If you’ve ever wondered just how much editing goes into a particular photograph, there’s now a super easy way to find out for yourself. Image Error Level Analyser is a simple web application that takes a URL to a JPEG photo and returns an image showing differing “error levels” in the image. Here’s an example they give:

After submitting the image on the left, they return the one on the right.

Error level analysis shows differing error levels throughout this image, strongly suggesting some form of digital manipulation. Areas to note are the lips and shirt, as well as the eyes. All are at significantly different error levels than their surroundings. Presumably, colours have been altered and areas brightened.

Thus, you can now investigate any JPEG you find on the Internet to see roughly how much the photograph has been edited or manipulated. The app even gives you a permalink to the resulting image comparison. Try it out, and post your permalinks in the comments to share your findings with us!

Update: Here’s an interesting article by Wired on how researchers use this technique.

Most of you probably know that JPEG is lossy compression method, meaning compression permanently throws out data and detail. Luckily, a typical compression can save 10 times the space of an uncompressed image without sacrificing much noticeable quality. However, if the image is repeatedly compressed and saved, artifacts introduced during compression become more and more obvious.

Reddit member Grundle decided to see what repeated compression looks like by saving the same image over itself 500 times at high quality (10/12 in Photoshop). He then combined the images into the following video:

10 months ago another Reddit member elezeta did the same experiment, compressing a JPEG 600 times:

I think it’s pretty clear why you should always work with RAW files if you care about the quality and longevity of your work. Every time you save those JPEG photographs, you lose a little piece of awesomeness.

Last week, we posted news that Oren Lavie’s music video for “Her Morning Elegance,” filmed using stop-motion by photographer Eyal Landesman, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Though the video did not win the award, Landesman has already garnered several photo accolades as a commercial and documentary-style photographer. Landesman is based in Israel, but his work has also been shown internationally, including exhibitions in Boston and Budapest. His print stills for “Her Morning Elegance” are on display at Space F2/Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California, and are available for purchase at the HME Gallery site.

PetaPixel: Can you tell us about yourself, what you do, and your background?

Eyal Landesman: I was born in Haifa, Israel in the year 1970. My professional career started in 1993 as a photojournalist for various magazines in Israel and a number of international press agencies. Today I specialize in dance and theater photography.

PP: Your website portfolio reflects a strong awareness of the human body, motion, and dance. Was it natural to shift your style of capturing that motion and converting it into a stop-motion music video?

EL: I was drawn always to the exploration of the borders between imagination, illusion and documentary work through photography. Throughout my career I investigated these borders by a variety of technological and cultural platforms, starting at the theatre, both in front and behind the curtains. Later, by expanding my interest in a search of the borders of conventional photography both in time and space in images created with the use of diverse technologies and presentation forms, e.g. zooming and projection of the captured image, using public or darkened spaces or using Stop motion technology.

PP: What was the shooting process like?

EL: The clip was made a year ago in my studio located in Tel-Aviv, Israel. The video was made using simple technology. We used Tungsten light and a gobo mask for the windows. It took us around 48 hours to shoot the video; we worked on it almost non-stop… I used the Canon 5D camera, only a month later did the Canon Mark 2 arrived to Israel (I did it without using live view).

PP: What did you find most challenging while making the music video?

EL: All my life as a still photographer I try to catch one moment (mostly in 1/1000 sec). in stop motion the challenge is to think about 2096 photos together one after the other, in 3.2 min.

PP: I’d imagine there would be so many elements to think about: music, motion, image composition, and so forth. How did you manage to blend all those elements together so seamlessly?

EL: We work together, directors, animation, and of course  Oren Lavie the musician, and together we created it.

PP: Congratulations again on your Grammy nomination. Were you expecting such a mainstream response to the video?

EL: I was not expecting such an amount of viewers. I was more surprised by the 10 million hits on YouTube, than the Grammy nomination.

At the beginning of the week, Hasselblad announced the H4D-40 medium format DSLR, and stated the camera would be unveiled next week at the February 10th worldwide launch. Well, details of the camera were leaked onto the Internet, leading Hasselblad to lift the February 9th embargo it had request. Today Hasselblad officially released photos and features of the new camera.

The 40 megapixel camera will cost $19,995, includes a lens and viewfinder, and is meant to compete with the Leica S2 (a 37.5MP medium format camera in a 35mm style body). In their press release today, Hasselblad CEO Larry Hansen states,

Most high-end photographers understand the advantages that a medium format system has over smaller formats, but many younger photographers have never been exposed to larger format photography.

Hmmm… Many younger photographers have never been exposed to $19,995 cameras either.

(via Amateur Photographer)

Looking for a neat new way to show off your photographs? Foldplay has a cool web application that can help you print and fold your very own kaleidocycle, a moving paper sculpture that turns endlessly.

All you need are 4 photographs and some glue. Upload the photographs through the online form, print the resulting image, and fold away! All the instructions needed to make the kaleidocycle are included in the printout.

This might make for a fun project your kids will enjoy, or a small gift idea your friend might appreciate!

Make your own Kaleidocycle! (via Photojojo)

Our latest giveaway for a Tamron AF18-270mm is now over, and it was by far our most popular giveaway ever. We received 909 entries via comments and 543 entries via Twitter, for a grand total of 1452 entries.

And without further ado, the randomly selected winner of the lens is…

#460: Lydia King (@lydking)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lydking/4084984279/ one of the first pictures I’ve ever taken.

Here’s the photograph:

Congratulations Lydia! Please email editor@petapixel.com to claim your prize.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this giveaway. It was very interesting seeing all of the favorite photographs that were linked to as entries.

We have more giveaways lined up, so please stay tuned!

The Shorty Awards now have a prize dedicated to Twitter photography: The Shorty Award for Real-Time Photo of the Year. The winner of the award will be invited to the special awards ceremony on March 3rd, 2010 in New York City.

Candidate photographs are nominated through the website, and must be cameraphone photos shot in 2009 and distributed on Twitter through one of the popular social media channels (i.e. Twitpic, Flickr, etc…). The nomination phase ends on February 5th, 2010.

An obvious favorite to win is the following photograph by Janis Krums of US Airways Flight 1549‘s successful ditch in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009:

Krums was on the ferry sent to pick up the passengers, and sent the tweeted the photo via Twitpic from his cameraphone. Here’s a screenshot:

What made the tweet and story particularly noteworthy was that the real-time nature of Twitter allowed the photograph to circulate widely before any mainstream news sources were able to obtain photographs. We’re guessing this is exactly the type of photo the new Shorty award would like to honor.

The ubiquity of cameraphones combined with real-time distribution offered by Twitter has changed the world of photography. When something happens in one part of the world, people can now see it all over the world almost instantly — if someone with a cameraphone and Twitter account is nearby.

Can you think of any other candidate photograph for the new award?

This news might come as a buzzkill for some Facebook users: Facebook’s unofficial viral celebration, Doppelganger Week, during which Facebook users change their profile picture to a photo of their celebrity lookalike, could violate the social site’s Terms of Service, notably:

You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else’s rights or otherwise violates the law.

Not so fun for Facebookers eager to boast their resemblance to Brad Pitt or Big Bird this week, but good news for the photogs and content creators the ToS and copyright law protect. However, Facebook’s spokesperson told CNET that user-posted content is only kept in check by copyright holders, who haven’t made any removal requests yet:

“Users are responsible for the content they post, but as always, Facebook will respond to requests for removal that it receives from copyright holders,” spokeswoman Brandee Barker said in an e-mail to CNET. “In this case, we have received no such requests.”

(via CNET)

In February 2008, Seattle-based photographer Mike Hipple received a letter from the lawyers of sculptor Jack Mackie that one of his stock photographs infringed upon Mackie’s copyright. Shown above, the photograph includes a portion of Mackie’s “Dance Steps on Broadway”, a public art piece created in 1979 with public funds.

Though the stock agency complied immediately with Mackie’s demands by removing the image and providing a settlement, Mackie is now suing Hipple for “copyright infringement and claiming the full measure of statutory damages, possibly $60,000 or more.” On the blog Hipple set up to collect defense fund donations, he states,

Now if this doesn’t qualify as fair use of the sculpture, I don’t know what does. “Fair Use” is a legal concept that allows a certain amount of copying of someone else’s work—you can get a fuller idea of how it works at the Stanford Fair Use Project website.

Think of it this way: if Mr. Mackie is correct and this isn’t fair use, then he can file a $60,000 law suit against anyone who, when strolling along Capitol Hill, thinks the dance steps are nice and takes a photo or video. He may not find you if you just leave the image on your camera or computer, but as soon as you post it to Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc., he can (and apparently will) sue you.

What do you think? Is this a case of copyright infringement or fair use?

(via A Photo Editor)

Image credit: Photo by Mike Hipple. Screenshot from Motion to Dismiss on Photo Attorney

Billionaire Michael Dell‘s investment firm MSD Capital, L.P has purchased the entire New York print archive of renowned photo agency Magnum Photos, totaling nearly 200,000 images. The collection includes some of the most iconic images throughout history, including photos of world leaders, celebrities, and major events such as World War II. Though the price was not disclosed, the collection was previously insured for over $100 million.

Under the agreement, the prints will be preserved, catalogued, and made accessible by the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin. While MSD Capital purchased all of the physical prints, Magnum’s member photographers will still retain the copyright and licensing rights to all of the photographs.

Thomas F. Staley, director of the Ransom Center, states,

This is a singularly valuable collection in the history of photography, [...] It brings together some of the finest photojournalists of the profession and spans more than a half century of contributions to the medium.

The collection was relocated to Texas from New York City in December 2009 on two trailer trucks.

(via Bloomberg)

Update: Jonathan from Magnum Photos informs us that the acquisition encompasses the entire press print archive, not the entire archive of the agency. We’ve changed “print” to “press” in the title to reflect this.

Update: We’ve fixed a couple typos that ajehals pointed out. Thanks!