News / Features & Articles

Most of us associate studio photography with complex lighting setups requiring lots of equipment. Yet you can get great results using just a single light. Professional photographer Thomas Park takes you through a range of single-light scenarios. Read his article to learn how close attention to the position of both subject and light source can improve your own studio portraits.

We've prepared a user guide to the Olympus OM-D E-M5, uncovering some of the more interesting features that might not be immediately apparent to new users. As part of reviewing the camera, and detailing its menus, we found a couple of settings combinations and obscure options that we think are worth knowing about. So, if you've recently received an E-M5, or are thinking about parting with your hard-earned cash for one, we hope you'll find this article useful.

The name Leica carries considerable cachet for many photographers, regardless of whether they've ever had a chance to shoot with one of the company's rangefinders or used one of its lenses. The fabulous cost and continued adherence to a near-obsolete, manual-focus, rangefinder design can be off-putting, making it easy to wonder whether the brand's proponents have bought into marketing or mystique. So just what is it like to shoot with an M9-P? We put the camera in the hands of four photographers with different backgrounds and shooting styles to see what the 'red dot' meant to them.

Joel Sternfeld was one of the photographers that pushed for the acceptance of color photography in fine art and documentary photography. Adam Koplan looks at a 'First Pictures,' a collection of his early work (1969-1980) and how it foreshadows his work that was to follow.

Adobe Camera Raw 7 and Lightroom 4 feature a revamped tool set for making tonal edits to raw (and non-raw) files. The changes are substantial and allow for more refined and intuitive editing options. Professional photographer and best-selling author Martin Evening shows how you can use these latest tools to make extreme corrections to both high and low contrast images.

Award-winning photojournalist and videographer Dan Chung from DSLR News Shooter has just posted a video shootout pitting the Canon EOS 5D Mark III against the Nikon D800. In the interesting and in-depth article accompanying it, Chung looks at the video features of both cameras in detail and compares them, not only in terms of output quality, but also usability. 

Just Posted: First impressions of the Fujifilm X-Pro1. We've been using a production standard X-Pro1 for a little while now, as we work on our review. We took this opportunity to write about our impressions of the camera, including a look at the lenses Fujifilm has developed and whether the Pro1 features the quirkiness of the elegant but initially troubled X100. What's it like to shoot with the X-Pro1 and are the images as attractive as the camera's design? Read on to find out.

Introduced in the Photoshop CS6 beta, a collection of photography-styled blur filters makes it easy to simulate depth of field adjustments using tools that let you adjust the effect directly on the image. Photographer and author Ellen Anon explains how to make the most of these tools with a tutorial that shows you how to selectively blur an image as well as mimic the effects of lens bokeh.

We've just got hold of Nikon's 36MP D800 full-frame DSLR and have been seeing what it's like to shoot with. We've shot it alongside the D3S to see exactly what effect trebling the pixel count has. In addition we look at the handling, its video shooting controls and how it behaves with vintage lenses. To put our studio samples in context we've also included a 40-image real-world samples gallery and a look at the camera's low-light performance. You may be surprised by the outcome.

We've written a breakdown of the photography-related features Adobe is preparing for Photoshop CS6. The beta version shows a substantially redesigned interface and a selection of new tools and enhancements. These include photographically-styled blur tools and greater support for video editing. CS6 will also include Adobe Camera Raw 7, bringing the Raw processing tool back into line with Lightroom. Read on to find out about the changes CS6 is likely to bring.

'Once the cloud computing era truly dawns, a non-connected device will be meaningless,' says Samsung Imaging's Sales & Marketing VP, Sunhong Lim. Speaking to dpreview, he suggested a combination of customer expectations and wireless carriers' desire for greater data usage will encourage compact cameras to become ever-more-connected devices. Indeed Lim believes that desire might even see telecomms networks help pay for your next camera. Click here to read his ideas about connected cameras.

First released for Android, Adobe recently unveiled an iPad-targeted version of Photoshop Touch for Apple's iOS. Boasting support for layers and featuring familiar Photoshop effects and filters, Photoshop Touch is one of the best-specified image manipulation apps available, but does it live up to its promise on the world's most popular tablet? Joanne Carter of theappwhisperer.com puts it through its paces. 

One of the challenges in macro photography is balancing technical details with sound compostion. Nature photographer Erez Marom continues his photo technique series with a discussion of compositional principles for macro photography. Learn to incorporate these fundamental concepts into your own work for more professional results.

We've been using Nikon's D4 full frame professional DSLR continuously since a factory-fresh production version arrived in our office last week. Barnaby Britton, who previously shot professionally with a D3S, explains what it's like to use, and includes real world samples and videos. What's improved over the D3S, what has Nikon got right and has it got anything wrong? Click through to find out.

Just posted: Our six page review of the now-less-expensive Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4. Adobe has released and halved the price of the latest version of its workflow and image editing software, and we've prepared an in-depth review exploring the changes. Along with Book and Map modules, and a revised editing workflow, Lightroom 4 brings Raw file support for a number of recently announced cameras, including the Canon EOS-1D X and Nikon D4. Are the changes in Lightroom 4 worth the upgrade for current users? Find out in our detailed review.

Camera Zoom FX is a camera control and image enhancement app for Android-based phones, currently available at a 40% discount ($2.99). It offers a wide range of functions including image processing effects and enhancement filters. Boasting a slick, intuitive interface Camera ZOOM FX is one of the most popular photography apps in the Android Marketplace. Joanna Carter of theappwhisperer.com takes a look. 

Book Review: Visual Stories - Behind the Lens with Vincent Laforet. As Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet transitions away from still photography and more towards film and video, he looks back at his photojournalistic and commercial career in this engaging book, published late last year. Adam Koplan takes a look. 

Not long after samples of the Fujifilm X10 became available reports started surfacing of 'white orbs' or 'white discs' appearing in images. We mentioned this phenomenon when we included the X10 in our pre-Christmas roundup of high-end enthusiast compact cameras, and Fujifilm has subsequently released a firmware update that promises to address the issue. So does firmware version 1.03 banish the dreaded 'white orbs' for good? Click through to find out. 

Following the refresh of Nikon's pro-level DSLRs, we asked four professional photographers to give us their take on the D800 and D4. We spoke to a group whose work and expertise spans a wide variety of genres and styles to see what they thought Nikon has got right and wrong about the 16MP D4 and the 36MP D800. Their insights aim to add context to our previews of the cameras and give a fresh perspective on Nikon's latest full-frame offerings.

When Vivian Maier died in obscurity in 2009 she left behind a huge collection of photographs, taken over several decades. A new collection of her work, 'Vivian Maier, Street Photographer' showcases the breadth of her hitherto unrevealed talent. Barnaby Britton takes a look.