5 Fears to Overcome When Starting a Photography Business

By: James Maher

As you enter the field of professional photography, there is one thing that will become immediately clear. One of your biggest obstacles will be fear. You will worry that you are not prepared for a job, that you are not experienced enough, that something will go wrong, or that they will not like your images.

Business Portrait.  Each photography job will have a different makeup and you should create a game plan going in.

This is normal and I have bad news for you; the fear will never fully go away. It will get easier however, and you will become better at pushing through it. As time progresses you will find yourself confidently going into jobs that you used to make you petrified. But even then, a whole new set of fears will arise as you move into more advanced jobs.
This can paralyze you, especially as you are starting out. It is the biggest obstacle that will stand in your way towards becoming successful. But fear not, because you are not alone. Even the more experienced photographers stay up sleepless the night before jobs.
The key is to harness that fear and understand that it is normal. It is good in fact, because it means that you are progressing and trying new things. It means you are doing something interesting that you will be proud about afterwards. As you learn, you will make mistakes, but it is how you deal with those mistakes, how you learn from them, and how you push through the fear that will be the impetus for your success.
Here is a list of my toughest fears to push through as a professional starting a photography business, and how I deal with them.

1. Is my work good enough? What if I’m not experienced enough for a job?

When you begin to think about starting a business the scariest question is whether your work and your abilities are good enough. You may have heard you are talented or that you have a gift for image making, but the reality is that being a good photographer is based on your experience and the amount of effort, thought, and study that you put into your work. Anyone can take a good photograph, but professionals learn to do it day in and day out in a variety of circumstances.
If you are starting out, no matter how good you are, you will have a lot to learn. It is important to know this. Everyone started somewhere. Spend time researching people who do the type of work that you want to do and figure out how they do it. Learn from them. Read about photography and settings and situations. Use websites like dPS to improve your skills. Before you do a job research what you want the photographs to look like and plan out how you will pull them off. Go into the job with a plan.

Environmental Portrait. If you are an introvert like me, interacting with subjects to get them in the right mindset will make you nervous. This will improve with experience and you should study other photographers to pick up tips on how to best interact with subjects.

If you treat your image making like this and put the work into it, even if you are not currently ready, you will be soon. The more prepared you are, the more confident you will be when going into jobs and marketing yourself. All of the information is out there for you to prepare yourself, it is just a matter of doing it.
You will most likely look back on your work two years from now and see how much better you have become, and that is the point. Everyone had to start from somewhere and it is the prepared and thoughtful photographers who ultimately become successful.

2. Am I charging the right amount of money?

Pricing is an artform based on experience. At first it can be scary because you will not have any experience with it. Also, if you are not confident in your work or your ability, then how can you be confident in pricing your work?
If you are entering the professional world you have to understand that you are starting a business. You need a business plan. You have to charge enough to make a living. If you are making the commitment to do this, even if you are not fully comfortable yet, you still have to make a living.
Research other photographers in your area or field and figure out what they are charging. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and think about what they might be willing to pay. Create a pricing structure based on this and raise your prices as you become more experienced. Some jobs you will lose because you are too expensive. No matter what you charge, there are always people who will think you are too expensive. Do not let these people affect your opinion of what you charge. Other customers will pass you by because you are not expensive enough! That happens.

Environmental Portrait. Some jobs will be much easier than others but always plan for the worst.

Imagine you are hiring a wedding photographer with a budget of $5,000 and you like two photographers who seem like they have fairly similar experience, but one charges $2,000 and the other charges $4,500.  Which one will you hire? Some might hire the $2,000 photographer but many would hire the $4,500 photographer because they would assume that this photographer was more experienced solely based on the price they command. They would not want to risk hiring the cheaper photographer for the most important day of their lives.
Also, if people tell you your prices are too high, educate them on why you charge what you do. Many people who hire you will not understand photography. There are a lot of people out there who think photography is just about getting a camera, showing up for an hour, going home, and sending the photos. That is so, so far from the truth. Explain what you will be doing for them, the time and knowledge that goes into the job, and why it is priced where it is. Some people will understand, be happy that you explained it to them, and will then hire you. Some will not, but then you don’t want to work with those people in the first place.
Do not be afraid to lose a job because of price. That will inevitably happen and it should not dictate your pricing strategy.

3. Will my equipment break?

This one scares the heck out of me. What if something breaks while I am on a shoot? If you are creating a photography business, you need to have backups in place. A photographer plans based on contingencies. This is not only a vital business practice, but very important for your peace of mind and confidence.
Have an organized system for your equipment and bags and a consistent way of packing them for jobs. Have a backup of everything. If you do the same job regularly, then it is worth it to purchase two of everything that you use regularly. You can consider renting equipment for jobs that you do not do as frequently.

4. The neverending job and difficult clients

I used to have a big problem taking jobs that I shouldn’t have gotten involved in. I would be flattered that someone wanted to hire me and I hated to turn down income, particularly during the lean times. This became a huge problem, especially with the difficult clients who kept changing the job parameters and asking for more. This mistake cost me a lot of time and ultimately money.
Your time is valuable and certain jobs, particularly when you are starting, will not be worth your time. If you are starting a photography business you need to build up a steady stream of clients and having one take up an inordinate amount of your time, particularly if they are not paying you well, is just not worth it. You could be spending that valuable time marketing yourself and building your knowledge and business.
Always get all of the information up front from the client before you quote a price and size them up. It can be obvious, sometimes right away, when a client will be difficult. When you get all of the details stated up front, if the parameters of the job happen to change later in the process, then you will have the grounds to ask for more money for the extra work they are asking you to do. This will keep clients from taking advantage of your time and asking for more than what was agreed upon. Sometimes they will not even remember what they had asked for at the beginning.

An engagement portrait. Some clients will prefer more posed portraiture that looks like it came out of a magazine. Some will want both. The better you know your clients the better you can anticipate what the will want.

5. Will the client like my work?

I have been doing photography jobs for a decade now and I still get nervous every single time I have to press the send button for the final images. No matter how confident I am in them, that fear is never going to go away for me. It might be the same for some of you.
However, it used to be more debilitating than it is now. At the beginning it would cause me to procrastinate and it would cause me to take so much longer editing the images than it should have. I notice that this happens to a lot of photographers. Newer photographers often spend much more time on the editing than the more experienced photographers. Some of this is based on speed and experience, but I find that the biggest factor is that the experienced photographers have their editing process down to a science. There is a structure to the way they do things that makes everything more efficient and having this structure also helps reduce the fear.
Create a consistent structure for how you edit jobs. Here is mine:

• I first start by choosing my final selection of RAW negatives that I will send to the client. I go through all of the images in Adobe Lightroom and star everything that I think is decent as three stars.
• I then take a break to clear my head and eyes and go through the three star images and make the best of that bunch four stars.
• The four starred images will be the ones that I will send the client.
• I do a second and sometimes a third round through, moving some of the four starred images back to three stars and making the best images five stars. The five starred images are in case I want to send a small edit of the top photos or if I want to access them later for my portfolio.
  

  Friendly and natural business portraits. When you need to create images that feel natural you need a game plan for how you are going to make the subjects feel relaxed. Think ahead of time about what you can say or do to achieve this relaxed environment.

Once I have this done, the path to the finished product is laid out before me. I then go through all of the negatives and get them to the exact crop that I want. I do this because I want to see the whole sequence of images that I will be sending to the client before I start editing the final look of them.
Finally, I go through and edit the images. The hardest aspects for me are getting the color balance, contrast, and exposure to be perfect. Also, one of the toughest things to do is to make all of the photos feel consistent. This is why I like to have the final edit of negatives chosen and cropped before I begin to work on the aesthetics. It gives me a clear path to get to this endpoint.
Do you see how an efficient system can cut out hours and even days of editing time? It keeps you organized and this organization is meant to break through any procrastination and worry about the final photographs. Then, all you have to do is stand up for a second, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and hit the send button.
Take yourself seriously, especially when you are starting out. If you are starting a photography business, commit to it. You are a photographer, you don’t do photography. You have a product that takes a lot of effort, knowledge, and skill. Your product has a lot of value and not everyone with a DSLR can do what you do.
Need more help with business? Try these other dPS articles:

• 30 Things you Should Know to Help you Start a Photography Business
• 36 of the Best Online Tools to Boost Your Photography Business
• 5 Things to Consider Before Starting Your Photography Business
• 5 Tips to Expand your Photography Business Skills
• 5 Ways to Dip your Toe into the Business of Photography
• The Ultimate Guide to Going Pro as a Photographer

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How to Prevent, Detect, and Recover from Dumb Photographer Mistakes

By: Rick Ohnsman

I make ’em, you make ’em, all photographers make ’em sooner or later – dumb photographer mistakes.
Today’s cameras are now essentially computers, and the saying about computers is, “They do what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do.”  Leave a switch in the wrong position, forget to restore a setting after taking a prior image, or toggle any myriad of other possible things other than they should be and it’ll happen – the “gotchas will getcha.”
I’ve yet to meet the perfect photographer, the one that never makes dumb photographer mistakes.  The difference is learning to quickly discover a problem, determine what the problem may be, and knowing how to quickly recover.  The intent of this article is to cover some of the more common mistakes and perhaps spare you the pain of learning them the hard way.

“Smart people do stupid things. Stupid people don’t learn from them.”
Frank Sonnenberg

We all make ’em – Dumb Photographer Mistakes. When the gotchas getcha, being able to quickly 

recover is key.

The “Happy Idiot”

The worst mistakes you can make in photography are the ones you don’t detect until later, after the photo session, maybe even back home when you finally sit down to edit your shots.
Before digital, this was the kind where you might happily shoot an entire session, get home, open the back of the camera and see you’d forgotten to load any film.
This might still happen in a digital camera if you have the setting “release shutter without card” turned on and then never “chimp” your shots to see what you’re getting.

When in a store in demo mode, it might be fine to have the shoot without card mode enabled. In all 

other cases, it’s a very bad idea.

Some photographers will tell you that chimping your shots (checking them on the LCD after taking them), is a sign of an amateur.  Okay,  you “perfect photographers” might not need to do this.  Me?  I chimp whenever I can.  The times when I’ve been burned most often were when I didn’t check.
One of the best things digital photography gives us is the ability to immediately review our images after taking them. We can do so right there in the field where we can immediately detect and remedy any problems.
I still bow to the wedding photographers who used film. They shot an entire wedding and were so confident in their abilities that they rarely had any nasty surprises when they developed the negatives.
There’s nothing worse than snapping away like a “happy idiot,” clueless that you’re just making those dumb photographer mistakes.

Something’s wrong here

In the medical world, they talk about “early detection.” Catch a problem early, and you can reverse it. You minimize the damage and perhaps even find a cure.
So let’s use that medical terminology; symptom, diagnosis, and cure as we look at some typical dumb photographer mistakes you might make.

Everyone will make dumb photographer mistakes occasionally. A smart photographer can quickly 

identify symptoms, diagnose the problem, and affect a cure to recover quickly.

Focus Faux Pas

Flubs, foul-ups, and a few other f-words can describe what happens when you fail to get fine focus in your photos. Worse is that while we can sometimes rescue an exposure issue in editing, to date, there is no cure for a misfocused, unsharp, image. Let’s use our terms to address some of the dumb photographer mistakes you might make.

Symptom – The entire image is fuzzy, nothing sharp in the shot

Diagnosis – If you’re using Autofocus, is the switch “on”? Are you half-pressing/holding/getting focus lock and then squeezing the button the rest of the way to trip the shutter?
I’ve seen many newbies either push the shutter button in one quick motion (both shaking the camera and not allowing it to get focus before making the shot). I’ve also seen them half-pressing, getting focus, releasing, and then pressing the button a second time.

Did you forget to turn on the Autofocus switch? Or used Manual Focus and then forget to turn it back 

on? When you are having focusing issues, this should be the first check.

Another possibility is that the shutter speed is too low. If you’re handholding the camera, remember the “Reciprocal Rule,” which simply means your shutter speed should be at least the inverse or your focal length. So, with a 50mm lens, that would be 1/50th. Out at 400mm, that would be 1/400 second.
You might get away with a slightly longer shutter speed if your camera or lens has image stabilization. However, it’s better to err on the side of a faster shutter speed when you can.
Of course, if you want to freeze a fast-moving subject, a shorter shutter speed will be required.
If you’re manually focusing, such as when making landscape photos, you can go to live view. Use the magnifying feature to check critical focus on a particular spot, and then make your shot. But here’s the “gotcha” with this one. (Don’t ask me how I know about this.) You use that method to make your photo, then go onto making other shots, but forget you’ve turned off autofocus. The camera may still fire, even if the focus is slightly off. While you might not detect a very slight misfocus while in the field, you’ll cuss later when back in edit, you detect your mistake.
Cure – There is no editing cure for photos where the focus is soft.  Yeah, I know Photoshop and other software has some tools that claim to fix blurry photos.  Some are even using  Artifical Intelligence (AI) to do it now.  It sorta, kinda works, but there is no substitute for getting it sharp in the field.  Learn proper focusing techniques.  Let’s look at some other typical focus flubs.

Understand and use the autofocus points in your camera. Most cameras will default to the center 

point, and if your subject is not in the center, you may not get focus on the subject you want.

Symptom – Some things in the image are sharp, just not where you wanted

Diagnosis – Did you use the focus-points in your camera and put them on what you wanted in focus? Beginners often don’t know about focus points, merely using the default center point. Then, when what they wanted in focus wasn’t in the center, they wonder why the subject isn’t focused. Another possibility is too wide an aperture giving too limited a depth of field. A good example is a group photo where people in the front row are in focus, but the second-row people aren’t.
Cure – There’s no cure for the shots you already made that are blurry. However, if detected in the field, check to be sure you are using the focus points properly.
If your subject is moving, perhaps continuous (servo) focus might be appropriate. Be sure your aperture selection gives you adequate depth-of-field too.

When working on a tripod, turn off the image stabilization. It won’t help, and in fact, might hurt 

image sharpness.

Symptom – You were on a tripod, but your shots are still slightly soft

Diagnosis – Is the stabilization switch on your camera or lens on?
Cure – When working on a tripod, turn off the auto stabilization.  It won’t help and could possibly hurt your images, attempting to compensate for motion that isn’t there.

Switches and buttons and menus, oh my!

There are so many settings in modern cameras that it can be overwhelming. Many of the auto modes can be lifesavers, relieving the “chores” of photography and letting the photographer instead concentrate on being creative.
They are great when they work.
Where they fail is when the camera is “fooled” by circumstances where an intelligent photographer would choose differently, or when settings are inadvertently left on or off.
Let’s look at some examples.

Spot metering has its uses, but forget to switch back to something like matrix/evaluative metering 

when you’re done, and you will puzzle over why your images are wildly exposed.

Symptom – The exposure seems completely out of whack, regardless of the mode you’re using

Diagnosis – Did you go to Spot Metering for a previous shot and forget you left that on?
Cure – Many cameras now warn the user they are in spot metering mode with a “!” mark in the viewfinder.  Spot metering has very specific uses, and in those cases, it’s terrific.  In most other cases, it will wildly mess up your exposure and leave you to wonder why.

Auto Noise Reduction works by taking a second black frame and combining it with your exposure. 

You get to wait while it does that. Decide if that’s acceptable before engaging the option.

Symptom – You make a shot and it seems to take the camera a long time before it’s ready to make another.

Diagnosis – If you have the Long Exposure Noise Reduction feature turned on and are making longer exposure images, the camera will take a second “black frame” image and then use that to reduce noise.  Sometimes that’s great, but realize it will take twice as long for the camera to process and store the image, sometimes making you wait.
Cure – Use the Low Exposure Noise Reduction feature only in special circumstances (perhaps when doing astrophotography where high ISO and noise might be involved). Otherwise, turn it off.

You might use multi-shot bracketing to make images you’ll combine later. Be sure to turn it off when 

done or you’ll get a surprise when making subsequent shots.

Symptom – You click the shutter, the countdown timer activates and then fires off five shots

Diagnosis – You probably set up the camera with a 2-second timer and also for a 5-shot bracket.
Cure – This is a great feature when you want it, but after you’re done, return the settings to single-shot and turn off the countdown timer setting.  Otherwise, when you only want a quick single shot, you’ll wait while the time counts down and then get several.

You might have an occasion to only want .jpg images, but don’t forget to put it back to Raw when 

you’re done. Your editing options are much more limited with .jpg files. You will be very sad if you 

intended to make Raw images and only come home with .jpgs.

Symptom – You get home from a session and all of your images are .jpg, no raw images to be found on the card

Diagnosis – You probably did an earlier shoot where you only needed .jpg images. You set the camera to do that, and then forget to put it back.
Cure – You can still work with .jpg images, but you will have greatly reduced editing options.  Chimping will not tell you when this is happening as the image you see on the LCD is always a .jpg. So make it a habit to always put your camera back in Raw Mode after a shoot if you’ve changed it.

Return to a standard

I could go on about all the settings, buttons, and dials you might have in the wrong position, what will tip you off, and how to correct such problems. There are dozens of “gotchas” when this occurs.
The common cure is to always return to your personal defaults if you’ve strayed for a special situation. Make it a habit to check and return your settings to your defaults when you put the camera away. Then, when you’re driving down the road on the way home and Bigfoot (Yowie in Australia, or beasts with a few other names in other parts of the world), suddenly steps out of the forest, you can quickly turn on the camera and have a better chance of getting the shot.
Seriously, for any situation where you don’t have time to fiddle with all your settings, you want a standard that will pretty much give you quick point-and-shoot capability. I can’t tell you what that is for you, but it’s your base settings. It’s the place you most often work from and use for a good majority of your photos.
For me, this is the “P” or Program mode of my camera, Single-point Auto-focus, Auto White Balance, and Auto ISO. Sure, that’s quite automatic and perhaps not where I’ll ultimately go. Maybe I’ll be using Aperture Priority, Continuous Focus, and ISO 100 or even Manual exposure mode, but it’s a great default to work from.
My brain might (hopefully) be better, but the camera is quicker. Plus, the engineers that developed auto modes were no dummies. When seconds count, and Bigfoot appears, I can be ready.

Program in specialized settings

I love that I can also have more sophisticated set-ups stored in the Camera User (C1 and C2) modes on my Canon 6D. Many other cameras have this option too, a way to set-up and store various settings and then recall those so that with a spin of the mode dial, you can use all those settings.
For example, should I want that 5-shot bracket with a 2-second timer, Evaluative metering, ISO 200, Auto ISO, Aperture Priority with a f/11 f-stop, and perhaps a few other things thrown in, I can get there with a turn of the dial to C1 or C2, wherever I have that combination stored. When done, I put the dial back to my standard. Quick to turn on, quick to turn off, no “gotchas.”

Mistakes are lessons inside out.”
Matshona Dhliwayo

My Canon 6D has two memory storage locations; C1 and C2. They are great for entering more 

complex camera settings with the ability to turn them on and off with the turn of a dial.

Filter forgetfulness

I wish I didn’t know about this one first hand.
I was shooting earlier in the day with my circular polarizer on. Later that evening, as the light was getting low, I knew I’d have to perhaps raise the ISO a bit, so I did. So why was I still having to use longer shutter speeds and wider apertures than I thought I should? Oh well, I made my shots figuring I could deal with the issue later in post-production.
As I was putting the camera away, I saw my blunder – the polarizer was still on! Arghhh!!
I’d needlessly given up two-stops of light because I hadn’t taken the filter off when I was finished using it. I won’t make that mistake again. The takeaway? Turn your mistakes into lessons so you won’t repeat them.

Here’s a fun and educational game to play with your photographer friends.

Play “Stump the Chump”

Here’s an exercise I’ve used with photo students to teach them to quickly detect, diagnose, and recover from a camera problem. I take their camera, have them turn their back, and then purposely change a setting, flip a switch, or do something else that will create a problem. I might even swap in a dead battery or a full storage card.
When they turn around, I hand them the camera. They have three minutes and three shots to put things right and make a good image. The fourth shot, when the three minutes are up, must be a good one.
This exercise teaches them the controls of the camera and how to detect and cure camera problems. It’s all too easy to inadvertently bump the wrong button, select the wrong menu item, or leave a setting in the wrong position after a previous shot.
Something else to practice is learning where all your camera controls are in the dark. How many times have you fumbled in a low light or night photo session because you haven’t memorized the basic buttons and settings on your camera? When the situation is fleeting, and you must get the shot now, having to futz around with the camera is the mark of a rookie.

Take a page out of the Boy Scout Handbook when packing your camera bag for a photo session or 

trip and Be Prepared! It will head off many dumb photographer mistakes.

Be prepared

It’s the Boy Scout motto – Be Prepared!  You will head off many dumb photographer mistakes by taking the time to check, maintain, properly pack, and re-check your gear before you go.
Here is a checklist that you might want to copy and save:

• Have the camera bodies and lenses you might use?  Don’t carry more than you need, but also don’t leave home something you might want. Learn how to properly pack for any given photo session or trip.
• Batteries fully charged?  You wouldn’t start a trip with a half-tank of gas.  Don’t go out with a battery only half-charged.  Don’t be “half-gassed.”  Have extra, fully-charged batteries and charger.
• Storage cards off-loaded, formatted, and empty before you go?  Always have more storage than you expect to need.  You never want to have to delete photos in the field so you can make more room.  Don’t use your cards for long term storage.  After a session, offload your images to your computer, make a backup elsewhere, and then format your card with the camera.  Deleting images with the card in the camera increases the risk of file corruption.

A smudge on your lens can ruin an entire photo session if it goes undetected. Clean your lenses 

before a shoot and then periodically look at them during a session.

• Lenses cleaned? A big smudge, undetected can ruin an entire session.
• Have your filters? Digital editing tools have greatly reduced the need for specialized filters, but the one for which there is no substitute is the circular polarizer.  What you want will, of course, depend on what you expect to be photographing.
• Tripod cleaned, screws tight?  Is your tripod plate or L-Bracket on the camera or attached to the tripod?  Not being able to mount your camera to the tripod, or having something break or fall off, will ruin your day and maybe your camera too.
• Sensor cleaned?  Yeah, you can remove sensor dust specks in editing, but save yourself the work by checking it before a shoot. Clean it when necessary or have a pro do it if you feel you don’t have the skills.
• Have your camera strap? When going handheld, the camera strap is your “safety belt.”  Fumbling and dropping an expensive camera has been known to make grown men cry.
• Have a camera rain cover? Check the forecast, and if in doubt, have a rain cover.  I just keep one in my pack at all times.
• Have photographer comfort items Hat, gloves, sunscreen, and bug repellant?  When you’re miserable, your photos will suffer.
• Water and snacks? A happy photographer is a well-fed, well-hydrated photographer.

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

It’s been said that if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough. I would add that if you’re not more adventurous and explorative with your photography, always shooting the same subjects with the same camera settings, in the same way, you’re likely in a rut. You might make fewer mistakes, but you will also make fewer unique and exciting photos.
The same goes for learning what you can do with your camera. If you always work in full Auto or Program mode, always use Auto-Focus, always shoot .jpg or rely too much on your camera to do your thinking, you’ll make fewer mistakes, but just average photos. Be adventurous, go full-manual, try new things, and make some mistakes. It’s okay. When you do, think about what went wrong and try it again.
As for the just plain “dumb photographer mistakes,” the kind we covered here, they are a fact of photographic life. You’re gonna make ’em.
Learning to quickly detect, diagnose, and rapidly recover – that’s the mark of a pro. We can also learn from each other, so be a little humble and share your mistakes here with your fellow photographers in the comments section below. We can all have a chuckle and then perhaps not have to make those same mistakes ourselves.

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The 5 Best Low Light DSLRs You Can Buy in 2019

By: Jaymes Dempsey 

Do you want a camera that will capture amazing shots in low light?
As camera technology advances, DSLRs get better and better at handling the low light demands of photographers. Ten years ago, you would feel uncomfortable pushing ISOs past triple digits; now, ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 are common settings. And low-light autofocus lets you do some much more compared to 2010.

Of course, if you want these low light capabilities, there is one caveat:
You have to have the right camera. Because while some cameras perform admirably in low light conditions, others are still less than impressive.
In this article, I break it all down. I’ll share with you the five best low light DSLRs you can buy.
You’ll come away knowing which DSLR you need to grab – if you want the best low light capabilities out there.
Let’s dive right in.

1. Overall winner: the Canon 5D Mark IV

The Canon 5D Mark IV is an all-round great camera. And its low light performance is, well, amazing.
First, the Canon 5D Mark IV features strong low-light autofocus. The camera is rated down to -3 EV, and the autofocus does well when acquiring focus in the dark.
But where the Canon 5D Mark IV really shines is in its high ISO performance. The 5D Mark IV’s sensor easily outperforms the 5D Mark III, the 6D Mark II, and every Canon crop-sensor DSLR ever produced.
Images are great up through ISO 1600, and still usable at ISO 3200, 6400, and even 12800. This makes the Canon 5D Mark IV perfect for those who need to carry on shooting, even in ultra-dark conditions, such as wedding photographers and astrophotographers.
Plus, the Canon 5D Mark IV is just great across the board, packing a 30.4-megapixel sensor, dual card slots, 61 AF points with 41 cross-type points, and 7 frames-per-second continuous shooting.
Note that the Canon 1D X Mark II (Canon’s $5000+ flagship camera) does give better photos than the Canon 5D Mark IV, especially at ISO 6400 and 12800. But the unspeakably high price makes it a non-starter for pretty much every enthusiast and even semi-professional photographer, so I opted to leave both it and its Nikon equivalent, the D5, off the list.

2. Incredible alternative: the Nikon D850

First things first:
The Nikon D850 is one of Nikon’s top DSLRs and an amazing low light shooter in its own right.
In fact, the Nikon D850 edges out the Canon 5D Mark IV when it comes to low-light focusing. The Nikon D850 can lock focus in almost complete darkness, and it’s rated by Nikon down to an AF sensitivity of EV -4. In other words, the D850 is a strong option for event photographers, as well as anyone else looking to shoot moving subjects in low light.
Where the Nikon D850 falls short is in terms of ISO performance – though “falling short” is a bit of a misnomer in this case, because the D850 features amazing high ISO capabilities.
(It’s a credit to the Canon 5D Mark IV’s outstanding low light performance that it comes in ahead of the Nikon.)
The D850 offers beautiful photos up to ISO 1600. Images are still usable at ISO 3200. After this, color casts begin to distort the D850’s photos, though noise performance is still impressive.
If you’re comparing the D850 versus the 5D Mark IV, it’s worth noting the higher resolution of the D850 (45.7 megapixels) with the same frame-per-second rate (7 fps). Add to that 4K video capabilities, and you’ve got yourself a tremendous competitor.

3. Good budget option: the Nikon D750

The Nikon D750 is a few years old now (it was released in 2014), but that doesn’t stop it from offering up impressive low light performance, five years later.
The biggest benefit the D750 offers in terms of low-light capabilities is its autofocus; while it can’t go down to the -4 EV AF sensitivity featured on the D850, it offers autofocusing at a respectable -3 EV and does extremely well (better than the D810) at acquiring focus in low light.
The D750 packs impressive high-ISO capabilities, as well. You should be able to shoot comfortably up through ISO 1600. At ISO 3200, some noise will be present, increasing at ISO 6400, but remaining usable.
Other features include a 6.5 fps continuous shooting speed, a full-frame, 24.3-megapixel sensor, and an adjustable LCD screen. Where the D750 shows its years is in terms of its accessories: there’s no touchscreen, and no 4K video.
But it’s easy to find used D750s on sale for under 1000 dollars. So if you’re looking for a stellar low-light camera on a budget, the D750 may be the way to go.

4. Canon 6D Mark II

The Canon 6D was considered an exciting full-frame option for enthusiasts. Unfortunately, its successor, the Canon 6D Mark II, debuted to less critical acclaim.
That said, the Canon 6D Mark II does have a few features worth noting, including its low light ISO performance, which is outranked only by the 5D Mark IV among Canon’s semiprofessional and APS-C DSLRs.
On the 6D Mark II, you can push your ISO to 1600 without worrying about intense noise. Even ISO 3200 gives useable, though somewhat noisy, images.
Low light focusing is good, with the 6D Mark II acquiring focus down to an EV of -3, and featuring a strong AF center point (as part of a 45 AF point spread).
All in all, the Canon 6D Mark II is a solid low light option, especially for those not willing to shell out the money for a Canon 5D Mark IV (or its Nikon competitors).

5. Best APS-C low light option: the Nikon D7500 (and the Canon 80D)

Full-frame cameras are better low light shooters, hands down. The larger pixel size gives better noise performance, and top brands channel their best features into semi-professional and professional full-frame bodies.
That said, there are some great low-light crop-sensor options out there.
In particular, the Nikon D7500 offers some impressive low-light capabilities at a very reasonable price (and is just an all-around solid option).
First, the ISO range is outstanding: ISO 100 to ISO 51,200, with an extension to the whopping ISO 1,638,400 (not that you should ever use it).
ISO 1600 shows noise, but nothing serious. Images at ISO 3200 are surprisingly good for an APS-C camera, and even ISO 6400 is usable with some noise reduction for smaller print sizes.
On the Canon side of things, the 80D doesn’t quite match the low-light performance of the Nikon D7500 but is still worth a look. Images become noisy around ISO 1600, increasing with ISO 3200 and beyond. I’d also recommend checking out the new Canon 90D; while the noise performance will no doubt be scrutinized over the coming months, initial tests indicate that the 90D is close to equivalent with the 80D at high ISOs.

Here’s the bottom line:
For entry-level shooters looking to grab a strong low-light performer, the Nikon D7500 or the Canon 80D might be the way to go.

The 5 best low light DSLRs you can buy: conclusion

You should now have a good sense of the best low-light DSLRs out there – and the right one for your needs.
If you’re looking to do some serious shooting and you have the cash to spare, the Canon 5D Mark IV or the Nikon D850 is the way to go.
But the Canon 6D Mark II and the Nikon D750 are solid backups.
And for the entry-level photographer, the Nikon D7500 and the Canon 80D both feature good high-ISO performance, even if they are APS-C bodies.
Do you agree with these low light shooters? Are there any other low-light DSLRs you’d recommend? Share with us in the comments!

The Canon Rebel T8i/850D Revealed With 7 FPS Shooting and 4K Video

By: Jaymes Dempsey

Canon hasn’t given up on its DSLRs yet.
While we’ve seen the imaging giant shift its resources to mirrorless tech in recent years, it seems that Canon still plans to keep its DSLR lineup going.
At least for a little while.
Because the Canon Rebel T8i, also known as the Canon EOS 850D, was announced just days ago, along with specifications that give us a good idea of what the camera will offer and who it’s for.
If you’re an entry-level Canon DSLR shooter or a vlogger, then the T8i looks to be a fine (though not thrilling) option. You get an APS-C, 24.1-megapixel sensor with the potential to shoot up to ISO 25600 (ISO 51200 when expanded). You also get a DIGIC 8 processor, 7 frames-per-second continuous shooting, a 45-point AF system, and 4K/24p video.
Those familiar with the T7i/EOS 800D will undoubtedly notice the lack of major differences between the T8i and the T7i, because it seems that Canon went for a minor set of changes rather than a moderate upgrade.
That said, three key differences are:

• 7 frames-per-second shooting (7.5 fps in Live View) versus 6 frames-per-second shooting in the T7i
• A new processor (DIGIC 8 versus the T7i’s DIGIC 7). This is responsible for the improved continuous shooting speed.
• 4k video

Probably the biggest among these changes is the added 4K video, as many reviewers lamented its lack of inclusion in the T7i. But the T8i’s 4K video comes with a big qualification: Canon’s fantastic Dual Pixel autofocus, which performs extraordinarily well in Live View, won’t work. Instead, you must shoot at 1080p for access to Dual Pixel AF; otherwise, you’re stuck with contrast-detection AF, a system that’s historically much slower than its Dual Pixel counterpart.
In terms of image quality, we can expect something very similar to the T7i, which performed well but hardly managed to astonish. And while the 24-megapixel count is enough for most enthusiasts, I can’t help but wish Canon had pushed the T8i a bit further. We know that they can, having seen the 32.5 MP resolution capabilities produced by the APS-C Canon 90D.
As for speed, the extra frame per second probably won’t matter much to the average user of this camera. Either you’re doing more serious action work, in which case a frame-per-second more can be the difference between a failed shot and a nailed shot, or you’re an entry-level consumer or enthusiast in this camera’s target market, in which case the minor speed upgrade doesn’t matter much.
While the Canon Rebel T8i doesn’t yet have a release date, the camera should drop for $900 (including an 18-55mm kit lens), or $750 USD (body only).
So what do you think of the new Canon Rebel T8i/850D? Are you satisfied? Were you hoping for something more? Or do you want Canon to focus entirely on mirrorless? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Does the Camera Matter? SLR versus Mirrorless versus Smartphone

By: Andrew S. Gibson  

When our wonderful editor Darlene asked me to write an article comparing camera types my first thought was to show you a series of photos just like the following, and ask you to guess which ones were taken, with which cameras. It’s a fun idea, so let’s do it.
This is the list of cameras.
1. Olympus D345 (5 megapixel compact, purchased 2006)
2. EOS Digital Rebel XT (8 megapixels APS-C dSLR, purchased 2006)
3. EOS 40D (10 megapixel APS-C dSLR, purchased 2007)
4. EOS 5D Mark II (21 megapixel full-frame dSLR, purchased 2010)
5. iPhone 5
6. Fujifilm X-T1 (16 megapixel APS-C mirrorless, purchased 2014)
Here are the photos:






How did you do? Here are the answers.
A. EOS 5D Mark II
B. Olympus D345
C. Fujifilm X-T1
D. EOS 40D
E. EOS Digital Rebel XT
F. iPhone 5
Now, this isn’t a fair comparison, for several reasons. One is that these photos are reproduced here at 750 pixels wide. You really need to see them uncropped to appreciate the difference in quality and size (for example, the photo taken with the 5D Mark II is four times the size of the one taken with the Olympus D345).
Also, these photos don’t tell you much about the dynamic range capability of each camera, or how well they perform at high ISO settings. The Olympus D345 doesn’t even have a high ISO setting – all photos are taken at a fixed ISO of 50 (something I didn’t realize until after I bought it).
Then there’s the variable of lens choice, which also affects image quality, plus post-processing (clarity and sharpness adjustments in particular can make a big difference to the apparent sharpness of an image).
All this exercise does, is tell you that if all you want to do is post photos online, then just about any camera will suffice. John Lennon is quoted (probably apocryphally) as saying:

“When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

To paraphrase, anybody who asks what camera you took a photo with probably doesn’t understand photography. Okay, that’s a bit harsh, but it’s a question that misses the point. Nobody who matters cares what camera you you used to take the photo.
If you submit a photo to a magazine, a photography competition, or a gallery, unless there’s a specific reason they need to know (good luck sending a photo taken with a Canon camera to Nikon Photo magazine) they don’t care.
All that matters is the strength of the photo – did you capture an interesting subject? Is the composition strong? Is the lighting beautiful? Does your photo move people, inspire emotion? None of this has anything to do with the camera, and everything to do with the photographer.
So, why do we have this endless discussion about cameras? Well, for most of us photography is a hobby and discussing gear and lenses is all part of the fun.
But sometimes the discussion is more purposeful. Cameras are tools, and good photographers learn to either adapt to the tool at hand, or choose the best one for the job. The question is not what camera is best, but which camera is best for you, and the purpose you have in mind. Discussions about what cameras are best for what subject can go on a long time!
So, bearing in mind I’ve been asked to write about SLRs vs mirrorless cameras vs smartphone cameras, let’s take a look at which each of these tools does.

The Digital SLR

SLR cameras replaced rangefinders sometime in the 1960’s, as the camera style of choice for most photographers. The main advantages of SLRs is that, unlike rangefinders, the viewfinder shows you exactly what the lens sees (or 95% or so, of it anyway).
Until about six years ago the digital SLR was the undisputed king of 35mm and crop sensor camera designs. You get an optical viewfinder that shows you what the lens sees, no matter which lens you use on the camera, and fast and reasonably accurate autofocus in an ergonomic body. Sizes range from small (such as the EOS 100D/Rebel SL1) to massive (the Nikon D5) and the specifications range from entry level, to high-performance professional.
Where digital SLRs excel (high-end ones at least) is with autofocus tracking of moving objects. That, plus the wide range of available super-telephoto lenses, makes them the camera of choice for most professional sport and nature photographers.

Digital SLRs are good for capturing photos of fast moving subjects like this knight on horseback.

The Smartphone

Apple more or less invented the modern smartphone with its first iPhone back in 2007. Since then smartphones and their cameras have improved immensely. The appeal of the smartphone camera is fairly obvious – most people carry their phone just about everywhere.
An antidote to the large, heavy SLR, smartphones bring a degree of freedom that photographers hadn’t experienced before. When I asked a friend once how she was going with her EOS 40D (she bought one about the same time as me) she replied that she was “sick of lugging that thing about” and just used her iPhone now.
Throw in apps like Instagram and Snapseed, and the ability to share photos instantly, and you can see why smartphone cameras are popular. If you’ve seen Apple’s iPhone posters you’ll also know they are capable of creating insanely good images in the right hands.

The Mirrorless Camera

The mirrorless camera fills the gap between smartphone and digital SLR that was previously occupied by high end compacts. The best mirrorless cameras have the lens choice, image quality, and functionality of professional digital SLRs in a lighter, cheaper, and smaller body. The biggest difference between the two, in terms of performance, is accurate autofocus tracking of moving subjects, and the gap is getting smaller (whether it will ever be reduced to zero is something we will see in the future).
Mirrorless cameras appeal to photographers who want high performance cameras in a small body. They are great for street and travel photographers.

Mirrorless cameras are great for street and travel photography, helping you take photos like this.

So, here’s my answer to the question “Does the camera matter?” No it doesn’t. Most people don’t care what camera you took a photo with. You may be curious – for example, if you see someone creating beautiful landscape photos, it’s natural to wonder if buying the same camera and lens will help you do so as well (the answer is that it may help, but it probably won’t – you’d be better off asking how they mastered their craft and how hard they work to get their images). But ultimately, nobody cares. They only care about the photo.
Should you care what camera you use? Yes, you should, because it is your job as photographer to make sure your tools are up to the job at hand. You need a camera that suits you and your way of working, that fits into your budget, and has all the features you need for the types of photography you do.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!

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Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles this week that are Open for Discussion. We want to get the conversation going, hear your voice and opinions, and talk about some possibly controversial topics in photography.
Give us your thoughts below.

10 of the Best iPhone Photographers [by Photo Style and Genre]

The iPhone has revolutionised the ability to shoot, edit and share your photographs on one device. For many photographers, both amateur and professional, this integrated process has given them the freedom to experiment both within and across photographic styles.
To show you what’s possible with the iPhone, we’ve put together a showcase of talented photographers who use the iPhone as part of their photographic process. The photographers are from all corners of the world and span different styles including: landscape, portraiture (self and street), nature and wildlife, architecture, travel, street photography (colour and black and white), conceptual and documentary.
Four of the photographers shown below (Robert-Paul Jansen, AikBeng Chia, Oliver Lang and Benedicte Guillon) are featured in our new iPhone Photography eBook. If you are interested in understanding not on the shooting and editing techniques, but also the motivation behind using an iPhone for photography – then the book is for you.

Portraiture – Jim Darling

Since picking up his very first camera over 25 years ago, Jim Darling has been drawn to the faces and stories of people he meets. According to Darling, “using just the iPhone and any number of great photography apps, the stranger/street portrait enters a whole new level. I love the spontaneity and the quick relationship that exists between me and the subject.”

Bill

Bryan and Ola

Teri

More of Jim Darling’s work can be found on his website.

Landscape – Robert-Paul Jansen

Robert-Paul Jansen is a Dutch photographer who uses an iPhone to take magical landscape photographs in the countryside around his home in the small village of Gemonde. Jansen started shooting on his iPhone because of convenience “the camera I always have in my pocket has shown me more small miracles, more tiny details, than I ever thought possible.”

There where fairies live

Swamped

No need to look further for love

You can find more of Jansen’s photography on his website.

Travel Photography – Benedicte Guillon (Paris, France)

Benedicte Guillon is masterful in her use of natural light to paint unique scenes, whether travelling the world or at home in Paris. According to Guillon, she uses an iPhone as part of her photographic process when travelling because it “allows me to feel my very first impressions when I arrive in a new place. The fact that it is the most compact camera I have makes me feel more comfortable shooting with it during the first days. I’m able to start exploring the area in a way that helps me to learn about people and the way they live.”

Eyep, Istanbul

Kadikoy, Istanbul

Essaouira Station, Morocco

More of Benedicte Guillon’s work can be found on her website.

Nature and Wildlife – Kaisa and Stanley Breeden

Kaisa and Stanley Breeden, based in tropical far-north Queensland, Australia, are usually known for their incredibly detailed focus stacking photography, as seen in their books Wildflower Country and Rainforest Country.  They have recently branched out into iPhoneography, inspired by the way the device and its many photography apps encourage people to look differently at the world around them.

Carpet Python

Gristle Fern

Docuna Rubropicta

More of Stanley and Kaisa Breeden’s work can be found on their website.

Conceptual – Richard ‘Koci’ Hernandez

Richard “Koci” Hernandez is a national Emmy® award-winning video and multimedia producer who worked as a photographer at the San Jose Mercury News for 15 years. In 2007 after taking his first mobile photograph, he was hooked on the medium’s potential and immediacy, “not only is it the camera in my hand, but it’s the printing press in my pocket and more importantly, with the rise of social networks like Instagram, it’s become my satellite dish in order to instantly transmit, globally. I can share my vision at the touch of a button and receive instant feedback”.

We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us. Winston Churchill

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see. Martin Luther King Jr.

Depth must be hidden. Where? On the surface. Hugo von Hofmannsthal

More of Koci’s photography is available on his Flickr.

Colour Street Photography – Oliver Lang

Oliver Lang is a Sydney based street photographer. He shoots with a mobile phone for the convenience and connectivity.  He is also interested in participatory photography and the innovations that the connected culture of mobile photography is driving.

Hiding from the light, Market St, Sydney

Floating, Park Street, Sydney

Newtown, Sydney

You can find more of Oliver Lang’s work on his website.

Black and white street photography – Greg Schmigel

Greg Schmigel is not an iPhoneographer, rather a street photographer who happens to use an iPhone as his main camera of choice. Schmigel is inspired by a variety of photographers, both old and new, including: Garry Winogrand, Vivian Maier, Jules Aarons, Tim Cadman and many more. Schmigel was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1969, but has spent the majority of his life in and around the Washington, DC, Metropolitan area.

The Conversation

Pale Beauty

The Old Rabbi and his Keeper

You can find more of Greg Schmigel’s photography on his website.

Self-Portraiture – Klaudia Cechini

Klaudia Cechini is a Polish photographer who uses her iPhone for self-portraiture. Her images are often self-reflective; a visual expression of a personal emotion or feeling. Cechini notes that “It is about catching every day moments which fail to be expressed adequately by words”.

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More of Klaudia Cechini’s self-portraits can be found on her Flickr.

AikBeng Chia – Documentary

AikBeng Chia wanders the Singapore back streets at all hours of the day and night looking for interesting people, traditions, and stories. According to Chia, he uses his iPhone as part of his documentary photography because “it phone helps your subject to be at ease with you. Most of the people I meet are amazed and curious that I use such a small device to capture photos instead of a DSLR or a rangefinder”.
Here are three images from AikBeng Chia’s “Will you still love me tomorrow” series about the dying art of Chinese Street Opera in Singapore.



You can find more information on this series in this blog post. For more of AikBeng Chia’s photographs, visit his website.

Architecture – Dan Cole

Dan Cole is a Seattle-area photographer who is using his iPhone to take architectural photographs, which he shares on Instagram to his over 100,000 followers.
Dan was educated at the Art Institute of Seattle and University of Washington, and has worked as an artist in the game industry for over 14 years. He has been pursuing photography since 2005, and has been an engaged member of the Instagram community since October of 2010.

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You can find more of Dan Cole’s images on his website.
Are you taking photos with your iPhone as part of your photographic journey? We’d love you to share your photos in the comments below.


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