The Phoblographer

If you look on social media, lots of photos have a particular format. Sure, you can share landscape-oriented photos pretty easily. But the ones that take up the most space are vertical images and portrait-oriented images. Photography hasn’t really caught up though. Photography has long been based on the idea that images will be printed onto paper. Then it was oriented towards computer screens. But the dominant devices these days are smartphones, and landscape-oriented imagery on smartphones doesn’t make sense. Instead, portrait and square photos are more practical. For this reason, I think a square camera sensor would make the most sense.

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Back in 2016, Hasselblad had a concept for the V1D. This was a camera that used a medium format sensor and cropped the image down to a square format. It was a weird but fascinating idea. While it ended up being vaporware, they were surely onto something. A square sensor format camera could be just what the industry needs right now.

You’re probably saying, but why not just crop the image? I’d argue back that you should have the image right from the start. A lot of cameras have a square format JPEG image option. It’s very fun to use. But medium format film cameras that used a 6×6 square format existed for years. I think a square format sensor could be the next big, fun thing in cameras.

A square camera sensor would change a lot of things. The body shape wouldn’t need to be so long. Instead, it could be cubed. The way folks composed images would totally change. And if they wanted to create a landscape or portrait-oriented photo, they could use an in-camera stitching method. Sony has a sweep panorama feature, but imagine doing it with a square camera sensor.

Specifically, I think a square camera sensor in a camera body like a Hasselblad 500C with a top-down LCD could be amazing and fun. Every camera these days more or less follows two shapes: a traditional DSLR or a rangefinder style. Sigma has tried and failed with a lot of ideas. But why does the industry continue to ignore a critical part of history? Many photographers have gone back to film to use Mamiya SLR film cameras partially because they love the format and the experience. So why can’t that be done a different way digitally?

I think a square camera sensor device could also be really simple to make lenses for. The camera would basically just use the center area of the lens where the image quality is best. And making a sensor larger than a Fujifilm GFX sensor would be the way to go here.

So who would do something like this? I think Hasselblad would be best. But let’s face it, they barely seem to exist as a camera company anymore. Tamron, years ago, owned Bronica. They make a ton of lenses and it would be amazing for them to team up with Sony to make their own square format cameras. Fujifilm might also make sense.

But could this actually happen? Unfortunately, I don’t think so. I think camera manufacturers often try to be very safe. And for business, that makes sense. But I wouldn’t believe anyone who told me there isn’t a demand for a square format sensor camera. If it were good, I think folks would totally buy it. It’s perfect for social media. And, again, most photos these days are consumed on social media. This website’s audience is 65% mobile-based.

Let’s be very honest here, Zeiss lenses are fantastic. They’re capable in every single way. For years, they also had some of the best image quality you could ever get from a lens. Zeiss lenses were available for Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony E, Leica-M, and Fujifilm X cameras. But they quietly disappeared from the photo industry with more of a focus on cinema. So what happened? Well, I’d like to relay what I’ve seen in my 12 years of journalism and covering the Zeiss company.

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For many years, Zeiss has been known as a premium lens manufacturer that offered a wonderful look. They were popular among Leica photographers and a few Canon photographers who used 5D cameras. The lenses gave a look Japanese manufacturers just weren’t offering. Zeiss optics were better: sharper, more contrasty, more vivid, and delivered beautiful focus fall-off. It’s was sometimes pretty obvious to tell when you were seeing a Zeiss image. We were reviewing them not long after I started the site in 2009. My first experience with Zeiss lenses was back in 2010. That’s over a decade ago. And even when I look back at that very old blog post, I still get goosebumps about how nice those photos are. A few times, I’ve gone to eBay to find some of those old Zeiss gems for DSLRs. You’d be amazed at how well they’ve held their value.

Back in 2013 though, the entire lens industry began to change. This was a time when major tsunamis and other effects of global warming were wiping out factories. It was also a time when third-party lens companies stepped up and created lenses that turned peoples’ heads. Zeiss announced the 55mm f1.4 Otus lens. They touted that this lens, when shot wide open, would be as sharp as their competition’s lenses stopped down. And as we saw, they were right. I think every photographer at the time was drooling over that lens but also hesitant because of the insanely expensive price. Zeiss touted this lens as a no-compromise lens to create the single best optic, but they neglected a few major points. A lens costing over $3,000 should have weather sealing and autofocus, but they didn’t have either. Still, the image quality really did prevail.

Around the same time, Sigma announced they’d be coming out with a 50mm f1.4 Art lens with autofocus. Amazingly, it held its own with the Zeiss 55mm Otus lens at a far cheaper cost. Lots of folks decided to go with slightly worse image quality fully understanding they could edit the images later on. They really wanted autofocus though.

Zeiss understood this–and found ways to press on. They delivered the Touit series of lenses for Fujifilm X mount and Sony E mount. We reviewed all of those and really liked them. But again, it was sometimes the price that held us back. Then Zeiss partnered with Sony on the full-frame cameras by delivering the Loxia and the Batis lens lineup. The latter had autofocus, but we haven’t seen anything from the company’s lens division since 2019. By that time, they had pretty much given up on DSLRs.

For the record, The Phoblographer has reviewed the most camera lenses of any publication in real-world reviews. We’ve done entire lens guides for their Milvus lenses while their Batis and Loxia lenses are rolled into our Sony FE Lens Guide. Trust me, if we could test them, we’d do so. Across the board, our staff tends to really like the challenge manual focus lenses give us. It makes our jobs a lot less monotonous.

There are some very odd, dark secrets in the camera and lens world. Some manufacturers make lenses for others. Other brands have closed-door deals. But Zeiss never managed to get autofocusing lenses for Canon or Nikon. However, they all had autofocus contacts for manual focusing. If Zeiss had just made some autofocus lenses, things probably would’ve been different.

So why did Zeiss stop making lenses for Son...

Most photographers automatically protect their camera with a padded bag — but what about the tripod? My own tripod is, admittedly, a little beat up from just being tossed in the bed of my pick-up truck. When I saw Manfrotto had launched a dedicated tripod bag to go along with the new accessories to their Tough series hard cases, I decided to give my tripod a much-needed break from the bumps and test it out. The Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Tripod bag uses a roll-top design that allows the bag to expand to accommodate more tripod sizes.

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Made for attaching to Manfrotto’s Tough series hard cases, the bag can also be used as a stand-alone tripod carrying case. It sports both a shoulder strap as well as a handle, along with those hard case attachment points. Priced at $60, it’s one of Manfrotto’s more affordable options for tripod bags that can accommodate a 34-inch folded tripod.

Table of Contents

Too Long, Didn’t Read

Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Tripod Bag Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Innovations

Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Tripod Bag Tech Specs

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Ease of Use

Conclusions

Likes

Dislikes

Too Long, Didn’t Read

The Manfrotto Pro Light Tough is great as a stand-alone camera bag or added to a Tough hard case. The size is better suited for mid to large-sized tripods — small travel tripods will have a lot of extra space. While I wish there were an extra pocket, it’s a solid, reasonably priced tripod-carrying solution.

Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Tripod Bag Pros and Cons

Pros

Three ways to carry — shoulder, hand, or attached to a Tough series hard case

Expandable design

Lots of room even for heads with larger levers

Comfortable to use

Durable, water repellent fabric

Cons

No extra pockets

Zippers are not water resistant

Gear Used

I tested the Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Tripod Bag with the Manfrotto BeFree travel tripod, as well as the Vanguard VEO 3T+ 264CB without reversing the legs. I also tested this attached to the Manfotto Pro Light Tough 55 hard case.

Innovations

Two key features set the Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Tripod bag apart from other options: an expandable design, and compatibility with hard cases. The bag’s design allows it to accommodate smaller travel tripods as well as larger heavy-duty tripods. Four attachment straps are designed to attach to the front of Manfrotto’s Pro Light hard case line, but this bag can also be used by itself.

Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Tripod Bag Tech Specs

Manfrotto lists the following specifications for the Pro Light Tough Tripod Bag:

Weight: 1.19 lbs

Minimum Weight: 1.19 lbs

Internal Dimensions: 7.09 x 3.94 x 34.65 in

External Dimensions: 7.87 x 4.72 x 36.02 in

Color: Black

Volume: 11.5 L

Material: Nylon, Synthetic Fabric

Tripod Compartment Dimensions: 7.09 x 3.94 x 34.65 in

Types Of Gear: Tripod

Type Of Bag: Carrying Solution

Ergonomics

The main compartment of the Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Tripod Bag can be from 30 to about 36 inches tall. That’s thanks to a roll-top that’s secured with a slide-on clasp on the outside of the bag. With the top fully expanded, you can fit up to a 34.65-inch folded tripod inside. The bag is narrower at the bottom and wider at the top. That means video heads with larger handles and dials will fit, provided the head is smaller than about 7 inches by 3.9 inches.

A zipper runs three-quarters of the bag’s length down one side and all the way through the top end. Even with the roll-top folded, that leaves a large enough opening to easily pull the tripod out. If you use the bag for the same tripod, you can adjust the roll-top as needed and leave it. You don’t have to undo the roll-top to unzip the bag. But, you do have to thread the zipper underneath the roll-top clasp. Reversing the zipper so that it started at the other end would have made it a bit faster to unzip for photog...

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You’re probably wondering why all these camera reviews sound the same. Well, quite frankly, we’re wondering why all these cameras are the same! For as good as the Nikon Z5 is, it should’ve been released years ago. This is what the Nikon Z6 should have been. And the Nikon Z6 II should’ve gotten some insane boosts. In some ways, Nikon is still the company we’ve known for over a decade. They’re still pretty much the best at high ISO output in some ways. Additionally, their cameras can still take good pictures. There’s also the really fun Nikon color profiles that irritatingly can’t be applied to your RAW files. Make no mistake, the Nikon Z5 is a good camera. In fact, it’s my favorite that Nikon has made in a long time. But Nikon isn’t innovating. They’re struggling to keep up, and there’s nothing that’s compelling us to buy from them unless you’re probably a YouTuber. Ultimately, it’s mostly the same internals as everything else with a better exterior.

Editor’s Note: Update as of February 2022, these updates are in bold.

Editor’s Note: We just talked to Nikon and have to issue an apology on our error. Lots of Nikon cameras do not have a textured ISO button. However, we’ve tested lots that do. I’ll rephrase this to say that little things like that really do count. Or having the illuminated buttons totally count. Further, in regards to weather sealing, everything should have an IP rating these days. It’s critical to the future of our industry.

Table of Contents

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Tech Specs

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Ease of Use

Autofocus

Image Quality

JPEG Output

RAW File Versatility

High ISO Output

Extra Image Samples

Conclusions

Likes

Dislikes

Pros and Cons

Pros

Dual card slots

The Single most reliable Nikon mirrorless camera I’ve used in terms of autofocus, battery life, and performance

Weather sealing

This is what the Nikon z6 should’ve been at the start

Beautiful image quality

I like the shutter sound

Charges while shooting video if hooked up via USB C

This is a finally proper camera for a working photographer

AF-F mode tracks beautifully in the video modes.

I’ve never played with the various more lively color modes. They’re very fun and great for webcam use!

A fantastic webcam. This and the Panasonic S1 have arguably been the best at tracking my face.

I really wish that Nikon pushed their creative presets a lot more. Their Sunday preset is so gorgeous.

It’s only around $1,400 at the Nikon Store on Amazon.

Cons

No-textured ISO button to look for in the dark. Really Nikon? When we pressed them on this, they didn’t answer us. Which makes us believe that they think our question isn’t important. We finally got an answer and were able to clarify that no Nikon cameras have the textured ISO button.

Why can’t their creative presets be applied to the RAW files in Capture One?

No buttons that light up in the dark

4K video mode crops the image when using it as a webcam

I miss the top LCD screen of the higher end camera models

Gear Used

We tested the Nikon Z5 with the 24-70mm f2.8 and the 35mm f1.8.

Tech Specs

Here’s a summary of the essential specs from the LensRentals listing. If you’re interested, rent it before you buy it.

24.3 Megapixel Backside illuminated full-frame sensor

Hybrid image autofocus; five-axis vibration reduction

ISO 100 – 51200

Weather sealing

4K UHD video with a crop

14-bit RAW depth

4.5 fps shooting

1/200th flash sync speed

1,040,000 Dot LCD screen

1.3 lbs.

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Ergonomics

The Nikon Z5 continues Nikon’s DSLR-feeling mirrorless camera trend. When you look at it, this camera seems pretty serious. But instead, it’s not one of Nikon’s most serious offerings. It’s eventually going to be targeted at the mid-tier when Nikon’s highest level cameras come out.

On the front of the camera, you’ve got a few controls. There’s the lens release. But there are also two customizable buttons. These buttons affect autofocus an...

I typically prefer backpacks for camera gear. But, when I knew I would be shooting a 10-hour wedding while seven months pregnant, I invested in a waist belt with lens pouches. I parked the heavy backpack, but could quickly access the essentials without adding additional weight to my back. My son is now two-and-a-half, yet I still switch from my backpack to a waist belt for long wedding days. So when Manfrotto announced the new Street Camera Waist Bag — in one of my favorite colors — I was eager to try it out.

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The Manfrotto Street Camera Waist Bag is a compact, 2L bag that can fit a lens or two from compact mirrorless systems, a compact camera, or a smaller drone. Besides being worn around the waist, it doubles as a sling. And despite being quite tiny, it can still house a water bottle or compact tripod using connection straps on the bottom. While another extra pocket would make this bag nearly perfect, the Street Waist is a good option for minimalist photographers.

Table of Contents

Too Long, Didn’t Read

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Innovations

Tech Specs

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Ease of Use

Conclusions

Likes

Dislikes

Too Long, Didn’t Read

The Manfrotto Street Waist is a small, “fanny pack” style bag that also converts to a sling. I loved using it as a lens bag for fast swaps, but it needs a few tweaks to be perfect. Hoever, all of that may be forgivable because of a $40 price tag.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Minimalist design

Quick to access lenses

Comfortable

Can be worn as a waist bag or sling

Straps for mini tripod or water bottle

Great color

Really affordable

Cons

No SD card pockets

Pretty small — only the smallest bodies will fit here, but works great for a lens bag (excluding big telephotos)

There’s no strap padding when worn as a sling.

Zippers are not weather-sealed.

Gear Used

I used this bag with the Leica M Macro 90mm f4, M Summilux 90mm f2, and the M Telyt 135mm f3.4. I also tested this lens with the Fujifilm 50mm f1 R WR and the Fujifilm 90mm f2 R LM WR. In both cases, I used the Street Waist as a lens bag for holding multiple lenses, rather than holding a body and one lens. And I still was able to barely fit the Fujifilm X-T4 in with the 90mm detached.

Innovations

While waist bags aren’t as plentiful as backpacks and messengers, they’re not impossible to find. The Manfrotto Street Slim isn’t the only bag that converts from waist to sling or even the only one that allows a tripod attachment. But, it sits at a very competitive $40, is one of the few options that are not black, and has a minimalist design.

Tech Specs

Manfrotto lists the following specifications for the Street Camera Waist Bag:

Minimum Weight: 0.66 lbs

Internal Dimensions: 8.66 x 2.76 x 5.51 in

Camera Insert Dimensions: 7.48 x 2.76 x 4.72 in

External Dimensions: 9.45 x 5.12 x 5.91 in

Volume: 2 L

Tripod Connection: Yes

Compatible Drones Models: DJI Mavic Pro, DJI Mavic Pro Platinum, DJI Mavic Air, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, DJI Mavic 2 Zoom

Material: Synthetic Fabric

Types Of Gear: Point & shoot, Smartphones, Mini tripod

Type Of Bag: Carrying Solution

Water Repellent: Yes

Ergonomics

The Manfrotto Street Waist bag is quite compact. Vertically, it won’t fit lenses longer than about 2.75 inches; stashed horizontally, a single lens under about 5.5 inches can ride along. For mirrorless cameras, I find the small size works best as a lens bag rather than one to carry all your gear. I could fit one lens and my X-T4 body, but I had to detach the lens first. As a lens bag, it fit my two Fujifilm lenses nicely, with a narrow spot between them that could stash batteries. With the Leica M system, which has much narrower lenses, I fit all three lenses and still had an extra slot big enough for batteries. As a small bag, photographers should carefully measure their gear to see if the Street Waist is the right fit.

The Street Waist is a very minimalist bag. There are just...

I typically prefer backpacks for camera gear. But, when I knew I would be shooting a 10-hour wedding while seven months pregnant, I invested in a waist belt with lens pouches. I parked the heavy backpack, but could quickly access the essentials without adding additional weight to my back. My son is now two-and-a-half, yet I still switch from my backpack to a waist belt for long wedding days. So when Manfrotto announced the new Street Camera Waist Bag — in one of my favorite colors — I was eager to try it out.

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The Manfrotto Street Camera Waist Bag is a compact, 2L bag that can fit a lens or two from compact mirrorless systems, a compact camera, or a smaller drone. Besides being worn around the waist, it doubles as a sling. And despite being quite tiny, it can still house a water bottle or compact tripod using connection straps on the bottom. While another extra pocket would make this bag nearly perfect, the Street Waist is a good option for minimalist photographers.

Table of Contents

Too Long, Didn’t Read

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Innovations

Tech Specs

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Ease of Use

Conclusions

Likes

Dislikes

Too Long, Didn’t Read

The Manfrotto Street Waist is a small, “fanny pack” style bag that also converts to a sling. I loved using it as a lens bag for fast swaps, but it needs a few tweaks to be perfect. Hoever, all of that may be forgivable because of a $40 price tag.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Minimalist design

Quick to access lenses

Comfortable

Can be worn as a waist bag or sling

Straps for mini tripod or water bottle

Great color

Really affordable

Cons

No SD card pockets

Pretty small — only the smallest bodies will fit here, but works great for a lens bag (excluding big telephotos)

There’s no strap padding when worn as a sling.

Zippers are not weather-sealed.

Gear Used

I used this bag with the Leica M Macro 90mm f4, M Summilux 90mm f2, and the M Telyt 135mm f3.4. I also tested this lens with the Fujifilm 50mm f1 R WR and the Fujifilm 90mm f2 R LM WR. In both cases, I used the Street Waist as a lens bag for holding multiple lenses, rather than holding a body and one lens. And I still was able to barely fit the Fujifilm X-T4 in with the 90mm detached.

Innovations

While waist bags aren’t as plentiful as backpacks and messengers, they’re not impossible to find. The Manfrotto Street Slim isn’t the only bag that converts from waist to sling or even the only one that allows a tripod attachment. But, it sits at a very competitive $40, is one of the few options that are not black, and has a minimalist design.

Tech Specs

Manfrotto lists the following specifications for the Street Camera Waist Bag:

Minimum Weight: 0.66 lbs

Internal Dimensions: 8.66 x 2.76 x 5.51 in

Camera Insert Dimensions: 7.48 x 2.76 x 4.72 in

External Dimensions: 9.45 x 5.12 x 5.91 in

Volume: 2 L

Tripod Connection: Yes

Compatible Drones Models: DJI Mavic Pro, DJI Mavic Pro Platinum, DJI Mavic Air, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, DJI Mavic 2 Zoom

Material: Synthetic Fabric

Types Of Gear: Point & shoot, Smartphones, Mini tripod

Type Of Bag: Carrying Solution

Water Repellent: Yes

Ergonomics

The Manfrotto Street Waist bag is quite compact. Vertically, it won’t fit lenses longer than about 2.75 inches; stashed horizontally, a single lens under about 5.5 inches can ride along. For mirrorless cameras, I find the small size works best as a lens bag rather than one to carry all your gear. I could fit one lens and my X-T4 body, but I had to detach the lens first. As a lens bag, it fit my two Fujifilm lenses nicely, with a narrow spot between them that could stash batteries. With the Leica M system, which has much narrower lenses, I fit all three lenses and still had an extra slot big enough for batteries. As a small bag, photographers should carefully measure their gear to see if the Street Waist is the right fit.

The Street Waist is a very minimalist bag. There are just...

I have a very love-hate relationship with it when it comes to retouching. It is incredible to have a recipe of minor fixes that gives an ordinary image something extra. But, to get the desired result, switching between programs is frustrating and time-consuming. Capture One has made vast improvements to its software and continues its reign as the industry standard. The software could become the standalone, raw editor for most photographers’ arsenals if they were to double down on this Capture One wish list with a future update.

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Capture One does a lot of things well. Color grading, black and white tones, and basic global adjustments are easily performed with the software program. Recent upgrades such as Canon native wireless tethering, panoramic stitch, and HDR merge are welcome functionalities. As good as the program is however, there are some improvements I would love to see them make. Answering this Capture One wish list would allow them to become the all-in-one editing suite they’re capable of being.

Masking and Selections

Photoshop is still the go-to if you are looking to make precise adjustments to a specific area of an image. Their selection functionality is significantly more advanced than what is possible with Capture One’s magic brush. It simply lacks the precision and speed offered in Adobe. Take window pulls in real estate photography as an example. Even with the added benefit of HDR merge, precise selections within the highlights are still challenging to do well. For portraiture, making adjustments to the background should be more efficient.

Color Corrections

Capture One has simplified color-correcting inconsistent skin tones. Normalizing magenta fingertips to match the more golden hues has become relatively easy. After perusing the forums, it has become evident that many photographers are requesting frequency separation type capabilities.

The addition of a color-matching brush would be a great start. This would allow portrait photographers to blend skin colors for close-up beauty images better. Real estate photographers could even out color casts around the edges of the frame. It would be fantastic to do all color finessing within the construct of one application.

Ethical Skin Retouching Capabilities

The anticipation of the addition of style brushes within Capture One was met with a slight feeling of deflation. Dodging and burning brushes with the pen pressure is pretty good. But, it could be improved with updates to overall opacity and flow capabilities, perhaps multiple options. The healing brush and clone stamp are sufficient for near-flawless skin or digitals for model test shoots. However, more notable imperfections become problematic within the software. The addition of a patch tool on par with the quality and speed found in Adobe would be a huge upgrade. As it is, it is lethargic and feels a bit proprietary in comparison. So, in an industry where time is money, time is best-suited working with skin in a different program.

Final Thoughts

One of the things I appreciate most about Capture One is that they listens to their customers. Now that many of these desired tools have been integrated into the software, I’d love to see them commit to making it as competitive as possible. I hope one of their subsequent upgrades lets me fully untether from Adobe.

In this week's episode of Inside the Photographer’s Mind, we’re joined by Alex Miller aka Liquid Verve.

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There is a common misconception that men are much easier to photograph. While this holds when it comes to men’s less demanding styling, women can be every bit as easy to work with as men. Understanding a bit of the psychology at play, setting expectations, and communication are vital elements to a successful shoot. These skills are not difficult to learn and easily mastered with practice. Plus, they will help you take better portraits.

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Table of Contents

Communicate

Stock Poses

Bring It to Life

Sensual Over Sexual: The Key to Better Portraits

Communicate

Let clients know in the beginning that you are getting to know their angles. It’s like dancing with a brand new partner and working together to get your footing and develop a rhythm. Tell them of your pattern and any quirks you may have. I almost always forget my lens cap at least once during a shoot. I also have a habit of trailing off in thought when the images start coming together.

Communicating this in the beginning always elicits laughter when it comes to fruition during the shoot. Women naturally put a lot of stress on themselves, so showing that you’re very human eases the moment. It also builds a natural rapport with them quickly. That rapport is instrumental to creating powerful portraits that build confidence and a positive reputation. The relationships produced as a result are everything.

From our article: How to Communicate with a Portrait Subject.

“Then I recommend taking a test shot of some sort and with the model holding the pose or something relatively close to it, and showing them what the framing will be and how to work with it. Then after each shot, just tell them to change it up a bit.”

It is also essential to provide positive feedback during their shoot to get better portraits. Don’t be afraid to show clients the image and encourage them to get it better with a few tweaks if you want a little more. On the other hand, be honest when a proposed shot just isn’t working. For example, sometimes, a proposed picture just isn’t working. Rather than push something that isn’t there, acknowledge how the angle and timing aren’t coming together. Also, communicate that the two of you can do even better with something else. Circling back around to an idea once the cadence has been developed is always a possibility.

Eventually, successful communication often leads to connecting empathically. When this happens, both the photographer and client build off each other’s energy. This immersion allows communication without words, and the results are always worthwhile.

Stock Poses

One of the key ingredients to better portraits is having a list of basic poses and adapting them for every body type. Examples of these poses include a simple head and shoulders shot. A properly positioned hand by the face always works. Give them directions like bringing their forehead to the lens and show them the result. The accentuated jawline extinguishes the angst of a double chin while simultaneously building their confidence in you.

Another stock pose is an asymmetrical knee-to-head crop. For women, the focus is on creating an S-curve. Directions include placing their weight on the back leg and hands either at the side or in their pockets for a more pleasing look. I tend to photograph men pretty square on. Additionally, I tend to have them put their weight on the front leg to look more powerful. Try nailing these basic poses towards the beginning.

Bring It to Life

Sometimes heavily directing an image sucks the energy out of it. It becomes static and dull. A simple remedy is telling them it was a practice run and now it’s time to bring the image to life. Tell them you will give them a countdown and then ask them to hit it. Repeat it a few times and then direct them to laugh or try to capture an expression. Paint a pictu...

Backing up photos is one of the most important things you can do as a photographer. It’s poor form to have your images on only one hard drive. If a disaster happens and you damage your computer, or someone steals it, your work is gone forever. Thankfully, there are several ways to backup your images. Online cloud storage and external drives remain the most popular. But there’s one method of backing up your photos that people often overlook.

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Backing up Photos with Cloud Storage

Cloud storage has become the most popular way of backing up photos in the modern era. As everything is digital nowadays, having the ability to sync photos across multiple devices is helpful for a photographer’s workflow. From Google Drive to Dropbox, all the mainstream cloud services offer robust, industry-standard encryption for your files. But they’re not perfect. The top dogs don’t use client-side encryption, meaning they can access your photos should they wish. And they’re also not immune to middleman cyber attacks. So, while they’re generally safe, there’s always a chance of something going wrong.

If you want total control over who can access your files, I recommend going with a cloud service that offers zero-knowledge encryption. Some of the best options are:

Sync.com

pCloud

MEGA

Also, while it’s rare, some files can become corrupt over time. I’ve used cloud storage for over five years, and I can no longer open some files. We’re talking about one or two images from a collection of thousands. But imagine if that one image was your favorite photograph? It would be heartbreaking.

Backing up Photos with an External Drive

The old-school way of backing up your photographs was to copy them from your computer’s hard drive and back them up to an external hard drive. Hard drives are small enough to travel with, but there’s one major downside to using them: they don’t last forever. Depending on how much you use it, you may need to replace your hard drive every three to five years. If you don’t keep on top of maintenance, it may fail you one day and your backups will be lost. SSDs are more reliable, perform better, and last longer, but still not forever.

The Overlooked Method of Backing up Photographs

With cloud storage and external drives out of the way, what other method can photographers use when backing up photos? Prints. Now before you all scream, “Do you know how much it would cost to print all my photographs?” that’s not what I’m suggesting.

Amongst the masses of photographs we create, every photographer has their “gold collection.” 10 or 20 images that they’re totally in love with and that highlight the peak of their photography skills. Backing up photos or not, you should print every a-star photograph you create. Digital screens will never do as much justice as a quality print with a premium matte finish. You can smell the photograph, you can feel it, and you can immerse yourself inside it. Sounds deep? Try it. You won’t disagree.

But beyond that, a physical print is the perfect backup and companion to the digital version. You can hang it on the wall if you want to bring extra life to your home. But honestly, I would frame your printed backups and store them away either in your home or, if you have the money, a vault. Because when your cloud storage provider hits a roadblock or your hard drive goes to heaven, the printed versions of your most prized photographs will remain intact for you to enjoy for as long you’re around.