October 2011

Michael Zhang

Adobe Image Deblurring Done on Capa’s Famous D-Day Photo

Update: We've removed this image to avoid fringing on the copyright held by Magnum Photos. Click the image below to see the original side-by-side comparison.

Still think Adobe's Image Deblurring technology is fake? Check out this before-and-after comparison showing what the feature does to one of the most famous camera-shake photos in history: Robert Capa's D-Day photograph of an American soldier landing on Omaha Beach.

Michael Zhang

Fully Functional Nikon DSLR Costume

For Halloween this year, photographer Tyler Card decided to made a giant Nikon DSLR costume. Not just any DSLR costume, mind you, but a fully functional one. The camera actually takes pictures when the shutter release button is pressed, and the photograph is displayed on the giant LCD screen on the back. The built-in flash also works, and the camera is even capable of triggering Alienbees strobes.

Michael Zhang

Retiree Raises Nearly $200,000 for Charity by Repairing Old Cameras

Photography enthusiast and retired physicist Milo Shott of Oxford, England has found a way use his love for cameras to raise boatloads of money for the poverty-fighting charity Oxfam: camera repair. 11 years ago, Shott noticed some workers at an Oxfam store throwing out an old piece of camera equipment. After saving it from the trash, he fixed it up and helped the store sell it for £270.

Michael Zhang

Giant Stainless Steel Leica Weighs 770lb

Step into the Foto Henny Hoogeveen Leica store in Lisse, the Netherlands, and you'll be greeted by a giant stainless steel Leica camera that weighs a whopping 350kg (~772lb). The sculpture was crafted by Chinese artist Liao Yibai, and there are only three of them in existence. Besides the one found in the shop, the other two are owned by Leica itself and a distributor. The camera isn't based on any one model, but is instead a hodgepodge of features found on the M6, M7, and M9.

Michael Zhang

A Look At How Much the iPhone Camera Has Improved

Photographer Lisa Bettany has an interesting post over at Camera+ comparing the iPhone 4S camera to the cameras on each of the previous versions (and a couple other cameras as well). It's an interesting look at how much cell phone cameras have improved since the original iPhone was announced at the beginning of 2007.

Michael Zhang

Cute Photos of Not-So-Happy Babies

Photographs of happy babies are cute, but not-so-happy babies can also make for great photo subjects. Photographer Evan Kafka has a knack for capturing wonderful expressions of both varieties.

Michael Zhang

Walnut and Cherry Wood Coverings for the Fujifilm X100

Remember the light brown leather X100 special edition announced by Fujifilm a couple of days ago? While those might come with a unique limited edition serial number, the look apparently isn't as unique. As a commenter pointed out, it appears to be a covering offered by a shop named Aki-Asahi Custom Camera Coverings. There are quite a few styles in addition to that look (which is named "Lizard Ochre"), including a couple of beautiful wood coverings crafted from walnut and cherry wood.

Michael Zhang

Display a Giant Photo on Your Wall Using Wooden Boards

Inspired by Caleb Ungewitter's giant poster project, Andy Beckmann decided to try his hand at making a nicer version. Instead of attaching prints to the wall directly, Beckmann purchased 36 210x297mm wooden boards to mount the prints on (the photo was split into smaller prints using PosteRazor). The result is a more durable and professional looking display that can be easily reused in a different location.

Michael Zhang

Students Send Nikon D300s to Space in a Beer Cooler

Sending cameras to the edges of space on a weather balloon has become a pretty popular activity as of late, but up to now people were mostly sending up cell phones, compact cameras, and small HD video cameras (e.g. GoPros). While those devices are light and relatively cheap, the quality of images produced isn't the best.

Michael Zhang

Unseen Photos From the Sinking of the Titanic Emerge After 99 Years

The 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic will come in April of next year, and auction houses are already seeing a spike in the number of artifacts from the disaster being put up for sale. Among them are a set of previously unseen photographs made the morning after the sinking, which show the rescue ships, lifeboats, and an icy Atlantic ocean.

Michael Zhang

A Couple of Scenes in ‘The Avengers’ Were Shot with the iPhone 4

We've shared before that the Canon 5D Mark II was used for scenes in Captain America and Iron Man 2, but if you think that's crazy, get this: the upcoming movie 'The Avengers', which features an entire team of Marvel superheros, contains scenes shot with the iPhone 4. The movie's cinematographer Seamus McGarvey tells IFTN,

The beauty of photography or cinema is that you make every choice based on the content at hand. On The Avengers, I did a couple of shots on the iPhone and they are in the movie. In fact, they are in the trailer! I understand that sometimes there is no choice and you have to go for the cheapest option, but if you are limited for choice, you can still make poignant decisions that will effect the look of the film.

Assuming he was using an iPhone 4 rather than the recently announced iPhone 4S, the scenes were captured at just 720p and 30fps.

Michael Zhang

How to Make a Sturdy Camera Strap for $7 Using Parachute Cord

Eddie had a hard time finding a camera strap he liked, so he decided to make his own in the style of some rifle slings he found online. The slings were weaved together using 550 Paracord (parachute cord), which has a breaking weight of 550 pounds. He found some for sale for $7 at his local army-navy store, and weaved together his own rugged DIY camera strap.

Michael Zhang

Photographs Recreated Inside a Computer Game

New media artist Kent Sheely took some of his old photographs and recreated them inside the sandbox physics game Garry's Mod. Each "virtual photo" took about 2-3 hours to recreate: Sheely had to pick out models, set up objects, tweak details, and position everything while looking through the stationary camera view in the game.

Michael Zhang

Lytro Unveils the World’s First Consumer Light Field Camera

Lytro has finally announced its revolutionary consumer light field camera. It's a tiny camera with built-in storage, an 8x f/2 lens, and a design that looks more like a futuristic flashlight than a point-and-shoot camera. The camera captures "living pictures" that can be refocused by the photographer and the viewer, which means focusing is completely eliminated from the process of taking a picture. An 8GB that stores 350 pictures will be priced at $400, while a 16GB with a 750 image capacity will cost $500. The camera will start shipping in early 2012, but you can order one now over on the Lytro website.

Michael Zhang

Adobe Pixel Nuggets: Search Your Photo Library for Similar Features

Adobe's amazing Image Deblurring demo was the star of the Sneak Peeks event at Adobe MAX 2011, but it was just one of the many demos shown that night. Another interesting photography-related demo was for "Pixel Nuggets": a feature that lets you search a large library of photos for features (e.g. people, landmarks, patterns, logos).