Jeff Carlson
Co-Host of PhotoActive
Author and photographer Jeff Carlson is a senior writer at CNET, has written for publications such as DPReview, CreativePro, and Macworld, and is a contributing editor at TidBITS. He is the author of numerous books, including Adobe Lightroom: a Course and Compendium, Take Control of iPhone Photography, Take Control of Your Digital Storage, and Take Control of Apple Watch, among many other titles. He writes The Smarter Image newsletter that covers how AI/ML technologies are fundamentally changing photography. He also co-hosts the podcast PhotoActive, and leads photography workshops in the Pacific Northwest. He believes there's never enough coffee, and does his best to test that theory.
Jeff Carlson has hosted 19 Episodes.
-
Episode 202: Pixelmator Pro Returns
February 3rd, 2026 | 30 mins 17 secs
apple, apple creator studio, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, pixelmator pro, podcast, ricoh gr iv monochrome, sally mann
Now we know what Apple is doing with Pixelmator Pro after its acquisition of Pixelmator: it’s part of the new Apple Creator Studio bundle. Also, we celebrate the latest black and white camera to hit the market, the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome, and ponder large-format photographer Sally Mann’s discovery of digital photography.
-
Episode 201: What’s Real
January 2nd, 2026 | 33 mins 22 secs
apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast
Is your phone not accurately capturing the world around you? An article in the Guardian questions whether image processing in smartphones is making photos that aren’t genuine. Also, Leica released a firmware update that radically changes the entire interface, leading to a discussion of how important the UI in our cameras is when making photos.
-
Episode 200: All Our Cameras
December 23rd, 2025 | 39 mins 39 secs
apple, cameras, iphone, jeff carlson, kirk mcelhearn, lenses, martin parr, photo editing, photo organization, photography, podcast
Two Hundred episodes! To celebrate roughly seven and a half years of the PhotoActive podcast, Kirk and Jeff picked some favorite photos from the digital cameras they’ve owned.