Flickr user Frannie 1 shot these beautiful photographs of the rare Canon 50mm f/1.0. The lens currently goes for over $4,000 used on eBay. That is one beautiful piece of glass!
(via Photojojo)
Image credits: Photographs by Frannie 1 and used with permission
If you’re looking to get started in studio portraiture, here’s a great tutorial by prophotolife teaching three different lighting techniques (Rembrandt, butterfly, and edge) you can do using only one light.
Here’s a funky fusion of analog and digital: Etsy seller newfocus repurposes 35mm film cassettes by using them to house USB flash drives. You can buy a 2GB one for $19 or a 4GB one for $24 from their Etsy store. They would make pretty fun gift for a photography-lover you know, and if you don’t want to buy one you can try your hand at building your own!
To capture “portraits of the sun” and to illustrate its power, General Electric filled 20 weather balloons with hydrogen and helium, surrounded them with 24 Canon DSLR cameras (18 7Ds and 6 60Ds), and shot the balloons exploding Matrix-style.
(via Laughing Squid)
Shooting the Dalian Oil Spill on assignment for Greenpeace, Chinese photographer Lu Guang witnessed and photographed 25-year-old firefighter Zhang Liang’s accidental drowning while attempting to unblock a water pipe in the harbor. His gut-wrenching series of photographs went on to win third prize in the 2011 World Press Photo contest for Spot News. In the video above, he reflects on that day and his role as a photographer in showing the world what happened.
(via Wired)
Did you know that Leica was actually the company that first invented autofocus? Between 1960 and 1973 the company patented a number of autofocus technologies, and then showed off the technology at photokina in 1976 and 1978. However, the head honchos of the company believed that their customers knew how to focus and preferred focusing themselves, so they decided to sell the patent rights to Minolta.
Late to Digital, Leica Slow to Refocus (via Foto Actualidad)
Image credit: Minolta Maxxum 7000-Mirror Detail by Capt Kodak
The stock prices of major camera equipment manufacturers took a major — and expected — dive after the earthquake on March 11, 2011. Though they made a brief recovery afterward, they’re continuing to fall due to the risk that gear prices may soon skyrocket soar once decreased production isn’t able to meet demand.
(via Enticing the Light)
Here’s a pretty lengthy video tutorial by the (unofficial) Nikon Help Hotline channel on YouTube teaching how to properly and thoroughly clean a camera lens.
(via Lifehacker)
Twaggies are fun little comics based on unique Tweets found on Twitter. The above is Twaggie #217, based on this Tweet by @mollymcnearney:
I bet every porta potty dreams of someday being a photo booth.
You can even have this design printed on a t-shirt through their online shop.
(via Laughing Squid)
Forget Little Trees. “Sweet Snapshots” are the air fresheners photo enthusiasts should have hanging from their rear view mirrors. ModCloth sells them for $6 a pop in yellow grapefruit or pink peach. The reviews say the scents don’t last very long, so just know that you’d be buying them mostly for aesthetics.
