Author Archives: Jason Row

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About Jason Row

Jason Row is a British born travel photographer now living in Ukraine. You can follow him on The Odessa Files. He also maintains a blog chronicling his exploits as an Expat in the former Soviet Union.

Going Deep: 7 Features Hidden Inside Your Camera’s Menu System That You Should Know

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For a photographer brought up on steam powered film cameras, modern day DSLRs seem like science fiction to me. Fifteen years ago, camera functions were limited by the number dials, buttons and levers that could be built into the body. The modern digital camera discards that limitation by the inclusion of a menu system that add a huge range of enhancing features to it. Today we are going to take a brief look at some of the goodies that may be buried deep inside your cameras interface.

Moving Beyond Auto Mode: Which Exposure Mode Should You Choose?

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A newcomer to photography is often daunted by the different exposure modes a camera may offer. In fact, there are only four, real exposure modes and these are often represented by the word PASM. PASM stands for Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual and can by found (not always in that order) on the exposure mode dial on top of your camera. Today, rather than give you an in-depth break down of how each mode works, we are going to give you a brief, layman explanation of each mode and, more importantly, when to use it.

A Review of the Lowepro Event Messenger 250 Bag for Mirrorless Cameras

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Let’s be honest, in the grand scheme of things, camera bags are pretty mundane objects Yet if we think about it a little more, we would realize how important they are to our everyday photography. We spend as much time with our camera bags as we do with our cameras themselves so it is important that we choose one that serves our needs. I have recently made the transition from a DSLR based system to an entirely mirrorless system. So I set off to look for an ideal mirrorless camera bag. The one that caught my attention was Lowepro’s Event Messenger 250.

How to Get Sharper Eyes in Your Portraits

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A good portrait draws the viewer in to the subject, creating a connection between the two. It should provoke thought and intrigue, making you wonder what the subject is thinking at the time the shot was taken. If there is one part of the face that can communicate this the most, it is the eyes. Beautiful, sharply focused eyes grab your attention and hold it there, they can make or break a portrait, but there is an art to getting pin sharp eyes, a lot of it in the technique used to take the shot, some of it in the post-production. Let’s take a look at what we can do to get those eyes sharp.

The 10 Lightroom Tools That Are A Landscape Photographer’s Dream

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As we know, Lightroom has become a very powerful tool not only for image management but also for post production. Amongst the tools available are some excellent ones for the landscape photographers amongst you. Today we are going to take a look at ten of the best. From graduated filter and the adjustment brush to tone curve, these 10 tools will help make your landscape photographs pop. Do check them out.

7 Signs That You Have Over-Processed Your Photographs

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Modern cameras give us great images without having to do too much to them. Many of us, however, realize that with a little post production we can make our images even better, make them pop to coin a popular phrase. The problem is, that if we are too carefree and slapdash with our techniques, we can easily over process an image, something that may not be apparent until you make a print of it. So what are the signs of over processing and how can we counter them?

Photo Editing On The Go: A First Look at Lightroom Mobile for iPad

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Mobile apps for photographers have come a long way since the the release of the original iPhone and iPad. Perhaps a real marker for this progress has been the release of Lightroom Mobile from Adobe. Whist there are a plethora of both image management and image process apps available for smartphones and tablets, Lightroom Mobile combines both with a seamless connection to you main Lightroom catalogue. The Mobile app itself is free to use but for the moment only available to users of Apple’s iPhone and iPad. We are going to take a look at the iPad version.

Why Adobe’s Creative Cloud for Photographers is a Good Deal

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When Adobe first announced that their seminal editing program Photoshop was moving to a subscription basis, there was, quite rightly some deep concern from photographers, including myself. Indeed the initial pricing of just the Photoshop package was aimed at professional photographers and could be considered a luxury for anyone for whom photography was a hobby. Recently, Adobe has created a specialist photographer’s package includes Photoshop as well as Lightroom. The main selling point of this new package is it’s price, $9.99/£8.79 per month, putting within the reach of most enthusiasts as well as professionals. Let’s take a look at why this is such a great deal.

Has the Age of Mirrorless Cameras Truly Arrived?

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Mirrorless is a bit of a misnomer. In fact virtually all non-DSLR cameras, by their very nature are mirrorless. However, the term generally refers to cameras with either or both, a micro 4/3rds sensor or bigger and an interchangeable lens system. However it is defined, 2014 has been a good year for the mirrorless class, they are one of the few growth areas within the photographic business. So are we in, or about to enter the golden age of mirrorless cameras?