B&H Photography Podcast

I don't think I've ever seen Allan Weitz as happy as he was during our recording of this episode and, if you are into vintage cameras, lenses, and all things film photography, just sit back and enjoy our conversation with Bellamy Hunt, aka the Japan Camera Hunter. The palpable enthusiasm between these two camera lovers cannot be feigned, and they talked like old friends about Nikon SP, Canon rangefinders, Hasselblad, and anything with a red dot. We also learn how an Englishman arrived in Japan, worked for a camera company, became a camera hunter, and eventually developed a business that not only sources vintage and rare cameras, but sells film, custom-paints cameras, and writes and shares his love for photography on his the "JCH" site. In addition to talking about cameras, we discuss the photography culture of Japan, camera shops of Tokyo, and the renaissance of film photography. Join us for this pleasurable conversation. Guest: Bellamy Hunt (First published in August, 2017)

For our final episode of 2020, we look back at the year that was—and what a year it was. We learned new remote recording skills and virtual conversation styles, but the B&H Photography Podcast never missed a beat; we recorded an episode the very first week of quarantine and have continued recording throughout this unprecedented time. Many aspects of this production were made significantly more difficult by being "all remote," but it did allow us to speak with photographers around the world and those who could never have made it into our humble but homey studio. On this week's episode, we run down the list of episodes we recorded this year, which included conversations with legends of sports photography, of fine art photography, of photo education, and even with a supermodel and with a television celebrity. Of course, we also talked about the latest camera releases and the "best" cameras of 2020. Allan, Jason, and I each relate our favorite episodes from the year and mention some of the episodes that were best received by our listeners. And because this year we had many conversations about photography books, we also mention a few of our favorite books from 2020. Join us for this casual recounting of podcasts from a year no one will soon forget. Photograph © Karles Vives, winner of the 2020 B&H Photography Podcast Leica Challenge

I think most photographers have tried to document their experience during the COVID-19 shutdown, but none have done it quite like Neil Kramer. Kramer is riding out the pandemic in a two-bedroom apartment in Queens, New York, with his 86-year-old mother and his ex-wife. Did I mention that this is the apartment in which he grew up… and that he is living with his mother and his ex-wife? Kramer has become the star of his own drama and aptly describes the process of creating this series as "part art, part desperation." Perfectly fitting. Kramer is primarily a street and portrait photographer with a healthy Instagram following and editorial or assignment gigs, but when the streets emptied in early March, he turned to his unlikely living situation for inspiration. Initially, there was humor and novelty in his images, he enlisted his "roommates" as players, and eventually as collaborators, in these one-shot dramas. As the weeks and months passed, his diaristic Instagram feed went from funny shots of faux-fights and crowded bathrooms to more introspective and isolated posts, complete with tender and insightful commentary. On this week's episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we speak with Kramer about developing this project, about "learning to take a photo when I'm not behind the camera," about tethering, lighting, and bribing his "cast and crew" with doughnuts. Join us for this Seinfeldian chat, which might just help us keep our humor and creative spirit alive during the most difficult of situations. Guest: Neil Kramer Photograph © Neil Kramer

On this week's episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome photographer Matthew Franklin Carter to the program. Like many photographers, Matt Carter wears a lot of hats. In his case, literally and figuratively, but his photography work blends documentary, editorial, and portrait work and reflects the place he calls home—Greenville, South Carolina. He shoots for regional and specialty magazines and does corporate work and portraits for local artists and businesses. He also assists other photographers and, of course, he has his personal projects. Family, food, fishing, hunting, drag racing, and dirt cars are depicted with humility and grace and a touch of humor. With Carter we discuss a range of topics, but keep our conversation focused on how to work comfortably in varied settings and with different communities of folks. Carter may be at home on the rivers shooting fly fishing, but he also has produced wonderful series at local car racing tracks, a world with which he is much less familiar. We talk about these two racing projects—"Dirt" and "Glory"—and how he mingles with the drivers and crowd, as well as the gear, from FUJIFILM to Mamiya, he uses to create both portraits and documentary-style images. We also discuss photographing hunting and fishing and the portrait work he does, both in studio and on location, and the lighting he uses for both. We close on the topic of "finding your voice," and for Carter how his latest project on local food production unites his many passions. Join us for this easygoing and informative conversation. Guest: Matthew Franklin Carter Photograph © Matthew Franklin Carter

On this week's episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we offer an insightful overview of the best cameras released in 2020 and discuss significant trends in the photography industries. Our guest is Kevin Rickert, Senior Sales Trainer for B&H Photo. Rickert is often the first person at B&H to get new cameras in his hands and is responsible for training our staff on the features of a wide variety of gear. He knows his stuff. We start by mentioning the Canon EOS R5, which many members of our team listed as their favorite camera of 2020, and then we move to new cameras from Leica and FUJIFILM and the unique full-frame entry from ZEISS. We then discuss the compact Sony Alpha a7C full-frame camera and other new cameras from Sony and Nikon, including the D780 DSLR. Also, Ricoh, Olympus, and the impressive Panasonic Lumix DC-S5 get mentioned, and we wrap up cameras by discussing the new iPhones and Hasselblad's incredible 907X 50C medium format mirrorless camera. Throughout the conversation, we muse on important developments and trends of the year, including Canon's and Nikon's continued investment in their full-frame mirrorless cameras and lenses, the increasing number of high-resolution entries from a range of makers, the importance of firmware updates, the use of artificial intelligence in cameras, and, of course, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We close by mentioning a few of the more interesting lenses to arrive this year, including fixed-aperture telephotos from Canon, a great telephoto zoom from Olympus, and fast-aperture prime lenses from Sony, FUJIFILM, and Nikon. Join us for this informative episode. Guest: Kevin Rickert

Today we welcome back to the B&H Photography Podcast, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and friend to the show, Salwan Georges. Georges joined us four years ago to talk about his documentary project centered around the Arabic communities in Michigan, but a lot has changed since then, and today he joins us to discuss his work covering the 2020 presidential campaigns for the Washington Post. With Georges, we dig into the nuts and bolts of navigating a presidential election in the middle of a pandemic. We talk about press pools, political rallies, booking your own airfare, and making sure your hotel room is disinfected. We also discuss getting new angles to tell stories, prime versus zoom, switching to the Sony a9 II, and using an iPhone when that's the only option. Georges also relates his experiences working with editors, having the back of other photographers, and his additional work covering the opioid crisis and other painful stories of our time. Join us for this insightful conversation that we recorded in the days immediately following the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Guest: Salwan Georges Photograph © Salwan Georges

What a treat to welcome photographer Ami Vitale to the B&H Photography Podcast. Vitale is mustering her high profile as a National Geographic photographer, as well as the talents of eighty-nine other incredible photographers, to raise funds for Conservation International. The Prints for Nature Sale runs until December 10, 2020 and offers gorgeous gallery-quality prints at a very affordable price. Please check this link for more information and to support this worthy initiative. We also speak with Vitale about her career trajectory and commitment to telling the stories of endangered species and the humans around them. We discuss her work photographing Sudan, the last male white rhinoceros in existence, and her incredible series about pandas in China. We also ask Vitale how she bridges the gap (or perceived gap) between journalism and advocacy photography and about her commitment to long-term engagement with the stories she covers. Vitale also addresses the changing dynamics of print journalism and the need to find funding for her projects, and we briefly mention her work as a Nikon ambassador. The dearth of tourism to many protected wildlife parks around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic has brought conservation efforts to a crisis point and the Prints for Nature Sale, with images by Art Wolfe, Steve Winter, Pete McBride, Alison Wright (all past guests of the podcast) and many other great photographers, is a way that lovers of wildlife and of photography can help. Guest: Ami Vitale Photograph © Ami Vitale

On November 22 and 23, B&H will host the 2020 OPTIC All-Stars Conference, with a stellar list of outdoor, travel, and adventure photographers giving online presentations and, on this week's episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we are pleased to welcome one of those photographers: Rachel Jones Ross. Ross is landscape and night sky photographer based near Banff, in the Canadian Rockies, and our conversation with her is rife with practical tips for shooting in the mountains and with suggestions to improve your night photography. For starters, we speak with Ross about her workflow as it pertains to planning her shoots, which often require long hikes into the mountains. We discuss the apps she uses to gather information on weather, trails, and the night sky. We also ask about staying warm in sub-zero temperatures and find out that her most important piece of gear are her Heat Company gloves. From there we discuss basic (and not so basic) techniques for star and night sky photography, including tips on composition, focus, and focus stacking, including a handy "sharp star" filter for accurate focus. Because Ross is also a well-respected educator, we discuss transitioning to online workshops during the COVID pandemic, her "Night Photography in your Pyjamas" course, and she offers a preview of her OPTIC All-Stars presentation. We also discuss her go-to gear and how she decides which cameras and lenses to use for particular locations. Ross is a member of the Sony Alpha Imaging Collective and she relates her preferences for the various Alpha series cameras and when and why she'll decide to use a Sony 16-35mm zoom lens or a Zeiss Batis 18mm or Zeiss Loxia 21mm lens. There is a lot of solid information as well as practical tips enmeshed in a very pleasant conversation with the wonderful Rachel Jones Ross. Join us for the episode and register for the free 2020 OPTIC All-Stars. Guest: Rachel Jones Ross Photograph © Rachel Jones Ross

Eight months ago, on the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcomed four photojournalists who were covering the beginning stages of the COVID-19 crisis in New York. We discussed their fears and the stories they hoped to cover; we also discussed safety precautions, limited access to subjects, and altered workflows. It was the beginning of a new reality. On today's episode, we welcome back two of those photographers—Desiree Rios and Sarah Blesener—for a follow-up conversation on how their work has evolved since March. We first welcome Desiree Rios, who photographs for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. We speak with Rios about her daily assignments covering the effects of the pandemic in New York, primarily in the Bronx. We talk about using her work as a support for the community, about building solidarity with the people she photographs, and about trying to tell deeper aspects of a story with daily news images. We also marvel over how attitudes about masks and PPE were so different in March. After a break, we speak with Sarah Blesener. She also works for the Times and WSJ, but thanks to a commission from the International Center for Photography and a grant from National Geographic, she was able to focus on a long-term project over these months. Specifically, she photographed her eighty-year-old landlady and how she, along with the neighborhood community she is a part of, came together to withstand the effects of the pandemic and shutdown. Blesener relates how she came to appreciate working in a less intimate and less spontaneous manner than normal, how she avoided risky assignments to not risk infecting her landlady, and how the project grew to involve the neighborhood and became a very optimistic story, despite the situation. This series is currently on exhibition at ICP. Join us for this topical and interesting conversation on the evolving role of photojournalism during 2020. Guests: Desiree Rios and Sarah Blesener Photo: Desiree Rios

Our guest on this week's episode of the B&H Photography Podcast is Sam Hurd. While he is primarily a wedding photographer, I have no doubt that he could photograph anything and make it look interesting. Hurd is also a portrait photographer; he dabbles in landscape work; and is a passionate photo educator. A few minutes listening to this episode and it becomes clear that he can articulate his process as well as he can execute it. He offers "deconstructions" of his images for his Patreon followers and teaches his style, technique, and gear, but today we focus on his "side hustles," on the methods and platforms he uses to engage with clients and make extra money from the wedding photography he is already doing. We start by discussing his Patreon platform and how he uses his wedding-photography images and insights to build a following of "patrons," who pay monthly subscriptions to follow his tutorials. We then jump to Stocksy, and how his well-curated set of stock images, mostly taken at weddings, creates an additional revenue flow. He also speaks of DVLOP, which is a site that markets presets that he has created while processing his wedding work. Of course, each of these ancillary platforms flows into and out of each other not only to gain him clients but to improve his photography. He mentions several times how the challenge of producing interesting tutorials has forced him to be more inventive. Despite a very simple kit when shooting weddings, Hurd is also a self-described gearhead and he and Allan bond over their love for vintage glass and discuss recent purchases, including the Hasselblad 907X 50c and the Canon R6. Finally, we touch on Hurd's first professional gig, as the staff photographer for the National Press Club, some of the famous faces he photographed, and the odd but practical practice techniques he developed to practice his portraiture. Join us for this very informative episode. Guest: Sam Hurd Photograph © Sam Hurd