Author: John Aldred

This is the perfect angle for portrait photography. Really. It’s “proven by science”

John Aldred

Ed Gregory at Photos in Color makes a pretty bold claim in his new video. It’s titled “Why this is the perfect PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY angle – Proven by SCIENCE”  The exact angle for perfect headshots every single time. It’s a shame that this video from  has such a misleading and clickbaity title, because it does have some good […]

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This 3 step raw colour correction tip will fix your white balance woes

John Aldred

Even if you plan to alter or grade your footage afterwards, having an accurate and consistent starting point makes your life much easier. Getting perfect white balance without a grey card, Expodisc, ColorChecker or fancy colour meter can be tricky, though. But it’s not impossible. This video from Blake Rudis at f64 Academy walks us through […]

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Khloe Kardashian is being sued for posting a photo of herself to Instagram

John Aldred

I don’t normally care what the Kardashians do. This current suit being brought against Khloe Kardashian, however, highlights something rather important. It’s something often misunderstood by clients, celebrities, and the general public alike. Just because you appear in a photograph does not mean that you have the legal right to use it. According to The […]

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Google Research team experiments with low light night time landscapes that are surprisingly good

John Aldred

Google’s Gcam research team focuses on computational photography. They develop the algorithms that assist in shooting photos with smartphones and other small cameras. When one of the team’s then researchers, Florian Kainz, went out to shoot under a full moon with a high end DSLR. He got one photograph he was particularly proud of, so […]

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“The Shwop” lets you turn any softbox into a reflector

John Aldred

I don’t know when mounting strobes the wrong way around inside softboxes became a thing. But, apparently it is. More mysterious than the “when”, though is the “why?”. The Shwop is a new product on Kickstarter that lets you do exactly this, though. Reverse mount a strobe inside a softbox. They do list a few […]

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This DIY 90mm f/2.8 Petzval lens looks like it came straight off the production line

John Aldred

We’ve shown a few DIY lenses in the past, including a 3D printed lens. This one, though, really takes it to the extreme. Based on a Petzval design, Swedish camera maker Mats Wernersson built the lens completely from scratch. But looking at the final product, you’d never know it. It looks like it came straight from a […]

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A review of the new Cactus X-TTL cross platform flash trigger firmware with HSS and TTL

John Aldred

One of the reasons I love shooting with Sigma camera bodies is the combination of the Foveon sensor that delivers great color and image detail with high quality and large aperture lenses like the Sigma 50-100mm f1.8 “Art.” that let me isolate a subject while turning the background into dreamy bokeh-filled canvas like this shot […]

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How to photograph wine bottles with speedlights and a kit lens

John Aldred

If you’re looking to get into product photography, one of the things you’ll probably need to learn how to shoot is a bottle. Whether you’re photographing drinks products or not, glass is a subject you need to know how to work with. What better way to learn than with a bottle of wine? After all, […]

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How to setup a simple home studio combining natural and continuous light

John Aldred

Setting up a home studio in a small space isn’t always easy. That’s especially true if you need to use it as a regular room, too. You need something that’s easy to setup and break down. But, if you have a space with a nice window or access to continuous light sources, it’s pretty straight […]

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How to overpower the sun and balance with strobes using ND filters

John Aldred

Trying to overpower the sun seems to have become a popular thing again lately. The go-to technique for these results is a fast shutter speed and high speed sync. But the limited power available in speedlights often falls a little short. Now, with more powerful HSS-capable strobes on the market, like the Godox AD360II and AD600BM, […]

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