It is that time of year once again where all of us look back at the last 365 days and reflect on our experiences, adventures, challenges, and accomplishments. For me, 2016 was a year of both adventure and change. I was able to explore countless countries including Cuba, Iceland, Norway, Chile and Argentina while also taking much of the last half of the year off to be with my family as we moved from Boulder, Colorado to Eastern Pennsylvania.
Gear Review: A Photographers Take on the BenQ SW2700PT 27″ QHD Monitor
With the SW2700PT, BenQ has attempted to create a monitor built specifically with photographers in mind. With its QHD resolution, wide color gamut (100% of sRGB & 99% of Adobe1998), 14 Bit 3D LUT and built in hardware support for color calibration, it has a lot going for it. But does it live up to its hype? Lets find out!
Gear Review: Sony a6300 24mp Mirrorless Camera
When it comes to mirrorless cameras, there is little doubt that Sony is at the forefront of the pack, paving the way forward. In just a few short years they have become the industry leader, controlling over 70% of the mirrorless camera market worldwide and close to 70% of all camera sensors as well (Mirrorless, DSLR and Cell Phone). Helping Sony along the way was the original a6000. With it’s small lightweight body, impressive IQ and powerful AF system, it isn’t too surprising that it was the most sold mirrorless camera on the market. It didn’t hurt that you could find …
Facebook Live Photo Editing Session + Q&A
As technology continues to improve, the tools in which we communicate are continuing to evolve. Join Colby as he edits a photo from Iceland on Facebook’s new Live Video Streaming while thousands watch and ask questions.
Gear Review: A Photographers Take on the Dell XPS 15 Laptop
Take an in-depth look at the Dell XPS 15, a quad-core laptop that is built with power users in mind. Join Colby as takes the XPS 15 to Iceland and Norway to see if it can handle the needs of professional photographers and filmmakers alike and see how it compares to some of the current competition.
25 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Sony a6300
Purchasing a new camera often involves a mixture of excitement, happiness and occasionally frustration, especially if you are coming from a different camera brand. In the last few years, no company has continued to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible as Sony has with their full frame mirrorless & APS-C cameras. With the release of the Sony a6300, I have compiled a list of 25 of my favorite tips to help you get the most out of this incredibly powerful and portable camera.
Meet the New Lightroom Mobile for Android
Adobe just announced the brand new LR Mobile app for Android. In it you will find a variety of new and powerful features that have come over from its Desktop cousin. Continuing reading to learn more about LR Mobile!
Gear Review: A Photographers Take On the Microsoft Surface Book
Take an in-depth look at Microsoft’s latest flagship device, the Surface Book. As a laptop first and tablet second, there is a lot of hype surrounding this unique and versatile 2:1. Join Colby Brown for this hands-on review of one of the most talked about devices of 2015.
How to Photograph the Northern Lights
If you have ever dreamed of seeing and capturing the Northern Lights but wasn’t sure where to start, this free mini-guide is for you. It not only covers where to see the aurora and how it is predicted, but gives you plenty of pointers on the kind of camera gear to use and what to look for when you are out in the field.
A Year In Photos with Colby Brown – 2015
A quick look back at an exciting year of travel and adventure through a variety of countries such as Iceland, Norway, Chile, Japan, Fiji and much more. From ice caves to ice bergs, seascapes to snow monkeys and waterfalls to kayaking on volcanic lakes…2015 was a great year photographically.
Gear Review: Sony a7rII 42mp Mirrorless Camera
Take a closer look at the new Sony a7R II…a 42.4mp full frame mirrorless camera that has been called a “game changer” by many. With an improved AF system, new 5-axis image stabilization and the ability to use 3rd party lenses, there is a lot to like, but no camera is perfect.
15 Tips for Getting The Most Out of Your Sony a7rii
With every new camera, there are new menu systems to learn, new custom button functions to remember and new features to wrap your head around. So no matter if you are brand new to Sony or a long time user who just picked up the latest flagship camera, I have compiled a list of 15 of my favorite tips to help you get the most of your brand new Sony a7rII.
Ask Me Anything (AMA) – Sony a7rII 42mp Full Frame Mirrorless Camera
For the last few days I have been incredibly fortunate to be one of the first photographers in the US to receive the newly announced Sony a7rII, a 42mp full frame mirrorless camera that has caught the attention of the entire photo industry. While I am currently hard at work on my own full in-depth review (which should be posted in the next week), I want to open things up to all of you in the meantime. This is an AMA, otherwise known as an Ask Me Anything session where you can ask me anything you want about the Sony …
Installing and Updating Apps on Your Sony Camera With Ease
One of the coolest features of being a Sony shooter these days is the fact that you can buy and download applications to run on your Sony Mirrorless Cameras, much like you can with your smart phone. Why is this great? Because for a few bucks, you can add a lot of features and functionality to your camera that it didn’t have before, such as the ability to easily capture and compile time-lapses out in the field with the Time Lapse App. While it is great that Sony added these feature to their cameras, the process to connect your camera …
Windows is Now a Viable Alternative For Creative Professionals
When it comes to working in the creative world, there is no doubt that many creative professionals (graphic designers, illustrators and even photographers) have historically preferred OSX and the Apple eco-system that it has built around its products. With a relatively sleek UI, strong customer service history and the slogan “it just works”, it is not surprising that many creatives sided with Macs for so many years. But things have been changing and for the first time in a long time, a lot of people are starting to once again get excited with what Microsoft is up to. While Windows …
Sony Officially Announces the a7rII Full Frame 42mp Mirrorless Camera
Today Sony officially announce the new Full Frame 42mp a7rII mirrorless camera. It is the successor to the wildly popular Sony a7r, that had a 36mp sensor. While the a7r was incredibly well received by photo community (especially landscape and travel photographers), it wasn’t a perfect camera. It didn’t have the best AF system in the world (mirrorless or DSLR), was prone to some shutter shake with longer telephoto lenses and had some auto bracketing limitations that were eventually fixed with later additions to the Sony a7 line of mirrorless cameras, such as the a7s and a7II. This time around …
A Photographers Guide to Visiting Christmas Island
As a professional travel photographer, there is no shortage of incredible locations around the world that I am fortunate to get the opportunity to explore and experience first hand. From climbing mountain peaks in the Himalayas to swimming with sharks in the Galapagos to watching active volcanoes in Iceland. However, for the longest time the remote and wild island paradise of Christmas Island had been on my bucket list. Why? Let’s just say that if Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands had a baby….the result would be Christmas Island. Sounds pretty incredible, right? While the name “Christmas Island” might not ring a bell …
Gear Review: A Photographer’s Take on The LG G4
When it comes to choosing the right smartphone, there is no shortage of options. Between IOS, Android and Windows Phone you literally have hundreds of phones to pick from at any given point in time. However when it comes to quality mobile phone photography and the cameras inside these devices, there really are only a few companies to look at if you want to capture quality images. While the iPhone has been the benchmark for mobile photography for years and Nokia came out with the 41 MP beast of a camera in the Nokia 1020 for Windows Phone a few years ago, it …
An In-Depth Review of the Sony a6000
With the digital mirrorless revolution is in full swing with the photo industry, many photographers (pros and aspiring photographers alike) are moving away from their bulky and heavy DSLR bodies and lenses. While many people were interested in the thought of going mirrorless when it first hit the scene a few years ago, the truth was that mirrorless technology couldn’t compete with the offerings of a DSLR at the time. Fast forward to today, and things are much different story. Now days many mirrorless cameras not only match DSLRs in terms of image quality and features, but are also more affordable. Take the …
Gear Review: Wacom Cintiq Companion 2
At the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas last week, Wacom announced the 13.3″ Cintiq Companion 2, which is essentially the 2nd generation in their line of powerful and portable tablets. Built with digital artists, photographers and graphic designers in mind, these devices not only come with a pen stylus and 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, but they run full versions of Windows 8.1, allowing you to install and take full advantage of Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, InDesign and any other application you can run on a Windows laptop or desktop machine. While I will save my soap box talk …
A Year In Photos with Colby Brown – 2014
It is that time of year again when many of us not only look forward to new beginnings and making resolutions for the next 12 months, but also look back on the challenges and successes that the previous year brought with it. 2014 was certainly full of both. Travel Like most full time travel photographers, I spend a good portion of the year on the road, but this year was a bit different. While I was probably gone for the same amount of time as usual (4-5 months in total), I didn’t visit a ton of different locations. In fact, I went back …
Initial Hands On: Sony a7II With 5 Axis Image Stabilization
On November 20th, 2014 Sony surprised the photography world with the announcement of the second generation of the full frame a7 mirrorless camera, known creatively as the a7II, which retails for $1698. While this announcement caught even the Sony rumors sites off guard in terms of timing, the big surprise was that Sony had managed to fit 5 axis in body stabilization into in a small mirrorless body with a full frame sensor, a first for the industry. While Olympus has similar technology for a while, it has mostly been used in its mirco 4/3rds cameras, with great results. Needless …
The Colby Brown Holiday Giveaway
It is that time of year again and I have a pretty spectacular giveaway this time around. I have reached out to a variety of my partners and sponsors and have put together something special. Each week through the month of December, I will giveaway a mix of products from Sony, Wacom, G-Technology, Formatt Hitech, Nik Software, onOne Software and Artifact Uprising. Essentially each week you could win a Sony a6000 or a Wacom Intuos Pro Tablet or a Premium version of onOne Software’s Perfect Suit 9 and more…
So You Want to Become a Travel Photographer?
While we live in a day and age where camera gear is more affordable than ever, photo editing applications are much more accessible and social media platforms have connected each of us with more and more people from around the globe, many photographers still struggle with the idea of working professionally as a photographer. When it comes to travel photography specifically, things are even more complicated. While travel photographers have to learn the craft of photography just as a wedding or stock photographer, they also have to balance the notion of the cost of travel as well. After-all, it can be expensive to …
An In-Depth Review of the Sony FE 16-35 f/4 OSS Wide Angle Lens
While Sony has continued to take the photo industry by storm with their a7 series of full frame mirror-less cameras, many of us have been eagerly awaiting the FE lens mount lineup to grow. At the top of that list was one of the only holes in Sony’s mostly incredibly impressive lens options for their a7 cameras…namely a native wide angle lens option. Like many Sony converts, I wanted a wide angle lens that was not only light weight and portable, but that didn’t sacrifice in build quality, functionality or image quality. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long. On September 15, 2014, …
Sony Announces New Professional Services Program to Rival CPS and NPS
As a professional photographer that spends much of his time on the road working in extreme environments, I have found the use of a Professional Services Program to be integral to my various photography businesses over the years. As a Canon shooter previously, there were many times when I had to take advantage of CPS (Canon Professional Services) to help me fix a broken lens, expedite my shipping and turn around a repair in short order (within a few business days) because I was leaving for another project or marketing campaign. When I became a Sony Ambassador and solely began …
First Look: Sony FE 16-35 f/4 ZA OSS Lens
*UPDATE – The full in-depth review of the Sony FE 16-35 f/4 is now live. LINK Over the last two years Sony Imaging has continued to push the boundaries of the photo industry. Between the dynamic range found in the a7r (In Depth Review) to the incredible low light performance of the a7s, there is a lot of reasons to love what Sony has been up to. However regardless how impressive Sony’s new cameras are, the native lens line for the FE camera mount has had relatively slow growth. While nearly ever one of the FE lenses available today are very …
A Photographers Guide to Visiting Yosemite
There are few places in the world that are as beautiful and inspiring as Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. When it comes to iconic locations that define a country such as the United States, it is hard not think of images of Half Dome or Yosemite Falls, both of which have been made famous over the years by photographers such as Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell that each helped define photography for their respective generations. While many people know that I grew up in the Bay Area, few actually know of my historic ties to Yosemite. My great great …
An In-Depth Review of the Sony a7r
There is no doubt that Sony has the photo industry talking lately. While you can certainly purchase a very capable Canon, Nikon or Fuji camera, it is Sony that seems to be the most innovative these days, both in sensor and lens technology. So when Sony announced the a7 & a7r last year, I (like my of my colleagues) was intrigued, one could even say excited, with the notion of an affordable light weight, full frame mirror-less camera. Especially one that housed some of the same sensor technology that went into the popular Nikon D800e. But with this being 1st …
Adobe Adds Multiple New Features to Photoshop CC (June 2014)
When Adobe first moved to the subscription model, many photographers were up in arms about the new pricing structure. Among the complaints was the mindset that Adobe was just going to take our money and not provide any real benefits to the end user, even if this was against everything Adobe was saying. Part of the reason for the change from a product you could purchase outright in a store or a pure digital subscription model was the idea that the consistent forms of revenue for Adobe would free up its resources to be able to provide more timely updates …