As photographers, the choice is up to us to determine what kind of light to use in our work. Light is the essence of photography; without it, we can’t get an exposure to register on our film or digital sensor. But we have choices when it comes to the kind of light we want to either suit our need, like in a family portrait, or for creative effect, like fashion, editorial, or something completely creative. Light is our muse, our mistress, our all-consuming friend and foe alike, for light—in all of its forms—must be handled with care so our end result reflects our creative vision. 

Editor's Note: This is a guest blogpost from Robert Harrington

This week in the news: Canon's T4i recall is more widespread than originally thought; RED once again makes some huge claims; Sony introduces a new interchangeable lens camera; and lots more from the videography world.

This is your B&H Photo Pulse News Roundup for August 17^th, 2012.

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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. 

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.

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 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.

Every now and then, we will give the spotlight to select photos from our awesome fans posted on our Facebook. Troy Shinn's photo above was recently selected, and it received an outpouring of love from amongst our other followers.

We were so awe-struck by it, that we asked Troy to share with us how he shot it. Here's Troy's story.