Mark Rober — the guy behind the gaping-hole-in-torso costume — recently came up with a creative way of getting up close and personal with gorillas at his local zoo. It turns out that apes can’t resist looking at themselves in mirrors, so Rober drilled a hole in a mirror and pointed his iPhone’s camera through it. He was then able to snag some awesome footage that most visitors would never be able to capture. This trick may also work for other animals that are known to pass the mirror test of self-awareness, including dolphins, elephants, and certain birds.
A security van transporting roughly £100,000 (~$156,000) in Nikon camera gear was targeted by robbers this past Saturday after the Dublin NPS Roadshow. The thieves made off with the entire truckload of equipment, including demo versions of the Nikon D4 and Nikon D800 — cameras that aren’t available yet to the general public. You can find an list of what was stolen (and their individual serial numbers) here. Camera gear thieves have been pretty active so far in 2012 — just last month someone made off with a pre-production Sigma 180mm f/2.8 lens at CES 2012 in Las Vegas.
For his project titled 141 Boxers, photographer Nicolai Howalt shot portraits of boxers before and after boxing matches. The images side-by-side tell the stories of what happened in between when they were captured. Read more…
It wasn’t too long ago that Kodak filed multiple patent infringement lawsuits against Apple in a scramble for life-giving cash, but now the tables have turned. Less than a month after Kodak filed for bankruptcy and announced the end of its camera business, Apple is reportedly in the process of asking the court for permission to sue bankrupt Kodak for infringing on Apple’s patents in its printers, digital cameras, and digital picture frames. This back and forth IP fight is one that Kodak might not be in for long: the company is still trying to sell off its portfolio of roughly 1,100 imaging patents.
Most photographers would be happy to capture a photo showing just the northern lights or lava leaping out of a volcano crater. Photographer James Appleton managed to capture a series of beautiful photographs that show both in the same frame. The images were made at Fimmvörðuháls in Iceland. Read more…
Last week we reported on a dispute between photographer Jonathan Kent and The Telegraph over the newspaper’s “use first and ask/pay later” policy. After contacting the paper over an image of his that was used without permission, Kent received a response from picture editor Matthew Fearn, who informed him stating that their policy is standard and due to the “ever-shifting nature of news”. In response, Kent wrote up a tongue-in-cheek letter likening the paper’s actions to borrowing a car for a joyride and paying for the use afterward. Read more…
Photography enthusiast Maciej Pietuszynski jumped into tilt-shift photography recently by building a do-it-yourself tilt-shift lens out of an old 50mm f/1.8 prime lens, a shower head, and a rubber glove. The process isn’t for the faint of heart — it involves disassembling the lens. You can see some of the resulting photographs in this Flickr set.
Here’s an awesome TED lecture in which digital artist Erik Johansson discusses creating realistic “photographs” of impossible scenes.
Erik Johansson creates realistic photos of impossible scenes — capturing ideas, not moments. In this witty how-to, the Photoshop wizard describes the principles he uses to make these fantastical scenarios come to life, while keeping them visually plausible.
For her project titled Learning to Love the State I Am In, photographer Sam Schubert takes planking to a new level by putting her body in bizarre positions and locations in order to “integrate” herself into the materials and environments found in Baltimore. Read more…
Adorama had a Valentine’s Day discount on Adobe Lightroom 3 yesterday, pricing it at just $80. It’s back to $135 now, but if you missed out, you now have another chance: B&H has decided to one-up Adorama by selling the program for just $70. The sale will last until the end of today, so you might want to act fast this time if you’ve been on the fence.
