PhotoActive
Episode Archive
Episode Archive
161 episodes of PhotoActive since the first episode, which aired on May 30th, 2018.
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Episode 145: Kirk Simplifies with One Camera
July 7th, 2023 | 35 mins 45 secs
apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, leica, leica q3, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, q3, simplify
He really went and did it. When Kirk decided to simplify his photography setup, he sold all of his Fujifilm cameras and lenses, put the Leica Q2 Monochrom up for sale, and bought a brand new Leica Q3. In this episode, we talk about the reasons behind such a drastic move and the advantages of simplifying your gear.
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Episode 144: Wrangling Libraries with Matthieu Kopp
June 23rd, 2023 | 34 mins 33 secs
aperture, apple, avalanche, cameras, conversion, convert, cyme, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, lightroom, peakto, photo editing, photo libraries, photo organization, photography, podcast
If you’re like Jeff and Kirk, you probably have multiple photo libraries spread across your disks. Whether it’s because you use several editing apps, or some libraries are tied to outdated applications (RIP Apple Aperture), you don’t want to lose track of all those photos. This week, Matthieu Kopp of CYME joins us to talk about converting and managing multiple libraries using CYME’s utilities Avalanche and Peakto, and why both tasks aren’t as simple as you might think.
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Episode 143: Mike Shaw Wants You to Enjoy the Stars
June 9th, 2023 | 37 mins 22 secs
apple, astrophotography, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, mike shaw, night sky, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, rocky nook
The weather is warming up, the skies are clearing, and we point our eyes and cameras to the sky. But capturing the night sky well requires more than just snapping a photo of the heavens. Mike Shaw, author of the new book The Beginner’s Guide to Astrophotography, joins us to talk about what gear you need—yes, you can do it with a smartphone!—and how to make stunning star photos.
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Episode 142: Photomator
May 26th, 2023 | 36 mins 5 secs
apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, photomator, pixelmator pro, podcast, software
The folks behind Pixelmator Pro have just released Photomator for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and it’s won us over. Designed as a straightforward photo editor (versus the can-do-everything that is Pixelmator Pro), Photomator is surprisingly deep for an app that on the surface is non-intimidating. In this episode, we look at the new Mac version and why it’s likely to become Kirk’s main photo editor.
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Episode 141: You Say You Want a Resolution
May 12th, 2023 | 31 mins
apple, cameras, fujifilm, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, leica, lenses, megapixels, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, resolution, sensor
Camera resolution is easy, right? More pixels, more quality, more options, more better! But as soon as you start digging into it, from the iPhone 14 Pro’s 48 megapixels to Sony sensors with 60 megapixels, all sorts of considerations make themselves known. Do you need that much resolution? How did we survive with less than 20 MP in the recent past? We pixel-peep and also look at the big picture.
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Episode 140: Denoise and Healing Tools
April 29th, 2023 | 29 mins 42 secs
apple, cameras, denoise, healing, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, lightroom, photo editing, photo organization, photography, photoshop, podcast, remove
Adobe added a new AI-assisted denoise feature to Lightroom and a Remove tool in the public beta of Photoshop, both of which are impressive. But how many photographers find themselves using these and other tools?
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Episode 139: The Rant Episode
April 14th, 2023 | 32 mins 36 secs
apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast
It’s time to rant. Are photographers spending too much energy in front of the computer instead of behind the camera? Does posting a photo to a public forum make it an invitation for criticism? And is there actually a good street photo of a woman looking at her cell phone amid all the copycats out there? This isn’t just curmudgeonly banter—we dig into some photographic issues that have been gnawing at us.
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Episode 138: DPReview and AI Photography
March 31st, 2023 | 32 mins 32 secs
ai photography, apple, cameras, dpreview, generative ai, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast
We had an entirely different topic planned for this episode and then learned just before recording that the website DPReview is being shut down after 25 years of covering digital photography and being the best resource for camera reviews. At about the same time, Adobe announced Firefly, its generative AI tool for making photos and artwork by typing text prompts. What does it all mean for photographers?
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Episode 137: Zoom Lenses with Chris Niccolls
March 17th, 2023 | 34 mins 20 secs
apple, cameras, chris niccolls, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, zoom lenses
Chris Niccolls joins us this episode to talk about zoom lenses! Chris gets to shoot using most new cameras and lenses for DPReview TV, so we wanted to tap into his extensive hands-on experience with zooms. Do they require too many compromises? Why are some so expensive? And can we put to rest the idea that real photographers only shoot with prime lenses?
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Episode 136: Photo Preconceptions
March 3rd, 2023 | 35 mins 33 secs
apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photo preconceptions, photography, podcast, proraw, raw
Do you use a particular lens or photographic technique because someone said that was the only way to do it? In this episode, we break down some common photo preconceptions.
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Episode 135: Metadata
February 17th, 2023 | 29 mins 31 secs
apple, apple photos, cameras, excire, gps, iphone, jeff carlson, keywords, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, metadata, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast
“I never metadata I didn’t like.” Do we need to spend hours entering metadata for our images? Or do we even care about metadata? We look at why metadata is important, and at some automated solutions like AI-assisted object recognition in the Photos app, Lightroom, and other tools.
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Episode 134: Mike Hipple Lived Through That
February 3rd, 2023 | 32 mins 38 secs
1990s, 1990s music, apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, mike hipple, musicians, photo book, photo editing, photo organization, photo project, photography, podcast, portraits
We’re excited to welcome photographer Mike Hipple to talk about his latest book “Lived Through That: 90s Musicians Today.” What started as an artistic distraction to photograph creative people spawned a book of iconic 1980s musicians, “80s Redux!,” which he followed up with this book of notable music makers of the next decade. We talk about working on such a large project, dealing with unexpected adversity, and improvising on the fly.
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Episode 133: New Year, New Goals
January 20th, 2023 | 32 mins 50 secs
apple, cameras, flash, goals, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, lighting, new year, new year's resolutions, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, portraits, resolutions
What will your photography look like in the new year? Although Kirk and Jeff are wary of making any New Year’s resolutions, they each came up with photographic goals to chase that involve learning new skills and pushing out of their comfort zones.
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Episode 132: The Best Focal Length
December 23rd, 2022 | 38 mins 18 secs
aperture, apple, background blur, bokeh, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, lightroom, luminar, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, proraw, raw
Perhaps you’ve heard that there’s an ideal focal length that is the closest approximation to the human eye. Or perhaps you’re a purist who can’t imagine shooting anything but a 50mm prime. In this episode, Jeff and Kirk dig into these preconceptions and talk about how focal length affects your photography.
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Episode 131: Buying a New Camera
December 9th, 2022 | 32 mins 50 secs
apple, camera buying, cameras, fujifilm, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, proraw, raw
October and November bring a deluge of new camera announcements, which gets our minds to thinking, “Do we need new cameras?” But buying a camera today is different than it was just a few years ago, with factors such as AI-based autofocus systems and much higher megapixel sensors that affect everything from memory cards to computer storage.
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Episode 130: Apple Photos Little-Known Features
November 25th, 2022 | 34 mins 20 secs
apple, apple photos, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast, proraw, raw
In this episode, we’re focusing our attention on features in the Photos apps for Mac and iOS/iPadOS. Did you know you can select text in images, select and copy subjects with a single touch, identify plants and animals, and identify duplicates in your library? We show you how.