PhotoActive

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is always the first glimpse at what we can look forward to with new Apple software, including a peek at the photo capabilities of the next iPhones. And with iOS 26 and the Liquid Glass interface, things are going to look a lot different in the fall. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on...

We know, it seems like we just talked about AI in photography, but the field is moving pretty fast. Google announced improvements to their generative AI models, which are both impressive and sloppy at the same time. We also look at new AI-based landscape masking tools in Lightroom, speculate on what WWDC could bring to Apple’s Photo app, and more. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jef...

It’s another photo book! We’re joined by photographer Markus Naarttijärvi and publisher Daniel Agee to talk about Markus’s new book A Surrender . When we last talked to Daniel, he was at photo service Glass, but now he’s struck out on his own to form the publishing company Good Fight, and A Surrender is the first title. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Gla...

Quintin Lake traversed the Coast of Britain over several years, photographing and documenting the journey. Now, he’s turned his well-received project into a new photo book called The Perimeter . We welcome Quintin back to PhotoActive not just as a guest, but as an in-person guest with Kirk in his house in the UK. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Je...

The US government has begun to impose high tariffs on goods brought in from nearly every country in the world. Since most camera gear is made in Japan and China, what does this mean for the industry and, more important, for your own purchasing decisions? Since the policies are changing by the day, we decided to release this episode a week early. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff...

With the bonkers success of the Fujifilm X100VI, it seemed only a matter of time before Fuji made a compact camera based around its GFX medium format line. That’s the recently-announced GFX100RF, a new compact-ish, 100 megapixel, fixed-lens, $5,000 camera. We look at the inventions and the tradeoffs incorporated into this high-res entrant into the compact field. (Image: Fujifilm) Hosts: Jeff Carls...

Adobe has released Photoshop for iPhone, a bonafide version of real Photoshop, not to be confused with Photoshop Express or other earlier variations. We take a look at this new app with one main question in our minds: Who is this for? A programming note: Toward the end of the episode we talk about using the Remove tool in Photoshop and Lightroom, but Jeff forgot to take screenshots. When he tried...

Two episodes ago Jeff expressed cynicism about iPhone add-ons that try to make the phone more like a traditional camera. And yet here we are looking at Kirk’s new Leica LUX Grip accessory...and not hating it? Learn about why this could be the camera grip for the iPhone that succeeds where others falter, and how the Leica LUX app does some very smart things in the name of photography. Hosts: Jeff C...

On this week’s episode we welcome David Young, photographer and author of the new book A Brief History of Photography: From the Very Beginning to the Age of Digital . It may feel like photography is only a little more than a hundred years old, but the principles of the art, from lens design to chemistry, have been around for centuries. We had a great conversation about things that surprised David...

Photographers love to accessorize their cameras, and the iPhone is no different. A case is one thing, but what about other photo-centric add-ons? Should you buy an extra-wide or telephoto lens that snaps in front of the built-in cameras? What about grips and shutter buttons that make the iPhone feel more like a traditional camera? We weigh in with our opinions and experiences with these types of e...

The recent devastating fires in Los Angeles have created a lot of fire photography, and some of it compelling both for its content and its artistry. We talk about the challenges of photographing such extreme situations. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon , Jeff on Bluesky Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram ,...

We’ve been looking at various AI-related photography topics in recent episodes, such as using the Clean Up feature in the Photos app to remove unwanted items or the bigger question of “What is a photo?” Now it’s time to look broadly at what AI can offer photographers and where we think it’s going. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon ,...

As we wrap up 2024, we’re realizing our photo libraries have grown quite a bit—in Jeff’s case, almost filling his cloud storage. So as we anticipate some holiday downtime, we’re turning our attention to strategies for cleaning up our photo libraries. Note that we’re taking the next episode off to celebrate Christmas, so our next scheduled episode is January 10, 2025. Happy holidays! Hosts: Jeff Ca...

Our recent discussions of AI and the Photos Clean Up tool have brought us full circle to the bigger question: What is a photo? Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kirk on Mastodon Sponsor: Nitro from Gentlemen Coders Currently featured by Apple as an “App We...

Aimless pedestrians wandering in the background of your photo? Trash on the ground in the foreground? Apple can help. In this episode we're looking at Clean Up, the new Apple Intelligence tool in the Photos app that uses generative AI to remove areas of a photo. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's phot...

In our quest to better understand the often-confusing changes and additions to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro photo situation, we’ve decided to tackle the photo file formats. HEIF, ProRAW, JPEG-XL... there are a lot of options to choose from. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instag...

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro introduce a new twist on an existing feature, and the result is... confusion and complexity. Photographic Styles can be very powerful, but it really requires you to dig into the details. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk on Glass , Kir...

Now that Kirk and Jeff have received their iPhone 16 Pros, it’s time to take them into the world and see how the new photographic features work. Is the Camera Control all it’s cracked up to be? Does a 48 megapixel ultra-wide camera make much difference? We talk about our first hands-on experiences with Apple’s new pocket cameras—sorry, mobile phones. Oh, and what about all this Apple Intelligence...

It’s that time again: new iPhones! By which we mean, of course, new Apple Cameras That Also Do Other Stuff. Kirk and Jeff are both upgrading their phones this year, largely due to the new Camera Control button but also the 48 MP (megapixel) ultra-wide camera and the new 48 MP Fusion camera that reads data fast enough to remove the shutter lag when shooting raw images. There’s a lot to discuss in t...

Is your photo library spread out among different drives and apps? We’re not talking about maybe having a couple of Lightroom Classic catalogs—it’s not uncommon now for a photographer to have Lightroom libraries, Capture One libraries, Apple Photos libraries, even old iPhoto and Aperture libraries collected over the years. In this episode we welcome back Matthieu Kopp of CYME to talk about version...

Many cameras now feature IBIS: in-body image stabilization. But do you really need a stabilized body? Can you use just a stabilized lens? And for that matter, is image stabilization just a crutch for lazy photographers? Also in this episode, we ponder perfect photo destinations. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: webs...

Touting Panasonic’s new LUMIX S9 camera, a representative was quoted saying that Micro Four Thirds sensors are more difficult to understand than full-frame sensors, especially for people with “low camera literacy.” That piqued our interest, because many photographers assume that a full-frame sensor is just inherently better. But is that true? And is it really that confusing? We also touch on LUTs,...

If you're wondering whether film photography is really experiencing a resurgence in popularity, the announcement of the Pentax 17 is your answer. It's a brand-new film-only camera with some interesting design choices. Also in this episode, we talk about social media alternatives to Instagram for photographers. Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff...

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is where we learn about what’s coming in the company’s many operating systems, and this year was focused on machine learning features and AI - Apple Intelligence. That turns out to have a lot of significance on photography, such as in searching your photo library and making edits in the Photos app. We look at what was announced and how it will affect t...

Apple has released the new M4-powered iPad Pro, and Kirk bought one straightaway. Is it worth buying for photographers? Plus, we mention what’s changed in the new Lightroom releases and welcome a new sponsor: Photo Scout by Cascable! Hosts: Jeff Carlson: website , Jeff's photos , Jeff on Instagram , Jeff on Glass , Jeff on Mastodon Kirk McElhearn: website , Kirk's photos , Kirk on Instagram , Kirk...