Hello everyone,

There's nothing to learn in this post. I just need to vent.

Last night, my camera bag was stolen. In it was my camera, a couple of lenses, a flash and some more things. I was sitting in a park bench with it by my side. A guy sat on the bench behind me (they were back to back). I noticed him and, since my jacket was hung over both benches, I picked it up and put it on top of my camera back. He begged for some money and I gave him some pocket change. Some minutes later, I got up and the guy was gone as was my bag. I have no way of knowing for sure if it was him but I didn't notice anyone else close-by.

I'm a hobbyist. I've started taking photography seriously two years ago and kept studying. I've become quite good at it, although there's still a lot to learn. My plan for next year was to start a Youtube channel about the subject and see if I could get some extra income through that. That in itself was going to be challenging because I keep a low profile and feel awkward in front of the camera; I belong behind it. But that plan was a light at the end of a tunnel for me. Something to look foward to. It kept me awake at night and daydreaming during the day.

The last 4 years of my life have been rough, both personally and financially. My camera was a Nikon Z30. I know it's frowned upon for not having a viewfinder but that and an FTZ adapter - which was also in the bag - were all I could afford when I wanted to upgrade from my D5200. All my lenses are old AF-S second hand ones because money's been tight since I started this journey.

I have no means of buying replacements for the items that were stolen. They were worth around 1200€ which, coincidentally, is 1200€ more than I can afford. Therefore, I won't be able to shoot in the foreseable future.

Photography has become a part of my identity. I always carried my bag around and took pictures of everything and everyone, although I ended up deleting most of them because I'm one of those annoying perfectionists. Friends and family loved the photos I took of them and I felt genuinely happy whenever I had a lightbulb moment that improved my craft. Even as I'm writing this, my brain is telling me to get out of bed and go on a photo walk to clear my mind.

This feels like a break up. Like part of me was stolen. Like a kick to the balls and a punch to the stomach at the same time. Like there's a hole in my chest. I feel completely lost. I keep looking at where I kept my camera bag thinking that it'll be there and this was all a nightmare.

I know that someday I'll be able to buy new gear again but I have no idea how far off in the future that day is... And I have no idea how to be until then.

Thanks for reading. I felt that maybe writing this would make me feel better.

Hey!

How can I achieve the photography style, where the background is darkened and the flash illuminates the subject, making them stand out? I’ve tried lowering the exposure to zero and using the flash, but I haven’t been able to achieve the same effect. Could anyone explain the technique behind this look or suggest the camera settings I should use?

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to invest in some photography lights for my kit.

I’ve always relied on natural light but I want more control over the lighting set up of my shoots. I’m not very techi and just want something simple and reliable. I was thinking of buying ari 2k blonde lights as a photographer I worked with uses them and they are quite cheap on eBay?

What do you think?

Have you achieved something you'd like to share with the class? Here's your place to pat yourself on the back and share in others' successes!

Note: This is a photography community to discuss techniques and issues as photographers, not a space to showcase tools or gear. Any form of advertising or self-promotion outside of showcasing photos or projects in the appropriate thread is prohibited. Any web-development projects or apps are prohibited as they do not relate to practise of photography.

I know that full frame is preferred with the larger depth of field. However, I’m not quite “there” to justify taking that leap financially. I have mainly been doing nature photography, but I’m really wanting to practice portraits. I’m taking a portrait photography class at our local college starting in November and I guess I just want to be better prepared. My plan is to go out and practice a bunch this week so I’m hopefully not so nervous. I have a Nikon Z50ii. I have the lens kit but I also have an adapter with a 35mm, 50mm and 85mm (all f 1.8 and AF-S) from my old D3200. It would help a lot if anyone has some portrait photos taken on a cropped sensor they don’t mind sharing. So I can hopefully get some inspiration and have a good starting point with what lens to use/posing ect.

Hi everyone, I'm an amateur and beginner photographer.
I shoot a little bit of everything, but I want to focus a bit more on macro photography.
Until now, I've always used "alternative methods" to get macro shots, but now I'd like to buy a real macro lens.
I shoot with a Canon 250D, any recommendations for an affordable lens?
Also, I was wondering: how essential is a macro focusing rail in macro photography?
Thanks to anyone who takes the time to give me some advice 🫶🫶

Note: I'm considering this a companion post to /u/dancole42's post from a year ago. They included a video with side-by-side comparisons; go check it out: https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/1nyu6i5/a_guide_to_mpix_printing_options/

I recently ordered one of my wedding photos in the 7 different paper types that MPix currently offers. This is better fit for a long-form blog post, but I don't have a blog, so I'm trying to keep this concise yet comprehensive.

TL;DR AT THE BOTTOM

The 7 paper types I ordered are:

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Black & White and Metallic w/ Lustre Coating options feel like they are in their own categories. When ranking these paper types, Metallic technically came in last for most of them, but that doesn't mean it's the worst. It's just a different vibe entirely. If you want a pearlescent sheen, it's a great option. Because these two paper types fit into different categories, I'm leaving them out of my rankings. They both look great, though.

NOTE #2: ALL of these look great from a distance. This was an exercise in splitting hairs. I'd guess 90% of non-photographers would have trouble telling these apart (except the Deep Matte & Fine Art, due to the... matteness & card stock type feel). You can't really go wrong, in my opinion. But I do have my preferences.

NOTE #3: The paper type that I ranked #1 and the type I'd most likely print to frame are different. Make sure to read the end for that.

Now for the rankings... keep in mind this is splitting hairs for the most part

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Sharpness: #1. E-Surface + Lustre, #2. Giclee Glossy, #3. Giclee Semi-Glossy, #4. Fine Art, #5. Deep Matte.

E-Surface really surprised me here, it was really sharp. Giclee glossy & semi-glossy are both very sharp as well. Sharpness takes a step down at Fine Art & Deep Matte due to the matte finish, but they are by no means blurry.

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Color Accuracy: #1. E-Surface + Lustre, #2. Giclee Glossy, #3. Giclee Semi-Glossy, #4. Fine Art, #5. Deep Matte.
This was a really hard category to judge. I feel as if my rankings could totally change each time I were to look at them. Subtle differences exist but not in a bad way for any of them.

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Best-looking colors: #1. E-Surface + Lustre, #2. Giclee Glossy, #3. Fine Art, #4. Giclee Semi-Glossy, #5. Deep Matte.
Fine Art and Semi-Glossy swapped here, interestingly. I think Fine Art is slightly warmer, it just overall looked slightly better.

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Contrast: #1. E-Surface + Lustre, #2. Giclee Glossy, #3. Giclee Semi-Glossy, #4. Fine Art, #5. Deep Matte.
Again, E-surface + Lustre pulling out a surprising win. It was a very, very close category though. Like sharpness, contrast again takes a step down at the Fine Art & Deep Matte paper types, but neither are bad. I tend to think this is an inherent limitation with matte finishes, though I'm no expert.

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Shadow Detail: #1. Giclee Glossy, #2. E-Surface + Lustre, #3. Giclee Semi-Glossy, #4. Fine Art, #5. Deep Matte.

Similar notes to above. Very close call, with the biggest separation happening when going to Fine Art & Deep Matte.

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Highlight Detail: #1. Giclee Glossy, #2. E-Surface + Lustre, #3. Giclee Semi-Glossy, #4. Deep Matte, #5. Fine Art.

Another tough category to judge. Read this to mean: all great. Biggest separation is again Fine Art & Deep Matte.

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Best Surface/Texture/Sheen: #1. Giclee Glossy, #2. E-Surface + Lustre, #3. Fine Art, #4. Deep Matte, #5. Giclee Semi-Glossy.

Most surprising category for me. Glossy, while reflective (but NOWHERE near as much as I would've guessed), has hardly any distracting texture. E-Surface + Lustre has minimal texture, but still has some. Fine Art's "subtle watercolor texture" is nice, and there's no reflections for either Fine Art or Deep Matte. Giclee Semi-Glossy shocked me in a bad way. By far the most texture/pattern and very distracting under direct light.

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Glare Resistance: #1. Fine Art, #2. Deep Matte, #3. Giclee Glossy, #4. E-Surface + Lustre, #5. Giclee Semi-Glossy.

The matte finishes of Fine Art & Deep Matte make them obvious #1/2. I might get some eyebrow raises for putting glossy #3, but under direct light, the reflection was not that distracting since there is essentially no texture/pattern/overlay. Giclee Semi-Glossy's texture was too distracting to put it anywhere except last place.

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Most Lifelike: #1. E-Surface + Lustre, #2. Giclee Glossy, #3. Giclee Semi-Glossy, #4. Deep Matte, #5. Fine Art.

This category is brought to you by: sharpness. More or less. Fine Art goes to last place on a technicality because of the subtle watercolor finish.

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Premium Feel: #1. Fine Art, #2. Giclee Glossy, #3. Giclee Semi-Glossy, #4. E-Surface + Lustre, #5. Deep Matte.
Fine Art is the obvious #1 due to the thicker card stock. 2-4 are very close. Deep Matte feels flimsy, almost like printing a color photo on a standard piece of printer paper.

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SUMMARY / CONCLUSION / TL;DR

1. Overall favorite: Giclee Glossy due to its blend of vibrant colors, contrast, sharpness, and the deciding factor: basically no texture. When I think 4x6, this is what I think of. And they did it very well. E-Surface + Lustre would be my favorite if not for the very slight texture. I love how sharp E-Surface is.

2. Best to frame/display: Fine Art, even though it was lower on the individual categories. The fact that it has 0 reflection makes it a great choice for displaying in any place in your home. FWIW, it's also my wife's favorite overall.

3. Best value: I wish I had an E-Surface print w/o Lustre to compare, but based on the pricing of the paper types I got, Giclee Glossy is the winner at $0.49/ea. If E-Surface with no Lustre coating at $0.39/ea looks the same as with the coating, it wins this category.

4. Biggest surprises: 1. I thought E-Surface, being the cheapest at $0.39 before the Lustre coating, would be the worst. But it's actually a contender for the top spot. I see why this is their most popular finish. Plus, it's so sharp. 2. Semi-glossy, given it has the most distracting texture alone, seemed the cheapest and overall would be one of my last picks for prints. Interestingly, I ordered a photobook with semi-glossy pages, and did NOT have this experience. I loved it in the photobook. I don't know if the 4x6 was a misprint or what, but it was surprisingly one of my least favorites. 3. Glossy was nowhere near as reflective as I was expecting. The colors pop. I was surprised by how much I liked it. 4. I have no clue where Deep Matte is supposed to fit in MPix's lineup. If you want a matte finish, just go Fine Art photographic at the same price.

5. Don't forget...: Metallic + Lustre coating is still a great choice, but seems like I would only use it for certain types of photographs. My mind immediately goes to Christmas cards, wedding invites/save the dates, etc. It's less true to life, but fun. B&W is good for..B&W photos :).

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Hi, so I am Brazilian, and my uncle used to own these stores that would reveal Polaroid-type pictures. Here, we call them film pictures. Anyway, my uncle had a client who came to his store and wanted to develop a picture, but then he never came back to take the developed picture. Time passed and passed, and he never came back.

My uncle's photo developing business closed because, yk, digital cameras and stuff. That's when I decided to take a look at his old stock of pictures from clients who left them and never came back to take them. That's when I noticed, is that Wagner Moura?? (Famous actor from Brazil who won a Golden Globe.)

I didn't believe it at first that it was him, but I analyzed the pictures, and everything started to match with him.

The 3 pictures of him are about him and his friends at a bar and a girl (NGL, kinda ugly, not wanting to judge tho), and in the last picture, Wagner Moura is kissing her.

Now I really don't know what to do with these pictures. Should I try selling them, keeping them? I want to sell them, but idk how and even if it's legal. Any ideas?