Micael Widell Newsletter #17
Captain's log
Almost 2000 subscribers - wow! Thank you for being part of this little group where I can share thoughts, ideas and inspiration that do not naturally fit in any of my other channels.
/Micael
Making a living through art
One of my goals I stated in this newsletter at the beginning of 2020, is that this year I want to get to a point where I can fully support myself through my art (which means my photography, mainly through my YouTube channel). Thanks to Youtube ads, affiliate links, and sponsors, I am now pretty close to this goal. I have a little bit left though, and I figured either I need to just grow my channel some more, or add an additional income stream.
If I were to make something to sell, what would you be interested in? I have contemplated making a professionally printed book with my 50 best macro lessons along with my 50 best macro photos, selling for around $35 – would you be interested in that? I might do a kickstarter campaign for this, as I would need to sell at least 150 books to break even (offset printing is very expensive).
Many photographers make a living selling Lightroom presets. It is insane how much money some people make from this. Would you be interested in a Micael Widell Lightroom Preset Pack with my best editing presets for macro photography?
Do you have other ideas on what I could sell? Or should I just stop being greedy and let things take their time – sooner or later the growth of my YouTube channel itself will likely make me able live on it and spend more time on it. Would appreciate if you replied to this e-mail with some thoughts. Thank you.
My favorite August photo
I took this with the Laowa 65mm lens, a Fujifilm X-T3 camera, a Meike MK-320 flash and a Pringles diffuser. I love the color tone the photo took on. Watch me make the diffuser and take the photo in this video.
An interesting lens
Taken with the 7Artisans 35mm f/1.2 lens
I bought a 7Artisans 35mm f/1.2 lens for APS-C and tested it a bit on my Sony A6000. Really fun lens for cheap! It is perhaps the worst lens I have ever used from an image quality standpoint, but at the same time it has a unique look to it (especially the bokeh) that is so fantastic that I still love this lens.
What I don't love however is the sensor of the A6000 that gives horizontal lines across the out of focus areas for lenses faster than f/1.4 (had the same problem with the Mitakon f/0.95). I have read that the newer Sony A6xxx-series cameras have the same sensor as the A6000 – but do they have the same problem with ultra fast lenses and horisontal lines (note that the lines are not visible unless you look at a 100% crop)?
Taken with the 7Artisans 35mm f/1.2 lens
For more info about this lens and more sample photos, I recommend Jonas Rask's review.
Everybody Street (Documentary)
I watched this great documentary on YouTube about famous New York street photographers such as Bruce Davidson, Mary Ellen Mark, Elliott Erwitt, Ricky Powell and Jamel Shabazz. In general I think most street photography is boring and uninteresting, but in this documentary I found some exceptions.
These truly remarkable photographers talk about their craft and we get to see so many iconic photos and footage from the last few centuries in New York. This is a really enjoyable watch if you feel like sitting down to relax with a cup of tea for an hour on a Sunday afternoon!
Instagram Treasures
Here are some photographers on Instagram that I would like to recommend. Click the photo to go to their profile.
@macro_hobby_miami
@steyle_com
@ilinajulia681
@tanoshivisual
My Published Videos since the last newsletter
- How to build a Pringles Flash Diffuser for Macro Photography
- Laowa 50mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro Lens Review (for MFT)
- Medium Format Macro Photography (Mamiya RB67, Instax Square, Raynox DCR-250)
- Rainy Day Macro Photography (Lumix GM1 & Laowa 50mm)
Goodbye for now
Thank you for reading this far, and see you in a month! Feel free to follow me on YouTube, Instagram and 500px in the meantime. And also feel free to tell your friends about this newsletter, and to reply to it if you have feedback or comments :)
/Micael