Photography Life

It’s been a very long time since I last wound film onto a developing reel in a darkroom, mixed my developer, tempered it to the precise temperature, and then—like some alchemist—developed the film. Still, I can vividly recall those moments and, later, the excitement of darkroom printing under dim red light. But enough nostalgia. I gave away my darkroom gear long ago, and the smell of developer has been replaced by coffee sitting next to the computer on which I now edit black-and-white photographs using DxO Silver Efex.

This morning, Viltrox announced that their 35mm f/1.2 LAB lens is now available for the Nikon Z System at a price of $999. I’m here to share my field review of this lens with you and answer questions about its build quality, performance, and more.

When someone says “sports photographer,” many of us probably imagine a row of long telephoto lenses crammed together in the corner of a stadium. In some ways, that image isn’t far from the truth. But there are sports that don’t have boundaries, safety nets, or predictable arenas — sports that take place in conditions most photographers will never experience.

We live in an age of extreme specialization. There are experts in bird bioacoustics, bacterial flagella, coprophagous insects. Even we photographers tend to pigeonhole ourselves as wildlife photographers, street photographers, sports photographers, landscape photographers, and who knows what else.

After the camera and lens, the next most essential tool for photographers is the tripod. Although I often dislike tripods because they take up so much space in my bag, the stability they provide is unmatched. Recently, I had the opportunity to test the Heipi K32 with the KB60 ballhead, a combination specifically designed for wildlife photography. How did it perform?

As humanity, we reportedly take more than five billion photos every single day, upwards of two trillion in a year. The most photographed subject in this enormous ocean of pictures? People and our faces. It’s no surprise, then, that the most crowded niche in the world of prime lenses is portrait glass. And indeed, among full-frame primes across brands, the 85mm focal length dominates by a wide margin.

Perhaps the most common mistake of a bird photographer (and not just beginners) is focusing too much on the feathered subject itself. It’s much like the tunnel vision of a hunter, and in fact, photographing animals can be compared to hunting in many ways. Well… at least right up until the final moment.

This week, while testing a new tripod in the dark aviary at Prague Zoo, I recalled the words that once slipped out of my mouth when I refused to leave a photo spot and admit that the day was over. I said it as a joke, but it pretty much sums up why some of us lug around heavy and clumsy telephoto lenses. “Do you know what the advantage of f/2.8 aperture is?” I asked my friends, who were slowly packing up their slower lenses. “That you can use it.” A few turns of the aperture, and you can keep shooting where a slower lens can’t. However, we pay a hefty price for those few minutes at the end of the day! But enough philosophizing – it’s time to take a look at this week’s photography news.

Few things improve video quality more than good, continuous light sources. Although traditional video lights are bulky, recently there’s been a rise of small, portable devices that can provide light for video pretty much anywhere. In this review, I’ll be telling you about the K&F Concept RGB Video Light.

Few genres of photography are as unpredictable as wildlife photography. You can spend days in the most biodiverse place on the planet, like Amazon rainforest, and come home without a single decent photo. On the other hand, you may find yourself making a random stop while driving home from work and end up with one of your favorite photos. It has to be said, moments resembling the first scenario tend to outnumber the latter. But every now and then, instead of the usual famine, a genuine feast arrives.