April 2012

Michael Zhang

A Revolving Self Portrait Created in 1865

Here's a revolving self-portrait created back in 1865 by French photographer Félix Nadar (real name Gaspard-Félix Tournachon). Nadar was the first person in history to take aerial photographs (he was a balloonist) and was one of the pioneers of artificial lighting (he photographed in the catacombs of Paris).

Michael Zhang

Ghostly Reflection Self-Portraits Shot While Traveling Alone

While visiting New York City by himself, Serbia-based art director Marko Savic came up with an interesting way of creating "tourist" photos with himself in the frame. Instead of setting the timer on his camera, asking passers-by for help, or photographing his reflection, he decided to shoot self-portraits by illuminating his face and photographing it in various reflections.

Michael Zhang

Google Doodle Commemorates Street Photographer Robert Doisneau

This past Saturday marked the centennial of French photographer Robert Doisneau, and Google celebrated with a creative photo doodle on its home page. Doisneau is considered one of the fathers of photojournalism and street photography, alongside fellow French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Michael Zhang

Abstract Photos of Bullets Fragmented on Bulletproof Plexiglass

For her project "The Big Bang", photographer Deborah Bay captured macro photographs of plexiglass sheets that had various types of firearms fired at them. After having professional law enforcement officers fire bullets into the glass, she brought the sheets into a studio and "shot" them again with a Contax 645 and a 120 macro lens. She writes,

I began thinking about "The Big Bang" after seeing a sales display of bullet-proof plexiglas that had projectiles embedded in it. The plexiglas captured the fragmentation of the bullets and provided a visual record of the energy released on impact. As I began to explore this concept further, I also was intrigued by the psychological tension created between the jewel-like beauty and the inherent destructiveness of the fragmented projectiles. Many of the images resemble exploding galaxies, and visions of intergalactic bling sublimate the horror of bullets meeting muscle and bone. In fact, Susan Sontag described the camera as "a sublimation of the gun" -- load, aim and shoot.

Michael Zhang

Canon Confirms “Light Leak” Issue in the 5D Mark III

Earlier this month, reports started emerging that Canon's new 5D Mark III DSLR has a "light leak" issue. Photographers found that turning on the LCD backlight in a dark room directly affects the camera's metering system (as seen in the video above). Canon published a product advisory today acknowledging the issue, saying,

In extremely dark environments, if the LCD panel illuminates, the displayed exposure value may change as a result of the AE sensor’s detection of light from the LCD panel.

The phenomenon [...] has been confirmed when using the Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera. Canon is now examining the countermeasures and once the countermeasures are decided, we will post the information on our Web site.

Problem is, the issue isn't limited to the LCD's backlight in a dark room. Apparently any light (e.g. sunlight) shining onto the LCD screen can affect exposure.

Michael Zhang

Tape Transfer Portraits Show Subjects Behind Their Own Altered Photos

Photographer Rory White's Rorshak Tape Transfer Series might look like some kind of surreal digital art, but the images were actually created without Photoshop. White shot portraits of his subjects, printed them out, and invited the subjects to paint, tear, and alter the prints. He then covered the image with packing tape, dropped it in hot water, and peeled off the paper on the back (like a Polaroid emulsion transfer). The semi-transparent image would then be hung from a stand, and the subject rephotographed while standing behind it.

Michael Zhang

3D Glass Plate Photos From the 1930s

Paris-based photo enthusiast Alexis was passing a thrift store near his home recently when he noticed some strange looking optical equipment. Upon entering the shop for a better view, he discovered that it was an old stereograph viewer with ground glass in the rear. The store owner informed him that the viewer came with a box of roughly 50 glass plates made in France in the 1930s. Alexis jumped on the deal and, upon returning home, was pleasantly surprised to find that the images were beautiful 3D photographs of what living in France was like nearly a century ago.

Derek Shapton

The One-Gig Card Challenge

Had an interesting conversation the other evening with the delightful Raina Kirn, the “Raina” half of the famed Raina + Wilson photo team (Wilson – worry not, you’re delightful too). The occasion was a west-end Toronto photographer’s pub night, and we were bemoaning the loathsomeness of sorting and organizing images digitally, the endless toil and drudgery of file management, the indentured servitude photographers must now endure as pawns in the palm of the evil god that is Computer. We glumly agreed that there’s really no way to avoid it. You just have to grit your teeth and slog away, like wading through mud — completely unpleasant, but necessary if you want to escape.

Michael Zhang

Double Identity: Stacked Photographs of Identical Twins

Double Identity is a neat project by photographer Caroline Briggs in which she photographs portraits of identical twins wearing the same clothing and striking the same poses, and then overlays one on top of the other to show their similarities and differences. She writes:

My series aims to avoid direct physical comparisons between twins while allowing the viewer to acknowledge and accept the twins’ similarities and differences. For the twin, it gives them a different perspective on their double identities and poses questions about their relationship and their desire - or lack of desire - to live completely separate lives.

Briggs has the credentials to do this project -- she's a twin herself!

Michael Zhang

HandiZoom Adds a Camcorder-style Grip and Zoom Controls to Your DSLR

HandiZoom is a new camera accessory that adds a special grip to your DSLR that allows you to hold and use it like a camcorder. The device adds ENG-style zoom controls by connecting directly with the zoom ring on your camera lens. Videographers who've transitioned to DSLR shooting may feel much more at home with their hand around an ergonomic grip and a zoom rocker under their fingertips.

Michael Zhang

Photographer Behind Now-Iconic ‘Texting Hillary’ Photo Wasn’t Amused — At First

During the past week, a new meme called "Texts From Hillary" has been taking the web by storm. It involves two photographs of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton checking her phone on a flight while wearing sunglasses. By combining the images with other photographs and witty captions, the creators imagined what her texts conversations with other famous individuals might be like. Not everyone found the meme hilarious: the Washington Post writes that photographer Diana Walker wasn't amused when she first saw her images being used:

[...] the incident underscores the conflicts between photographers, who want to control their work, and the wide world of the Internet, where everything seems free. “There needs to be a dialogue about this,” she says.

And she wishes that people who want to grab photos from the Internet and use them for their own purposes would make an effort to contact their original creators. “Before they used it, how about a call to me?” she asked. But, she admits, that might have resulted in no such memorable meme. “I’m not sure I would have said yes.”

However, the site's creators soon added a credit line for Walker with each photo and the photographer -- along with Clinton herself -- is now "amused and taken with the idea that this picture is all over the world."

Michael Zhang

Canon Officially Unveils the 1D C, a 4K Cinema DSLR

Canon has officially announced its new EOS-1D C 4K cinema DSLR, a camera that offers the same body and still photography features as the 1D X but is more geared towards high-end motion picture and television production. It records 4K at 24fps and 1080P at 24/25/30/50/60fps, shoots 1080p uncompressed with 8-bit 4:2:2 Clean HD via HDMI, and offers a headphone jack instead of the PC socket found on the 1D X. The 18MP full frame sensor inside has ISO 100-51,200 for still and a max of 25,600 for video. The 1D C will be shipping by the end of this year with a price tag of $15,000 -- more than double the $6,800 1D X.

Michael Zhang

Aerial Photographs Showing Patterns and Repetition

Alex MacLean is a Massachusetts-based photographer and pilot who uses his dual interests to create epic aerial photographs.

Alex MacLean has flown his plane over much of the United States documenting the landscape. Trained as an architect, he has portrayed the history and evolution of the land from vast agricultural patterns to city grids, recording changes brought about by human intervention and natural processes. His powerful and descriptive images provide clues to understanding the relationship between the natural and constructed environments.

Michael Zhang

Incredible Wallpaper Created Using 88,000 Photographs of the Sky

Skycatcher Wallpaper is a monumental display created by artists Jonathan Puckey and Luna Maurer. It's composed of a whopping 88,000 individual photographs of the sky above Amsterdam captured over two years with the camera snapping a photo every five minutes. Each vertical strip contains 144 photographs and shows exactly one day. The gradual change in the number of daylight hours results in fluctuations in the shape of the blue daylight sections of the wallpaper.