, heat-sealed them shut, and sent them back. Thanks to commingled inventory and return fraud, those rock-filled boxes went right…
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The Hardest Part of Layered Street Photography
What is the hardest part of layered street photography? It is not shooting the layers. It is finding the places to shoot them. You need crowds. Festivals. I set up behind the Greek Fest in Knoxville, Tennessee. I ate baklava. I made jokes about spitting. In everyday life, layers do not just exist. You have…
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The Fujifilm X100VI Imitators Are Here
“Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.” And the Fujifilm X100VI is getting flattered a lot lately. Everybody is making the retro everyday compact now. The latest one is the OM System Pen, and I am going to say something I do not say lightly: this might be the best product OM System has…
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Legendary Photographer Jay Maisel Has Passed Away
“One of my favorite photographers, if not my favorite photographer, has passed away.” Jay Maisel died at 95. Here is my connection to him. Around 1976 or 77, I was playing trumpet in my school jazz band, and I bought Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue. That cover photo stopped me cold. “Wow, somebody took that…
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The Colors of Yellowstone
I went to Yellowstone expecting mountains, wildlife, and geysers. I got all of that. But what stopped me cold were the colors. Heat, minerals, and microscopic life create colors that do not look like they could exist in nature. But they do. Right here. I am not going to explain Yellowstone to you. I am…
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Street Photography or Landscape Photography: Which Is Harder?
“Here’s your photo question of the day.” Which is harder: taking an avowed, dedicated street photographer, dropping them in the wild to shoot landscape and wildlife? Or taking a landscape photographer and dropping them downtown to shoot street? Think about what each one demands. Street wants lightning-fast reflexes, social bravery, and the instinct to catch…
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Stop Looking for Subjects. Chase the Light Instead.
Chase the light. Do not chase the subject. Beginners do this every time. They find an interesting person, take the photo, get home, and realize the subject was cool but the light sucks. That is why your images do not look like the ones online. It was never about the subject. It was always about…
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Beware Licensing Your Photos, Even If They Are Copyrighted
If you needed another reminder that the business of photography is dead, here it is. An experienced stock photographer with 10,000+ images licensed with Alamy put it bluntly: “I have 10,000+ images licensed with Alamy, so I know what I’m talking about.” His warning? Once your photograph goes through an agency, “you basically have lost…
