Are you one of the countless sleepers who benefits from the constant aural presence of white noise? If so, you are exactly the person the designers of the Snooz Breez Smart Bedroom Fan were thinking of when designing their air-circulating device. Equipped with independent controls that allow sleepers to separately customize airflow and the amount of ambient noise produced while the fan whirs away, this little bedside companion is made to help make falling asleep a breeze.
Subtly illuminated lighting across the Snooz Breez’s touch panel controls allows sleepy eyed users to adjust air flow and sound without disrupting the chances of falling back asleep.
The Breez’s brushless DC fan motor is quipped to maximize air circulation without producing more than a minimal amount of noise, a feature that is common in most household fans. Where the Breez stands out is the inclusion of a second smaller fan impeller designed solely to introduce the soothing constant whir of noise that some sleepers rely upon to welcome deep sleep.
The 2-in-1 appliance is app controlled and can be adjusted using touch controls on its front face, with 10 settings to circulate air able to move up to 380 CFM (cubic feet per minute). The Breez also includes a temperature sensor, allowing the fan to kick in or turn off according to your ambient temp preferences, saving energy, and also preventing users from feeling too hot or too cold while asleep.
Herbst Produkt Design went through numerous iterations to finally land on an elegant Eames-inspired mid-century form factor imagined to blend in the rest of a room’s decor.
In contrast to its cooling function, the Breez’s design was warmly executed by design, brand, and strategy consulting agency Herbst. The team of designers drew inspiration from the mid-century tradition of bent plywood, utilizing layers of natural wood veneer to shape a fan that Ray and Charles Eames might have approved of. In fact, the design firm specifically cites the Eameses and their LCW bent wood lounge chair as the epitome of “nature and technical machine in balance” and “to evoke comfort and rest for the bedroom environment.”
The $200 Breez Smart Bedroom Fan & Sound Machine is much more expensive than other fans of its size, but considering its 2-in-1 functionality, app, and touch controls, and distinctly modern genuine wood design that elevates its presence within a room from necessity to decorative nicety, consider us a fan.
Embracing minimalism can offer a fresh perspective on composition and storytelling. For photographers, understanding the power of minimalism is not just about capturing less; it’s about conveying more with simplicity and directness. This approach to photography is challenging, but it can be a game-changer in an artist’s journey, offering a lens to view the world differently and to distill its essence into a single, impactful frame.
Coming to from The Photographic Eye, this great introduces us to the work of Australian photographer Allen Koppe, renowned for its stunning minimalist compositions. The interview delves into Koppe’s journey in photography, revealing his transition from a fascination with black and white photography to a career in cinematography. This background uniquely influenced his photographic style, emphasizing the importance of the single frame, whether in motion or still. Koppe’s approach to photography, as he shares, is instinctual rather than formulaic. He doesn’t adhere to rigid rules like the Golden Ratio; instead, he relies on his gut feeling to capture images that resonate with him. This perspective is particularly enlightening, emphasizing the significance of intuition and personal vision in creating compelling images and building an individual style.
Koppes discusses how he achieves simplicity in his images, likening it to the process of architectural design, where reduction and focusing on essential elements are key. Moreover, his discussion about not confining his work within specific genres, but rather letting the feeling guide his compositions, encourages photographers to explore beyond traditional boundaries and find their unique voice. Even if you don’t shoot in a certain genre typically, trying different approaches can have a very positive impact on your main work. Check out the video above for the full rundown.
If you’ve just unboxed a new mirrorless or DSLR camera, it probably came with a kit lens. Often a mid-range zoom (such as 18-55mm), these bundled barrels are great for getting started. But because they’re built to a budget, their performance is usually limited. If you’re ready to take the next step with your photography, it’s probably time to look at the best second lenses.
Additional lenses unlock new shooting capabilities for your camera, letting you take better photos of specific subjects and settings. Fast prime lenses, for example, enable you to experiment with depth of field in street and portrait photography. Telephoto zooms get you much closer to your subject, with longer models ideal for capturing images of wildlife and action. You’ll also find macro, wide-angle and premium zoom lenses on the market.
With so many lens choices out there, it can be tricky to pick the right one for your needs and budget. That’s why we’ve rounded up a few of our favorites in the list below. As it’s impossible to cover all of the available options for every camera model and mount, we’ve instead selected a handful of top deals for the best mirrorless cameras and best DSLRs. Each has been chosen as a good example of what to look for when shopping for a second lens.
And remember: you don’t need to cover every focal length in your kit bag; it’s smarter to buy only the lenses you need for the photos you like to take.
Different manufacturers use different mounts for their mirrorless cameras, so you’ll need to pick a lens which fits your specific model. If there isn’t one listed below, take a look at our dedicated round-ups of the best Sony lenses, the best Canon RF lenses, the best Nikon Z lenses and the best Micro Four Thirds lenses (a mount used by Panasonic and OM System).
50mm prime
Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM
The nifty fifty
A fast prime with a fixed focal length of 50mm, the so-called nifty fifty is a very useful second lens. Its wide maximum aperture is ideal for portraiture and useful in low light. It’s also compact, affordable and, paired with a full-frame sensor, offers a field of view similar to the human eye. This Canon RF model is a great example: tidily designed and lightweight at 160g, its f/1.8 aperture delivers a pleasantly shallow depth of field. It’s inexpensive, too.
All-rounder
Nikon Z 24-120mm F/4 S
The all-rounder zoom
Starting wide and zooming to telephoto, this 24-120mm lets you cover a lot of bases without switching lenses. While it overlaps with the range of a 24-70mm f/4 kit lens, it zooms much further while maintaining the same maximum aperture. That makes it a very versatile lens for shooting a range of everyday scenarios. Plus it’s consistently sharp across focal lengths. If you’d prefer even longer range over constant aperture, consider the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3.
Telephoto
Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS
The telephoto zoom
Whether you want to shoot wildlife or sports, the 70-200mm is a classic choice of telephoto, with a range that’s useful in a variety of scenarios. Like 24-70mm zooms, the 70-200mm generally ships in two configurations: a fast f/2.8 version with a pro price tag, and a smaller, more affordable f/4 option. This stabilized Sony number represents the latter. It’s a remarkably flexible lens, with excellent image quality, fast AF and half-macro support for close focusing.
Mirrorless might be the future, but there’s still an active market for DSLR cameras and lenses to match. Canon and Nikon are the only manufacturers to feature in our list of the best DSLR cameras, so we’ve focused on lenses to fit their models below. For further recommendations, check out our specific features on the best Nikon DSLR lenses and the best Canon DSLR lenses.
Wide-angle
Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC HLD
The wide-angle zoom
From landscapes to architecture, wide-angle lenses let you exaggerate perspectives to cover expansive scenes in a single frame. Designed for Nikon and Canon DSLRs, this Tamron 10-24mm zoom is one of our favorite wide-angle options for APS-C models. It handles well, while weather sealing complements the high-quality build. It also benefits from good sharpness and contrast, aided by a quick AF system and optical image stabilization. It’s sold for Canon EF and Nikon F mounts.
30mm prime
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM A
The 30mm prime
Like the nifty fifty above, this is a fast prime that performs fantastically in low light and delivers a tight depth of field. Paired with a full-frame sensor, 30mm looks notably wider. But with an APS-C body, it gets close to that classic 50mm look (depending on the crop factor). It’s well-built, fast to focus and impressively sharp even at f/1.4. Plus it’s available with a number of mounts, including Nikon F, Canon EF and Sony A.
Super-telephoto
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM
The super-telephoto zoom
Super-telephoto lenses are fantastic for wildlife and sports photography. A fixed focal length will give you the best outright performance, but a tele-zoom is more useful for covering different scenarios. Take this 70-300mm lens from Canon: compatible with APS-C and full-frame models, it covers a range of telephoto lengths while staying sharp at the center of the frame. It’s also fast to focus, features a useful built-in display and weighs a relatively light 710g.
“Lean On Me” (2023), acrylic, acrylic gouache on canvas, 35.75 x 25.5 inches. All images © Danym Kwon, shared with permission, courtesy of Hashimoto Contemporary
Circling the surfaces of vessels or layered onto stacks of folded laundry, the scenes in Danym Kwon’s paintings evoke memories and emotions of togetherness and home. “The images I paint are all taken from everyday life, but through the use of pastel colors and surrealistic staging, they are transformed into more special scenes, recorded and cherished more dearly,” the artist tells Colossal ahead of her forthcoming solo exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary, A Soft Day.
Kwon is drawn to calming portrayals of comforting, common sights. After a challenging period in her life, she feels it’s important to convey vitality and brightness, explaining:
I was diagnosed with cancer in my early thirties, just a year after giving birth to my second child. Through these hardships, I found solace in the comfort provided by surroundings. I found immense gratitude and peace in the trees and flowers, and sometimes in the quiet sight of my child sleeping. These moments were fleeting, but they gave me great energy, and I wanted to remember them.
Influenced by traditional Korean folk and still life painting—known as Chaekgado—Kwon incorporates everyday objects like vases or books into idealized landscapes where the empty backgrounds may be interpreted as infinitely dimensional spaces. “I place scenes that I want to remember or that have given me warm inspiration into domestic objects like bowls or piles of laundry,” she says. Inside containers or on the creases of fabrics, people walk hand-in-hand, a child swims or tinkers, or small cars travel through verdant landscapes, giving the impression of parallel time periods and moving through different dimensions.
The motif of a tiny home repeats throughout Kwon’s paintings, which she describes as an important element. “Seeing a house standing alone on a vast land reminds me of myself and my family living in America as immigrants,” she says. “The house sometimes represents me and sometimes my family… Sometimes, we are so consumed by our busy lives that we overlook precious moments. I hope that through my work, people can find a moment of comfort and cherish the valuable moments in life.”
A Soft Day runs January 6 to 27 at Hashimoto Contemporary’s new Minnesota Street location in San Francisco. Kwon’s work is also currently included in Lone Splendor at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia, which continues through January 7. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
“Cold But Cozy” (2022), acrylic gouache on canvas, 28.5 x 28.5 inches
“Flowers Whisper” (2023), acrylic, acrylic gouache on canvas, 46 x 18 inches
“I Wish You Are…” (2023), acrylic gouache on canvas, 31.5 x 31.5 inches
“Listening to You” (2023), acrylic, acrylic gouache on canvas, 25.5 x 35.75 inches
“The Season of You, My Dear” (2023), acrylic gouache on canvas, 46 x 107.5 inches
Detail of “The Season of You, My Dear”
“You Smiled, and Sparkling Light Shined on the Water” (2023), acrylic gouache on canvas, 46 x 35.75 inches
Detail of “You Smiled, and Sparkling Light Shined on the Water”
“Driving Through the Summer” (2023), acrylic gouache on canvas, 28.5 x 28.5 inches
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article In Danym Kwon’s Vibrant Paintings, Domestic Objects Transform Into Portals to Other Times and Places appeared first on Colossal.
Friday is LJ’s last day working full-time at KSDK. This month marked his 40-year anniversary at the station. Happy retirement, LJ!
About 3 hours north of San Francisco sits a coastal community called the Sea Ranch. Built in the 1960s by a small group of architects, designers, and planner Lawrence Halprin, the community is centered around its immersion in nature. The Sea Ranch community consists of about 2,000 residences, and also includes a community lodge, which is where we’ll be spending our time today for this Project of the Week!
Architectural Photographer Adam Potts whose work I just adore will be showing us around the Sea Ranch lodge today. His project consists of a myriad of beautiful photographs, and lots of great intel on the shoot, so I’ll let him do most of the talking here! Lets go:
Adam introduces us to the Sea Ranch Lodge by sharing, “This project was one of the most exciting of my career so far. There is so much precious history and legacy at The Sea Ranch. I had actually been diving deep into hardcover books and making some trips to the area. I’m very passionate about mid-century design and architecture, and there aren’t many other places where so much of it exists against such incredible coastal scenery. The whole concept revolves around harmony between nature and its inhabitants. While suburban sprawl with blocked access to nature was the mainstream concept in the 1960s, The Sea Ranch project aimed at the opposite with a respect for nature at the core of its development.”
He continues, “The assignment involved photographing 2 newly renovated buildings, and the surrounding landscape. My main client was the developer of the project The Sea Ranch Lodge, and the interior designer that designed the new lodge hotel rooms Nicole Hollis. The first building had been completed a year prior with some significant changes. This building included the restaurant, cafe, post office, and general store (architect-Mithun Design, interior designer-Charles de Lisle). The second building, attached by a portal to the coastal bluffs, consisted of the renovated and reimagined guest rooms and meeting spaces… all with ocean views across the sweeping bluffs.”
As with the rest of his beautiful work, Adam’s photographs are steeped in gorgeous light and comprised of smart compositions.
Shapely, with nice shadows, textures, and restrained post-processing, Adam’s work comes across true to real life, and is each image is expertly made.
I love the shadows here, they add a playful element while giving us a sense for the time of day and the weather on site.
“Photographing this coastal project in June was tricky, given the coastal fog/marine layer patterns,” Adam explains about the shoot.
“Our first of many shoot days was focused on the restaurant and cafe, along with some overall exterior shots. As good fortune would have it, we (my assistant and I) had a stunningly clear day with gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean. We had to spend some time adjusting furniture but worked quickly with abundant natural light needing little strobe for the interior shots. Earlier in the day, I was able to scout some of the exterior photos to be captured at sunset and dusk. One of my biggest concerns was of course capturing the views without fog and I was off to a great start.”
Inside the lodge, Adam includes the same patterned light that gives plenty of visual interest and warms up the space. I love the balance in exposure between the interiors and the exterior view. Top notch!
Adam says, “The next phase of the project involved photographing select lodge rooms. Construction delays and press deadlines converged making for some challenging circumstances, but the amazing local team was able to pull the last-minute details together and we had just the right mix of weather during the days that the interior designer was present to assist in the direction of the room photos and styling.
Prior to the shoot, I used Sunseeker and other planning apps to lay out rough timelines for the room shots. We had some foggy mornings and took advantage of these conditions by shooting spaces without coastal views. I like capturing the majority of the planned shots during the day according to sun position, and then circling back to the most important views an hour before sunset, capturing that magical moody light that we all love… already familiar with compositions that work and styling set in place.”
The quality of light and gentle coloration of each scene really sets Adam’s work apart. His photographs of the rooms are inviting and tranquil.
They are rich with mood and teleport us to the Sea Ranch visually.
“The team at Nicole Hollis did an incredible job curating bold/beautiful furniture, art, and styling elements that fit perfectly,” Adam explains “During the next trip, I focused on room follow-up shots and we still needed to capture overall exterior shots in early morning light along with several dusk shots. Construction had finally wrapped up fully in the courtyard and I planned several shots both in the evening and early morning. “
This next shot is one of my favorites. The strong lines, the warm light mixed with cool shadows – it all just feels so idyllic.
Adam shares, “My favorite exterior photos of both buildings were taken as the fog was clearining early in the morning (an absolute gift). Several drone images were taken as well, emphasizing the surrounding landscape. With at least 4 trips to the project, I really felt like I was able to understand how special the area was and how fortunate I was to capture this chapter of its legacy.
This project evolved from a previous relationship with a client at a different hotel project…needless to say, relationships matter a great deal and I really treasure all of my clients and their effort to bring these amazing projects to life.”
I appreciate how Adam took the time to document so much of the landscape that surrounds the Sea Ranch. It speaks to the community’s original purpose to be immersed and one with nature, and it really helps convey what makes this community so special.
An enormous thank you to Adam Potts for submitting in this beautiful project to us. The Sea Ranch has such wonderful history, and Adam’s photographs definitely do it justice!
Adam’s photos of the ranch have been widely published. You can see and learn more about this project on Dwell, Conde’ Nast, and Arch paper. Well deserved Adam!
Visit adampottsphotography.com and @adampottsphoto to see more of Adam’s stellar photos!
If you have a project you’d like to be considered for Project of the Week, you can submit it here.
