On this week’s episode we welcome David Young, photographer and author of the new book A Brief History of Photography: From the Very Beginning to the Age of Digital. It may feel like photography is only a little more than a hundred years old, but the principles of the art, from lens design to chemistry, have been around for centuries. We had a great conversation about things that surprised David while researching the book, the long obsession with ultra-wide apertures, and more.

Photographers love to accessorize their cameras, and the iPhone is no different. A case is one thing, but what about other photo-centric add-ons? Should you buy an extra-wide or telephoto lens that snaps in front of the built-in cameras? What about grips and shutter buttons that make the iPhone feel more like a traditional camera? We weigh in with our opinions and experiences with these types of embellishments. (And Jeff accidentally uses the B-word.)

The recent devastating fires in Los Angeles have created a lot of fire photography, and some of it compelling both for its content and its artistry. We talk about the challenges of photographing such extreme situations.

We’ve been looking at various AI-related photography topics in recent episodes, such as using the Clean Up feature in the Photos app to remove unwanted items or the bigger question of “What is a photo?” Now it’s time to look broadly at what AI can offer photographers and where we think it’s going.

As we wrap up 2024, we’re realizing our photo libraries have grown quite a bit—in Jeff’s case, almost filling his cloud storage. So as we anticipate some holiday downtime, we’re turning our attention to strategies for cleaning up our photo libraries.

Note that we’re taking the next episode off to celebrate Christmas, so our next scheduled episode is January 10, 2025. Happy holidays!

Our recent discussions of AI and the Photos Clean Up tool have brought us full circle to the bigger question: What is a photo?

Aimless pedestrians wandering in the background of your photo? Trash on the ground in the foreground? Apple can help. In this episode we're looking at Clean Up, the new Apple Intelligence tool in the Photos app that uses generative AI to remove areas of a photo.

In our quest to better understand the often-confusing changes and additions to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro photo situation, we’ve decided to tackle the photo file formats. HEIF, ProRAW, JPEG-XL... there are a lot of options to choose from.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro introduce a new twist on an existing feature, and the result is... confusion and complexity. Photographic Styles can be very powerful, but it really requires you to dig into the details.

Now that Kirk and Jeff have received their iPhone 16 Pros, it’s time to take them into the world and see how the new photographic features work. Is the Camera Control all it’s cracked up to be? Does a 48 megapixel ultra-wide camera make much difference? We talk about our first hands-on experiences with Apple’s new pocket cameras—sorry, mobile phones. Oh, and what about all this Apple Intelligence stuff?

It’s that time again: new iPhones! By which we mean, of course, new Apple Cameras That Also Do Other Stuff. Kirk and Jeff are both upgrading their phones this year, largely due to the new Camera Control button but also the 48 MP (megapixel) ultra-wide camera and the new 48 MP Fusion camera that reads data fast enough to remove the shutter lag when shooting raw images. There’s a lot to discuss in this bonus-length episode!

Is your photo library spread out among different drives and apps? We’re not talking about maybe having a couple of Lightroom Classic catalogs—it’s not uncommon now for a photographer to have Lightroom libraries, Capture One libraries, Apple Photos libraries, even old iPhoto and Aperture libraries collected over the years. In this episode we welcome back Matthieu Kopp of CYME to talk about version 2.0 of the utility Peakto, which can bring sense to all of that accumulated chaos. As a bonus, Matthieu also shared a discount code for PhotoActive listeners to get 15% off any CYME app: PHOTOACTIVE15.

Many cameras now feature IBIS: in-body image stabilization. But do you really need a stabilized body? Can you use just a stabilized lens? And for that matter, is image stabilization just a crutch for lazy photographers? Also in this episode, we ponder perfect photo destinations.

Touting Panasonic’s new LUMIX S9 camera, a representative was quoted saying that Micro Four Thirds sensors are more difficult to understand than full-frame sensors, especially for people with “low camera literacy.” That piqued our interest, because many photographers assume that a full-frame sensor is just inherently better. But is that true? And is it really that confusing? We also touch on LUTs, which Panasonic is pushing on the S9 by dedicating a button to choosing different look-up tables for creative color rendering in camera.

If you're wondering whether film photography is really experiencing a resurgence in popularity, the announcement of the Pentax 17 is your answer. It's a brand-new film-only camera with some interesting design choices. Also in this episode, we talk about social media alternatives to Instagram for photographers.

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is where we learn about what’s coming in the company’s many operating systems, and this year was focused on machine learning features and AI - Apple Intelligence. That turns out to have a lot of significance on photography, such as in searching your photo library and making edits in the Photos app. We look at what was announced and how it will affect the way we work with photos in the fall.

Apple has released the new M4-powered iPad Pro, and Kirk bought one straightaway. Is it worth buying for photographers?

Part of enjoying photography is understanding photography. What makes a “good” photo? How much of that is based on the circumstances around its creation? In this episode, we talk about looking at photography with a critical eye.