What's New

Any time Zeiss releases a new lens its a cause for heightened interest by photographers. Cameras come and go in the digital era, but lenses can become life-long friends, at least the best ones can.

Kevin and I had an opportunity to work with the new Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8 and 32mm f/1.8 lenses in Fuji XR mount on our Kimberly PODAS Expedition in Australia earlier this month. These lenses are also available in Sony NEX-E mount.

 Our joint review is now online.

We have just published our Advanced Guide to Lightroom 5. This "live" video tutorial, with Jeff Schewe, Michael Reichmann and Adobe's Eric Chan provides an in-depth explanation of all the new features in Adobe Lightroom 5.

You'll find a comprehensive Table of Contents here, and you can click directly on this link to purchase. No waiting, no taxes – available immediately to anywhere in the world. Swift Amazon S3 downloads.

Our Advanced Guide to Lightroom 5 is available for an introductory period at just US $19.95, a 20% discount over the regular price.

Leica raised a lot of false hopes when they ran teaser ads for a Mini-M. Instead, we got an X with a slow zoom lens. 

Our regular contributor Sean Reid comments on this new camera in an essay titled Waiting for Monroe.

Phase One is now running a special at 50% off for Capture One Express 7 and 20% off Capture One Pro.

Apparently the Hasselblad Lunar (cough, cough) has gone on sale, and is now available on Amazon. To celebrate this occasion we are offering the first person anywhere in the world who can prove that they have purchased a Lunar a complete collection of all of our training and travel videos as a reward (compensation?). We'll also offer to publish your review, if you care to write one. The review has to include a brief explanation of why you decided to pay $7,000 for a Sony NEX-7.

We're just completing the final editing of our brand new Advanced Guide to Lightroom 5. Only a few more days until it's available.

In the meantime, you can watch the opening chapter.

I'm giving a plug here for my friend Sean Reid and his subscription web site, Reid Reviews.

Sean has just published the first review of the new Leica X Vario, which was announced this morning. This is bound to be a somewhat controversial camera (which new Leica isn't), and if you are interested in what it might have to offer you then Sean's write-ups are always a great place to find out what's what.

We have just published Alain Briot's latest essay, Vision and The Artists Statement – Part 3.

I returned from Western Australia yesterday after two days of almost continious travel. Whew. Four airports, five movies, two novels, and at least a half dozen indescribable airplane meals. But, no delays, no lost bags, and no drama, so lot's to be thankful for.

Kevin is still there, taking care of winding things up, and shipping all the Phase gear back to Denmark. He'll be home by Thursday.

Adobe started shipping Lightroom 5 today. We filmed our Lightroom 5 Tutorial Update a few weeks ago and it is now in the final editing stages. It will be ready shortly and will have compehensive tutorials on all of the new features in LR5.

Watch for a special promotional price soon.

 "Yes I downloaded the videos. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! 
I learned so much I think my brain is going to explode.

It is Wednesday June 5th in Kimberley Austrailia where for the last five days we have been sailing to some of the most remote places on the planet.  We have seen some amazing things.  We are sailing aboard the True North on a Phase One PODAS workshop.  There are 34 attendees and instructors on board and it is all about photography and fun.  We have a helicopter that takes us to remote locations as well as some incredible sights from the air.  There isn’t enough room here to even begin to tell you what an amazing photographic adventure this has been so far.  There are still three more days to go and we are told that tomorrow will rank up there as a most amazing day.  When we get home home we’ll post more images and an article about this workshop.  

We have also started planning NEW workshops for 2014 and 2015.  A few of these will be aboard the True North again.  So, if you missed this workshop, be sure to register early when we announce the new ones.  We are assembling a great  group of instructors and locations we plan to visit.

Michael, Chris and I have been busy doing a number of video interviews and these will be posted in the near future too.  There is a lot going on and we have some new and informative features coming soon.  

If you are interested we have a link to our GPS tracker and you can follow our progress HERE.  You’ll have to select the GPS points you want to see as the map will only display the last 50.  

Also, follow the links to our Facebook pages for more photos.

In a few hours we board the True North and will be out of touch for a week as we cruise and photograph the remote Kimberley Coast of Western Australia.

The new Home Page photograph was taken last night and will be the last posting here till the 9th.

You can continue to follow me and the expedition via my Facebook page (link above) where I'll be posting via a satellite texting device. The messages are geocoded and will show our current location on a map on your browser. 

It's an old topic, but needs to be raised from time to time. In a new essay by Charles S. Johnson Jr., he looks at the question – What is a Fake Photograph?

I am now in Sydney, Australia and about to head to the west coast where I'll be teaching a PODAS workshop, along with Art Wolfe and Christian Fletcher.

My Internet access will be limited for the next 10 days, but there may be posts to the LuLa Facebook page as well as my own and Kevin's. Links are found at the top of this page.

 "Every time I go back to a module I had already seen, I learn additional things.  I have never seen tutorials that have the excellent mix of what the features are, 
how to use them, enough of the under-the-hood information 
and concepts so that I can utilize the features creatively and efficiently, 
and just enough humor to keep the motivation level high.  Wow!"

We’re off to Sydney.  If you are in Sydney this week then visit us at the L&P IQ World Tour Event.  In the meantime enjoy What’s in Kevin’s Bag and see the gear he takes on a photographic trip.

Watch our Facebook pages as well as postings here for the latest on our Australia Adventure.

Stephen Johnson an instructor on our previous Antarctica workshops and well known landscape photographer has a few openings left on what looks like a great workshop into the Alaska Wilderness.  To check out this workshop and register visit his  Workshop Page

Other photographers are often interested in what gear is being carried (schlepped) to distant locations. I've just published Off to Oz, What's in the Bag? Kevin will have something about his particular kit tomorrow.

 "Yes I downloaded the videos. THEY ARE AWESOME!!!
I learned so much I think my brain is going to explode.

As I prepare to head off for Australia in just a few days to teach a PODAS workshop aboard ship on the northwest coast it seems appropriate that I publish a new article by an excellent Australian photographer, Nick Rains.

It is titled Medium Format Aerial Photography and describes his use of a Leica S2 for this work. It should be mentioned that if you find yourself in Solms, Germany during the next month, Nick has an exhibit of his aerial work at the Leica Factory Gallery.

If you're in Sydney next week, and would like to say "Hi", you might want to visit the L&P Digital IQ2 World Tour event on Wednesday, May 29. Art Wolfe, Thomas Knoll, Kevin Raber, Peter Eastway, Tony Hewett, Alexia Sinclair, myself and other well known photographers will be there speaking as well as engaging in Q&A sessions.

Was there a moment when the desire to take up photography struck you in a flash? Bors Vesterby shares with us one such moment in Composition by Heart. 

Fuji is about to release their eagerly awaited XF 55-200mm OIS zoom lens. I have been working with a sample for the past couple of weeks and my First Impressions report is now online.

"Yes I downloaded the videos. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! I learned so much I think my brain is going to explode.

This is an exciting day for me and this web site. My good and long-time friend, Kevin Raber, has joined The Luminous Landscape as our Publisher. In this role he will be responsible for site expansion and development, as well as our advertising and workshop activities.

I remain Editor in Chief and Primary Author of the site, and Chris Sanderson continues as Director and Producer of our video content.

Many of you recognize Kevin's name. For the past thirteen years he has been a Vice Preseident at Phase One, and prior to that served in various executive roles in the US photographic industry. His joining LuLa will allow us to actualize many of the plans that we have been putting in place for the past couple of years.

Welcome Kevin. It's going to be fun!

Adobe is moving its Creative Suite apps, including Photoshop, to the Cloud. What does this mean for photographers, both Pros and amateurs?

Find out what I think in Clouding The Issue.

Update: Sean Reid has just published, on Reid Reviews, a review of the Pentax K5 II S, the company's new DSLR without an AA filter. This seems to be one of the first online reviews of this camera.

 "Every time I go back to a module I had already seen, I learn additional things.  I have never seen tutorials that have the excellent mix of what the features are, 
how to use them, enough of the under-the-hood information 
and concepts so that I can utilize the features creatively and efficiently, 
and just enough humor to keep the motivation level high.  Wow!"

Ilford has recently introduced five new inkjet papers. How do they compare to the previous "gold standard"? Find out in our latest paper review article, writtten by Mark Segal and Michael.

"Yes I downloaded the videos. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! I learned so much I think my brain is going to explode.

I had a problem with Facebook the past 24 hours. They needed me to verify my identity by confirming I am who I am (like Popeye) by making me identify pictures of my Friends. Fine, except that the pictures that they used were in most cases people's baby pictures and pics of their cats. Dumb. Anyhow, problem now solved and I'm back on Facebook.

Adobe's announcement of a definitive move to the Cloud is proving to be very controversial, and somewhat misunderstood. I am currently in Chicago filming a Lightroom 5 tutorial with Jeff Schewe and we have been discussing the issue between ourselves. It's complicated.

We are shooting a roundtable video discussion on the topic and will be posting it here on the site in a couple of days.

 "Every time I go back to a module I had already seen, I learn additional things.  I have never seen tutorials that have the excellent mix of what the features are, 
how to use them, enough of the under-the-hood information 
and concepts so that I can utilize the features creatively and efficiently, 
and just enough humor to keep the motivation level high.  Wow!"

One of the most innovative new cameras of the past few years was the Fuji X100. Fujifilm has now updated the line with the new X100s, and Nick Devlin falls in love once again.

For Better or Worse
I'm now on Facebook

Ok, I finally did it. After resisting Facebook for years (the web site is enough on-line exposure, don't you think) I have succumed to pressure from family and friends and have joined Facebook.

So, if you want to find out what I eat for breakfast (NOT), or at least what cameras I'm currently testing and some of the photography that I'm doing that isn't portfolio grade, come and visit. (Today – an Apple, two slices of Swiss cheese and a cup of green tea.)

"Yes I downloaded the videos. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! I learned so much I think my brain is going to explode.

Last week I had an opportunity to shoot with the new Leica M for the first time along with with Sean Reid of Reidreviews and our own Mark Dubovoy. We did photography, talked equipment and did a lengthly video round table discussions about the current state of Leica M cameras and the whole non-reflex camera environment.

The video will appear soon, but today I am publishing my Leica M First Impressions Report and Sean's write-up on our get-together.

 "Every time I go back to a module I had already seen, I learn additional things.  I have never seen tutorials that have the excellent mix of what the features are, 
how to use them, enough of the under-the-hood information 
and concepts so that I can utilize the features creatively and efficiently, 
and just enough humor to keep the motivation level high.  Wow!"

We have just published Vision – Part 2, of an ongoing new series by Alain Briot.

I just returned from a shoot with Sean Reid and Mark Dubovoy where I had an opportunity to shoot with the new Leica M 240 for the first time.

I will have a First Impressions report here in a few days, and then in a while we will publish an extended round-table video discussion by the three of us in which the main topic is not just the M240 but non-DSLR camera in general. Watch for it!

"Yes I downloaded the videos. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! I learned so much I think my brain is going to explode.

Our regular contributor, Miles Hecker, has a new geo-tagged travel article for us today about Saguaro National Park, home of The Roadrunner.

 "Every time I go back to a module I had already seen, I learn additional things.  I have never seen tutorials that have the excellent mix of what the features are, 
how to use them, enough of the under-the-hood information 
and concepts so that I can utilize the features creatively and efficiently, 
and just enough humor to keep the motivation level high.  Wow!"