New York City was battered by heavy storms yesterday, and photographer Ryan Brenizer managed to snap this ridiculously epic photograph (larger version here) of the ominous clouds hanging over the city (which looks more like Gotham city… or Mordor).
The 50 megapixel panorama was created using 23 photographs shot at 24mm. Brenizer says that the image wasn’t “Photoshopped to heck” — the scene actually looked like what’s seen in the photo. Needless to say, the photo has gone viral online. You can buy a print here.
Here’s a brief video in which Reuters shows off the special underwater camera it created to shoot swimming competitions at the London Olympics. The design was derived from the cameras used during the BP oil spill back in 2010.
Superheroes usually do their world-saving work in big cities, but what if they lived lives that were as mundane as the civilians they’re sworn to protect? Photographer Chow Kar Hoo has a creative series of photographs that show well known superheroes living rather ordinary lives in Hong Kong. Batman is seen strolling a night market, Wolverine is found making a living slicing up meat at a butcher shop, and Hellboy is spotted enjoying some late night hot pot. Read more…
LCD viewfinders are popular tool among DSLR filmmakers for shooting in sunlight and ensuring tack-sharp focusing, but have you considered using one for still photography?
In this video, Portland-based photographer Jimmy Hickey explains some of the strengths and weaknesses of using one for photography. The main pros: you see exactly how the resulting images will look as you’re shooting them, and magnification makes focusing easier. The cons: battery drain and added bulkiness.
The New York Times has an interesting article examining how retouching has spread beyond fashion and advertising photos into editorial photography, conditioning the public to accept images that are “heightened versions of the truth”. One reason is pressure from celebrity subjects:
The demands of celebrities also drive this broader trend toward perfection. Mr. Granger said that he found more photographers are being pressured to produce shots that the actors or actresses like because celebrities then will request the photographer in the future for other magazine covers or for advertising work. That can be critical because editorial work alone is not enough to sustain a career in photography.
Ms. Greenberg said that in 2002 she shot Tom Cruise when he was wearing braces. She used Photoshop to remove the braces before submitting the photographs but the magazine asked her to put the braces back in.
“I was sad because I was like ‘now Tom Cruise is going to hate me,’ ” she said. Ms. Greenberg has not shot Mr. Cruise since then.
Back in 1982, 19-year-old five buddies — John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John Molony, and John Dickson — went on vacation to Copco Lake in California and snapped a group photo (seen above). Since then, they’ve embarked on the same vacation every 5 years, staying at the same cabin, sitting on the same bench, and snapping the same photo (with identical poses and all). They’re 48-years-old now, and the tradition is still going strong. Read more…
DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier (left) and Earl Staley (right)
Well, that didn’t take long. Just one day after Washington DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier issued a directive ordering officers to leave photographers alone (PDF here), a police officer reportedly snatched a man’s camera at a crime scene and later returned it without the memory card. My Fox DC writes,
Earl Staley says he considers what happened to him Friday, July 20, a robbery.
“I know that I could take these pictures of these guys,” Staley tells Fox 5 News. “I know it. Especially when they’re doing something wrong.”
Staley says his smartphone was snatched by a D.C. Police officer last Friday evening along Raleigh Place in Southeast D.C. Staley says he saw police punching a man they were arresting and another plain-clothes officer harassing the people watching.
“So I go and grab my phone and start trying to record it,” says Staley, a 26-year-old employee of a private, non-profit mental health agency in the District. “And once I do that, another vice cop reaches over my back and grabs my phone and tells me he’s not giving my phone back.”
What would you pack in your camera bag to shoot the biggest sporting event in the world? PopPhoto has a great interview with Getty photographer Streeter Lecka in which he talks about preparing for (and shooting) the Olympics in London. His daily-basis kit includes two Canon 1D Xs, a 400mm f/2.8, two 70-200mm (f/2.8 and f/4), a 16-35mm f/2.8, and a 15mm fisheye. Here’s how his images are beamed to headquarters:
Getty has our own lines that are hardwired into every single event. Our tech crew came over months before to get an idea of where we’d be shooting. We can just plug in and send from there. The editors are in the media center where they can send it out immediately.
I have a backpack everyday with a computer and a card reader. When I plug it into the wire, push in the card, and press start, it automatically sends everything to the editors. Everything transfers to my computer as well. I also bring a separate little hard drive so I can back up everything I shoot for myself. If I want an original RAW file, I can get it if I want to.
Lecka says he expects to snap 2,000-4,000 photos a day on average.
For those of you who have never heard of Magic Lantern (or know it only as a 17th century image projector) as far as Canon HDSLRs are concerned, Magic Lantern is a firmware add-on that first appeared in 2009 for the 5D Mark II. Since then it has been ported to most Canon HDSLRS and, for years, it has been known as a hack that brave and/or curious Canon owners have added to their cameras in order to squeeze out more functionality — in some cases a lot more. The risk, of course, was always stability. Read more…
