HDR News – October 2019

Welcome again to HDR News You Can Use! We hope you’re out there taking advantage of this fall foliage season. It’s the best time of year for getting luxurious color into your images. Being constantly in the outdoors you should go easy on yourself. That’s why in this issue we look at going with a light weight camera kit. Then we take a look at three new cameras on the market. For those of you dragging your feet on learning about drone photography we point you to a great dpReview series on the subject. And, there’s much more.

 

The Scared Marmot

This photograph is just too amazing. We’re sure Yongqing Bao knew he possibly had a rare image when he clicked the shutter but, you never know for sure until you download your images. Is it in focus? Did I capture what I think I saw in the viewfinder? Bao certainly did. We did a first look of the Wildlife Photographer Of The Year competition run by London’s Natural History Museum in last month’s HDR News. Since then the winning photos were announced and they are impressive. We just had to highlight this photo where an animal demonstrates a human reaction to an existential situation.

See the winning photographs HERE.

 

How To Go Light Weight

Hiking out to a favorite location for some good images is a joy for landscape photographers. We load up the backpack and strap the tripod on it and off we go. The smartest and most experienced photographers take a more critical view of the gear they’re going to be taking with them on their treks. Each additional pound you add to your pack is going to slow you down, reduce your stamina and possibly prevent you from reaching your shooting location when the light is optimal. Do you really need heavy zooms, a third camera battery or a 300mm lens for a particular shoot? Those are all items that many experienced shooters leave behind. This article will help you take a critical look at your landscape gear setup.

Learn how to reduce your load HERE.

 

Generate Passive Income From Your Photos – Stock Agency Compilation

There could be cash sitting on your hard drive in the form of sellable photography. While few photographers get rich selling stock photography many enjoy a monthly stream of income from their photos and, why not. Those photos are just sitting there on your drive doing much of nothing right now. There are quite a few stock agencies out there ready to sell your photographs. This article is a concise list of the terms of the top agencies out there.

See which agencies you should approach HERE.

 

Lens Lost In The Wilderness Found

It hurts to lose a cherished piece of equipment. There’s the loss of a component of your shooting capabilities which is annoying. There’s a bit of an emotional loss if you’ve lost a piece of equipment for a long time which has helped you make some of your proudest images. This is the story of photographer Steve Boykin who lost his 23mm f2 Fuji lens only to find it four months later. Read the article to see if the lens continued to work.

 

 

Read the story of the lost lens HERE.

 

Really Bad HDR

The Reddit page Sh$##y HDR rarely disappoints. It’s the place on the Internet where bad taste and zero creativity synergistically combine with HDR technology to create some of the most horrible examples of “art” you could possibly imagine. We return there from time to time for a look. Here we recently found one of the most universe bending examples os Sh$##y HDR we’ve encountered: enjoy!

See our pick HERE.

For more artistic excitement see the main bad HDR page HERE.

 

New Camera Reviews

Camera manufacturers simply do not sleep. It seems like every major camera company has a new model out now. Olympus and Canon appear to be targeting the advanced hobbyist while Sony gave birth to the motherlode a7R IV, 61mp camera for (just) $3500. Here are three review articles to help you sort through it all.

Learn about the Olympus E-M5 Mark III HERE.

Read about the Sony a7R IV HERE.

Get into the Canon EOS 90D HERE.

 

Been Dragging Your Feet Getting Started With Drones?

If you’re looking for a new perspective in your photography, getting up over the trees and buildings is a sure-fire way to get there. Shooting high with a drone brings in shapes, colors and perspectives that formerly were only possible by hanging out of helicopter. Drones change the game but there’s a bunch of information you need to digest in advance of purchasing one. From the number of propeller blades to the megapixels of the on-board camera, making the right choices is a daunting task. This set of articles in dpReview lays it all out for you from an overview of drones to the parameters for takeoff and landing.

 

Learn the drone gear basics HERE.

Learn how a drone can affect your photography HERE.

Learn more about the advantages of a drone and see some great photo examples HERE.