One thing I love about photography and videography is that it often allows us to see things in different ways, whether it’s macro photography or slow motion video. The above video is absolutely stunning and will probably blow your mind. It shows an experiment in which a water drop is filmed at 2000 frames per second, revealing something you probably never knew about the behavior of water.
(via Derren Brown Blog)
SanDisk just released its 64GB Ultra SDXC (extended capacity) memory card, the largest capacity for the Secure Digital format. It has a read speed of up to 15MB/second, stores up to eight hours of high-definition video, and costs $350. The new card uses the SD 3.0 specification, which allows capacities up to 2TB (2000GB).
It just so happens that today the CompactFlash Association also announced the CF5.0 specification, which allows memory cards up to 144PB (petabytes), or 150,994,944GB. Oh boy.
Sadly, the new Compact Flash specification only affords transfer speeds up to 32MB/s, meaning a full 144PB card would take about 153 years to transfer.
Last December an amateur photographer named Bob Patefield was in Accrington town centre shooting photographs of the Christmas celebration when he and his friend were stopped by police for suspicious behavior. He and his friend refused to provide the police with personal details (since they were not obliged to), and were stopped a total of three times before Patefield was finally arrested. His friend complied, provided his personal information, and was released on the spot.
After being detained for eight hours, he was released without charges.
Patefield asked if the officer had any “reasonable, articulable suspicion” to justify him giving his details.
She replied: “I believe your behaviour was quite suspicious in the manner in which you were taking photographs in the town centre … I’m suspicious in why you were taking those pictures.
“I’m an officer of the law, and I’m requiring you, because I believe your behaviour to be of a suspicious nature, and of possibly antisocial [nature] … I can take your details just to ascertain that everything is OK.”
Patefield and his friend maintained that they did not want to disclose their details. They were stopped a third and final time when returning to their car. This time the officer was accompanied by an acting sergeant. “Under law, fine, we can ask for your details – we’ve got no powers,” he said. “However, due to the fact that we believe you were involved in antisocial behaviour, ie taking photographs … then we do have a power under [the Police Reform Act] to ask for your name and address, and for you to provide it. If you don’t, then you may be arrested.”
What would you have done in this situation? Would you simply have given your personal information and walked away, or would you have refused?
Caught on camera: Lancashire police arrest amateur photographer (via The Guardian)
Image credit: Screenshot captured from video by The Guardian.
Despite what your eyes tell you, the above image is a photograph of a real person, not a painting. It was taken by Peter Kun Frary, a music professor at the University of Hawaii. He tells us,
Recently I walked by the Ala Moana Center Mac (cosmetic) store and noticed a crowd of Japanese tourists gawking and snapping pics. A model in full body paint was posing against a set on an open air stage in front of the store. I thought she was a darn good simulation of a late 19th or early 20th century French oil painting. Although there were no stage lights, natural sunlight light was diffused through white cloth canopy to reduce shadows and contrast.
We can imagine an artist doing a whole series of photographs that look exactly like paintings. Has this been done before? Link us if so!
(via Gizmodo)
Image credit: Photograph by Peter Kun Frary and used with permission.
PMA is off to a hot start down in Anaheim, Calif., with Sony announcing a new line of bodies and lenses, aiming to assert itself in the DSLR + video market thus far dominated by Nikon and Canon.
In a brief press conference this morning before the doors to PMA’s massive exhibit floors opened to the public, Sony announced prototype DSLR bodies and lenses that they aim to release this year.
Emphasizing the user-friendly presets on Sony cameras such as its auto HDR mode, Sony showed off a concept model of the compact α (alpha) Micro Four Thirds-DSLR hybrid that they hope will make the DSLR more accessible to a larger audience. Additionally, the new compact camera bodies (pictured below) are about the size of point-and-shoots, but have interchangeable lenses.
Additionally, a new Alpha A700 replacement body employs their Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor, which provides full AVCHD video capability:
Sony also showed off a few prototype lens models, including the Super Telephoto Superzoom 500mm f4 and the Distagon T 24mm f2 ZA SSM, new Carl Zeiss wide angle lens.
Today at PMA, Sigma announced a wide range of new lenses, including a prime 85mm f1.4.
The rep at the Sigma booth who said that the prices and release dates are not solid, but these lenses should be hitting the market by the end of this year, possibly in the second quarter (after March).
They are made to fit most major DSLR brands, including not only Nikon and Canon but Sony and Pentax.
Here’s a list of the lenses with a summary of specs, pictured left to right:
There’s no school like old school, Think Tank Photo’s newest line of bags says. Today, Think Tank announced and showed off two new soft-sided camera and lens shoulder bags in the Retrospective line have a touch of class and color.
As usual, these three new Think Tank bags are inconspicuous shoulder bags, much like the Urban Disguise, but are much more flexible and conform to the wearer’s side. Previously, Think Tank bags only come in flat black, but these new bags come in both black and Pinestone cotton canvas pictured here:
The Retrospective line comes in two styles: shoulder bags (Retrospective 10, 20, and 30) and lens changer bags (Lens Changer 2 and 3).
These bags have a great look and feel; they might rival Domke’s classic satchel line, though they are a bit more pricey. The material on the Pinestone has a really rich, durable fabric texture.
The smallest, the Retrospective 10, will run for about $149, and the largest Retrospective 30 will be about $179. The lens changers range from $99-$119.
On top of the standard Think Tank features, one notable new feature on these bags is the “Sound Silencer,” which is essentially flaps that are placed over the velcro fasteners leaving the option to either use loud velcro or switch to a hook and loop fastener for quieter situations.
Also, the bottom padding of the bags have a slit which allows the bag to be very flexible when hanging on the shoulder and it conforms quite nicely to the wearer’s side.
Think Tank has not announced an official release date for these bags, but they say they should be available sometime this year.
Some of the other Think Tank Photo products are pretty exciting for pro photographers who need to lug heavy gear or shoot in extreme weather:
The Hydrophobia 70-200 rain cover provides elemental protection for cameras coupled with 70-200mm lenses and smaller. Unlike a lot of rain covers, this one has its own camera strap, while the camera’s regular strap can be tucked inside the cover. Also, the rain cover has arm holes on the sides, so photogs can reach inside to access the camera body without getting anything wet.
Think Tank also showcased the Logistics Manager, which is a massive rolling case for travelling pros with a lot of lighting and camera gear:
I’m down in sunny Anaheim, California at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) 2010 Sneak Peek.
PMA is an international photo trade association, encompassing companies from all aspects of the photo industry, from camera manufacturers, printers, photo processors, papers, software and displays.
The PMA trade show officially kicks off tonight at 5pm, and the exhibition doors open tomorrow morning at 10:30 here at the Anaheim Convention Center, but already, there is a ton of awesome new products worth a look.
Just to give a taste of some products and news we’ll feature over the next few days, here are some highlights:
Keep an eye out for those stories and more on our site.
Even if you haven’t heard of Roger Hagadone, chances are you’ve seen his work before.
Hagadone is a talented commercial photographer whose impressive portfolio includes advertisements for the Blue Man Group and the cover of the popular young adult novel series, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.
PetaPixel: Can you tell us a little about your background, what you do, and where you’re based?
Roger Hagadone: I’m an advertising photographer, and I shoot editorial book covers and dabble in fine art. I’m based in New York City. I live here and have an office in LA where I work quite a bit as well. I moved to the City after college, and met several top photographers here, one including Annie Leibovitz, who became a big influence on how I shoot people.
PP: Where did you go to college at?
RH: Purchase college, just outside of New York City.
PP: When did you get started with photography?
RH: Professional commercial photography — probably 10 years ago now. I started with magazine editorial and eventually that turned into advertising.
PP: We notice from your portfolio that you’ve worked with a number of really interesting subjects. Do you have one particular portrait shoot that you find especially memorable?
RH: That would definitely have to be the shoot with Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. It was a lot of fun to work with Mike. He’s a really awesome guy. For that shoot especially, he was really a trooper. It was about eight hours of photography.
We covered him with special ‘dirty’ effects. We layered the dirt, starting out very light and added more as the day went on. At the end, he was completely covered. A lot of people would be very cranky after that, but he was cool. He was having a laugh.
PP: How many people worked at the shoot?
RH: Around a dozen people including crew and client. There were three people just covering him with these different substances but in the end most of the crew pitched in. We covered him with grease and eggs, bubble gum, feathers, and all kinds of stuff.
PP: That alone sounds like a pretty dirty job.
RH: Yeah, actually he said that this may have been his dirtiest job ever. His only regret was that he didn’t have his crew there to film it.
PP: How would you describe your photography and style to someone who has never seen it?
RH: I would say it’s cheerful and sometimes surprising. Never boring — that’s the main thing, I can’t stand boring photography. I like to keep it positive and fun. There’s usually a narrative to the images, something of a story, or maybe a comment or a joke.
PP: Is there an example of an image that represents the general body of your work?
RH: That’s tough. One image that I like that comes to mind is the time bomb image. There’s a bomb squad guy defusing the bomb, and there’s his pal behind him, about to pop a bag to scare him. I just like that anticipation of the joke.
The visual effect in my images, the retouching and the lighting, are kind of two halves of the images that are both equally important to me. It’s not just the photograph and the concept, but it’s also the retouching aspect of it as well.
PP: What’s the single item in your metaphorical camera bag, aside from your actual camera, that you can’t go without?
RH: It’s Photoshop, well Photoshop and a dozen strobes! I prefer to get as close to the final image in-camera as possible but it’s in post processing where my images come alive. I have several techniques that I use and they are constantly evolving.
PP: What do you shoot with, currently?
RH: I have different cameras. I shoot with a Hasselblad with a Phase One back, mostly for advertising shoots. Other than that, I use a 1Ds Mark III.
PP: What was your first camera that you ever got?
RH: I think that I was seven (years old) and I had a Kodak 35mm camera, which I still have.
PP: Is that when you started getting in photography?
RH: Yeah, I still have images from that, too.
The actual camera is in one of my photographs in my Bigfoot story. In one of the images, Bigfoot has a camera, and he’s taking a picture from behind bushes. That’s my first camera.
PP: So we discovered your work because you did the covers for Twilight, and that imagery is evoked in a lot of fashion, a lot of types of advertising nowadays, that uses a very similar color scheme: black, white, red. How did you conceptualize and visualize this?
RH: It’s really a collaborative process. It begins with the publisher and they have some concepts in mind. And then I interpret these concepts into photographs. Sometimes, they have a pretty good idea of what they’d like to see in the image. It could be a background, an object, and then it’s just the interpretation of that into a final image. When I shoot a cover for a book, I usually take the basic idea and shoot several different variations of that one concept.
Things change very quickly in the publishing world. Once I receive the assignment to photograph a cover, by the time it’s complete, things may have changed, and the images that I shot might end up on the cutting floor.
Or, I may be asked to re-shoot it with a slightly different idea. It’s a collaboration, and it’s important to be flexible.
When it came to the Twilight series, the first image of Twilight, the hand with the apple, set the tone for the rest of the images in the series: simple graphic composition. The use of red, white, and a warm black background. That pretty much set everything else.
PP: When you see this style used in other images, it’s as if it’s become a part of cultural memory and become almost iconic. How do you feel about that?
RH: It’s kind of huge that it’s crossed over into what I guess you would call pop-culture.
The first time I saw an advertisement similar to the look, I was taken back, but I wasn’t really sure if I was seeing it correctly, if they were really using inspiration from the cover in their advertisement.
But now, as you say it, I do see it quite often and it’s fun to see. Artists borrow from each other all the time, and I’ve been on both sides.
Other images that I’ve shot I’ve seen similar advertisements pop up six months later, but it’s give and take.
PP: Do you enjoy the attention you’ve received from your work on Twilight, or would you rather be known for your other work?
RH: I get a lot of inquiries about Twilight.
I don’t mind it at all, really. It’s kind of nice. The Twilight fans are really great. I get a lot of emails from them.
The weirdest thing that I’ve seen is the original Twilight cover — the hands and the apple — I saw someone with a tattoo of it. That was really bizarre, to see the photograph I shot tattooed on somebody’s arm.
That was shocking. It’s too bad I didn’t get a picture of that.
PP: Let’s go back to you. What advice would you shoot to fellow photographers about interacting with their portrait subjects. From what your portfolio looks like, it seems like you’ve got a really good relationship with the people you shoot, or at least you know how to bring out their personality and emotion.
RH: The main thing is trust. They have to trust you. What I usually do is talk to the model before the shoot, before we start shooting to get that rapport going.
During the shoot, I keep it fun and fast-paced. Things are always moving, and I give them a lot of direction, so the model never gets bored or too distracted.
Also, I’m pretty silly when I photograph, so I think that element of fun brings out what I’d like. I also ask that from my crew, just to keep a really fun atmosphere.
PP: How long does it take you on average to do a photo shoot, for instance, the Bigfoot project?
RH: That one I shot in two days, and did all the post work within three days. So probably about a full week. They’re all different, though, depending on what’s involved.
A book cover may take one day to shoot and depending on retouching, it could take several days to finish up with revisions.
PP: And it gets bounced back and forth from you to the publishers too, right?
RH: Exactly. Like with the Twilight image, we got to the point where it was pretty much finished. And then there was a comment that the apple needed to be a little larger. So it was back to the drawing board, and we had tweak the apple just slightly.
PP: How did you think of these image concepts for a lot of your personal work?
RH: Well, I’m an avid note taker. I just take tons and tons of notes.
The cliché is the pad by the bed, but I use an iPhone by the bed.
I use essentially a digital notebook and I just write all of my ideas in there. Sometimes it’s a full, complete idea that’s ready to go and I can shoot it; sometimes it’s just a little piece.
I’ll add little things to that piece later, but as soon as it’s ripe I can shoot it.
In 1987, a PhD student at the University of Michigan named Thomas Knoll wrote a program on his Macintosh to display images, and named it Display. His brother John Knoll, an employee at Industrial Light and Magic, convinced him to turn it into an image editor. Taking a break from school, he worked on the software with his brother for six months in 1988, and renamed it ImagePro. In September 1988, Adobe decided to license the software, now called Photoshop.
The first version was released on February 19th, 1990, so the world’s most popular image editor turns 20 today. Here’s a look at how the icon has changed through the years:
And a look at how the toolstrip has evolved:
Here’s an interesting short documentary about the beginnings of Photoshop, by AdobeTV:
Finally, if nostalgia is your thing, here’s an interesting video showing Photoshop 1.0 in action:
Happy 20th birthday, Photoshop!
