Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

I get ’em. You probably get ’em too. Those feelings of photographic futility when the sky and the ground and your car and your imagination are all the same dim shade of dirty, dingy gray, and there’s really no point to stepping outside to take photographs. How do you beat the bad weather doldrums? Here are a few ideas. 

What’s the difference between water resistant and splashproof? Do weatherproof, waterproof and moisture resistant all mean the same thing? And what the heck does an IP56 rating mean? When it comes to mixing camera equipment with water, what you don’t know can hurt you—and could cost you dearly. 

A selfie stick with a built-in battery pack—why didn’t I think of that? And a 24-hour battery for my GoPro HERO4? Crazy!

You have common sense enough to know that you need a spare battery, high capacity memory cards, USB card reader and, for sure, a subscription to Shutterbug, so we won’t restate the obvious. But there are a few other things you really should have to maximize the fun and function of your new camera.

It’s not very often that a photo bag or backpack can be fully understood from images alone. The new collection of high quality, military-style camera bags, pouches and backpacks from Able Archer needs very little explanation. One look tells you that they’re durable, functional and great looking.

Just in time to add some nostalgic film effects to our holiday photos, Alien Skin has released Exposure X, a greatly enhanced refinement of its popular imaging software package. In its latest incarnation, Exposure X is designed to deliver image organization and editing—and it does an elegant job of both. But its greatest strength, as I see it, still lies in accurately emulating the look of film of all types, vintage and modern. Here is a close up view of how that works.

As a lover of all things unsharp, I was eager to get my mitts on a Petzval 85mm portrait lens. When I saw it at Photo Plus Expo here in New York, it was under glass, gleaming like a gilded idol. The fine folks at Lomography were kind enough to loan me a sample. What follows is my report.