December 2012

Photographer Behind Infamous Subway Photo Gives Interview on Today Show

The New York Post got the whole world talking about it yesterday after publishing a morbid front page photo showing a man about to be struck by a subway train. The photographer behind the image, freelance photojournalist R. Umar Abbasi, has received criticism from people who believe he should have done more to help the victim, or, at the very least, do anything but snap photographs of what was about to happen.

Portraits of Projectionists: Photos of the People Who Play Movies at Theaters

Sitting in a movie theater is probably a very familiar experience to most of you, but what's it like to watch the movie from the projection room -- that room with a small window at the back of each theater that holds the projector.

New York City-based photographer Joseph O. Holmes has a new project called The Booth that offers a glimpse into these rooms and the people who work in them.

Polaroid Jacket Lets You Wear What the Company’s Factory Workers Wore

After Polaroid film died off, the The Impossible Project spent years rebooting the factories and breathing new life into old lines of instant film. However, the white-bordered film isn't the only thing Impossible has brought back from the dead. The company has also recreated Polaroid fashion from decades ago, launching the Polaroid Classic Factory Jacket.

Psychogeography: Go and Get Lost to Shoot Something New

How well do you know the area in which you live? Or any area you regularly visit, for that matter? This may seem like the question of an idiot -- of course you know your area of residence -- but do you really? Have you explored every road and back road and high street and side street and pathway and alleyway? I’m aware I strayed into polysyndeton, but it’s relevant to the question I’m asking: how well do you know the area in which you live?

Presence: Invisible Portraits of Celebrities Hiding from the Camera

What defines a portrait? Is it still a portrait if the subject is present in the frame but hidden from the eye? If the answer is yes, then photographer Chris Buck has captured a series of unique celebrity portraits through his project titled Presence. If not, then each of the photographs simply shows a random scene.

The photograph above? That's a portrait of famous American photographer Cindy Sherman.

Rumor: Canon To Replace the Speedlite 430EX II with a 450EX in Early 2013

Canon is reportedly planning to introduce yet another model name to its Speedlite family sometime early next year. Canon Rumors hears from a good source that two new Speedlites will be arriving in the first or early second quarter of 2013. Both are said to be replacements of the bestselling 430EX II, which was announced back in June 2008.

Photographs of Clothing and Accessories Frozen in Large Blocks of Ice

Fashion company Pierre Cardin did a marketing campaign earlier this year that revolved around the slogan: "Simply Cool." It enlisted the help of Brazilian art director Cláudia Xavier and luxury still life photographer Norimich Inoguchi for a series of advertising photographs. The creatives decided to convey that "it's cool to wear Pierre Cardin" in a very literal way: they photographed various clothing items and accessories frozen into large blocks of ice.

Ilford Launches New Disposable Cameras Loaded With Its Black-and-White Film

The camera film industry may be struggling, but there are certain segments that are still profitable. One such niche is the one-time-use disposable film camera market, and Ilford Photo wants a piece of the pie. The company, which makes widely used films, papers, and chemicals, announced two new black & white disposable cameras today.

A Creative Light Painting Photograph That Makes Sparks Look Like Rain

After seeing an online tutorial on steel wool light painting, photographer Simon Berger found a friend to model for him and went out to try his hand at the technique. After some initial success, he started brainstorming creative ideas that he hadn't seen before. The result of the brainstorming was this stunning shot that makes the sparks from a burning piece of steel wool look like rain falling on an umbrella.

Strange-Looking Digital Camera Design Spotted in a Recent Panasonic Patent

Could Panasonic be planning to jump into the action camera market and compete against the likes of GoPro? A recently published US design patent suggests that it might be the case. The patent, first spotted by 43 Rumors, was filed in December of last year but published a week ago. Simply titled, "Digital Camera," it contains a series of simple illustrations showing what appears to be a pocket-sized durable action camera.

Nickelback “Photograph” Parody Pokes Fun at Instagram Stereotypes

There are certain photographs subjects that you often find while browsing the photo sharing service Instagram. Examples might include feet, the foam art in cups of coffee, old doors, and duck-face self-portraits shot using a bathroom mirror. CollegeHumor released a parody music video yesterday that collects a whole bunch of these stereotypes into song.

Eye-Fi Unveils Circ, a Cloud Photo Service with Unlimited Free Storage

We reported in the middle of last month that Eye-Fi was planning to launch a new cloud-based photo sharing service with the name Circ. That day has arrived: the wireless SD card maker has officially launched the service into private beta. Unlike other cloud services, which cap storage space for free accounts -- 5GB is a popular limit -- Circ doesn't. Rather than limit free accounts by storage, Circ is based on the number of devices used. A free account lets you sync 2 devices, while a $50/year paid account allows up to 20.

Viewfinder-Equipped Canon EOS M Will Reportedly Arrive Late Next Year

One of the big complaints people have about the Canon EOS M (besides the horrendously slow autofocus) is the lack of a viewfinder. While autofocus can be improved through firmware updates, you can't simply add an EVF or OVF to a camera by rolling out a download. Luckily, there appears to be a second EOS M camera on the way that does offer an electronic viewfinder.

Photograph of Doomed Man on Subway Tracks Sparks Outrage, Debate

If you happen to catch a glance of the New York Post's cover today, the above photo is what you'll see. It's an attention grabbing image, showing a man who is moments away from being struck and killed by an oncoming subway train in New York City. It's also a controversial image, not just because of the morbid moment it captures, but because of the fact that it even exists.

BTS: Building and Using the Largest Film Camera in the World

Here's an update on photographer Dennis Manarchy's Vanishing Cultures project, which we featured at the beginning of the year. Manarchy has just released the new video above that sheds some light on how the idea came about and how everything came together. After building the world's biggest film camera, Manarchy has been using the "largest-format camera" to document 50 different cultures all across the United States in an epic 20,000-mile road trip. The resulting portraits will be displayed in an equally epic exhibition titled "The Vanishing Cultures: An American Portrait."

Photographing a Photographer: Shooting a Portrait of Joel Meyerowitz for the NYT

New York Times staff photographer Fred R. Conrad was recently tasked with shooting a portrait of acclaimed color photography pioneer Joel Meyerowitz. Freelance videographer Elaisha Stokes went along to shadow Conrad, and captured this interesting behind-the-scenes video in which Conrad shares some thoughts on the experience of pointing a lens at a master of pointing lenses.

EXIF Data May Have Revealed Location of Fugitive Software Tycoon John McAfee

If you've been following the news, you might have heard that a man John McAfee is on the run from police who want to question him about a murder. Not just any ol' John McAfee, but the John McAfee, the once-ultra-rich founder of anti-virus software company McAfee. Well, a photograph published to the web today may have revealed the exact location McAfee is was hiding.

The Simplified Guide to Getting Started in Photoshop

When photographer Devon Mikale was in high school, he created this lengthy manual for his newspaper class to help others learn how to get started in Photoshop. The high school's faculty loved it so much that they ended up purchasing it for re-distribution in future classes. Mikale has graciously allowed us to publish the guide here for free.

It's a lot of images and information, but if you're just starting out and have been overwhelmed by all the different things you need to learn, this guide will walk you through the fundamentals.

Spotted: A Leica-Branded Pen and Coffee Cup, and a Pentax Q10 Watch

Canon started quite a fad back in 2010 by handing out novelty lens mugs at the Vancouver Olympic games. Within two years, it seems like everyone is making and selling lens-shaped coffee mugs now. If you thought Leica had stayed out of the craze, think again. Leica Rumors spotted the pen and coffee cup above being sold on eBay last week. The luxury Caran d'Ache pen carries the familiar red dot, while the cup features Noctilux lens markings.

BTS: Photographing an Album Cover with a Band Blended Into a Zebra Lane

Taking a page out of The Beatles' book, Slovenia- and Croatia-based band Zebra Dots has an album cover for their debut record that features a zebra lane cross walk. Instead of strolling across it, however, the band members are lying on top of the thick lines, with their bodies blended into the zebra lines and their heads serving as dots. (You can also see it as musical notes on a staff).

Eyeist Brings Professional Photo Portfolio Reviews to the Masses

If you want more feedback about your photography portfolio than what your friends, peers, parents, and keyboard critics provide -- and you're willing to drop some money on a professional review -- you should check out Eyeist, a new disruptive service that's trying to bring high-quality portfolio reviews to the masses.

Shootout Game Uses Duels to Find the Fastest Camera Slinger in the West

Check out this brilliant marketing idea: to promote its professional sling-style camera backpacks, Kata designed a carnival/arcade-style game called Shootout. It's live contest that has been held in various store locations and trade shows around the world. Basically, participants engage a virtual cowboy photographer in a duel. Once the timer starts, one must swing their camera bag around, "unholster it", and snap a photo of the screen. If the time captured in your photo is less than the time achieved by Mr. Cowboy Photog (and faster than other participants), you win a pretty pricey camera bag.

BTS: Constructing and Using a Pegboard Backdrop for Starry Portraits

We've featured photographer Nick Fancher's pegboard backdrop experiments a couple of times now (see here and here), and each time the setup gets fleshed out a bit more. Yesterday, Fancher released the above time-lapse video that offers a behind-the-scenes look at how he constructed his "white room" inside his tiny basement (the ceiling is just 7-feet-hight).

Curious Self-Portraits of a Photographer Balancing On His Head

UK-based photographer Caulton Morris is a dude with a very strong head and neck. At least that's the conclusion we came to after seeing his photo series titled Upside, which consists of photo after quirky photo of Morris standing on his head -- literally. The "trick" behind these surreal images is that there is no trick -- Morris actually did the precarious poses you see in each one.

The Most Popular Cameras and Settings for Reuters’ 2012 Photos of the Year

Reuters has published its list of the best photographs taken in 2012, a massive collection of 95 powerful images showing different events that have occurred around the globe over the past year. In addition to large photos, descriptions by the photographers, and the official captions, each image is also accompanied by information about the equipment and settings that were used to capture it.

‘Double Exposure’: A Portrait of Identical Twin Photojournalists, the Turnley Bros

Even if you've never heard of Peter and David Turnley, you've likely seen at least one of their photographs at some point in your life. The identical twins are two of the most renowned photojournalists to have covered world events over the past few decades. The video above is a fascinating 13-minute-long feature titled "Double Exposure," which aired on 60 Minutes back in 1996 (warning: there are some strong images of violence).

Words of Wisdom Regarding Criticism by Anton Ego in Ratatouille

The Internet can be a tough place for photographers. One can pour an immeasurable amount of time, money, energy, blood, sweat, and tears into a picture (or a series of pictures), only to have his or her hard work torn to shreds by nameless and faceless commenters who hide behind the veil of anonymity.

Rumor: Canon 7D Mark II Geared Toward Nature and Sports Photographers

Murmurings of an upcoming Canon 7D Mark II, which we first wrote about back in October, are starting to heat up. It was suggested that the camera, which may mark the merger of the 60D's and 7D's lines, was to offer a high continuous shooting rate. More recent reports seem to back up that particular spec, as we as offer some more info on who Canon is targeting with the camera.

Five Hours of Airplane Landings Captured in Thirty Seconds

Check out this curious 25-second time-lapse/composite video that shows every airplane that landed at San Diego International Airport on Black Friday a week ago between 10:30am and 3pm. The giant planes whiz by overhead as if they're part of a fighter jet squadron heading off to battle -- not something you'd expect to see with commercial planes at an airport. It was created by photography and film professor Cy Kuckenbaker.

Nokia Launches Magical Slideshow App PhotoBeamer for Lumia Phones

Earlier this year, we shared an amazing iPhone app by imaging company Scalado called PhotoBeamer. The app allows you to quickly run a slideshow of your Camera Roll photos on any device that can load the PhotoBeamer website, simply by pointing your phone at that display. One month later, Nokia acquired Scalado and began folding the small company's projects into its own software. Now, Nokia has launched a repackaged version of PhotoBeamer exclusively for its Lumia phones.

First-Ever Hyperspectral Photo of Auroras

Auroras are quite popular as a photo subject these days, especially for time-lapse photography, but a team of researchers in Norway recently snapped pictures of one in a way that hasn't been done before: with a hyperspectral camera. The special device can simultaneously capture multiple spectral bands of light. The composite photograph above was created by combining three such bands of light, with each one assigned a different RGB color.

Photos of a Model Train Rumbling Across the Great Outdoors

Model train enthusiasts often photograph their miniature locomotives placed in realistic dioramas, but for his project titled "The Canadian: Ghost Train Crossing Canada," photographer Jeff Friesen decided to use the real world as a backdrop. He photographs the train in various outdoor locations across Canada to capture its scenic journey. In some of the photos, its difficult to tell that the train is a tiny model rather than the real thing. Friesen says that his goal was to document the beauty of his huge country in a creative way.

Hands-On Autofocus Battle Between the Olympus OM-D EM-5 and Canon EOS M

The Canon EOS M is quickly becoming the laughingstock of the mirrorless party due to its autofocus system, which leaves much to be desired in terms of speed. To show just how sluggish the system really is, Tomek Kulas over at M43.eu did this very simple yet informative "hands-on test" that pits the EOS M against one of its archrivals: the Olympus OM-D EM-5.