In our last episode, Kirk asked a question that stumped Jeff: While on vacation, did Jeff ever think about not taking a camera with him for a day? Being a photographer of any level means you look at the world a little differently—you develop a “photographer’s eye,” but could that be a detriment? Could Jeff just enjoy his surroundings without looking for compositions and dynamic lighting?
Episode 121: Jeff's European Photo Adventures
Jeff just returned from two weeks in France and Italy with almost 3000 photos, even though his was a family vacation and not a “photo trip,” per se. From choosing gear to bring and finding time to make photos amid demands of travel and family, it turned out to be an interesting photographic challenge. We talk about what Jeff experienced and learned for the next adventure.
Episode 120: The Cameras of the Future
What do the cameras of the future look like? The ones we use now are vastly different from cameras just a decade or two ago, so it’s reasonable to assume that changes will continue to advance. Jeff and Kirk speculate on what’s coming.
Episode 119: WWDC and New Apple OSes
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) wrapped up last week, and with it a lot of news about hardware like the M2-powered MacBook Air and what's coming in macOS Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9. In this episode, Jeff and Kirk look at what struck their interest for photographers.
Episode 118: Scott Kelby's Travel Tips
Scott Kelby joins us this week to talk about travel photography, using the years of experience he’s gained and now collected into his new book, The Travel Photography Book. We often want to start by figuring out what gear to bring, but Scott makes that point that there are far more important things to consider first.
Episode 117: John Cornicello on Lens Distortion
In episode 110, Kirk and Jeff talked about dealing with distortion when you’re editing your photos. Now we’re happy to welcome portrait photographer and educator John Cornicello to discuss distortion when you’re photographing. You know those grids of headshots that demonstrate how wide-angle lenses cause distorted features? They’re wrong, and John explains why.
Episode 116: iPad Photo Editing
Is an iPad good for photo editing? It can be great for slimming your amount of gear on a trip, but what tradeoffs are involved? In this episode, Jeff and Kirk look at using an iPad or iPad Pro in a photography workflow, from importing images to culling and sorting to editing the photos.
Episode 115: iPhone Camera Tips & Tricks
Millions of people take billions of photos using the built-in Camera app on their iPhones, so we wanted to do an episode all about the clever and sometimes hidden capabilities of this camera that’s always with you.
Episode 114: Bryan Jones on Why Color Doesn't Exist
An offhand remark from our guest Bryan Jones when he was a guest on a previous episode stuck with us: “You know color doesn’t actually exist, right?” We had to invite him back to explain! Jones, a retinal neuroscientist, explains that color is really a shared hallucination and talks about how photographers can take advantage of this knowledge.
Episode 113: Do Photographers Need the Mac Studio?
Apple announced the Mac Studio, a brand new M1-based desktop Mac that smokes the performance of even the Mac Pro. But is it a good machine for photographers? Jeff and Kirk discuss what’s interesting about the Mac Studio and the new Studio Display.
Episode 112: Dan Bracaglia on Rediscovering Joy
Dan Bracaglia joins us again to talk about that perennial problem: rekindling the joy of photography. Especially in winter, it’s easy to remain uninspired about photography, when in fact we know that there are image possibilities everywhere. We chat about some unusual steps to find fun in photography.
Episode 111: The Glass App(roach) to Photography
Tom Watson and Stefan Borsje created the Glass app as a way to get back to the experience of enjoying photography, without the endless pursuit of engagement metrics and traffic and all the things other apps (*cough* Instagram *cough*) do that detracts from it. We talk to them about the Glass approach, the new iPad app, and the upcoming web version.
Episode 110: Distortion
What can you do when shooting with a wide lens introduces unwanted optical distortion in your photos? In this episode, Kirk and Jeff look at ways to correct for distortion, including correcting for horizontal and vertical planes, in apps such as Lightroom, Capture One, and Pixelmator Pro.
Episode 109: Joe McNally Is The Real Deal
Joe McNally, who humbly refers to himself as a “working photographer,” has shot everything from high-concept editorial to the Olympic games, and established a reputation as one of the most generous photographers in the business. We talked with Joe about his dogged start on the streets of 1970s New York City and how he’s built his career, which he chronicles in his new book, The Real Deal: Field Notes from the Life of a Working Photographer.
Episode 108: Masking in Lightroom
The new masking features in Adobe Lightroom and Lightroom Classic make it much easier to apply selective edits to areas such as skies or subjects, without a lot of manual fiddling.
Episode 107: Simulated vs. Optical Background Blur
You shot a lovely portrait and realized later that the background could benefit from some artistic blur. It used to be that if you didn’t get it in camera, you were stuck. But now it’s possible to recreate that blur using AI features in software later. Or, if you captured the shot using the iPhone’s Portrait Mode, you can edit the effect whenever you want. Is the software option really worth doing?
Episode 106: PhotoActive 2021 Gift Guide
When they set out to produce a gift guide—the first one in three years—Kirk and Jeff chose items that really reflect how they approach photography, and items that hopefully aren’t on every other photo gift guide out there. This episode covers a gamut of price ranges and interests, so something is sure to appeal to you as the giver or the receiver this holiday.
Episode 105: Aaron Hockley and Computational Photography
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational photography…whichever term you use, the technologies are here and touching almost every part of the photos you’re making. Our guest this week is Aaron Hockley, author of the book The Computer Ate My Photos: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Photography, and he’s here to help us unravel this brave new world (and convince us that he’s not a robot).
Episode 104: The Leica Episode
The day has arrived: Kirk finally purchased his dream camera, the Leica Q2 Monochrom. Why would someone pay for a camera that shoots only in black and white? In this article, we talk about the advantages of a sensor without RGB, how shooting with the Q2 Monochrom is changing the way Kirk shoots, and processing the images in Capture One.
Episode 103: Posing People with Lindsay Adler
Does the thought of posing people for portraits make you nervous? Our guest this week is fashion and portrait photographer Lindsay Adler, whose book The Photographer’s Guide to Posing will calm your nerves and give you the tools to make beautiful photos of people. Lindsay talks about how she prepares for a portrait shoot, techniques to encourage great poses, working with everyday people compared to working with models, and much more.