Category: Stories
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The Camera Setting You Never Used
There is a setting on every camera I have ever owned that I have never used. Not in 2026, not in 2025, not in 2017, not in 2009. Sepia tone. It is right there on the Fujifilm X100VI, sitting among the film sims. And the only sepia I have ever seen is old photos and…
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What Happens When a Street Photographer Goes to Yellowstone?
“Can an avowed street photographer who sold all of his landscape and wildlife photography gear do justice to landscape photography?” That is the question I took to Yellowstone. No long lenses. No tripod. No ND filter. No polarizer. Just my minimal street kit and whatever the park decided to give me. The results are in…
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They Are Giving Away This Camera!
I was walking through Costco, minding my own business, when I saw it. They are practically giving away cameras in there. The Minolta MND23. Forty-eight megapixels, 4K video, a dedicated selfie lens, autofocus with face detection, 16x digital zoom, and a 128GB memory card in the box. Price? Fifty bucks. “That’s a $50 reduction from…
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Expect More Confrontation in Street Photography
“Street photographers, are you paying attention to … your ability to take photographs in the street? And I don’t mean legal ability.” For years we have operated on a simple principle: people in public have no reasonable expectation of privacy. That has been our shield. But the shield is getting dented. Flock surveillance cameras, license…
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Would You Trust Your Camera to THIS?
“Would you trust an expensive camera to a strap this thin?” I am holding the strap that came with the cage for my action camera, and the little cord that attaches it is… let us just say it is not inspiring confidence. It is tiny. “An action camera? Sure. A heavier mirrorless camera? Hmmmm.” Now,…
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Break the Rules of Street Photography
“Break the rules of street photography.” Get close. Use this focal length, not that one. Never crop. Don’t shoot from too far away. Capture the decisive moment. You have heard them all. Says who? I wore my SAYS WHO cap for this one, because photography is not about checking boxes. Breaking the tried-and-true rules is…
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Want to Be a Real Photographer? Start Here.
You do not need money to be a photographer. You need a camera. An entry point camera gets you in the game. This is a Nikon D80. Ten megapixel CCD sensor. I bought it for under 150 bucks with the 18-70mm kit lens, which is 27 to 105 equivalent on crop. CCD, it is like…
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Why Aperture Priority Is Tricky | Ricoh GR Cameras
This one is for Dennis, who asked for a tutorial on aperture priority on the Ricoh GR III. Filmed from the car, camera in hand, let us get into it. Aperture priority by itself is tricky for street photography. Here is my recipe: aperture priority plus Snap Focus plus Full Press Snap. That combo lets…
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Sony Must Fix the Next A6700
Six months. Three thousand shots. I am the leading expert on the Sony A6700. Jason Vong and the internet agree with me on most of this. Here is what Sony needs to fix. One. Give me the dang joystick. The D-pad is not intuitive. I want an 8-way joystick to place the AF point, even…
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Why CCD Cameras Still Matter in 2026
Old CCD cameras. Still worth it in 2026? I say yes, and here is my top-five case. One: the color. CCD rendering looks like slide film. It is nothing like the homogenized CMOS look everything has now. Two: the files. CCD files are “great in 2026 and sometimes even better than a CMOS sensor camera.”…
