November 2012

Anamorphic Illusions Created Using High-Res Prints of Photos

YouTube illusion and science channel Brusspup recently did an anamorphic illusion project in which he photographed a few random objects resting on a piece of paper (e.g. a Rubik's cube, a roll of tape, and a shoe), skewed them, printed them out as high-resolution prints, and then photographed them at an angle to make the prints look just like the original objects.

Nikon Selling a Limited Edition Nikkor f/1.8 Box Set in Europe

Behold: a box set of Nikon prime lenses. This unique kit is a limited-edition item currently being sold by Nikon exclusively in certain European countries (it's available in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK). Inside the Nikon-branded aluminum case are three f/1.8 lenses: the 28mm, 50mm, and 85mm. Oh, and you get the manuals, lens hoods, and soft cases as well.

The First Ever Music Video Filmed Entirely Using Instagram

We all know Instagram as an app for retro-filtered photos, but have you ever considered using it to film a video, one photo at a time? That's what director Arturo Perez Jr. did for the video above. It's the official music video for the song "Invasión" by Mexico City-based band The Plastics Revolution.

Photo of Iceberg that Sank the Titanic to Be Auctioned, Expected to Fetch $10K

On the night of April 14th, 1912, the Titanic collided with a massive iceberg and sank, ending the lives of more than 1,000 people and becoming one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. Now, one hundred years later, a photo that may the only surviving print showing that infamous chunk of ice is going up for auction. It's expected to fetch up to $10,000.

Transform an Ordinary Sink Filter into a Soft Focus Lens Filter

Photographer Nick Cool came up with one of the strangest pieces of do-it-yourself camera gear that we've seen so far this year. He took an ordinary stainless steel sink filter -- yup, the thing that catches food at the bottom of kitchen sinks -- drilled various-sized holes through it, and stuck it into a filter ring after taking out the glass.

Creepy Portraits Show Subjects with One Head, Two Faces, and Three Eyes

You know those Photoshopped optical illusions that involve combining two photos of a person's face -- one straight on and one looking to the side -- into a single bizarre shot? Quebec, Canada-based photographer Ulric Collette put a spin on that concept with his new portrait series titled "Facade." Instead of using negative space and two completely different angles, Collette had his subjects turn their heads slightly to the side for the second shot, and then merged the two photos together by aligning one eye from each shot.

France’s Leading Photo Agency Files for Bankruptcy

Tough news coming out of France this week: Sipa Press, the country's leading photo agency, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Michel Puech of the Le Journal de la Photographie reports that the filing came on November 22nd, and can lead to two possible outcomes: reorganization or liquidation.

Peak Design Unveils Leash, the Optimus Prime of Camera Straps

If you've ever had to take traditional camera straps on and off your camera, you probably know how annoying the task is. Peak Design, makers of the Capture camera clip system, wants to change the way people think about and use straps. The company has unveiled a new strap called the Leash, a versatile accessory that can take on different configurations and be used for multiple purposes.

DSLR Shooting Time-Lapse of the Night Sky Captures Its Own Theft Instead

After seeing the story of the DSLR-stealing lion that we published last night, Zurich, Switzerland-based photographer Alessandro Della Bella sent in an unusual camera theft story of his own. While shooting time-lapse photographs of the night sky using three intervalometer-trigger DSLRs, one of the cameras was stolen by a thief. What's interesting is that the camera documented the whole event through time-lapse photos! The video above shows the time-lapse that resulted.

Nikon D600 Speck Issue May Be Limited to First Few Thousand Shots

Photographer Kyle Clements' time-lapse showing specks accumulating on the Nikon D600 over the first 1000 shots has been seen by nearly 200,000 people around the web in less than a week. Through the exposure his experiment has gotten, Clements received a good deal of feedback and suggestions regarding further experiments and what the specks might be. He has since done two new time-lapse experiments that sheds a little more light on the issue.

Gone in 30 Seconds: Photog Holds Show and Invites Strangers to Steal His Photos

Copenhagen, Denmark-based photographer Lukas Renlund recently came up with a neat way of drumming up some excitement over his photographs. He held a public photo exhibition called "Steal My Photograph!" that turned out to be possibly the world's shortest show. After hanging up 40 framed photographs on a wall outdoors, Renlund invited passersby to take any single photograph they desired, with one condition: they had to hang it up, photograph it, and then email the photo and description to Renlund.

Funny Stop-Motion Animation Shows the Canon EOS M at the Mirrorless Party

Jordan Drake of Canadian camera shop The Camera Store just published this great hands-on field test of the Canon EOS M. Even if you don't have 10 minutes to watch the entire review, you've got to check out the two short stop-motion animations that start at about 21s and 7m50s. They're a hilarious (and accurate) sketches that poke fun at how "the Canon EOS M is a little bit late to the mirrorless party" and how the camera has a pretty shoddy autofocus system.

‘The Photographer’: A 1948 Documentary on the Life and Work of Edward Weston

Here's an interesting 26-minute documentary about the life and work of 20th-century-photographer Edward Weston, a man who is considered to be one of the most influential American photographers and one of the masters of photography during his era. The 1948 film, titled "The Photographer," was shot by American filmmaker Willard Van Dyke, an apprentice of Weston's, who went on to become a very notable photographer in his own right.

Using a Floor-to-Ceiling Pegboard as a Portrait Backdrop

During Halloween a month ago, we shared a simple portrait idea by photographer Nick Fancher that involved firing a flash through fog and a perforated hardboard for a backdrop filled with beams of light. Since that initial experiment, he has taken the concept and developed it even more.

Fancher recently built a "white room" in his basement using sheets of white pegboard and hardboard. It's essentially a white cube without side walls.

Viral Hoax Facebook Update is Powerless to Protect Your Photo Copyrights

One of the big stories in the tech world at the moment is Facebook's effort to do away with its public voting system for approving changes to the service's policies (yup, Facebook is a democracy). Pranksters are taking advantage of the controversy to stir up some FUD among Facebook users. One of the things that has been circulating over the past few days is a bogus "chain letter" that people are posting as status updates, believing that their photograph copyrights are at risk. The message is spreading like wildfire -- many of you have likely seen it already -- but there's one big problem: it's all a complete hoax.

Canon Has Not Started Bundling Hoods and Cases with Non-L Glass

Lens hoods and protective cases are nice accessories to have, but they're generally only bundled with professional L glass when it comes to Canon lenses. Canon USA almost never includes them with lenses that don't carry that distinctive red ring (or a green ring). Last week, Bryan Carnathan over at The Digital Picture recently noticed that the pre-order pages for the new Canon 35mm f/2 IS over on B&H and Adorama listed a hood and case as part of what's included. The news surely got many a Canonite wondering, "will bundled hoods and cases be included with non-L lenses now?"

Unfortunately, the answer is no -- at least for photographers in the US.

PetaPixel Photography Gift Guide 2012

With Christmas and the holiday season just around the corner, here's our annual roundup of the latest, greatest, and phototastic-ist gift ideas. The items are listed by price, so there should be something to fit every budget.

Humor: Photographs of Cars with Their Namesakes

Art director Jim Lasser and his friend, photographer Ray Gordon, have a humorous ongoing photo project titled Namesake Motors. They observed that car makes and models often have names inspired by (or similar to) famous people or people groups, so they decided to shoot a series of images that play on words by pairing the cars with their namesakes (using the term very loosely).

The photograph above is titled, "Homer’s Odyssey."

Google Turns Times Square in NYC Into a Photo Gallery for Everyone’s Pictures

If you've always wanted your photography prominently displayed in New York City's Times Square, Google can help make it happen -- as long as you're okay with adding some text to your picture and participating in a marketing effort. To show that its new line of Chromebook laptops is designed for all kinds of users, the Mountain View-based company has launched a new campaign called For Everyone. It's a giant photo gallery that invites the world to upload photos that answer the question, "who are Chromebooks for?"

Shooting Studio Portraits of Strangers on the Street As If They Were Famous

Philippe Echaroux is a young French photographer who makes a living shooting portraits of celebrities (among other things). Recently, he carried out a personal project that had been brewing in his mind for some time: using his celebrity portraiture experience and style for spontaneous portraits of ordinary strangers encountered on the street. The short video above shows how Echaroux roamed around with his small team and set up makeshift photo studios for each of the portraits.

Facebook Removes Risqué Photograph of Woman Showing an Elbow

Are photo-sharing website content policies based on indecency or the mere appearance of indecency? That's what visual web magazine Theories of the deep understanding of things decided to test out yesterday. It uploaded an innocent -- but seemingly risqué -- photo of a woman sitting in a bathtub with her elbow resting on the edge (warning: it looks inappropriate). Lo and behold, the social network quickly took the photo down for violating the service's terms.

BTS: Photographing a Lyric-Lapse Music Video Over the Course of Six Months

Back in August we shared a mesmerizing stop-motion video titled "Dream Music: Part 2" and created by Marc Donahue and Sean Michael Williams. The team spent 6-8 hours of work photographing every 3-4 seconds of the 8-minute music video. All in all, the project took six months to complete. The video above presents a behind-the-scenes look at how the whole thing was done, with director's commentary, deleted scenes, and a bunch of time-lapses of the time-lapse being shot.

Most Expensive Production Camera and First Leica M Sold at Auction

Back in May, a 1923 Leica O-Series camera became the most expensive camera on the planet after being sold for roughly $2.79 million at a WestLicht auction. That camera was a prototype camera, and just one of 25 made (only 12 of them exist today). If you're wondering what the most expensive non-prototype camera is, look no further than the latest WestLicht auction that was held earlier today. The Leica M3D seen above fetched a staggering €1.68 million, or roughly $2.18 million, becoming "the most expensive camera from a serial production ever."