For his project Infra, photographer Richard Mosse photographed landscapes, villages, and people in Eastern Congo using Kodak Aerochrome infrared film.
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While most 14-year-old boys are hooked on things like video games, Laurent V. Joli-Coeur is busy using astronomy and photography for crazy science projects. A few months ago, he had the crazy idea of photographing a shadow caused by Jupiter’s light. He then spent 7 hours building an instrument to do so, and used a Nikon D700 and 60mm Macro lens lent to him by Nikon to capture the image:

I took three photographs to prove that Jupiter could indeed cast a shadow. The first one, a five minute exposure at ISO1600 with an in-camera dark subtraction, was taken to photograph a shadow: the results were conclusive. Indeed, after stretching the image in Pixinsight, the gnomon’s shadow was clearly visible on the projection screen (a gnomon is the object that creates the shadow on a sundial). However, this wasn’t enough to prove it was Jupiter’s. The second exposure was taken to prove that the light causing the shadow came from the sky, not from the instrument itself: I slightly moved the mount in right ascension, expecting the shadow to move sideways… And it did. The third and final exposure was taken in a region of the sky far away from Jupiter. As the last image showed no sign of the gnomon’s shadow, I concluded that the only possible explanation for the shadow in the first two images was Jupiter!

As far as Joli-Coeur knows, it’s the first photo of a shadow cast by Jupiter ever made. You can find a more detailed account of his experiment on his blog.

The Quest for Jupiter’s Shadow (via Bad Astronomy)

This giant film roll packs a roll of toilet paper instead of photographic film. It’s refillable, and can be placed on a table (dispensing TP through the top) or mounted on a wall (with the TP coming out the side). They come in red, yellow, and green, and cost $17 apiece over at Brando.

100 Film Paper Towel Box (via Unplggd via Jim Golstein)

The Nikon D800 has been rumored for quite some time, but was reportedly delayed last month after production was halted by the massive floods in Thailand. If you’ve been frustrated with the lack of Nikon news on the DSLR front, here’s something that should tide you over temporarily: photos of the upcoming Nikon D800 were leaked this past weekend.
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Kevin Klein has a hobby of miniaturizing Victorian technology, and recently he made the world’s smallest wet plate camera using 1/32-inch plywood and other wood materials. The camera is only a little bigger than a quarter, and shoots miniature 1/2-inch square plate images.
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Want to learn the basics of studio lighting? Here’s a two-hour-long lecture with photographer Joey Quintero in which he gives an overview of the basic principles, techniques, and tools.

Caleb Barrett wanted a simple ring light to play around with, so he built himself one for just $20 using built himself a makeshift ring light using eight cheap compact fluorescent light bulbs. The lights are pretty dim and have a horrible color rendering index, but are fun to play around with if you’re just looking for something to experiment with.
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Major camera makers including Olympus, Samsung and Sony have all filed patents in recent days for liquid lens technology. Unlike traditional glass lenses, liquid lenses don’t have any moving parts. Instead, liquid is used to focus light, and different voltages are applied to the liquid to change the shape of the liquid, thereby controlling the image. In the video above, techie Ben Krasnow introduces the technology, and then shows off a device he made by ripping a liquid lens out of a USB webcam.

(via Ben Krasnow via Make)

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John Sypal of Tokyo Camera Style spotted a photographer on the streets of Tokyo using this homemade lens created out of a potato chip tube. It captures photos that show the world in a glass-like sphere, with everything else blurred.
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