Micael Widell Newsletter #28
Captain's log
July was a hectic but nice month for me. My three year old son was home from preschool + 5 month old daughter = lots of time and energy just keeping the children happy. But I found some time to do photography and other fun things, like lots of FPV drone practice.
Another highlight was that I published two YouTube videos that did considerably better than any video I have posted in the last year. Basically my channel hasn't seen any real growth for a year, but in July two of my videos took off more than usual and right now the channel is growing with about a hundred new subscribers per day again, which is a nice feeling :) This newsletter has reached 2900 subscribers, which is a lot! Welcome to all new ones!
/Micael
Patreon
I am now officially launching my Patreon, a place where you can support me with $5 per month, and in return you will get extra content from me:
- Exclusive monthly bonus video
- Photo collections shared nowhere else
- Download full size photos (.zip) from my YouTube videos
- Discord chat server invite
- Complete post archive
- Behind-the-scenes content
Please watch my video about it and join if you feel like it! :)
Eric Mencher
I stumbled across Eric Mencher when reading this article. He is an extremely talented street photographer, who not only takes some of the most stunning photos I have ever seen, but does so using a simple iPhone! Inspiring to say the least.
Finally Laowa is creating my dream lens!
When reading a Photorumors article I saw that Venus Optics are about to release a very special macro lens; an 85mm f/5.6 2x macro lens for full frame cameras. This is pretty much a dream lens for me, as the small max aperture (likely) makes it much smaller and more lightweight than a f/2.8 macro lens, and as I very rarely use a larger aperture than f/5.6 when photographing insects – because the depth of field would be too miniscule.
I love that Venus Optics are continuing to fill in gaps in the market by creating innovative macro lenses. I asked them if I could have a copy of the lens to review, and they promised to get back to me with that as soon as the lens is production ready.
Inspiration found on Instagram
Here are some beautiful photos I found on Instagram recently. Please click the username above each photo to go the the user's profile and follow them!
@reynantem
@esthers_eyes
@steyle_com
@devaider_ph
@danielhedquistphoto
@shapomacro
@thomasgunillasson
@ariestyan_setya
@malbafont_macrophotography
The Gap that needs to be Closed
I read this interesting article about a micro four thirds camera running Android. The camera does not look like a great product in itself, but the idea is brilliant: Letting the user quickly edit a photo and also post it on social media directly from the camera's interface.
As most people who use serious interchangeable lens cameras end up posting the photos on social media anyway, why not let them do it directly in the camera to make the whole process a lot quicker and smoother? I find myself often having to take photos with my iPhone despite bringing a mirrorless camera, because I want to post the photo on Instagram or Facebook immediately, and I know that doing that with a non-iPhone photo will take many steps and needs to involve a computer of some sort in between.
I hope more companies realize how important it is to bridge the gap between today's digital cameras, and the ability to edit and post photos online, and I think it is bound to happen.
My Published Videos since the last newsletter
- 8 Beginner Mistakes in Macro Photography – avoid them to take great photos!
- Relaxing 24 Minutes of POV Macro Photography
- Laowa 25mm vs Laowa 100mm Macro Lens – Which one to buy?
- Instagram betrays Photographers, Flickr is dead, 500px sucks. Where to go now?
- FeiyuTech Pocket 2 Review + DJI Pocket 2 Comparison
- 7 Reasons you will REGRET not joining my Patreon!
Goodbye for now
Thank you for reading this far, and see you in a month! Feel free to follow me on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter in the meantime. Please consider supporting me on Patreon. And lastly, please also feel free to tell your friends about this newsletter, and to reply to it if you have feedback or comments :)
/Micael