Marissa Elman | Fashion & Photography

Marissa Elman is a lifelong lover of fashion and photography.

The Best Digital Cameras of 2020

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Photography is a great hobby, passion, or career to get involved in as there are so many ways to enjoy photography and make art with it. While photography is wonderful, one of the most difficult aspects of it has to be the camera itself. There are so many types of cameras out there, all specializing in different things depending on the type of photos you’re trying to take. This can make choosing a camera extremely difficult for both beginners and seasoned photographers. That’s where this list comes in. Read on to learn about some of the best cameras currently on the market.

 

Sony A6100

If you’re a brand new photographer just beginning on their photography journey, the Sony A6100 is great for you. This compact camera is quite impressive, featuring Sony’s 425-point  hybrid autofocus system, a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor, the ability to shoot video in 4K, and much more. If you’re looking to upgrade to a Sony full-frame camera one day, this camera will go far due to having the same Sony E mount as the A7, meaning you can use all of the same lenses without having to get new ones. One of the biggest perks of this camera for beginners is the price, which usually falls around $750 – $800. While this may seem expensive, it’s actually quite tame for what a camera price can be.

 

Fujifilm X-T4

If you’re looking for the best digital camera overall, it’s hard to go wrong with the X-T4.  While it might not have the “biggest” or “best” of some of its overall quality is what really makes this camera shine. It sports a very classic design but has all of the modern features built-in, such as 4K video, a fully articulating monitor, and 5-axis sensor-shift stabilization, among other features. While many prior Fujifilm X-series cameras have been great, there’s almost always something that just isn’t right. With the X-T4, you don’t have to worry about that. Everything it does, it does great. It does come in at a whopping $1,700 though, so be prepared to spend a pretty penny if you’re thinking of getting it. 

 

Sony RX100 VII

If you’re someone who travels a lot and wants to bring home superior quality photos to remember your trip by, the Sony RX100 VII is the camera for you. This camera is tight and compact but packs a punch by having an awesome roster of features such as fast autofocus, a 3.5mm microphone port, no-blackout viewfinder, and much more. The RX100 has plenty of more advanced features as well, but the truly great thing about this camera is that you’re not forced to use them in order to get a great picture, making this a great camera for pros and just plain old enthusiasts. Price-wise, this camera falls right in between the other two cameras mentioned in this blog – right at $1,200.

Introduction to White Balance

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Many photographers will start shooting in automatic mode, but once you start shooting in manual mode, you will gain so much more creative control over your images. The first three settings you should know about are the exposures settings: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. These settings are only the beginning, and your camera settings go beyond those three. Today’s blog focuses on white balance, which allows you to get the right color temperature in your photos. 

 

Color temperature is expressed in degrees Kelvin, and all sources of light have a color temperature whether you’re using natural light, fluorescents, professional speedlights, or LED panels. Color temperature works inversely to what we associate with temperature because “warm” colors fall at the lower end of the spectrum while “cool” colors are on the higher end. The lower the number, the warmer the color, and likewise, the cooler the color, the higher its color temperature. 

 

Colors that are warmer tend to read orange and fall around 2000K, and cooler colors, like that of moonlight are at the other end around 8000K-10,000K. Even the same light source can have variations of color temperature. Take the sun for example. Sunlight may look neutral at noon (within the ballpark of approximately 6000K) but can appear warm at sunrise or sunset. 

 

Our brains are remarkable and recognize colors even in different color temperatures. We understand that an apple is red whether we’re looking at it in warm light or cool light. A digital camera can approximate the color temperature of an object but doesn’t always compensate correctly. If you want to record accurate colors, you may be required to adjust your white balance settings. 

 

Your DSLR will often have white balance presets like Tungsten, Fluorescent, Daylight, Shade, and more that will help compensate for your lighting conditions. Sometimes, your camera may have even more refined controls and may let you adjust the values in Kelvins. Think of color temperature and white balance as opposites: warmer light falls lower on the Kelvin scale, so setting a lower number on your camera will cool down the image instead of warming it up. 

 

White balance is a powerful tool for accurate color correction, but it can also be used artistically. Knowing how to set your white balance settings can make a photo look natural, but they can also be used to do the opposite and make them look otherworldly.  

Photographer Spotlight: Ansel Adams

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Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams is most known for his scenic photography of the American West. He’s known for using his photographs to promote conservation of the wilderness. He’s an icon in the photography world for his black and white images.

 

Early Life

Adams was born on February 20, 1902, in San Francisco, California. He broke his nose and was injured in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

 

Adams made a trip in 1916 to Yosemite National Park where his love of photography was born. He began experimenting with darkroom techniques and reading photography magazines. He sold some of these photographs at Best’s Studio in Yosemite Valley.

 

He actually married the daughter of Best’s Studio proprietor, Virginia Best, in 1928. After her father’s death, the couple continued to operate the studio. It is now known as the Ansel Adams Gallery.

 

Career

Adams broke through the world of photography into fame with his publication of his first portfolio, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras. This included one of his most famous images,“Monolith, the Face of Half Dome.”

 

From here, Adams focuses on detailed close-ups of nature. He photographed everything from farms, mountains, and factories. He studied with artists like Georgia O’Keefe and Paul Strand. He published photography art books about his work.

 

He joined other artists/photographers Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange using his fame to bring social change through art. He worked to protect the wilderness areas like Yosemite National Park. He also photographed life in camps during World War II. One of his most iconic shots was titled, “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.” This was a shot of a moon rising over a village weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He made over 1,000 prints of this at the time skyrocketing him into fame in the photography and art world.

 

Later Life

The 1960s brought the appreciation of art photography to life. Adams’ images were shown in many galleries and museums throughout the world. Adams printed negatives of his artwork to meet the high demand for his black and white works of art.

 

Adams died on April 22, 1984, of a heart attack, at age 82. Adams is a photography icon whose work lives on in his beautiful nature prints.

Top Photography Programs

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There are many exceptional photography programs to research when applying to a school. To give a potential student a starting point for program consideration, four websites were evaluated for their top picks. The following programs are rated on the consulted sites.

 

California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Santa Clarita is a private school. The goal of this program is to produce graduates who become artists working in analog and digital photography or video. Social commentary is supported as is involvement in grassroots organizations. Aside from artists, the career paths of graduates have included documentarians, educators, editorial and commercial photographers, journalists, curators, designers, and photographic entrepreneurs.

 

The University of California in Los Angeles is a program that is geared towards using photography to create art. A student’s ability to discuss the history of photography and its narrative potential is stressed while video and installation art are also explored. UCLA is a public university that was ranked first in this category by U.S. News & World Report in 2018.

 

Rhode Island School of Design is an art and design college located in Providence that has been consistently ranked as one of the top schools for art and design in the world. Its approach is to teach how symbols, metaphors, and cultural cues can be incorporated into image making. Creating photography is combined with learning how to interpret photographic images, thereby treating the venue as a craft and a language.

 

The Art Institute of Chicago‘s photography program teaches students to redefine photographic concepts. Technical and conceptual mastery are considered integral to a student’s ability to discuss their work and the work of other photographers. This independent school is located in downtown Chicago and has been rated as the most influential art school by Columbia University’s National Arts Journalism survey.

 

The University of New Mexico was found on all referenced websites, demonstrating its relevance and prominence. This program seeks to cultivate a student’s intellectual and aesthetic growth through visual literacy. Lens-based techniques are incorporated into a student’s acquired skill set. The school is a public university located in Albuquerque.

 

There are several variables to consider when choosing a photography program. Whether the school is private or public, its geographic location, and what type of career a student wants to pursue post graduation are important factors to evaluate. The programs listed in this article are all held in high regard; finding the right fit for a student’s desired qualities in a school just needs to be determined.

What Is The Best Time of Day to Take Pictures?

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The ideal time to take pictures varies for each individual because aesthetic taste differs from person to person. Apart from artistic taste, it also depends on the photographer’s artistic preference and any significance they wish to convey through lighting effects. While cloudy skies may have a melancholic effect on some, cloudy weather may bring back long cherished jocund childhood memories for others. This subjective view can influence both the photographer’s preference and the viewer’s interpretation.

 

An objective view, however, considers the photogenic significance of a particular hour of the day to determine what could be the best time of the day to take pictures. For instance, some believe that “Golden Hour,” which occurs at sunrise or sunset, is better suited to take pictures while others favor “Blue Hour,” which occurs a little after dawn before the sun is fully visible on the horizon.

 

Advocates of Golden Hour consider it best to take pictures in the golden glow of early morning and sunset when the landscapes are suffused with warm radiant colors. Obviously, the radiant sunlight makes it an ideal time to take pictures, but some of its drawbacks make people consider other options. For example, during Golden Hour, light changes swiftly and constantly which often leaves a speculative artistic mind disconcerted. Because of its short duration, the better your time management in Golden Hour, the better the shot.

 

Alternatively, Blue Hour is a favorite with many people when the colors are permeated with extra blue hue. Contrary to the bright colors of the Golden Hour, the light at this hour is relatively softer. As the light from the sun falls indirectly on the subject, this time is best suited to make some natural objects in a landscape striking and others shadowed. If you choose this hour, be assured that this is the best time to capture natural beauty but be warned that its duration is even shorter than the Golden Hour.

 

Shooting pictures during the daytime mostly needs tricky manipulation of daylight and shadows to produce the best photographic effects. Shooting on a cloudy day or in the shadow of a building will let you have even light to capture a perfect shot of your subject’s features. On the contrary, taking pictures in the broad daylight may disappoint you by creating unwanted shadows of prominent features like nose, ears, or even eyes. There are many factors that play into the best time of day for your purposes, so considering all options and making an appropriate choice can help improve your photography!

Photography Editing Tips for the Digital Age

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With smartphones, everyone has a high-quality camera in their pockets these days. Some professional photographers even use cellphones to do their work. However, even with a great camera, not all pictures look great. When it comes to professional photography, the editing process can make a world of difference.

 

Editing Apps

Rather than wait to download photos from your phone, you can edit them on the same device! From the built-in editing app (which has some great capabilities) to the multitude of third-party apps available, photo editing apps can enhance the quality of your pictures. There are limitations to the app programmed on your device, so using multiple apps can benefit you. Whether you want to touch up blemishes, adjust the contrast, or add a filter, apps are a great advanced way to edit your pictures.

 

Layers

Tools like Photoshop and Lightroom are great for editing pictures, but knowing how to use them is part of the challenge. For the best results, it’s important that you recognize the function and benefits of layers. Layers can help you make temporary changes to color, tint, contrast, and more; if you decide you don’t like the effect, it’s easy to simply delete the layer and start over. Using layer masks also enables you to make edits like color swaps to only selected areas of the image. When making multiple small edits and trying new effects, knowing how to use layers can be a lifesaver.

 

Dodge & Burn

When editing your pictures on a device, this is a great technique for adjusting the lighting to your own specifications. Based on darkroom methods, dodging and burning aids in making the subject of your picture stand out. Using this method can help even out skin tones, create a sense of depth, and balance out contrast.

 

Consistency

By using the same program(s) to edit all your pictures, you can create a standard for yourself and your customers. However, if you want to really establish yourself, consistency is key. What this means depends on the photographer. Maybe you want all your images to have a similar palette or the same temperate. It’s also important that you ensure consistency across your subjects. If you are photographing the same individual or setting multiple times, you should strive to edit them in a similar fashion; if the shade of your subject’s skin or the hue of your focal scenery varies too greatly without artistic purpose across pictures, this could reflect poorly on your editing skills.

 

Editing your pictures is much easier with the aid of digital tools, and you should learn how to best utilize them to get the best pictures for your portfolio and clientele.

Most Instagrammable Spots in Manhattan

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marissa elman

 

Are you planning to travel to the “Big Apple” in the near future? New York City is filled with incredible spots that are sure to make anyone’s Instagram account shine.  Make sure you have Instagram uploaded onto your phone, grab your camera, and plan out your trip to include these locations so can snap some awesome pictures of this iconic city.

 

Manhattanhenge

The phrase was originally coined by astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and it is the event when the sun sets between the buildings that run east to west. This will require a little bit of planning beforehand to make sure you’re there whenever this happens, but the photos are worth the extra bit of planning you have to do. This phenomenon takes place because New York City is set up as a grid, allowing the sun to perfectly rise or set between the buildings during the winter or summer solstices.

 

Flatiron Building

The Flatiron Building, located at 175 5th Avenue, is definitely one of the most iconic buildings of Manhattan. This triangular-shaped skyscraper stands out on the street and is easy to photograph from practically any angle be it ground-level or aerial. The building gets its name from it’s shape, as an iron is of a similar shape.

 

Central Park

This large park in the center of Manhattan gives its visitors beautiful glimpses of the city from a lovely landscape. The park itself has so many lovely features like sprawling fields, lakes, and sculptures. An afternoon in Central Park, regardless of what time of year you visit, is sure to bring about some Instaworthy shots.

 

Helicopter Rides

Viewing New York from a helicopter is a fantastic way to get a new perspective of its majestic features, while also giving you the opportunity to snap some one-of-a-kind shots. A short ride will certainly make you fill up the memory in your camera and will definitely be an unforgettable experience. It can be costly, but if you’re able to save up, it’s worth it to take the ride at least once.

 

Highline

Originally a part of the New York City Railroad, this elevated park is located on the west end of the city. Walking along the old railroad bridge will allow you to spot various New York City structures and take pictures of the iconic skyline.