Blinking is a problem that every photographer deals with and while it frustrates many, most photographers come up with little tricks to avoid the blinks, but even those tricks aren’t fool proof and usually don’t account for the real reason the blinks are happening in the first place. So right out of the box — I want to debunk a common misconception. When you are shooting with flash — doesn’t matter if we are talking speedlight or studio strobes — the flash does NOT cause the blink that you photograph....

Room tone is literally how the name sounds. It’s a recording of the room’s tone. Its background noise. What’s going on when people are quiet. It’s the hum of the air conditioning unit, the hum of a PC fan whirring away in the background, the dull roar of traffic driving by outside the window. It’s used to help fill in the background of silence and audio dubs recorded elsewhere in a clinically noise-free studio as well as help to transition audio from one scene to another....

Taking self-portraits is a great way to get to know photography, but also to get to know yourself. But also, it helps you in the process of emotional healing after a trauma or during a rough period of your life. In his latest video, photographer Sean Tucker talks about the healing power of self-portraits and how they’ve helped him get through a crisis. And if you’re having a rough time right now, I strongly suggest that you watch it....

What if you had a lens so strong, it could compete with a microscope? The Laowa 100 mil F2.8 CA-Dreamer is a 2 to 1 macro lens which is quite an interesting option. It is a manual lens, with a portrait-friendly 100 millimeters. It’s built kinda weird, with the front element moving inside the lens barrel. It’s the first I’ve seen this weird lens design. More on that later. It is also a macro lens with an amazing two to one magnification ratio....

The Litepanels Gemini 2×1 announced in 2017 received a very warm reception on its release. Those who have purchased and use them absolutely love them. But sometimes you need something a little smaller, so Litepanels announced the Gemini 1×1 earlier this year. We heard that Litepanels were going to be at IBC 2019, so we decided to swing by the stand to find out more about them and what they can do....