September 2011

Michael Zhang

Instagram Filters That Missed the Cut

Instagram's popular filters have spent the last year permeating into every corner of the photographic world, but for every one that was included in the app, thousands are left on the cutting room floor. Blake Williams over at Keepsy was given a behind-the-scenes peek into some of the filters that didn't make the cut. The one above was named "Dirty Bird".

Michael Zhang

Dad Photoshops Family Trip Photos to Convince His Kids that Ewoks Exist

It's a big no-no when newspapers or photographers manipulate photos to alter reality, but when a father playfully does it to mess with his kids there's a big potential for awesome. Graphic designer Anthony Herrera recently did just that, and his story is now making the rounds on the Internet:

A year ago we took a trip to Sequoia National Park. I wanted to excite my daughter while being in such amazing surroundings. Being the Star Wars geek that I am (so is she), I told her that this is where the Ewoks live. She spent a good chunk of our time hiking keeping a lookout for any Ewoks. Coming home I can't say that she wasn't disappointed that we didn't find any. I had to explain that they are extremely shy and hardly ever let anyone see them. After we got home, and after I had a little time alone with the photos, I told her I thought I saw something strange in a few pictures. We viewed them on the TV to get a larger image. You can imagine how surprised and excited she was when we discovered that we didn't see any Ewoks, but they saw us, and had certainly taken an interest in her and her little brother. Maybe I'm a little wrong for lying to her and falsifying the pictures, but I don't care. She'll never forget the time she spent in the big woods with Ewoks.

Michael Zhang

Spray Can Light Makes Light Painting Fun for Graffiti Artists

Light painting is sometimes called light graffiti, but who does graffiti with flashlights? Halo is a neat light-painting tool designed by Aïssa Logerot that makes painting with light feel much more natural for people accustomed to creating... less-legal forms of art. Shaped like an aerosol can of spray paint, the tool includes interchangeable LED lights for painting in different colors and a battery inside that recharges when the can is shaken.

Michael Zhang

Use the Self Timer on Your Camera for Spinning Child Shots

Here's a fun photo project you can do with any small kid (preferably not a stranger's): spinning shots. All you have to do is set the self timer on your camera to automatically take a shot while it's hanging around your neck. While it's counting down, grab the child by the arms and spin them around. If luck is on your side, the photograph will show a clear subject, happy face, and motion-blurred background.

Michael Zhang

Photo Sharing App Color to Relaunch with Deep Facebook Integration

Color -- the much-hyped but largely ignored photo sharing app -- is back, and this time it's built entirely around Facebook. One of the main reasons for the app's failure the first time around was the fact that the photo sharing relied on proximity, a huge problem for new users when no one around is using it. Now, founder Bill Nguyen is trying to avoid the "ghost town" problem by harnessing the power of Facebook's social graph.

Michael Zhang

Interview with Allen Murabayashi, CEO of PhotoShelter

Allen Murabayashi is the co-founder and CEO of PhotoShelter.

PetaPixel: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

Allen Murabayashi: I was born and raised in Honolulu, and had a pretty early love affair with photography. One of my childhood friends, Jon Emura, had a neighbor who had us over one weekend afternoon to show us how to use an SLR and light meter. After that, my dad let me borrow his Olympus OM-10 to take pictures.

When I was in 7th grade, my parents took a trip to Hong Kong and got me an Olympus OM-4, and I was in Heaven. I wasn't a great photographer, but I was always taking pictures from junior high onwards.

Michael Zhang

Madness: Magnum Photogs Promoting the Nintendo 3DS as a Camera

What has the world come to? Apparently the prestigious Magnum Photos has partnered with Nintendo to promote the Nintendo 3DS as a camera. Photographers Martin Parr, Thomas Dworzak and Gueorgui Pinkhassov used the handheld gaming device to shoot a series of 3D photos that were then put on display in an exhibition held at the Magnum Gallery in Paris.

Michael Zhang

Nikon Announces J1 and V1 Mirrorless Cameras and New Lens System

Nikon's long-awaited mirrorless camera system has arrived. Today Nikon announced the new J1 and V1 mirrorless cameras and four new Nikon "1 System" lenses. The two cameras have nearly identical specs: a 10.1 megapixel CX-format (13.2mmx8.8mm) CMOS sensor with 2.7x crop factor, a 3-inch LCD screen, 10fps shooting, 1080/30p HD video recording, 1200fps slow-motion recording at 320x120, simultaneous video/still capture, 73-point hybrid autofocus, and 12-bit RAW files.

Michael Zhang

Famous Places Photographed in Bubbles

While on vacation in Ireland five years ago and browsing a street fair, photographer Tom Storm captured a few shots of bubbles floating past. After reviewing the photos and discovering that a whole world was captured in the bubbles, he began to intentionally photograph bubbles while visiting landmarks around the world.

Michael Zhang

More People Have Walked on the Moon Than Have Captured the Analemma

Want a challenging photography project? Try capturing an analemma in a single shot. "Analemma" is the name given to the figure-eight shape traced by the sun if photographed at the same time of day over the course of a year. To capture it, you'll need to leave your camera in a fixed position and shoot photos at exactly the same time of day for all of the shots.

Michael Zhang

Photographer Helps Save Homeless Dogs Through Better Photography

Real estate agents make it a point to have homes look attractive in photographs, knowing that good photography can make a huge difference, but the people at animal rescue shelters often settle for second-rate photographs of the dogs they're trying to find homes for. Professional pet photographer Teresa Berg of Dallas, Texas realized that countless dogs are likely euthanized each year simply due to bad photography, and decided to make a difference. Several years ago she started doing shoots for a pet shelter free of charge, and helped increase the adoption rates there by 100%

Michael Zhang

Giant Words Added to Photos Without Photoshop

The giant "GRIT" seen in this photograph wasn't added in post-processing. The secret? Blue painters tape.

Artist Stephen Doyle created the installation for a series of photographs that appeared in a recent New York Times Magazine article titled What if the Secret to Success is Failure?