April 2012

Polaroid Land Camera Advertisements from the 1950s and 1960s

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Polaroid sponsored shows like "The Tonight Show" during which the hosts would take time to endorse the cameras during the show itself rather than cut to commercials. The montage above takes viewers back to a time when fancy new Polaroid cameras cost $69.95 -- or $1.19 a week.

Trigger Your Camera 12 Different Ways With Triggertrap’s New App

When we told you about the StrikeFinder app earlier, we mentioned that what set it apart was that it used your actual iPhone's camera; it wasn't just acting as the trigger. Well, Trigertrap's new mobile app is just acting as the trigger, but it's acting as a very comprehensive trigger.

StrikeFinder Lets You Capture Lightning and Fireworks on Your iPhone

There are plenty of light-sensitive triggers on the market, some triggers even use your smartphone, but Ubertronix's new StrikeFinder app is the first mobile app that lets you actually take the pictures with your phone. Instead of designing a trigger app that attaches to an external camera, the StrikeFinder app released earlier today lets everyday iPhone users simply point their phone camera in the direction of say, lightning or fireworks, and the phone does the rest for them.

Sony Springs a Massive Leak of NEX-F3 and A37 Photographs

Not so much a "leak" as the proverbial flood gates opening, earlier today the Indonesian website Yangcanggih released what amounts to a full gallery of both the new NEX-F3 and A37 cameras, giving Sony fanboys (and girls) plenty to get excited over. The pictures confirm many of the previous rumors: the NEX-F3 does have a pop-up flash, and the 180-degree tilting screen is also a feature; while the A37 is receiving an articulating screen as well.

Lonely Diving Photos Snag Grand Prize in Google’s Photo Contest

Last November Google launched a Photography Prize for finding the "photography stars of the future". After receiving entries from 20,000 students in 146 countries, Google announced the winners last week. The grand prize winner was Viktor Johansson, a 24-year-old photography student from Sweden who photographed the loneliness of competitive diving:

The judges were impressed and captivated with his series that focused on Christoffer Eskilsson, Sweden’s best male diver from 10 metres. Viktor has chosen to show us an alternative view, one that we are not used to seeing from sport photography in the media. Instead of glamorous action shots of an athlete in competition, he has produced arresting and unexpected photographs that focus on the long, lonely hours of repetitive training and practice that it takes to excel in your field.

Canon Possibly Working on an Entry-Level Full-Frame DSLR of Its Own

With Nikon rumored to be working on the D600 as an entry-level full-frame for later this year, it's only right that Canon jump into the fray as well, and jump they have (maybe). Rumors that Canon has had a new entry-level full-frame in the works began circulating at the end of March, and now we're hearing that an announcement may be planned for the 2012 Holiday Season.

The Only Anonymous Photo to Ever Win the Pulitzer Prize

Every photo has a story, and this particular photo has one of the most interesting stories of them all -- a story of anonymous fame, and famous anonymity. To this day the above photo, titled "Firing Squad in Iran," is the only anonymous photo to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. And although the photo was taken in 1979, the photographer behind the lens didn't receive credit until 2006.

Amazing “Real Time” Clocks Created Using 12-Hour-Long Loops of Video

Artist Maarten Baas has a project called "Real Time" in which he creates one-of-a-kind clocks using a video camera and boatloads of patience and dedication. He creates 12-hour-long loops of people manually setting the time on various clocks... in real time. The video above shows his grandfather clock exhibit in which the hour and minute hands of the clock are painstakingly drawn in every minute of every hour for twelve hours.

The Afghan Box Camera: Not-So-Instant Instant Photography

The Afghan box camera, or kamra-e-faoree as it's called in Afghanistan, is a humble creation that has served its purpose well for many years. We say humble because the "camera body" consists of a wooden box, the "focusing apparatus" is a metal shaft attached to a piece of wood, and the "shutter" is controlled by removing and reinserting the "lens cap" manually.

How to Transform a Cheap Foot Candle Meter into a DIY Light Meter

For those of you amateur photographers out there who like shooting film, sometimes old cameras don't have the right light meter for getting the correct exposure. Sometimes they are faulty, inaccurate or have no light meter at all! Photographic light meters can be pretty expensive but analog foot-candle meters are cheap because they don't really have any photography purpose, until now. This guide will show you how to put it to work for photography.

Emotive Portraits of Majestic Horses

"All the Wild Horses" is a photo series by South African photographer Andrew McGibbon that consists of beautiful studio portraits of horses. McGibbon writes,

For thousands of years the horse has been mankind's closest ally. The horse made travel and development possible. We tethered, weighted and reigned them. We captured, stabled and trained them.

Ever willing, the horse was the magnificent tool of man’s ingenuity. The Horse is a beast of legend, taking on its own character, personality, emotion and mythology. However, with the advent of the steam engine the horse was made obsolete, and now they are resigned to the realm of shows and races, a world of equestrian sport, a mere shadow of the beast’s former glory.

McGibbon says painstakingly lit each shot in a manner reminiscent of the portraiture of the rich and famous.

Create a Film Noir Look Using This Homemade Telescopic Snoot

A typical snoot is used to control the direction and radius of of the light you're casting onto your subject, and they're great for getting certain effects. But photographer Peter Miesch's take on the snoot is a bit different; used right, his will give your photos a film-noire effect like you see in the example above.

Claude Glass: The 18th Century Version of Instagram

Everybody knows that the Instagram app made its name giving photos an old, instant film look. But what if we were to tell you that there was something even before that time, even before cameras, that gave a scene the same aesthetic? Well there was, and it was called a Claude glass.

How to Shoot Great Sunrise Photography

In this video from Master Photo Workshops photographer Jim Zuckerman shows you how he creates his iconic sunrise photography, using a beautiful lighthouse as his subject. He begins with the basics of choosing your subject and exposure well and then continues on to explain the need to move quickly, "work the scene," and understand that auto white balance works against you in sunrise and sunset scenes.

Nikon D800 vs Hasselblad H4D-40 Comparison Video

This video, done by The Camera Store with help from Roth and Ramberg, is sure to stir up some controversy. One side will say that 35mm couldn't possibly compete with medium format, while the other will point out that the price difference makes the whole debate moot.

A Unique Medium: Photographs Printed on String

We've run into some cool ideas over the years -- most of them involving a new way of taking photos or an interesting mix of established photography techniques -- but Hong Sung Chul's work with photographs printed onto string is definitely different, if not unique. His choice of medium is said to represent our human connection to our mothers through an umbilical cord.

Check out the samples below and be sure to head over the Hada Contemporary Gallery for more examples his work.

Never-Before-Seen Project Gemini Photos Now Available Online

There's been a lot of nostalgia over the space program lately; as NASA is relegated to memories and museums, the general public is rediscovering why space once had us at such rapt attention. And the most recent relic to surface from the space program is a collection of never-before-seen photos from NASA's project Gemini.

New Imaging System Captures 3D Interiors in Minutes

If it looks like a Kinect, and the prototype was once a Kinect, you'd think the result would be Kinect-like; but the Matterport system is much cooler than that. It can't record you dancing with your friends in front of your TV, but what the it can do is render 3D interiors in minutes -- something that was once a painstaking many-hour process.

Judge Won’t Let Pearson Off the Hook in Massive Copyright Infringement Case

Copyright laws get pretty specific. A photographer can not only give a green light on a work, he or she can license a work for use only during specific years, or in a specific area, or for a specific publication medium (i.e. print vs electronic); and now it looks like massive publisher Pearson Education is in trouble for breaking these sort of terms one too many times.

Camera Phones Used for Augmented Reality Presentations in London Museum

Typically, augmented reality falls somewhere between technological breakthrough and really cool thing to show your friends; but in the Science Museum in London's Making of the Modern World exhibit, augmented reality also takes up the mantle of education.

Using the $3 Science Stories app, visitors to the museum can point their iOS or Android devices at markers set in front of particular exhibits, and prompt a 3-dimensional James May (one of the hosts of BBC's Top Gear) to appear and explain the particulars of the display.

SquareBounce — A Different Take on the Collapsible Reflector

The SquareBounce is a pretty innovative rethink of the traditional collapsible reflector used by photographers everywhere. Shaped like a "flat umbrella," it's easier to hold and orient in almost any photography situation and, as their website points out, it can actually double as an umbrella if need be.

Kodak Reports 27% Drop in Revenue in First Quarter, $366 Million Net Loss

They say that when it rains it pours, and nowhere is that more evident than with the troubled, once-great photography company Kodak. After filing for bankruptcy, narrowing its focus to printers, and selling the Kodak Gallery for pennys on the dollar, we sort of hoped the company would start to see some rays of sunshine break through their perpetual cloud cover. Unfortunately, their quarter's earnings report is anything but sunny.

Photo of the New Sony NEX-F3 Leaked

Sony is due to announce a new addition to its NEX cameral line, and it looks like the first picture of that new addition has just hit the rumor mill. Sony Alpha Rumors is reporting that the NEX-F3, which will replace the NEX-C3, will be officially announced sometime next month.

Clever Photos Showing Famous Movie Posters from Behind

Here's a clever advertisement idea done by Brazilian ad agency Y&R Sao Paulo and photographer Lúcio Cunha. They took the iconic posters of famous movies (Kill Bill, Forrest Gump, and Pretty Women) and created photos showing what they would look like if viewed from behind.

The Impossible Project’s COOL Instant Film Takes a Cue from Coors Beer

You wouldn't think the world of instant film could learn much from the world of beer -- and on most counts you'd be right -- but in this particular case, a little bit of Coors inspiration may have played a role in The Impossible Projects new line of COOL Polaroid films. The specialty instant film, part of The Impossible Project's Spring 2012 line, are kept in a temperature-sensitive package. In order to maintain its shelf life, the packaging will warn you when you're storing it in too warm an environment by displaying the message "Keep Me Cool."

IKEA Cardboard Camera Called KNÄPPA, to Land on Store Shelves Soon

Earlier this week a photograph of a mysterious IKEA digital camera crafted out of cardboard took the web by storm. Now more details are emerging and we now know that the camera is very much real. It will be called KNÄPPA, and was designed in collaboration with Stockholm’s Teenage Engineering. Billed as "the world's cheapest digital camera", the KNÄPPA is made out of a single piece of folded cardboard, a single circuit board, a camera sensor, and an integrated USB connector.