Brandon Ballweg

Brandon Ballweg is a street photographer with a passion for capturing the beauty in the chaos of city life. From years of street photography, urban landscapes and travel photography, he believes in wandering off the beaten path to capture unique moments. He's a Kansas City native has a knack for getting into mischief and a love for adventure. After living in Rio de Janeiro for a few years, he's fluent in "bad Portuguese" and always looking for his next great adventure. Now back in his hometown of Kansas City, he continues to explore and document the world around him, one shutter click at a time.

Nikon SB-700 Review: A Solid Mid-Range Flash

by
Closeup image of the Nikon SB-700 flash

The Nikon SB-700 is Nikon’s mid-tiered flash, in terms of size, overall features, and price. Nikon positions it as a flash for amateur photographers, but can be used professionally, albeit with maybe some added accessories. In terms of my own assessment of this flash, overall I do like it and have gotten a ton of …

Read more

iPhone 7 Plus Review [REAL WORLD REVIEW]

by
Image of black iPhone 7 Plus outside in natural light

The iPhone 7 Plus is Apple’s current iteration of their phablet-sized iPhone, albeit one that is rumored to be replaced in here in a couple months in September 2017. The iPhone 7 Plus is the cell phone that I’m currently using for the time being and a big reason I bought it was for the camera.

Although not perfect, I find myself occasionally blown away at some of the images the iPhone 7 Plus camera produces when the light is just right. Where it’s not perfect is when put in conditions that are less than ideal.

Read more

DSLR Vs. Mirrorless in Photography: Which Should you Choose?

by
Image of a DSLR and mirrorless phone camera to show choice between mirrorless or DSLR

The DSLR vs mirrorless debate has been going on for several years now in the digital photography industry. While in the past the choice between the two was obvious for professional photographers, the two are on far more equal footing today. Up until recent years, mirrorless was not a viable option when it came to …

Read more

A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Depth of Field

by
Picture of yellow flowers in flower pot next to a fence, showing shallow depth of field

Understanding depth of field is an important part of being able to control the outcome of your images in photography. The look of any given image will be strongly influenced by the depth of field of that image. So in order to be able to consistently have control over your pictures, it’s important to be …

Read more

A Guide to Understanding Shutter Priority Mode

by
Camera Mode Dial Set to Shutter Priority

Shutter priority mode is a semi-automatic camera mode in which the photographer chooses one component of the exposure triangle (shutter speed), the camera takes a meter reading when pointed at a given scene and does the rest of the work for you by choosing the aperture value that it thinks will get the most accurate …

Read more

A Guide to Understanding Aperture Priority Mode

by
Image showing the aperture blades of a len's opening

Getting your exposure right while also achieving the depth of field you’re looking for can be tricky at times, especially if you’ve got to get some exposures off quick or you’re in a hectic situation. Luckily we have several camera modes at our disposal to make our lives easier as photographers in these situations, and …

Read more

P Mode in Photography: When and How to Use it

by
Image showing a mode dial set to P mode

Just got your first camera and wondering what that ‘P’ on your mode dial is? Understanding program mode is one of the first steps in the natural evolution of getting out of auto mode and learning to take control of your camera. While program mode does have severe limitations compared to manual mode, learning to …

Read more

Auto Mode in Photography: What’s Happening Under the Hood?

by
Image of a camera's mode dial set to auto, or automatic mode

Auto mode in photography is pretty self-explanatory, right? You just turn the camera on, point at what you want to take a picture of and click away. But what’s happening under the hood when we’re shooting in auto mode is a different story. There are multiple decisions that your camera will make in order to …

Read more

ISO in Photography [A Complete Guide]

by
Image showing high ISO in photography of New York cityscape at night

In photography, ISO is a measurement of how sensitive a given film or camera sensor is to light. ISO is named after the International Standards Organization, an organization that determines and sets the standards for measurement for this sensitivity. Originally, before digital photography came along, ISO just referred to how sensitive a film was to …

Read more

Understanding Shutter Speed

by
Shutter speed

Shutter speed, along with aperture and ISO are the three components that make up the exposure triangle. In this article, I’ll do my best to put shutter speed in as simple a terms as I can. First of all, what is a camera’s shutter? There are various types of camera shutters, but a shutter is …

Read more

Aperture in Photography: Explained in Simple Terms

by
Picture of a lens with a focus on its small aperture

Aperture makes up part of what I like to think of as the exposure triangle, the other two components being shutter speed and ISO. In this article I’ll focus on what is aperture in photography and how it affects photographs. So what is aperture in photography? The easiest way to think about aperture is that …

Read more

Best Photography Websites From Around the Web

by
Guy shooting a landscape photo in the middle of a desert canyon

When it comes to photography, you can learn pretty much everything you need to know on the Internet—for free. The thing is, though, is that all the photography information is spread out all over the Internet, making it hard to find and decipher the best ones out there. Sometimes the best photography websites for whatever reason don’t make it to the top of the search engines, at least if it’s a relatively new site.

I’ve been around the photography scene for some years now and learned the majority of what I know about photography from completely free sources on the Internet and good old fashioned trial and error. I thought I’d give back to the photography community and help people find good sources of information and inspiration for whatever type of photography you may be interested in.

Read more

The Best Nikon Lenses for Landscape Photography

by
Landscape picture taken from high vantage point of river on sunny cloudy day

In my opinion, lens selection for landscape photography is a lot less subjective than other types of photography. What I mean by that is that other types of photography give you more leeway for choosing to use a lens based on your personal style, whereas with landscape photography, there are a few focal lengths you …

Read more

Best Nikon DX Lenses: Top Picks for Crop-Sensor Nikon Cameras

by
Image showing a bunch of Nikon lenses for article about the best Nikon DX lenses

When it comes to buying DX lenses, the choices unfortunately aren’t all that clearly laid out. By that I mean there are almost too many options and there so many lenses with overlapping focal lengths that it’s hard to know where to begin in your research. I think the focal lengths for FX lenses are …

Read more

Best Nikon Portrait Lenses: 9 Top Picks

by
featured image of the best nikon lenses for portrait photography

There is no “perfect” portrait lens. And contrary to what some may try to make you believe, there’s no one lens you HAVE to have. There’s more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to portrait photography and any type of photography for that matter. There are so many different stylistic choices, …

Read more

The 7 Best Nikon Lenses for Weddings (Both FX and DX)

by
Cover image for article about the best Nikon lenses for weddings of a bunch of Nikon lenses laid out on a table

With so many options to choose from, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to narrow down the best lenses for wedding photography if you’re a Nikon shooter. When I was first starting out, I got it in my head that I needed to have a ton of lenses in my bag to successfully shoot …

Read more

The Best Lenses for the Nikon D750

by
picture of the Nikon d750 from the front with the body cap on

If you’re looking for the best lenses for the Nikon D750, it’s probably safe to assume that you already know what a powerful camera this is. It’s fast to focus, has incredible dynamic range, a nice big full-frame sensor, and it’s all wrapped up in a relatively small and ergonomic package. But with all that …

Read more