September 2011

Michael Zhang

‘Evolution of Cameras’ Tattoo Creation Shown Through Stop-Motion

Crazy about photography, web designer and aspiring commercial photographer Dabe Alan decided to get a sleeve tattoo showing the evolution of cameras. He documented the process by creating stop-motion videos in which the artwork magically appears on his arm. The videos show 12 hours of sitting in the tattoo parlor, and comprise 2713 separate photographs shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and 24-70mm lens.

Michael Zhang

Candies Photographed in Water Drops

Photographer Patrick Lindsay shot this beautiful photograph of gumballs seen through water drops. It's similar to the MC Escher water drop photo we shared a while ago, but is much easier to create since the drops of water aren't moving in this photo.

Michael Zhang

Some Instagram Users Unhappy Over Changes to Filters

If you're a longtime Instagram user that recently upgraded to Version 2, you might have noticed that the filters don't quite feel the same. Don't worry, it's not just you: each of the filters was indeed tweaked in the app's overhaul. Despite the new live view and faster response times, many users aren't too happy about the changes that were done to their beloved filters. Owen Billcliffe over at My Glass Eye did a side-by-side comparison between old and new filters to show the differences. The filter shown above, "Lord Kelvin", has a significantly different look in the new version.

Michael Zhang

How to Recreate the Look of Instagram Filters with Vintage Cameras and Films

Instagram's filters are meant to mimic the look of vintage and toy cameras, but have you ever wondered which cameras and films you'd need to make analog photos with the same look? The folks over at 1000memories decided to tackle this question and, after a good amount of research, came up with a neat infographic showing the different camera and film combinations you can use to recreate popular Instagram filters.

Michael Zhang

Nikon says “A Photographer Is Only as Good as the Equipment He Uses”

You've probably heard the expression "It's the photographer, not the camera", but apparently Nikon -- or at least one of its PR people -- hasn't. A few hours ago the company updated its Facebook page with,

A photographer is only as good as the equipment he uses, and a good lens is essential to taking good pictures! Do any of our facebook fans use any of the NIKKOR lenses? Which is your favorite and what types of situations do you use it for?

Needless to say, the post was met with quite a bit of disagreement in the comments.

Michael Zhang

Make a Pair of Paper Aperture Glasses

Instructables user art.makes has a tutorial on how you can make a pair of paper iris glasses with adjustable apertures. You could definitely build upon the idea to make each side more like a camera lens (e.g. adding barrels, f-stop values) -- perhaps as part of a geeky Halloween costume?

Michael Zhang

Time-Lapse Strolls Through the Streets of Famous Cities

Ask a photographer to shoot a time-lapse portrait of a city, and they might choose a number of famous locations to photograph with a fixed camera. Photographer Jesse Kopp, however, prefers to stay at the ground level and photograph what it feels like to actually be roaming around the streets. He visits famous cities around the world and creates time-lapse videos out of photos taken while walking from landmark to landmark. It's an awesome way to get a feel of what each city is like (the video above shows Paris).

Michael Zhang

Singer Bob Dylan Accused of Plagiarizing Photographs

Singer Bob Dylan is being accused of plagiarism after several paintings in his recent art show were found to have "striking resemblances" to works by photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dmitri Kessel and Léon Busy. An example is Dylan's painting titled Opium (above left), which appears to be directly copied from Busy's Vietnam (above right). A Flickr user also found that Dylan had copied six photographs -- one of which an artificial Photoshop edit -- from his Flickr stream.

Michael Zhang

Joby GorillaPod Micro Tripod Designed to Become Part of Your Camera

There's plenty of mini-tripods out on the market, but Joby's new GorillaPod Micro tripods are special in that they're designed to stay attached to your camera at all times. The legs fold up neatly when not in use, allowing you to stick your camera into your pocket or a case without having to remove the tripod. It features zinc alloy legs, rubber feet, and a head that offers 36-degrees of tilt-motion.

Richard Seagris

How to Detect Physical Flaws in a Used Camera Lens

If a camera lens has been abused, mishandled, or is just plain worn out, there are telltale signs that a knowledgeable buyer can look for to help appraise the value or lack thereof in a used camera lens.

Michael Zhang

Reuters Photograph of Rebel Firing RPG Accused of Being Fake

Update: Erin from Reuters contacted us informing us that this is in fact a genuine, non-manipulated photograph. Here's a good explanation of why it's real.

Reuters published the above image as an Editor's Choice photo yesterday, and almost immediately readers began leaving comments questioning whether the photograph was Photoshopped. The debate soon spread to other websites, including Reddit, and it appears that the photographs has since been taken down (though it can still be seen in its original slideshow from last week).

Michael Zhang

3D Photo Sculptures of People Made with Hundreds of Prints

Korean artist Gwon Osang makes creative photo sculptures by photographing subjects, making hundreds of prints, and then plastering the photos onto a styrofoam sculture. Photographing the body takes up to half a day to complete, and Osang carves the sculptures himself since his background is in sculpture rather than photography. Each piece takes one to two months to complete.