August 2010

Surfer Films Great White Shark Circling Below with a Ten Foot Pole

Chuck Patterson was SUP surfing with friends one day when two sharks joined them and circled around for 15 minutes. Rather than have the encounter deter them from surfing there again like it would for mortals, he returned to the same place the next day at the same time with a Go Pro HD HERO camera at the end of 10 foot pole.

Search Engine Optimization Tips for Photographers by Google

Google has a useful account on YouTube called GoogleWebmasterHelp that publishes short video answers to search engine optimization (SEO) questions submitted to them. If you have a website promoting your photography, then thinking about SEO can help you drive more visitors to your photography.

Are These Leaked Photos of the Upcoming Canon 60D?

Here are a couple photographs that made their way onto the Internets today via a Japanese website. They seem to be actual "spy" photographs of the camera with an L lens attached, and it looks like a tilt-screen does in fact exist on the back.

Study Finds That Kodak EasyShare and Camera Phones Make You Ugly

There's the old adage, it's not the camera that makes the photographer, but according to a by-the-numbers study by dating site OkCupid, the nicer camera might make you look more attractive.

Based on a random "snap decision" survey hosted by the site (two juxtaposed photos with the question, "Who would you rather date?"), people tended to favor photos of people taken with Panasonic Micro-4/3s, followed by Leica point-and-shoots. DSLRs ranked pretty highly as well, followed by big-brand compacts. Certain camera phones like the iPhone ranked as slightly less, though still producing attractive photographs. Minolta DSLRs and the Nikon Coolpix fell below the attractive standard, along with most other camera phones. Kodak really takes it hard, ranking third lowest with the EasyShare next to the Windows and Motorola phones.

Misadventures by Matt Sartain

"Misadventures" is a series of photographs by San Francisco-based photographer Matt Sartain that shows individuals on long and epic journeys through dreamlike landscapes to find a place to belong. We love the ethereal quality present in all of his photographs -- especially the one above taken in Memory Glade on the Berkeley campus (Go Bears!).

Soccer Club Bans Photographers, Newspaper Uses Cartoonist Instead

English soccer (football) club Southampton F.C. revealed a plan last week to deny press accreditation for photojournalists this season, and instead to force publications to purchase photographs from a single approved source, a photo agency called The Digital South.

Needless to say, this didn't go over well with newspapers, and one in particular -- The Plymouth Herald -- came up with a creative way to protest the decision. Rather than purchase approved photographs, they commissioned city historian Chris Robinson to cover a recent match with Argyle using cartoons (reminds us of a criminal trial).

How to Build Your Own Tilt-Shift Lens for Just $10

Tilt-shift lenses are usually pretty pricey, so many people fake the effect during post-processing by selectively blurring sections of their photographs. There's even simple web-apps that can add such blur to give your photographs a miniature scale model effect.

If faking the effect isn't legit enough to satisfy your photo-geekiness -- and you'd rather not drop big bucks on it either -- there's a nifty do-it-yourself solution you need to check out: Bhautik Joshi over at cow.mooh.org has a new DIY Tilt-Shift project that teaches you how to convert an old lens into various kinds of tilt-shift lenses.

Is the Barbie Video Girl As Good As the Canon 7D?

In the spirit of the iPhone 4 vs. Canon 7D side-by-side camera comparison video, filmmaker Brandon Bloch has made a wonderfully clever juxtaposition of the Canon 7D and Mattel's Barbie Video Girl. The Barbie Video Girl alone is a thing of wonder -- it's a really bizarre bionic-looking glitz and glam doll with a camera built into her chest.

Stephen Wiltshire: The Man Known as ‘The Living Camera’

You've heard the term "photographic memory" before, but have you ever heard of someone who actually has it? Meet Stephen Wiltshire, a UK-born autistic savant with an extraordinary memory that has given him the nickname, "The Living Camera". The above is a short video showing his abilities that will make your jaws drop.

Thanko Button Camera Perfect for Lifeloggers or Wannabe Spies

Here's a super random gift idea for photographers that have everything: a camera that's hidden behind what appears to be a normal shirt button. The Thanko Button Camera is attached to button-up shirts using special buttons that have a hole for the lens. If you don't have a shirt with black buttons, you'll be happy to know that the buttons come in three different colors: black, white, and pearl.

Photojournalism Dead, Declares Former Magnum Head

Newspapers are fading. News media is in a limbo of redefinition. Now we can add photojournalism to that list of defunct media, said Neil Burgess, head of London-based photo agency NB Pictures. Burgess is also the former head of Network Photographers and Magnum Photos, and twice Chairman of World Press Photo, and has spent much of his life working on social documentary photography and 25 years as a photojournalist.

How to Skydive Out Your Front Door

Freddy Wong's YouTube channel is a must-subscribe if you're interested in video editing and home-brewed CGI. A couple months ago we featured an amazing video they made where an entire action scene was done using light-painting techniques. What's neat about their channel is that they also create behind-the-scenes clips explaining how each one was made.

The World’s First Digital Camera by Kodak and Steve Sasson

If you're a digital photography buff, here's some required trivia knowledge: what you see above is a photograph of the first digital camera ever built. It was created in December 1975 by an engineer at Eastman Kodak named Steve Sasson, now regarded as the inventor of the digital camera.

Stunning Landscape Timelapse of Monument Valley

UK-based filmmaker Philip Bloom created this beautiful video of Monument Valley, Utah. Blending regular video and timelapse footage, Bloom builds a serene and powerful portrait of the place. Bloom used a plethora of gear to capture the footage, including five cameras - one Canon 5D Mark II to capture video, another 5D Mark II, two Canon 7D, Canon 1D Mark IV, and a Nikon D3s for timelapse. Whew!

Adobe Looking for the Next Photoshop Evangelist

Adobe is running a unique contest right now in search of the "next Photoshop evangelist". Sadly, the winner isn't given a special "evangelist" position in Adobe's marketing department, but rather the prize package is pretty typical: a copy of CS5 Design Standard and a trip to Photoshop World in 2011 (which includes airfare, lodging, meals, and a chance to demo the winning tutorial).

Interview with Haje Jan Kamps of Photocritic.org

Haje Jan Kamps is the blogger behind Photocritic.org

PP: Can you tell us about yourself and your background?

HJK: Sure thing. I was born in the Netherlands, and moved to Norway when I was about 5 or so. I started taking photos when I was about 14, but the art of photography didn't really click with me until I got my paws on my first digital camera - a Casio SX-2000, I think it was.

When I was doing research into my first digital camera, I was apalked by how little info there was about them in Norwegian - and decided to rectify that by starting a website. Not long after, it was bought off me, and it changed name to digitalkamera.no - now akam.no. It was sn exciting time to be writing about digital photography, and I guess I was writing about photography as much as I was taking photos, right from the start.

The Cliche of Enhancing Images in Movies

Here's a fun video that compiles quite a few clips from movies where "experts" look for clues to mysteries in videos and photographs, often "enhancing" them in ridiculous ways before suddenly discovering something earth-shattering.

Mysterious White Camera Seen in Photo, Possibly the Samsung NX100

The above photograph was recently posted to Korean forum Samsung SLR Club, and was supposedly captured during a commercial shoot for the Samsung NX100.

It wasn't too long before the thread (and photograph) was removed from the forum. Photo Rumors was also asked to take down the photo after posting it, suggesting that the image does indeed show an upcoming -- and yet-unannounced -- camera.

Polaroid Promotional Film from the 1970s

If you're a fan of the Polaroid SX-70, this promotional video from the 1970s should stir up warm fuzzy feelings. If you've never used one, watching this might give you a better idea of why so many are obsessed with it.

Microsoft Researchers Use Motion Sensors to Combat Camera Blur

At SIGGRAPH 2010 in Los Angeles last month, Microsoft researchers showed off some new technology that improves existing digital blur reduction techniques by outfitting a camera with motion detecting sensors.

The team created an off-the-shelf hardware attachment consisting of a three-axis accelerometer, three gyroscopes, and a Bluetooth radio, attaching the setup to a Canon 1Ds Mark III camera. The researchers then created a software algorithm to use the motion information captured during the exposure to do "dense, per-pixel spatially-varying image deblurring".

Awesome Camera Flash Experiment at a Robbie Williams Concert

British musician Robbie Williams was recently featured in Nikon's "I AM NIKON" advertising campaign, with a commercial showing a fun experiment he did at a concert in 2003. He asked his audience to pull out their cameras and, on his cue, fire off the flash. The resulting scene was pretty awesome to behold. The full clip of the experiment is above.