The Stalman Podcast

We have guest Cameron Whitman, professional photographer and photo editor at Stocksy United, and we packed as many pro tips as possible into one hour. These are the lessons we wish we had learned earlier in our photography careers, and some mistakes we want to help you avoid.Special Guest: Cameron Whitman.Links:Our Salty Kitchen - Daniel & Cameron's food blogStocksy UnitedUnderstanding Histograms in PhotographyUnderexposing vs. OverexposingShutter Speed vs. Focal Length RuleBack to Basics - ApertureWhy Leveling the Horizon in Photos Isn't Easy

I brought my oldest friend (and older cousin) who runs the agency Brandsmith to talk about running a small creative business and our favorite iPhone apps. Then I talk to a developer behind Spark Camera, one of my new favourite apps for quick video edits. Special Guests: Dominique Yahyavi and Shea Kerwood.Links:Spark Camera - Easy video editorBrandsmith - Elevating Brands, Calgary Alberta

We start off with some basic tips that can make any video feel way more cinematic, without spending a dime on gear. Then get some ProTips from YouTuber Brandon Havard who is known for his gorgeous tech reviews, and has shot video for top YouTubers like MKBHD and Jonathan Morrison. Lighting, lens choice, camera movement, shot planning, we cover a lot a of ground here.Special Guest: Brandon Havard.Links:Dracast - LED Video LightsBrandon's iPhone X reviewBrandon's Pixel 2 ReviewTyler's iPhone X review (4K)101 Things I Learned in Film School: Neil Landau, Matthew Frederick: 8601406529557: Amazon.com: Books

I had the very exciting surprise of being invited by Apple to a private workshop in New York. We were about a dozen creative professionals that got to spend some quality time app developers and professional photographers to learn how to get the most out of the iPhone when we shoot Fashion Week. I’m going to share what I learned with you guys. Then we talk to The Brotographer, Ross Thomas, who has been doing extensive testing of the most hyped camera of 2018, the Sony A7R III. Specifically he’s been testing a lot of the autofocus features and how it performs Canon, Sigma and Tamron lenses. Special Guest: Ross Thomas.Links:Spark Camera@jessedriftwood on InstagramLightroom CCFilmic ProThe Brotographer | Photography Reviews, Tutorials, StyleSony A7RIII eye autofocus with Canon L series lenses - YouTubeSigma China Confirmed Sony FE Lenses Soon

Choosing a camera is not only hard because there are a ton of options out there, there’s also a ton of GREAT options. All the big camera manufacturers are making great products but they still have specific strengths and weaknesses depending on what your photographic needs are. 

To dive into this in extreme detail I sat down with Chris Niccolls from The Camera Store in Calgary, or as you probably know him, host of The Camera Store TV. I’m pretty familiar with the cameras I own, but TCSTV put every camera through serious real world tests, so I always look to their opinion before I buy a new camera. Entry Budget If you’re moving up from a phone to camera for the first time you probably don’t want to spend too much until you figure out if this hobby is going to last or not. A few years back it was easy to spot the lower image quality from a cheaper camera, but thats no longer the case. A few hundred bucks can buy most of the image quality you would find in the gear pros use. As you spend more the difference of image quality starts to be smaller, and lot of what you’re paying for is improved usability, for example autofocus and ergonomics. 

But if you buy the Nikon D3400, Canon T6i or Sony A6000 you can take photos that no one will know aren’t coming out of a $10,000 system. 
Compact Cameras Smart phones have sucked all the air out of the room for smaller format cameras, but they still have their place. If a big camera feels like too much of burden, you can still get a slight quality boost over your phone with little pocket size cameras like the Panasonic ZS100, Canon G5X or Sony RX100 IV. Because of their small sensor size, they can more easily offer a bigger zoom range that’s harder to achieve with larger sensor cameras, great video quality, image stabilization and raw support. Micro Four Thirds This in-between sensor size has really come in to it’s own lately, with minimal trade offs in quality and huge advantages in cost and camera size. The only things you’re really giving up are extreme low light performance (although that’s changing with the Panasonic GH5S) and you’ll have a harder time getting bokelicious blurry backgrounds. Check out the Panasonic GH5, Olympus or Fuji XT20 to name only a few of this versatile format. APS-C A lot of people look down on any sensor that is smaller than full frame, but don’t forget that many hollywood films are shot on almost example this size of sensor/film, but the cinema version is Super35, which is obviously a way cooler name. In this category image quality is getting close to the plateau, with tons of dynamic range, impressive low light performance and a more affordable selection of lenses than it’s bigger brother, full frame. Some cameras to look at are the Canon 80D, Nikon D500 and Sony A6500, which have different strengths but will all make your photography look professional. Full Frame 35mm is most commonly used format for professionals of all time. This is the size of the film you used growing up, it what most of the top of the line lenses are optimized for, and I promise you will love shooting on it. You’ll notice a bump in quality from APS-C when you compare dynamic range and low light noise, but let’s be honest. You probably want it to get a sexy blur in the background. Every brand has an affordable way to get started, just a buy a 50mm from Canon, Nikon, Sony, or whatever brand you go with and open that aperture wide. If sharp critical focus is important to you try a long lens, like the venerable 70-200mm. 

I have a lot to say about camera in this range, since that’s typically what I buy, but for now I will just direct you to the Canon 5D IV, Nikon D850, Sony A7RIII and Leica M10. You can get lost all day researching these beautiful machines. That’s it You’ve got your work ahead of you! I just pointed you in a few directions, but now the fun part is scoring the internet for reviews, samples, and tests to find exactly the right match for you. I strongly recommend DPReview for their incredibly in depth camera reviews, and for lenses go to ImagingResource where they do really helpful comparisons. Special Guest: Chris Niccolls.

It's taken a decade for podcasts to earn their place as a leading form of media, but this is the time for them to take their place as a leading form of media. Ray Ortega is the perfect person to talk to everything you need to know about creating a podcast. He has two shows to help podcast creators, The Podcaster's Studio and Podcaster's Roundtable and is also happy to answer your questions on twitter where he is @PodcastHelper.Special Guest: Ray Ortega.

It was a great year for gadget lovers, with every major smart phone manufacturer bringing their best game to the table. Let's talk about three of my favourites, the iPhone X, Pixel 2, and Galaxy S8Links:Best Phones of 2017: iPhone X vs Pixel 2 vs Galaxy S8 - YouTube

We are now mid-saga and seeing a very new direction for Star Wars. Rain Johnson is taking us in a bold new direction and has fans divided about whether this is the best or worst Episode yet. Special Guest: Rob Mitchelson.

Another episode from the Stalman vaults, we talk about s Star Wars storySpecial Guest: Rob Mitchelson.

We were raised by Star Wars. Many of us were also raised by parents, but to our recollection, it was Star Wars first and foremost. You’re probably a lot like us. Maybe you are part of our generation, young enough to approach the films without any cynicism. You were obliged (forced) to improvise a lightsaber to duel with, making your own sounds- The best one we ever came up with was made of a flashlight and some cellophane. You reenacted scenes, you role-played the characters in your backyard before that was a thing you were allowed to do at conventions. You might have even been blown away by finally seeing the letter-boxed editions of the tapes, catching that frog-lizard dude just on the left of the frame on the way to Jabba’s palace. Tyler can’t remember first watching Star wars, only the feeling of having watched it for the 20th time, over and over on those VHS tapes. Imagine Tyler as a child, still somehow a beardy photographer, tucked away in a cozy cabin in the woods, staring at a tiny department store-brand television, preparing himself to be a Jedi. Rob had some dubs- Illegal Beta dubs, or maybe taped off the TV? Movies took decades to hit the small screen, as far as he remembers. Rob did catch Return of the Jedi in the theatre, already so very familiar with the Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, but too young to realize what was waiting for him on the big screen. Despite graduating film school, and being a supposed cynical artist, Return of the Jedi remains one of his favourite films, a narrative and visual aha moment. For people like us particularly, but for all ages of unabashed fans of the Galaxy Far, Far Away, the news a sequel to Star Wars was coming was secretly what we’d been hoping for all along. The theatrical rerelease of the original trilogy was fun (Technically Han didn’t shoot first, because Greedo never shot, so, Han just shot. Bad Han!), and the news of the prequel films was exciting (Rob was not auditioned for Anakin), but not exactly what you’d been wishing for. You’d probably made some foray into the extended universe, role playing games that quantified the speed of the Millennium Falcon and the size of Star Destroyers, endless comics about what Han was doing on a Thursday night between New Hope and Empire (being awesome with Chewie), and trawling the early internet for blog posts about a guy who knew a guy. With huge expectations on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making the movie would have been daunting. We imagine JJ Abrams pooping his pants a little, as we all collectively, metaphorically, folded our arms and said “Oh yeah?”. This is a movie which was required, in some respects, to win back our trust from “those prequels”, but at the same time fit in with them. We needed to meet old friends, but also meet new heroes to cheer for, and new bad guys to boo at. We wanted to return home, and yet be surprised. The Force Awakens seemed to walk that line. In this podcast, we’ll discuss our new heroes, and how quickly we got to like them (pretty quickly). We’ll discuss our new villains, and particularly Kylo Ren and all of his fun-to-watch internal conflict, as well as how he compares to Darth Vader. We spend some time talking about potential character development, potential character backgrounds, and possible secrets- as well as which fan theories don’t matter (Rob even asserts we don’t care if Rey is related to another important Jedi). We break down the mirrored storyline form A New Hope, and its hits and occasional misses (Yeah, okay, it’s MUCH bigger than the Death Star, we’ll allow it.), as well as the characters in their new roles as echoes of the original trilogy. If you don’t have an hour, We’re both very satisfied with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It has a familiar feel, both narratively and visually to the original trilogy, it seems to have heart and yet not take itself too dangerously seriously. Then, after recording a whole hour diving into our thoughts on the movie, we had a little more to say about predictions, other reviews and reactions to Episode VII in real life.