Chris Gampat's blog

Creating visual depth isn’t something that comes to mind right away when photographing. We’re usually concentrating on getting a proper exposure and getting our subject in focus. Even when we’re composing, we’re often thinking about ‘rules of thirds’ or some other compositional idea. Yet, visual depth is what is often lacking in a photograph—especially a scenic or landscape image. If you want your pictures to have more impact, start paying attention to how you can suggest depth in your photo.  Remember that you are taking a three-dimensional world, and distilling it into two dimensions in the final image, and you don’t want that image to appear flat. There are several things you can do to put the suggestion of depth into your images.

Editor's Note: This is a guest blogpost from Brenda Tharp. 

This week in the news: The Canon 7D receives a major firmware update; Nikon releases two new cameras; a new iPhone app is released, which will be all the rage at your next wedding; and the hacking that caused some serious controversy...

This is your B&H Photo Pulse News Roundup for August 10^th, 2012.

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As photographers, we need our gear. Without it, we’re just people with highly visual imaginations and restless index fingers. However, the conundrum of all photographers is acquiring the right combination of equipment without blowing their budgets. In reality, there’s no “right” or “standard” selection of gear—everyone’s creative vision and needs are different. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a beginner, putting together a cost-effective kit that still offers you the freedom and flexibility to exercise your photography as you see fit, can be a real challenge.

To help you navigate this perpetual dance, let’s see how I built my camera bag over the years. Please note that these ideas do not represent the opinions and needs of the other 2,459,276,483 photographers out there, who will probably disagree with me.

BHInsights blogger David Wells has been a busy man! He was recently on an assignment that tasked him to photograph the historically-significant Islamic architecture in Bijapur, in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka, for Saudi Aramco World Magazine. They were quite tedious to get to, since there is no commercial airport in Bijapur, and during the short window of time that he had for the shoot, no trains could be found from Mumbai, to get him to and from that city with enough time to do the kind of photography he was expected to do.

Capturing the photo above was not only quite a physical task, but also required lots of knowledge and understanding of exposures and metering. Here's David Wells, explaining how he got the shot:

This week in the news: Some new Apple news arrives in the form of upgrades for the MacBook Pro Retina, and a tasty new app; Fujifilm had a lot happening with them as well; Lenovo's new laptop might be just what your student is looking for, and more.

This is your B&H Photo Pulse News Roundup for August 3^rd, 2012.

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A funny thing happened as photographic technology became better and better: lenses got smarter, but photographers?—not necessarily.

Yes, modern lenses are ultra-sharp and super-contrasty, they focus automatically, and undesirable artifacts like chromatic aberration and barrel distortion have improved. However, autofocus technology has brought three critical changes that serious photographers need to consider carefully when they choose their lenses, because they can be a hindrance to thoughtful photography if not used carefully.

Editor's Note: This is a guest blogpost by Brian Dilg of NYFA. For more educational resources, you can check out lots of their classes.

A long time ago, I wrote an article entitled Bag of Confidence, and ever since, many have turned to me with their equipment questions. I would love to profess that I was smart enough to have just the right camera gear from the get go, but such is not the case. Like so many in the field, having the right camera gear was a trial-by-error methodology for much of the beginning of my photography career. I was asked to write this piece in the hope that you might learn from my mistakes, and build on my successes. So here’s how my camera bag has in it what it does today.