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Wednesday
8 Feb 2023
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Sigma 50mm f1.4 DG DN Art Lens
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Enhancing the enjoyment of taking pictures with news that matters, features that entertain and images that delight. Published frequently.
C O N T A C T • S P O N S O R S H I P • S U B S C R I B E • F O L L O W • A B O U T
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Lightning Strikes Twice
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East of Twin Peaks
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Joyce Dopkeen
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Shift Ends
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Crab Season
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George Zimbel
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Pruned Olives
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Holocaust Remembrance Day
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Mount Tam
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Marilyn Stafford
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Disaster Recovery
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Stairways After the Storm
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Twin Peaks
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
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Laguna Honda
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Repairing a Nikkor Zoom
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Henry Grossman
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Soaked by a Storm
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How to Pack a Lens
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A Dark and Stormy Night
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Caregiver
Around The Horn
7 February 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at the Turkey and Syria earthquake, Kari Medig, the fast slow shutter shot, camera selection and the Fujifilm X-H2.
Sigma Introduces 50mm f1.4 DG DN Art Lens
7 February 2023
Sigma has announced its 50mm f1.4 DG DN Art lens featuring "the ideal balance of the size, weight and autofocus performance," the company said. The new optic will be available in Leica L and Sony E mounts.
Nikon Announces 85mm, 26mm Nikkor Z Primes
7 February 2023
Nikon has announced two new Nikkor Z primes: the 85mm f1.2 S portrait lens and the 26mm f2.8 pancake lens. The company also announced a new black version of its Z fc mirrorless camera based on the FM2.
Lightning Strikes Twice
6 February 2023
Friday is a busy day around here. We had worked into the night Thursday to get our slide show in shape but it was so late we hadn't done even a simple backup before closing up shop. We were tempting the Fates.
Around The Horn
6 February 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at the Grammy Awards, Bruce Heinemann, Mount Athos, Ioanna Sakellaraki, the new standard mainstream camera, announcement week and Instant Ink foibles.
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Matinee: Zuma Pictures of the Month
4 February 2023
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
Around The Horn
4 February 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at the week in photos, Fons Iannelli, a bear, the Leica 35-70mm f4.0 and 7 Mile House.
Friday Slide Show: East of Twin Peaks
3 February 2023
We were able to saunter over to the other side of Twin Peaks last week late in the afternoon. The light had changed as the shadows lengthened, making the familiar exotic to us.
Remembering Joyce Dopkeen
3 February 2023
Joyce Dopkeen, the first woman to be hired by The New York Times as a full-time staff photographer, died from heart failure earlier this week in Rockville, Md. She was 80.
Around The Horn
3 February 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Orvieto in the fog, Photoshop portrait magic, that ice storm, black-and-white photographers and portable SSDs.
Around The Horn
2 February 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at fungi blooms, orcas, Hugh Kretschmer, feathering and zooming, Lumina and February opportunities.
Around The Horn
1 February 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at shepherding, Texas ice storm, Proteus X-ray, pyschedelic cloaking, updating a site and network backups.
January Archived
1 February 2023
We've just archived Volume 12, Number 1 of Photo Corners on the Archive page with 21 Features, 10 commented News stories, 27 Editor's Notes (which included 178 items of interest), no reviews and one site note for a total of 59 stories.
Shift Ends
31 January 2023
We often labor late into the night to bring you a fresh Photo Corners in the morning. And when we do, this is what we see as we close up shop when our shift ends.
Around The Horn
31 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Stephen Starkman, long lenses, crashing Teslas, life experiences, Smart Objects, shutters, PhotoLab 6 on the M2 Max, practicing and log literacy.
Crab Season
30 January 2023
Beginning in November we keep an eye on the ocean at night for the bright lights of the crab boats. This past November there were none. None in December. And almost none in January as various factors contrived to delay the opening of the season.
Around The Horn
30 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at the week in pictures, Wojciech Grzedzinski, WatermarkRemover.io, portrait advice, lunar tips and microSD cards.
Remembering George Zimbel
28 January 2023
George Zimbel, who proudly identified himself as one of the last elders of photography faithful to the legacy of the Photo League, passed away earlier this month at a care facility in Montreal. He was 93.
Matinee: Ed Panar's 'Walking Home'
28 January 2023
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
Around The Horn
28 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at the Polar night, John Fielder, Observer photos, music photographers, Harold Davis and ChronoPhoto.
Pilara Foundation to Close Pier 24
27 January 2023
The Pilara Foundation has announced its intention to close Pier 24 Photography when its lease with the Port of San Francisco expires in July 2025. The foundation plans to transition to a granting foundation focused on supporting organizations devoted to healthcare research, education and the arts.
Friday Slide Show: Pruned Olives
27 January 2023
The sidewalks of the church property up the street are lined with slender olive trees. Every year they get pruned back. And every time they do, we marvel at the art of it.
Around The Horn
27 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Truth in Photography, blurring a background, the Nikon SB-500, QuickLook Preview, Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It and a PureRaw deal.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
27 January 2023
Today marks the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the German concentration camp in Poland where 1.1 million people were exterminated during World War II. The day of liberation by Soviet troops has been commemorated since 2005 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Mount Tam
26 January 2023
That's what we call it around here. The full name is Mount Tamalpais and it's one of the three peaks in the Bay area. Mount Diablo to the east and Mount Hamilton to the south are the other two. Twin Peaks are just a couple of hills in comparison.
Around The Horn
26 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Europe's ski resorts, Minimalist Photography Awards, Mariachi musicians, editing via text, Shutterstock's AI option, Thunderbolt hub performance, copyright bots and a backup system mistake.
Remembering Marilyn Stafford
25 January 2023
The photojournalist and fashion photographer Marilyn Stafford, whose work was rediscovered when she was in her 90s, died earlier this month at her home in Shoreham-by-Sea on the English coast. She was 97.
Around The Horn
25 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at snake-handling, work, filming strangers in public, McCartney photos and conversation.
Disaster Recovery
24 January 2023
Sunday morning we waltzed down to the bunker to go through the news online as we warmed up with a cappuccino only to find our backup laptop (and Sunday driver) was stuck on a restart. The crash report mentioned a missing library file but that file is not on our production box either.
Around The Horn
24 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Lunar New Year, Thatcher's Children, Street View, the Masks panel, Cosina, vintage fast lenses, Pre-Photoshop, night shooting and a jammed hot shoe.
Around The Horn
23 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Dzesika Devic, Margaret Renkl, Pedro Guimarães, an animated chart, more strange things said and the M2 Mac mini.
Matinee: 'Ranald Mackechnie'
21 January 2023
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
Around The Horn
21 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Danuri, Dayanita Singh, Filter, black-and-white JPEGs, High Plains Farm, Pictures From Home, archives and no photos of Putin bathing this year.
Friday Slide Show: Stairways After the Storm
20 January 2023
There is not a lot of flat ground in hilly San Francisco. When someone claims to have found some, we tell them to let their foot off the brake with the transmission in neutral and see which way they roll. Because they will roll.
Around The Horn
20 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Grace Lau, a drop of seawater, testing a theory and two Kelby tips.
Twin Peaks
19 January 2023
We were on the west side of Twin Peaks during a break between January storms when we saw these clouds dancing over Eureka Peak (left) and Noe Peak. We stopped to listen to the music.
Around The Horn
19 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at ocean art photography contest, Mirror of Self exhibition, the Icelandic hot dog, the 2022 Stamp Yearbook, Capture One, two AI lawsuits and fashion photography.
Around The Horn
18 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at drive-ins, icicles, Jack Lueders-Booth, Joe McNally, Louis Fleckenstein, Z system advice, PhotoPills, Howard Oakley, a $137,175 contract and Isaac Newton.
Sony Announces FE 20-70mm f4 G Zoom+
17 January 2023
Sony has announced its FE 20-70mm f4-GB lens, extending the familiar 24-70mm range to a wider 20mm. The extended range is expected to appeal particularly to vloggers and selfie shooters.
Around The Horn
17 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Devin Allen, Tony O'Shea, wildlife cameras, Yassine Toumi, Luis Carlos Tovar, tool tips, character, a workshop, an Epson paper, inspiration, scale, straightening and new M2 machines.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
16 January 2023
Equality is the first word that usually comes to mind when thinking about Martin Luther King, Jr., who the nation pauses to honor today. Equal rights, in short. Regardless of race. A revolutionary idea in its day.
Matinee: 'Art In This Present Moment'
14 January 2023
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
Around The Horn
14 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Christmas trees, Casa Klotz, California's wild weather, recommendations, luck, Flickr Print Shop and Harold Davis.
Friday Slide Show: Laguna Honda
13 January 2023
Just down the hill is a natural lake that serves as a reservoir. When the local news reported our rainfall since October was nearly 200 percent of normal, we walked down to see how high the water level had risen in Laguna Honda. On the one sunny day of the whole week.
Around The Horn
13 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Layla May Arthur, Sid Grossman, 98.5mm and photography apps.
Around The Horn
12 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at indigenous photographers, Afghan women athletes, Tyrone Turner, old 50mm lenses, more strange utterances, the LensCulture portrait awards, gifts and disk image formats.
Sigma Introduces 10x Zoom for Mirrorless Systems
12 January 2023
Sigma has announced its 60-600mm f4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports lens, the world's first and only mirrorless 10x ultra-telephoto zoom, according to the company. The second full-frame mirrorless zoom lens in the Sigma Sports line, with 1:2.4 maximum magnification at 200mm and weighing 5.5 pounds, the lens is offered in Sony E-mount and L-Mount.
DxO Updates Include New Camera, Lens Support
11 January 2023
DxO had announced updates to its software that add support for four new cameras and six new lenses, bringing the total of Optics modules to nearly 1,700. The announcement also promises a February update with two new cameras and five new lenses.
Around The Horn
11 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Horacio Coppola, pandemic photos, David Teran, Mark Murrmann, predictions, winter photographs and iPhone photos.
ICP Announces 2023 Infinity Awards
11 January 2023
The International Center of Photography has announced the 2023 honorees of its annual Infinity Awards. Honorees include Ming Smith, Joyce Cowin, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Poulomi Basu and Zora J Murff.
Epson Announces SureLab D1070 Minilab Printer
11 January 2023
Epson has announced the SureLab D1070, its new high-performance minilab printer. Built for high-volume photo and graphic arts production, the drylab printer's modern design integrates seamlessly into workflows for maximum profitability and enables businesses to quickly deliver outstanding prints to their customers, the company said.
Repairing a Nikkor Zoom
10 January 2023
If you read our exuberant piece titled Fixing a Nikkor Zoom, you know we suffered the same problem with two 18-200mm Nikkor zooms. Which is that the scene in the viewfinder hops up and back down before focusing.
Around The Horn
10 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Ian Macdonald, Landforms Project, Joe McNally, Victoria Sambunaris, Kari Medig, iconic locations, a Leica zoom lens, Lightroom plug-ins and Pocket Guides.
Remembering Henry Grossman
9 January 2023
Henry Grossman, who made revealing formal portraits as well as intimate candids, died on Nov. 27 in Englewood, N.J. after being hospitalized several months after a fall. He was 86.
Around The Horn
9 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Mountain Photo of the Year, Dancing Bears Festival, Close-Up Photographer of the Year, Terry LaRue, Laura Visigalli, some thoughts and Gen Z's digicams.
Matinee: 'Funeral Photographer'
7 January 2023
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
Around The Horn
7 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Nate Gowdy, Isabel Malia, Gen Z's digicams and 2023 photography contests.
Artist Emergency Relief Grants Now Available
6 January 2023
The San Francisco Arts Commission has partnered with the Minnesota Street Project Foundation to share information about available resources to assist local artists who have recently been impacted by severe weather and flooding.
Friday Slide Show: Soaked by a Storm
6 January 2023
The second of three atmospheric rivers hit the region this week dropping another four or five inches of rain. The ground was already saturated after the first. The second brought both more flooding and power failures from downed trees along with it.
How to Pack a Lens
6 January 2023
We've unpacked and packed hundreds of cameras and lenses in 25 years of reviewing photographic gear. But we always unpacked and packed consumer packaging. We've rarely had to pack anything from scratch.
Around The Horn
6 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Alpine ski resorts, the Filter Photo Festival, a TP-Link solution, Aputure lighting, Maven magnetic filters plus Martin and Virginia Davis.
A Dark and Stormy Night +
5 January 2023
We had just chopped the Romaine into slivers for our chopped blue cheese salad with olive oil and lemon juice when the lights, which had been flickering, went dark with a sort of finality that could not be mistaken.
Nikon Announces Development of 85mm, 26mm Nikkors
5 January 2023
Nikon has announced it is developing the Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2 S, a fast mid-telephoto prime lens, and the Nikkor Z 26mm f2.8, a slim wide-angle prime lens for the Nikon Z mount system. Both lenses will be full-frame, FX-format capable.
Around The Horn
5 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at wildlife candidates, Ian Spanier, Merlin, Nikon lenses and a fraud alert.
Panasonic Announces Lumix S5 II and S5 IIX
4 January 2023
Panasonic has announced the Lumix S5 II and Lumix S5 IIx full-frame mirrorless cameras. The new releases include the Lumix S5II camera body, the Lumix S5IIx camera body, kits with the S5II and S5IIx cameras and a 20-60mm zoom lens, plus a new 14-28mm ultra-wide L-mount half-macro zoom lens for photo and video applications.
CES Notebook +
4 January 2023
The Consumer Electronics Show kicks off today in Las Vegas as yet another Covid-19 variant has been identified. Several years ago, CES was suspected of incubating the first outbreak of the disease in the Bay area. So once again we are monitoring events in drone mode, so to speak. At a safe distance.
Around The Horn
4 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at LA's arcades, nordic landscapes, Nancy Rubin, a Nikon wishlist and global shutters.
Around The Horn
3 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at Jan. 1, Jan Bell, missed shots, aspect ratios, the Synology DiskStation, Fujifilm's film simulations, Christmas tree light bokeh, resolutions, opportunities and debloating Windows.
Caregiver
2 January 2023
During a brief respite from our caregiver duties on the sunny patio yesterday, we looked up from our book to find this remnant of potted basil looking back at us. We dismissed it idly and went back to reading Vonnegut's letters but it called for a second look.
Around The Horn
2 January 2023
In this recurring column, we highlight a few items we've run across that don't merit a full story of their own but are interesting enough to bring to your attention. This time we look at cold swimmers, last week, return shots, Greenland, Pelé, Peakto, car talk, an appraisal and Olan Mills double exposures.
December Archived
1 January 2023
We've just archived Volume 11, Number 12 of Photo Corners on the Archive page with 18 Features, 8 commented News stories, 27 Editor's Notes (which included 169 items of interest), 2 reviews and 1 site note for a total of 56 stories.
It's 2023!
1 January 2023
Once again, the exclamation point in our headline expresses, not just optimism, but some genuine enthusiasm. Last year hasn't just ended but a new one has begun with a lot of positives.
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Wait a Minute ...
10 December 2012
It would almost always catch us by surprise. We'd advance the film on our Nikon FM2 only to find out we'd already taken the last shot.
Sometimes that happens in life, too.
After 13 years as the editor of the Imaging Resource Newsletter, we have parted ways. It's going one way, we're going another.
We wish the company well and remain grateful for the opportunity to discuss our passion for getting the picture with each reader who welcomed such a long email every two weeks in their inbox.
But as we used to tell our (usually) patient subject when we realized we had to put a new roll of film in the camera, "Wait a minute!"
Because we aren't done yet.
And this publication is our way of continuing to discuss our passion for getting the picture. We have several reviews in progress, covering tablet software, new image editing software for the desktop, LED lighting and more.
And this is where you'll be able to read about it.
So we hope you'll join us as we publish here at Photo Corners. If you like the idea, support us with a sponsorship or a subscription. Both come with some benefits right away and more to follow.
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