Tips on Photographing S...

Today’s Post by Mark Toal, with Joe Farace Recently Joe and I were talking about events we had recently photographed and how we approach people—that we do not already know—at public events. For Joe it was during a outdoor car show photo walk and for me it was Portland’s...

Tips for Better Outdoor...

Today’s Post by Joe Farace The best way to improve your portrait photography is to practice. Make sure that you shoot something each week so you eventually get to the point where you don’t have to think about how to operate your gear. My suggestion are hardly secrets and you may already...

Why I Always Carry a Ca...

Today’s Post by Mark Toal I was flying my quadcopter in Cathedral Park in North Portland, Oregon when I saw this white piano. Since my camera is always nearby I grabbed it to start taking photos when a father and daughter came by. She immediately dropped her bike and went over to the...

How I Shot the ‘Velvet ...

Today’s Post by Mark Toal Whenever I try a new piece of camera gear that is recommended to be used for a certain purpose, I can’t help but try it for everything else. In this case I took the Lensbaby Velvet 56 on my Micro Four-thirds camera to the World of Speed automobile museum in...

Shooting the (Mirrorles...

Today’s Post by Mark Toal Preview The Lensbaby Velvet 56 is a 56mm f/1.6 lens that has 1:2 macro capabilities that is now available in a dedicated Micro Four-thirds mount. (It is/will also be available for Sony E, Samsung NX and Fuji X—Joe.) The lens is manual focus delivering a soft,...

Have All the Photograph...

Today’s Post by Mark Toal Looking at social media sites like Facebook, Google +, Flicker and Pinterest I feel like everything has been photographed from just about every angle. I like to constantly look for new things to shoot in new ways and I feel frustrated after surfing the web. When...