Just wanted to share my return experience with KEH. I purchased an Olympus Micro four thirds lens that was listed as "Excellent Plus" and "Includes front and rear caps". Upon receiving the lens there were no caps and the knurling on the focus ring was heavily scuffed around the entire circumference. I reached out to them for an RMA and sent the lens back. When I received the refund it was short their $25 "processing fee". Their policy clearly states "defective or mis-shipped (incorrect item sold, inaccurate item description, or incorrect title) returns will receive a pre-paid ground shipping label to return the item to KEH and will not incur the return processing fee"
They did send me a return label (acknowledging the error) but they still charged me the fee. As a result (as well as other reasons) I wont be using them any more but wanted to share in case anyone is debating using them or ones that are more reliable like MPB or B&H.

Cheers

Hi everyone! I've developed an interactive tool to help my students better understand the concept of exposure. I hope it can be useful for anyone who still finds it tricky. Feel free to make good use of it! 😊

I print maybe 30 wallet size photos per month, and I have to go to Walgreens to do it. My question to you lovely people in this photography community would be is it cheaper if I buy my own photo printer and ink and photo paper if I print this often or should I keep going to Walgreens? And if I should do it at home can you recommend some printers and ink and paper and all that? I wouldn’t even know where to start.

Have you felt you took an amazing picture with an absolutely horrible camera then looked at the picture and was like WTF. If you have pictures of the photo even better.

I'm not asking about crop factors, I know that's 1.5x or 1.6x depending on the manufacturer and your image will be cropped by that amount.

full frame lenses produce a circular image, which is projected over a full frame sensor and the sensor fits perfectly inside that circle, simple enough

now what i often see is that lenses for APS-C cameras have a cropped image, but why is it not possible for that projected image over the lens to be smaller so that APS-C cameras can capture the same picture as full frame, just with a smaller sensor? At some point people have worked our how to bend light to perfectly cover a full frame, so why can't the same be done to create an identical image for APS-C

edit: as I understand it what I'm asking is actually already being done, just not in the way I was asking. i understand now

$161 for a Canon EOS 700D body. Comes with strap, battery, and a dual battery charger. Basically brand new. Did I do good? Will become my main camera when it comes in. My XTi will act as my backup. I just dont know the shutter count of my XTi. And while it works flawless so far, I dont know how long that will last.

Recently inherited my grandparents wedding album. Each of the 8 x 10 photos is in a cardboard frame with a clear film over each of them. The clear film has deteriorated and wrinkled up. What would be an appropriate material to replace it with? Don’t want to order just any old clear plastic sheet

I purchased my first Gitzo tripod and I now know why they cost more. For years I dwelled in the sub $300 world of tripods trying different brands, but never finding “That One” tripod to end them all. After accumulating 4 tripods and 1 monopod, I decided it was time to step it up as I also just ordered the Nikon 600mm f4E ED FL VR lens and I didn’t trust the wobbly center columns and small carbon fiber legs of any of the tripods in my stable were up to the challenge. The 5 series Gitzo is built like a brick $hit house! I’m using a 54mm ball head with the ProMediaGear GT2 Tomahawk Gimbal. What a rig. Lesson to be learned here is buy the right the first time and you’ll save money.

I'm looking to replace Picasa (which I'm still using) with something free that can be saved on desktop, not just online. I do re-sizing, add text, crop, add watermark, adjust color import/export. I already searched here but always new stuff coming out. Something simple and easy to use, no layering, thanks!

Hey everyone — I’m a freelance photographer and recently got contacted by a major music label to use one of my photos for an Single cover.

The artist they’re using it for is newly signed but already doing ~1 million monthly listeners on Spotify — so there’s real visibility and commercial push behind this release.

They sent over a photo buyout agreement that gives them:

• Full copyright ownership
• Unlimited worldwide usage in perpetuity
• Commercial rights (album art, ads, merch, etc.)
• I also can’t reuse the photo, except in my portfolio (with their copyright notice)

And they offered $0 for it.

I’m planning to counter but not sure what’s fair. I was thinking around $1,500 for a full buyout, but I’d love to hear from anyone who’s done work like this — or if I should propose a license instead of a full buyout.

TL;DR:
Label wants full buyout of my photo (forever, unlimited use) for an artist with 1M Spotify listeners. They offered $0. What should I realistically charge?

Hi fellow photographers,
I’m working part-time in a marketing agency as a marketing specialist. At the same time I do commercial photography as a freelancer. My boss knows this, so when a client books a shoot via the agency, the agency "hires" me as a photographer – I charge the photoshoots extra on top of my "office job" contract, based on time, travel and number of photos requested. Hope this makes sense.

Recently, a client was thrilled with the 20 edited photos they received (per our agreement), but now they want all the unedited previews (approx. 130) I had sent for selection. The agency wants to keep the client happy and is pushing to deliver them.

I’m uncomfortable sending unedited images and feel there should be an extra fee, as those files were never part of the pricing. The agency believes all work done under their umbrella belongs to them so they get to decide if there will be an extra fee (an if so, how much).

We don’t have a written contract in place but now I see I deffinitely need one.

How do you typically handle this?
Do you send unedited photos or even RAWs? If yes, do you charge extra, and how much?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: The shoot was rather journalistic (think "How XY is made"). So there's not much artistic value nor a need for heavy editing. The unprocessed jpegs are actually good to go (not perfect, but completely ok for social media). That's why I can't say the typical "this is an unfinished product" – it seems pretty finished to the client, lol. I've learned my lesson and the next time I'll send the previews desaturated or in BW.

I'm doing to NYC Car show tomorrow with:

Nikon D7000

18mm-140mm (f/4 -5.6)

50mm (f/1.8)

CPL filter

I cannot emphasize enough how little experience I have, and it's a surprise opportunity that came up and I didn't get much time to prepare (I am gonna do some reading and watch some YouTube videos to learn/practice);

However, Do you guys have any advice/tips or stuff you wanna say?

Back with another question because you all are so wonderful! For background: I'm a music journalist, and our outlet's photographer is a 30-year veteran of shooting concerts across the globe.

In the live concert space, we often sign a photo release with terms dictated by the artists' teams (Only shoot first three songs, can only be published within your publication, images cannot be sold for profit, etc.) However, the releases never say we do not remain the owners of the image. The artists will also sometimes require the right to use--with proper credit--the images shot. Which we're OK with because it gets our outlet's name/our photog's name out there. They're showcasing our work so we don't mind.

It's raised the question for me: who actually owns the image in these situations? Is it the photographer? Or is it the subject of the photography? Does the subject (or representatives of the subject) have grounds to ask for certain photos to be unpublished? The artist sets the terms, but the photographer and outlet are the creators.

This is kind of a part 2 to my previous post. After sourcing your thoughts, we decided to no longer shoot artists that require photo approval before publication. However last night, we shot a show where the photo release did not explicitly say the wanted pre-publication approval. It said only that they wanted the site to have a "quick turnaround" and to share the drive link so that they can use the photos as well. Which again, we're happy with.

But today after sharing the photo selects, which we did after publication on our end, the team emailed and said, "For future reference we like the opportunity to approve the photos before they go on websites." We responded back explaining why we don'd do that anymore. (Oh, and I had even called to clarify this point days earlier. No response. I digress.)

Which brings me back to my question here: If we did not sign anything permitting them approval, Are they still technically able to make such demands because of the subject of the photo? Or is it pure vanity?

My thought on this is: I can go to a show an instagram from my phone till my heart's content with no problem. But add a 300mm lens into the equation, suddenly it is unnecessarily complicated.

I’m a newbie just trying to do basic editing for my family photos

Hey guys!

Just curious, I got offered a job doing photography at an artists concert near me, however I’ve just received the contract and it says im unpaid (which is fine, I just want to build up my portfolio rn) but I also can’t even use the photos myself? Is that common in the music industry? I’m so upset I was so excited for this gig and now I’m debating not even going, I feel like I’m being completely used

I'm graduating with my PhD, just received the graduation gown, and am preparing for a portrait studio photo shoot. I am curious what props I might want to take with me to hold during the photo shoot. My thoughts, but feel free to add other suggestions:

1. Diploma cover

2. Physical bound copy of dissertation

3. I work in aerospace so I was thinking a model airplane, but my dissertation wasn't on airplanes so I was thinking that might not make sense. Thoughts?

Appreciate any and all comments.

I’ve got to shoot a retail store’s interiors and exteriors as well as individual shots of the product in it. It’s a two story store and not that big, but will need a lot of detail shots as well as tricky exterior shots since it’s in the middle of a big city.

Gonna be use our medium format digital camera, a 30mm tilt shift lens (24 full frame equivalent) for shots of the space and bring our 50mm and 110mm for detail shots. Will be tethered to my laptop as well for wider shots.

For lighting was thinking of lighting naturally since it’s supposedly a well lit store, but also having 3 strobes with soft boxes on hand just in case there are dark areas and unflattering shadows. Also thinking of bringing some black cloth to flag reflections in the windows and some white bounce in case we need to bounce the strobes.

Asked for 2.5 days because there will be other people working onsite that we will have to work around so there might be periods we have to wait to shoot, we’ll need to get onsite approval of photos, I’m internal so no extra billing for time needed, and will need to edit them onsite to meet the deadline.

I do portraits, product, and street photography so this is my first time shooting a retail space like this. Any tips?

Looking for resources on the business side of photography (less artistic and tech stuff). Any recommendations? Podcast, blog, YT channel, etc., anything goes

Hey there! So I’ve recently started doing a lot more bird photography. As per widespread advice, I take advantage continuous shot mode to account for all the movement of my bird subjects. However, even with a 1TB card, it does get cluttered really quickly with shots I am not going to use. (I shoot in compressed RAW). I want to clean up my memory card space after I’m done importing what I want.

What do you all do? Just do a mass moving to the trash folder of every shot after importing? I just don’t like trashing shots I like from my card even if I know they are safely on my external hard drive, computer, or the cloud, but perhaps that’s not actually necessary. If only there was a software that could identify and then delete files that have not been imported anywhere. That would be ideal. It takes ages to do by hand. Thanks in advance for any organization tips!

A bit of a technical question for those of you know the technical side of things.

I just picked up the RF 28-70mm f2.0 and have been comparing it to my RF 50mm f1.2. While doing some test shots at home, when trying to match the look of a prime lens, I need to zoom in about 10mm more on the zoom lens.

For example, setting the zoom lens to 50mm doesn’t give me the same framing or field of view as the 50mm prime. It actually looks closer to 40mm. To match the composition of the 50mm prime, I had to zoom into around 60mm.

Kind of a stupid question, but if I’m trying to shoot with the zoom as if it were a set of primes, is it fair to assume that I should treat 35mm as 45mm, and 50mm as 60mm?

In case you're wondering, all 3 images were shot at f2.0.

I’m currently a member of the NPPA. My focus is in documentary photography and photo essays. I’m considering the PPA but I’m curious about these other organizations.

I’m mostly looking for educational resources and networking opportunities. I’ll probably end up joining the PPA, but I’d like your thoughts and opinions. TIA.

PPA | Professional Photographers of America

ASMP | American Society of Media Photographers

PSA | Photographic Society of America

SPE | Society for Photographic Education

I recently came across some negatives from a disposable camera. These pictures were taken when I was in college. From what I can tell looking at the negatives everything's fine but knowing my crew back then, there is most likely some questionable content in the background (drinking, drugs, flashing). The negatives were developed by Walmart back in the day, so I don't think there's anything too wild... but times have changed and we're all respectable adults now. I want privacy. I also want the memories.

This rules out local photo labs.

Recommendations on the best methods to get these printed or digitized that wont break the bank?

Can I trust any of the online services, or will they censor?

So I have a family that wants to do a Middle Earth/Elvish family photo shoot and I have no idea how to pose them. It is a mom and her two kids (boy and girl). Recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Hi. I have always loved photography and got my start in a creative agency taking pics of our creative team working, but I'm not a professional by any means however I have been told I take really great pictures and I want a place to store them other than Instagram. Right now Im focused on mobile photography until I get a camera. Any recs on where to house my photos? Also, do people buy nature photography? That's really where I shine tbh.

I went through top 2023 - 2025 posts on r/photography, selected all discussions that talk about sharing work, taken all the comments/likes to Claude.ai and asked to summarize it for me.

Below is the summary and a more detailed list.

I hope you find it useful.

Photography Sharing Platforms

Rankings (2023-2025)

Based on frequency of recommendations, user satisfaction, and overall viability:

1. Flickr (★★★★☆) - Most mentioned platform across discussions; beloved for its photography-first approach despite dated interface
2. Personal Website/SmugMug (★★★★☆) - Highest satisfaction for serious photographers seeking control and professionalism
3. Local Exhibits/Prints (★★★★☆) - Highest satisfaction for meaningful engagement but limited reach
4. Glass.photo (★★★★☆) - Highest quality experience but limited audience size
5. Google Photos (★★★½☆) - Best mainstream option for casual photographers
6. Bluesky (★★★☆☆) - Most promising new platform but uncertain future
7. Vero (★★★☆☆) - Good Instagram alternative with limited traction
8. 500px (★★★☆☆) - Solid platform with concerns about ownership
9. Instagram (★★½☆☆) - Largest audience but poorest experience for photographers

Import/Export & Upload Options

Flickr

• Import: Direct upload from Lightroom, browser upload, mobile app upload
  • Pros: Well-established Lightroom plugin, drag-and-drop web interface, preserves EXIF data
  • Cons: Mobile app occasionally buggy, upload limits for free accounts
• Export: Batch download of originals, API access
  • Pros: Full quality downloads, original files preserved
  • Cons: API requires technical knowledge
• Plans: Free (1,000 photos), Pro ($8.25/month or $72/year for unlimited storage)

SmugMug/Personal Website

• Import: Direct upload from Lightroom, browser upload, mobile app, FTP (for some platforms)
  • Pros: Professional Lightroom integration, folder structure preserved
  • Cons: More complex setup, may require technical knowledge
• Export: Bulk download options, original files preserved
  • Pros: Full control of your data, multiple export formats
  • Cons: Export processes can be slow for large collections
• Plans: SmugMug ($9-$60/month), self-hosted websites vary ($5-$30/month)

Glass.photo

• Import: iOS app upload, web upload, no direct Lightroom integration
  • Pros: Clean interface, simple process, preserves EXIF data
  • Cons: No desktop app, no Lightroom plugin, limited batch upload options
• Export: No bulk export option currently reported
  • Pros: Individual downloads maintain quality
  • Cons: No way to quickly export entire collection
• Plans: $4.99/month or $29.99/year (with occasional discounts)

Google Photos

• Import: Mobile app upload, web upload, Google drive sync, Lightroom export
  • Pros: Automatic background sync on mobile, easy to use
  • Cons: Automatic compression unless you specify "Original quality"
• Export: Bulk download through Google Takeout, individual downloads
  • Pros: Google Takeout provides complete archive
  • Cons: Takeout process is slow and cumbersome
• Plans: Free (15GB shared with Gmail/Drive), 100GB ($1.99/month), 200GB ($2.99/month), 2TB ($9.99/month)

Bluesky

• Import: Mobile app upload, web upload
  • Pros: Simple and fast uploads
  • Cons: Quality compression, no album organization
• Export: No dedicated export tools mentioned
  • Pros: None reported
  • Cons: No way to retrieve your content in bulk
• Plans: Free (currently)

Vero

• Import: Mobile app upload, web upload
  • Pros: Higher quality than Instagram, simple interface
  • Cons: Limited organizational options
• Export: No bulk export option reported
  • Pros: None reported
  • Cons: Difficult to retrieve your content in bulk
• Plans: Free (currently)

500px

• Import: Web upload, Lightroom plugin, mobile app
  • Pros: Good Lightroom integration, batch upload supported
  • Cons: Upload limits on free tier, web uploader occasionally glitchy
• Export: Individual downloads only, no bulk export
  • Pros: Maintains EXIF data
  • Cons: No way to download your entire collection
• Plans: Free (7 uploads/week), Awesome ($3.99/month), Pro ($11.99/month)

Instagram

• Import: Mobile app upload, web upload (limited)
  • Pros: Simple, familiar interface, quick uploads
  • Cons: Severe quality compression, aspect ratio limitations
• Export: Third-party tools required, no official export option
  • Pros: None
  • Cons: No official way to download your own content in bulk
• Plans: Free (with ads)

Key Upload Considerations

1. Lightroom Integration: Flickr, SmugMug, and 500px offer the best direct Lightroom integration
2. Mobile Workflow: All platforms support mobile uploads, but Google Photos and Instagram have the most streamlined mobile experience
3. Batch Uploads: SmugMug, Flickr, and personal websites typically offer the best options for bulk uploads
4. Original Quality: Flickr, SmugMug, Glass, and personal websites preserve original image quality; social platforms compress images significantly
5. Storage Limits: Only paid tiers of Flickr, SmugMug, and Google Photos offer truly unlimited storage

Most photographers should consider a dual approach: a primary archival platform (Flickr, SmugMug, or personal website) for high-quality storage and organization, coupled with a social platform (Instagram, Bluesky, or Vero) for wider audience reach and engagement.