Enhance Your Video Productions with the Canon 35mm f/2 Lens: Versatility and Exceptional Quality

When it comes to capturing stunning photographs, having the right lens can make all the difference. One such lens that has gained a reputation for its exceptional performance and versatility is the Canon 35mm f/2 lens. Renowned for its wide-angle perspective and impressive image quality, this lens has become a favorite among photographers across various genres. In this article, we'll delve into the features and benefits of the Canon 35mm f/2 lens and discover why it's a valuable addition to any photographer's arsenal.

1. Compact and Lightweight Design: The Canon 35mm f/2 lens boasts a compact and lightweight design, making it highly portable and ideal for on-the-go photography. Whether you're traveling, attending events, or simply exploring your surroundings, this lens can easily accompany you without weighing you down. Its sleek form factor ensures it won't dominate your camera setup, allowing for comfortable handling and effortless shooting.

2. Wide-Angle Perspective: One of the standout features of the Canon 35mm f/2 lens is its wide-angle perspective. With a focal length of 35mm on a full-frame camera, this lens provides a broad field of view, making it well-suited for capturing landscapes, architecture, and street photography. The wider perspective allows you to encompass more of the scene, adding a sense of depth and immersion to your images.

3. Exceptional Image Quality: The Canon 35mm f/2 lens delivers exceptional image quality, thanks to its advanced optical construction. With a combination of high-quality glass elements and lens coatings, it minimizes aberrations, distortion, and flare, resulting in sharp, detailed, and vibrant images. Whether shooting wide open at f/2 or stopping down for greater depth of field, this lens consistently produces impressive results with excellent contrast and color rendition.

4. Versatility in Various Genres: The versatility of the Canon 35mm f/2 lens makes it a valuable tool across a wide range of photography genres. Its wide-angle perspective is perfect for capturing sweeping landscapes, cityscapes, and environmental portraits. The f/2 aperture allows for great low-light performance, enabling handheld shooting in challenging lighting conditions. Additionally, the lens is well-suited for documentary, street, and travel photography, where its unobtrusive size and quiet autofocus operation shine.

5. Creative Depth of Field: While wide-angle lenses are not typically associated with shallow depth of field, the Canon 35mm f/2 lens allows you to experiment creatively with focus. By shooting at wider apertures and getting closer to your subject, you can achieve selective focus effects, isolating your subject against a soft, blurred background. This feature adds a touch of artistic expression to your images, making them visually engaging and captivating.

6. Excellent Low-Light Performance: The wide maximum aperture of f/2 on the Canon 35mm lens ensures excellent low-light performance. It allows for faster shutter speeds, reducing the chances of camera shake and motion blur in dimly lit environments. Whether you're photographing a candlelit dinner, a dimly lit concert, or the night sky, this lens performs admirably, delivering sharp and noise-free images even in challenging lighting conditions.

The Canon 35mm f/2 lens is a versatile and high-performing optic that offers photographers a wide range of creative possibilities. Its compact size, wide-angle perspective, exceptional image quality, and low-light capabilities make it an excellent choice for various genres, including landscapes, street photography, and travel. Whether you're a professional or an enthusiast, this lens is sure to impress with its reliable performance and ability

Why the Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.8 is a Must-Have Lens for Video Production

The Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.8 is a classic lens that has been around for decades and it's still considered a great option for video production today. This lens offers a fast aperture of f1.8, which is perfect for capturing beautiful bokeh, and creating a shallow depth of field. Plus, it's great for low-light situations.

The Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.8 lens was first introduced in the 1970s, and it quickly became popular among photographers for its fast aperture and sharp image quality. Today, this lens is still considered a great option for video production, thanks to its fast aperture and accurate focus system.

One of the best things about this lens is its fast aperture of f1.8. This allows for a shallow depth of field and beautiful bokeh, which can be used to separate the subject from the background and make the subject stand out. Additionally, the fast aperture allows for great low-light performance, making it ideal for shooting in dimly lit environments.

The lens also offers a fast and accurate focus system, which is essential for capturing sharp and smooth videos. It's also built to last, with a durable and weather-sealed design, making it suitable for professional use. Plus, it's compact and lightweight, making it easy to carry around and use on the go.

The Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.8 lens is designed to be used with Mamiya 645 camera and its mount type is Mamiya 645(M42). This lens is a great choice for a wide range of video applications such as documentary, portrait, landscape and more. It's a classic lens that has stood the test of time and it's still a great option for video production today.

Self-Publishing for Photographers: How to Take Control of Your Career and Share Your Work with the World

Self-publishing your photography is a great way for photographers to take charge of their own careers and share their work with the world. It's becoming more and more popular among photographers and for good reason, there are many benefits to self-publishing your work.

The company that I personally use Blurb. They’re known for their exception quality in making photography books. Their colors are vibrant and accurate. They also offer a variety of books you can get from photo books, magazines and trade books. If you’re looking for a quality product at an affordable price, I highly recommend them.

First of all, self-publishing gives you complete control over your work. You get to decide which images to include, how to design the layout and what the final product will look like. This is great because it allows you to create a product that truly represents your vision and style.

Another great benefit of self-publishing is the increased visibility and income opportunities it offers. By self-publishing, you can reach a wider audience and sell your work directly to consumers. This can lead to increased income and the ability to build a loyal fan base. Plus, self-publishing allows you to have a more direct relationship with your audience, which can be invaluable for building a brand and reputation.

Another advantage of self-publishing is that you get to set your own prices and have more control over distribution. You can reach a larger audience through online platforms, such as e-commerce sites and social media. This can help you better monetize your work and reach a larger audience.

Lastly, self-publishing allows you to maintain ownership of your work. When you work with a publisher, you may have to give up the rights to your work. Self-publishing allows you to retain the rights to your work, which can be a huge factor in building a successful career.

Overall, self-publishing is a great option for photographers who want to take control of their work and build a successful career. It offers greater control over the creative process, increased visibility and income opportunities, and the ability to build a loyal fan base. Plus, you get to maintain ownership of your work and have greater control over your pricing and distribution. So, why not give it a try?

Why the Canon EOS 5D Classic is Still a Great Choice for Today's Photographers

The Canon EOS 5D is a classic full-frame DSLR camera that was first released in 2005. It was one of the first DSLRs to offer a full-frame sensor at a relatively affordable price point, making it a popular choice among professional and amateur photographers alike.

One of the key features of the Canon EOS 5D is its 12.8 megapixel full-frame sensor. This sensor provides a high level of image quality and detail, making it ideal for capturing sharp and detailed images. The camera also offers a wide ISO range of 100-6400 (expandable to 50-25600), which allows for great low-light performance and the ability to shoot in a variety of lighting conditions.

The Canon EOS 5D also offers a fast and accurate autofocus system, with 9 cross-type AF points. This makes it easy to quickly capture sharp images, even in fast-moving situations. The camera also offers a durable and weather-sealed design, making it suitable for professional use.

The camera offers a wide range of shooting modes, including manual, aperture priority, shutter priority and full auto. Additionally, it supports the use of Canon EF lenses which are known for their high-quality optics and fast aperture. This makes it a great option for photographers who want a versatile camera that can handle a wide range of photography applications.

The camera also has a built-in LCD monitor which allows for easy image review and camera settings adjustments. Additionally, the camera offers a variety of connectivity options, such as USB and FireWire, which make it easy to transfer images to a computer or other device.

In conclusion, the Canon EOS 5D is a classic full-frame DSLR camera that offers a high level of image quality and versatility. Its full-frame sensor, fast and accurate autofocus system, and weather-sealed design make it a great option for professional and amateur photographers alike. The camera's ability to use Canon EF lenses and a wide range of shooting modes make it a versatile option for a wide range of photography applications.

Passive Income Ideas for Photographers

Making passive income as a photographer, videographer or creative isn’t something that we always think about. Yet today I’m here to show you how you can accomplish this by learning to turn your creatives productions into additional streams of income.

All of the different income streams are ones that I use myself. Although there are more out there, these are the few that I’ve had success with. So today I’m going to show you 7 different streams of passive income you can create today as a photographer, videographer or creative.

Passive Income Ideas for Photographers

To start I’ll mention that passive income isn’t really passive. You have to do the work up front, by after doing the work, you can continue to collect residual income for years to come.

Stock Photography

The first of my passive income ideas for photographers is to sell stock photography. As a photographer you probably have tons of pictures sitting around on your hard drive. This goes for the hobbyist to the professional. No matter what stage you’re at or what your subject matter is, there’s a market out there for you. An easy place to get started is on shutterstock.com. I use this website to sell my photos and continue to collect residual income on those images. There are also other websites like dreamstime.com and 123rf.com that you can upload your images to.

If you’re into video, you should look into blackbox which a website for stock video footage. The great thing about blackbox is that it’ll distribute your videos across all the stock website platforms making it a great solution as a one stop shop.

Amazon Affiliates

My second stream of income is one that I’m sure you’ve heard of which is Amazon Affiliates. This is great if you like to blog or vlog. An easy way to get started is with product reviews. If you’re like me then you like to review a product before you actually buy it. Most times I end up watching youtube videos to see the product in use before I make my final purchasing decision. Often times you’ll notice in these reviews, the reviewer will leave a link in the description below that’ll take you right to the product. If you click and buy, they will get a small commission on that purchase. Another thing that’s great is, they’ll also receive a commission on any other products that you buy within a 24 hour time period. There’s a ton of traffic on the internet and this is a great way to take advantage of that traffic. It’s free to sign up and get started.

Books and Ebooks

Be it physical books or ebooks, this is another way you can create a stream of income off of the work that you previously did. If you have a following on instagram or maybe you just have people who really like and want to support your work, creating a book for them to buy is a great way to give back and bring in some extra money. I got the idea after creating a book for one of my clients on blurb.com. After seeing the book I created, they ended up ordering 20 copies from me which I did sell to them at a small profit. What’s even better is the distribution options that you have. Getting your book onto platforms like amazon and barnes and noble just might be easier than you think. You can do this through blurb.com or you can upload and publish your book directly through amazon. Also there’s just something special about seeing your work in a print physical form. If you love writing short stories this is right up your ally.

T-Shirts

Ever thought about putting you pictures on a t-shirt? If you have design that work well then this can be another viable option. Some of you might even be good at photoshop which will give you an enhanced ability to make more creative designs. The platform that I use is called Teespring.com which is a print on demand platform. There’s others out there as well but essentially what print on demand allows you to do is load up your designs and they take care of the rest. You don’t have to worry about shipping of filling orders, all you have to do is load up your designs and let them take care of the rest.

Luts and Presets

I don’t know about you, but I love to use luts and presets when I’m editing photos or videos. Presets are awesome when it comes to speeding up your workflow in the editing process. If you’re a lightroom user than you know you can create, save and share your presets. Same thing with luts for your videos, you can do this in lightroom or in photoshop. If people like your work and they want there images to resemble yours, you can sell your preset or lut packs. I have free preset packs you can grab here.

Distrokid

Now this one is a little out of left field. Back in the day, I used to like to make music with my friends but streaming wasn’t really a thing. Now streaming is how most people consume music. But here’s the thing, this isn’t just limited to music, maybe you like to write poetry that would work well in an audio format. Now with services like distrokid you can have your music distributed to every major streaming platform. Whether you’re looking to become the next big star or just want an easy way for you and your friend to jam out to the tunes you made, distrokid is a good option. Although this platform isn’t free to get started, you do collect streaming royalties every time someone listens to your music.

Google Adsense

If you’re a blogger you’re probably already familiar with google adsense. But it’s not just limited to blogs, this also applies to Youtube. Getting your Youtube channel monetized or your blog for that matter is a dream to most who want to make money doing what they love in the digital era. This is possible, yet the earnings might not be what you expect. Although here’s the thing, with enough traffic to your site and views on your videos, you have the potential to make a sweet side income. With a lot of hard work and dedication this can really turn into a full time income. Now that’s living the dream.

I hope you found these tips helpful and if there’s any ideas or suggestions you have for me, please leave me a comment. Thanks!

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Should I Give Clients Raw Files?

If you’ve been doing photography or video for long enough, you’re likely to come across a client who’s going to ask for the raw files or footage from a project. So, should you give your clients the raw files? My simple answer is, you should never give away raw files for free. The core of this debate is copyright and your rights as the copyright holder of the images or footage. (I’ll take more about this later)

The reason you should never give away raw files for free requires a bit of a history lesson. Being in today’s digital world, giving away raw files or footage seems like no big deal. But if we take a small trip back in time, you’ll begin to have a better understanding of why giving away raw files is such a big deal.

Before everything became digital, raw files or footage was stored on a physical material. If you were taking pictures, that physical material was film negatives. If you were doing video, that physical material was film reels or vhs tapes. But now with everything being digital, that physical material is data. Think about it this way, before when you would give away raw files, you had to give the client either the negatives or the tapes themselves.

So if you find yourself in this situation, what do you do? Well the answer can be tricky depending on the client and the job. In short you’re probably going to have to educate your client to some degree and find a way to say no without being rude or dismissive. One thing to remember that can give you some confidence in handling this situation is that when a client hires you for a project, they’re usually hiring you for a finished product. If they wanted the raw files and footage, that’s something that’s discussed up front.

How Much to Charge for Raw Files?

I’m not saying to never give away the raw files, that’s a judgement call. What I suggest for a client asking for raw footage is to offer to sell them to them at a premium. How much to charge for raw files? I say 3 to 10 times the cost of a finished project. Why so much? As I stated before, back in the day if a client asked you for the raw files, they really would be asking you for the film negatives. If you give away your negatives, they’re never coming back and that’s potential lost revenue for you in the future. A few ways that you can lose revenue is, they take your raw files, edit them in a way that makes you look bad and still give you the credit, which could damage your reputation. Another way is, being that you don’t have the “negatives” anymore, you can’t take those images and add them to your portfolio in the future.

Remember the real business of photography isn’t so much taking and giving people pictures, you’re selling them the use rights of those pictures. This can be a difficult concept for smaller clients to understand. Bigger clients understand this concept and are fully aware of usage rights. Usage rights basically gives the client the right to use that image in a certain way, be it for magazine ads, social media ads, print work, etc. You as the copyright holder set the terms of how they can use that image. Remember any image that you take with your camera and your equipment is your copyright, it doesn’t matter that the client paid you. Now if you’re just a shooter or camera man on a production the client funded and provided all the equipment for, that’s a whole different story. This is also known as work for hire.

What to Say When Clients ask for Raw Footage?

To sum it up, this can be a difficult conversation to have with clients, especially if you’ve been working with them for a long time. Although at the end of the day, you have to protect your work and your reputation. Most photographers getting into the business of photography don’t really understand the actual business of photography, which admittedly takes time to learn if you don’t have someone to teach you. A great way to learn is with stock photography. Doing micro stock photography for sites like shutterstock.com can give you a mini lesson as to how you can sell licenses to your images and make residual and passive income from selling that license over and over again.

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Mamiya RB67 Review and Sample Photos

Shooting the Medium Format Camera Mamiya RB67

The Mamiya RB67 is a medium format camera that can shoot both 120 and polaroid peel apart film. This is the first time using this camera and so I wanted to give some takeaways and provide a few sample photos from my session. For the photos I used Kodak Porta 400.

Taken with Mamiya RB67 using Kodak Porta 400 Film

For starters, if you’re using this camera then you’re already familiar with film. Also you have to understand that this is a fully manual camera as well, so you must know you’re setting. With film, you get a limited number of shots and it’s on you to know how to read light and set your camera accordingly. Now that we got that out of the way, here’s my mamiyarb67 review.

Before I go on, I’m going to assume that you already know how to use this camera or how it works. If not, you can watch the video below where I show you how my camera’s set up.

Tip #1 Use a Tripod

Using a tripod will really help when shooting with this camera for a variety of reasons, although the main reason is the weight. The mamiya rb67 is heavy and old school. The way the you release the shutter isn’t like a normal 35mm or dslr camera. The slower the shutter speed, the steadier the hand you have to have. Now, if you were shooting with your dslr, I would say you don’t need a tripod because you can manipulate the settings so much easier on digital. Also, you can take a thousand test shots with no consequence. With film…not so much. Being that film is still a fairly expensive process, you really want to take your time and get the most you can get out of each roll. All in all it’ll cost around $30 usd to get everything developed. (that’s buying film and getting it developed)

Taken with Mamiya RB67 using Kodak Porta 400

Tip #2 Use a Lightmeter

Remember that film is still an expensive process. With that being said you want to make sure that you get the most bang for your buck. If you’re not great a reading light and knowing your settings, having a light meter is critical, you don’t want to get your filmed developed just to see that you pictures were too over/under exposed. Now if you’re shooting in a bright setting where you’re using fast shutter speeds, having a tripod may not be as critical. Although if you shooting in lower light situations you definitely want to try to get the best light reading possible.

Taken with Mamiya RB67 using Kodak Porta 400 Film

Tip #3 Advance the Film from the Film Back

Here is where I made a bone head mistake and actually exposed the first frame like 5 times because I wasn’t advancing the film the right way. There’s a lever on the camera that you use to reset the shutter, but it doesn’t advance the film. I didn’t know this going in, so those first fews shots were all a wash. After realizing what I was doing wrong, I was able to adjust and get about a total of 9 images all together.

If this is your first time shooting a roll of 120 film take your time and enjoy the process. Shooting film is where it all started for me and most of the old school guys in the game. Yet it’s been making a comeback. I’ve been seeing younger kids shooting 35mm film and the word from the film developer who processed my roll is the younger generation seem to be getting more and more into it. Maybe it’s the look, maybe it’s the feel, but whatever it is, master your craft and explore options that it has to offer you.

Taken with Mamiya RB67 using Kodak Porta 400 Film

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Social Media Overwhelm

Social Media Overwhelm

Social Media got you feeling overwhelmed? I know that game all too much. The funny thing about social media is that I was never fully into it. Yeah, I like it, but I wasn’t obsessed like others were then and still to this day.

Either way, social media is now a permanent fixture in our society. It’s a way of life. And just like anything else, it’s a double edged sword. On one hand it’s create countless opportunities for people in a positive sense. Helping others get out their story, helping people get discovered and helping millions of like minded people to connect from anywhere in the world.

But I’m talking business. What about the business side of social media. Is there real money to be made? And if so, how do I get a piece of that? What about promotion? I just listed how social media has helped countless people self promote and get recognized for their talents. So I guess my real question is does it add to your bottom line? Period.

I guess the answer is yes and no. For example, most of my client work is for social media, being that I do a lot of video marketing and promotion. Yet for myself personally, I’ve never landed a deal via social media. Most of my deals all come from face to face interaction. You got to get out there and meet people or at least surround yourself with the type of people that you need to accomplish your goal.

As much as I like social media, I like seeing my work getting published and helping my clients, I sometimes feel like social media is a screaming match. Everyone is trying so hard to get noticed. Algorithms are a pain in the ass and control and ownership is hitting some mercy waters. Especially for freelancers who don’t really know their business. Trust me, that was me for a long while and I’m still trying to figure things out.

My advice is step back, look at your business and see what’s really been working. Where is the money really coming from? and how can I do more of that?

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How to Become a Freelance Videographer and Getting Started

From Side Hustle to Full Time Freelancer

Today’s video is all about how to become a freelance Videographer. This is a video I’m making in response to a question that I received in the comments section on a previous video that I did on selling photos using Shutter Stock.

So how did I get started? Well it’s simple, initially I started out like most of you which is by taking pictures. When I first picked up a camera I didn’t plan on making money. All I really wanted to do was take cool pictures. My dad was a photographer (not a professional but just as good) so I guess that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

My journey into video started with photography. My very first side hustles were photo gigs. Gigs of all kinds, from weddings, to sweet sixteens, to family events and portraits, I was doing it. Part of the journey is learning what you don’t like and what you are and aren’t good at. This is where you have to make the decision on what you want to do. I always knew there was potential to turn my side hustle into a full time income, I just didn’t know where to start or have the confidence to really put my work out there.

Pleasantville Boxing Gym 2009 (this series was the real start to my “style”)

I was good at taking photos, just not so good at the type of photography that made big money. I wish I knew about passive income with stock photography at this time, I would’ve been on that train. Currently I’m uploading to sites like Shutter Stock and Cavan. Either way I found my grove but this occurred years after taking photos and really learning how to master my craft.

My advice to you out there getting started or want to is, just go for it. Start right now, where you’re at, with what you have. Brick by brick.

Be Sure to Listen to the Podcast Below!