PT 360: Meet a 5-Year-Old Nat Geo Photographer, Check the Future of Leica M-Mount Cameras, Get Some Halloween Photography Tips, and Much, Much More!
We’re back with another fun edition of PT360! This week, we’re introduced to Hawkeye, a 5-Year-Old, highly accomplished photographer whose photos are setting the Internet on fire. We also examine the possibilities for the future of the Leica M-Mount, with a sneak peek at a hot new concept camera, and take a peek at a fun new lens bundle from Nikon. For those with kids excited for Halloween, check out our quick tips for getting great Halloween images. We’ve got an awesome book of the week, some must-see photography, and a great Filter Buying Guide too!
In the News
Meet Hawkeye, a 5-Year-Old National Geographic-Featured Photographer
It’s astonishing to think that a 5-year-old has the wherewithal to take images worthy of publication in National Geographic, but this kid is just astonishing all the way around.
Hawkeye Huey, son of National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey, certainly gets a lot of pointers from dad. But if you’re thinking that dad is the only reason Hawkeye has been published in Nat Geo, you’re wrong.
On a trip from their hometown of Seattle to the Salton Sea in California, dad gave son a camera to document the voyage. Once all the images were laid out, dad fell in love with his son’s work. “I think I knew immediately that I liked them more than my own,” he recalled.
That moment was the beginning of a journey that led to Hawkeye’s emergence as a top tyke photographer.
He’s got his own Instagram account with nearly 150,000 followers, which, by the way, was named to Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Instagram accounts. He’s also got a book in the works – a collection of his photos taken on his travels throughout the American West with his dad. The book, funded on Kickstarter, easily surpassed its $35,000 goal, with delivery slated for spring of next year.
As Hawkeye attests, it is never too early to jump into photography!
Get the full scoop at Today.
Have used camera gear you want to sell or trade in? Get a free quote HERE.
The Rumor Mill
New Leica M Typ 801 Concept is HOT!
Image from Leica Rumors
Supercharge your photography skills. 600+ Premium lessons waiting for you HERE.
Leica Rumors recently posted the photo above which shows a concept camera that is sleek, beautiful, and packed full of awesome potential features.
The camera would be a Leica M-mount with a water-sealed aluminum or titanium body. The 60MP CMOS sensor is quite large, providing lots of photographic possibilities, especially when paired with the ultra-fast Maestro II processor. A shutter speed range of 1/8000s to 60s makes for capturing all kinds of stills while the 4K capabilities at 24fps means you could shoot lots of amazing video as well. Built-in Wi-Fi and GPS would come standard, of course.
This is merely a concept camera, but it’s nice to dream, right? Let’s hope Leica puts this bad boy into production!
For more details on this amazing concept camera, visit Leica Rumors.
New DX Lens Kit from Nikon is Perfect for any Photographer
At the PhotoPlus Expo last week, Nikon announced a fun new lens bundle that will be ready for shipments next month.
The kit includes two prime lenses, one an AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR and the other an AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G. Nikon is calling it their Macro & Portrait 2 Lens Kit, and it comes complete with a macro educational guide, a portrait educational guide, and a free online photography lesson from Craftsy.com.
The retail price for this back of goodies is just under $820.00. Read more about this great bundle on Nikon Rumors.
Photography Talk Quick Tip of the Week
Get Great, Spooky Images on Halloween With These Easy Tips
With Halloween just a couple of days away, we thought it would be the perfect time to offer up a few simple Halloween photography tips!
First and foremost, Halloween gives your kids license to be silly. At least for one night of the year, you probably won’t have to fight them to smile for the camera! Encourage them to play the part of their costume for some genuine and interesting photos.
Light is a primary problem when taking Halloween pictures because by the time the kiddos are ready to trick-or-treat it’s dark outside. The easiest way to get around this is to get some images at dusk, which is a perfect time for taking photos anyway because of the great, soft light that occurs during the golden hour. Get the kids out on the front porch at dusk, and fire off as many images as you can. How often do you have great light and happy kids at the same time?!
But if you miss your chance at dusk, avoid using a flash at all costs. The whole point of Halloween is to be dark, mysterious, and spooky, and a bright flash illuminating the scene will make that impossible. Instead, open your aperture, slow down your shutter speed, and boost your ISO to make those dark, low-light images a possibility.
When taking your Halloween photos, avoid composing your shots from an adult perspective. An image that’s looking down toward the little goblins and creatures will not have the same visual impact as if you kneel down and take the photo from a kid’s eye level. The night is all about them having fun, so the images of the night should give insight into their perspective as well.
A final tip is to get in close to your subject. Whether that’s your kids in their garb or the awesome jack-o-lantern you carved, filling the frame with your subject will allow you to highlight the scary details and capture the drama of the holiday.
Book of the Week
Getting the exposure right is often one of the most difficult tasks facing photographers. But in Understanding Exposure, Bryan Peterson lays out the processes for achieving successful exposures in a variety of settings. With easy-to-understand lessons on aperture and shutter speed, as well as in-depth discussions of HDR, white balance, and using flash, Understanding Exposure will help you unlock the mysteries of shooting great photos no matter what camera you use. The book is currently for sale on Amazon for $14.99 for the Kindle edition and $15.90 for paperback.
Must-See Photography
Nikon Announces the Winners of their Small World Contest
Ralph Grimm/2015 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition
The 2015 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition has ended, and the winning photos are stunning, to say the least.
Taking top honors was the photo above, by Ralph Grimm of Australia. It’s an image of the pollen-coated eye of a honeybee.
There were 77 other winners announced, including those named to the Top Twenty list. Entries flooded in from 83 countries, creating a huge pool of incredible photos.
The competition isn’t just looking for artistic quality. They also want images that demonstrate exceptional scientific technique.
For a view of this year’s top photos, visit the competition website.
Want more premium photography lessons? Click HERE.
What’s New on Photography Talk
Check Out Our Filter Buying Guide!
Circular polarizers, ND filters, UV filters, color filters... there’s a lot of filters out there that you can purchase to help you take better images. But which one is right for you?
We’ve got an in-depth series of articles on Photography Talk that walk you through the ins and outs of each kind of filter. We cover the benefits of each filter and how each one can be used. We explore their construction and break down the differences between entry-level filters and top-of-the-line filters as well. If you’re in the market for a filter, but aren’t sure what kind you should buy, give our How to Buy a Filter guide a read!