February 2013

Satire: How to Be a Photographer in Four Simple Lessons

Looking to jump into a particular genre of professional photography? Instead of shelling out money and time for lessons, workshops, and/or internships, check out the handbook, "How to be a Photographer in Four Lessons." Written by Brussels-based photographer Thomas Vanden Driessche, it offers the basic gist of how you can instantly become great in contemporary photography, war photography, conceptual photography, and more!

Convert Your DSLR Battery Into a Power Supply Unit That Plugs Into Outlets

When Milan-based engineer and photographer Andrea Biffi needed a constant source of power for his Canon 40D in order to shoot time-lapse photos over many hours, he decided to save some money by going the DIY route. Biffi turned a defunct lithium DSLR battery into a power supply unit that can be used with everything from a wall outlet to a car battery.

You can do the same thing at home, but you'll need a bit of engineering know-how to accomplish the hack.

Mesmerizing Footage of Thousands Upon Thousands of Birds Dancing in the Sky

If you're maintaining any of kind bucket list of things you'd like to experience before you die, you might want to think about putting "a massive murmuration of starlings" on that list. That's what Paris-based director and photographer Neels Castillon was treated to recently, and his video documenting the encounter has been making waves on the web.

Ricoh Shows Off Camera That Captures a 360-Degree Photo in One Shot

At the CP+ show in Japan, Ricoh is showing off a new camera prototype its developing that can capture full 360-degree immersive photographs with a singel push of the shutter. The omnidirectional camera looks like a cross between an electric toothbrush and a hammerhead shark. Lift it up into the air, press a button, and it will capture an image that shows every direction around you.

Instagram Brings Photo Feeds to the Web After Two Years of Being Mobile-Centric

For the first two years of its young life, photo sharing darling Instagram focused primarily on delivering its service to smartphone users. Although demand would have likely been great, the company's founders decided to hold off on a browser-based component in order to become one of the pioneers of mobile photo sharing.

After the service was acquired by Facebook in 2012, the decision makers apparently decided that their mobile dominance mission had been accomplished. Later that year, in November, Instagram rolled out web profiles. Now, one of the last major walls has come tumbling down: Instagram today announced that photo feeds are now available through the web.

Sunday Times Telling Freelance Photogs Not to Submit War Images From Syria

"Deadly sniper shot through the lens." That's the title of a photoblog entry published over on Reuters last week by staff photographer Goran Tomasevic, who's covering the deadly conflict in Syria. The photo above was accompanied by the text, "A tank fired a couple of shells onto the top of the building and rubble fell down around us."

Exploring and Photographing the Sewers of Major Cities Around the World

Last year, New York-based guerrilla historian, urban explorer and photographer Steve Duncan gave an 18-minute talk (seen in the video above) to the audience at TEDxPhoenixville. Duncan spoke on his motivations for going deep into the underground infrastructure in major cities around the world, peeling back layers of a city to see and document things that are hidden to people above ground.

Lynx A: The World’s First Point-and-Shoot 3D Camera

Tired of capturing the world as 2D photographs? What if you could just as easily capture things as 3D models? That's what Lynx A does. It's the world's first point-and-shoot 3D camera that produces 3D models with the push of a button. The company claims that "you can use a point-and-shoot Nikon, you'll find the Lynx A even easier to use."

Strange Floating Formations Created by Mirroring Photos of Trees

For her project Mirrors, photographer Traci Griffin explores the concept of symmetry by photographing trees in various locations, and then mirroring the sweeping branches while omitting most of the trunks.

The resulting photographs look like strange shapes, formations, and even creatures floating in midair.

Flip Cap: A Screw-On Lens Cap That You Won’t Ever Lose Track Of

Lens caps are a great solution for protecting the front element of lenses when they're not in use, but can be misplaced when you take them off. On the other hand, screw-on lens filters are a great solution for protecting the lens' glass as well, but they introduce an additional layer of glass between your camera and the world. Is there a middle ground?

At the CP+ trade show in Japan, Kenko International is showing off a new product that aims to deliver the best of both worlds. It's called the Flip Cap, and is a lens cap that screws on permanently, but flips out of the way when you're using your camera.

Freelensing: Make a DIY “Poor Man’s Tilt-Shift” by Breaking a Cheap Prime Lens

Freelensing. It’s been around for a while. It’s essentially the “poor man’s tilt shift.” All the technique requires is disconnecting a lens from the camera body and floating it around in front of your sensor to shift the focal plane in weird directions. It takes practice to get accurate with it, but overall the technique is pretty straightforward.

I wanted to take it a bit further.

A Look at How Nikon’s Nikkor Lenses Are Made, From Start to Finish

On January 28, Nikon announced the 80th anniversary of the launch of the Nikkor lens brand, and that the total number of lenses manufactured since the beginning has exceeded 75 million units. The lineup now includes more than 80 types of lenses.

To celebrate the occasion, Nikon released the above video, which offers a behind-the-scenes look into how its widely used lenses are made. The video starts from the production of the glass from sand and goes through final assembly, all in three-and-a-half minutes.

Bridge Inspectors Being Dwarfed by the Second Highest Bridge in the US

Reno, Nevada-based photographer Art Domagala was recently involved with an interesting photo shoot in which size and scale played a bit part. He was tasked with photographing bridge inspectors working on the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge, officially known as the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

Standing 840 feet (260 meters) above the Colorado River, the $114 million bridge is the second-highest in the United States. Domagala's photographs capture the sheer size by showing how small the workers are in comparison.

Photographers: Finding New Clients, Not Gear, Is Biggest Challenge in 2013

In late 2012, Photoshelter surveyed around 5,000 photographers to find out the industries outlook on 2013. Some of the findings were pretty interesting.

The chart above shows the top challenges the photographers think they'll face in 2013. Only 10% of those who responded were worried about gear-related issues. People don't seem to be having a hard time finding the right equipment to use for their shoots -- it's the business-side of the photography business that's weighing photogs down.

Chrysler’s Ram Super Bowl Commercial Composed Entirely of Photos

One of standout commercials during the Super Bowl yesterday was the above ad by Chrysler promoting its Ram line of trucks. The 2-minute ad pays tribute to farmers across the nation, and is composed entirely of photographs showing various facets of the farming industry.

In the background is a famous speech given by radio broadcaster Paul Harvey during the 1978 Future Farmers of America convention, titled "So God Made a Farmer."

The Big Picture Documentary on Iconic Photographer Jay Maisel

Jay Maisel is a photographic legend who is known primarily for two things: his amazing photography, including the shot on the cover of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue; and the lower Manhattan mansion he bought in 1966 for only $102K (a purchase that has been called "the greatest real estate coup of all time").

This short documentary tells you a little bit about both. But mostly, it contains phenomenal photography, followed by phenomenal insight, followed by more phenomenal photography. It's hard not to find everything Maisel says inspiring. (Warning: the video does contain a few curse words).

Jessops Brand Will Live on Online Thanks to UK Reality TV Star Peter Jones

It looks like the Jessops name will be sticking around, even if the company's 187 physical locations won't. After going into administration (read: bankruptcy) a few weeks ago, and announcing that all stores would be closing, we thought that was it for the once-great UK photography chain.

But, as it turns out, the Jessops brand has found a savior by the name of Peter Jones, a UK entrepreneur made famous by the reality television show Dragons' Den. The only catch is that Jones won't be saving the physical stores (or the 1,300+ jobs that depend on them), he only wants the Jessops brand.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Turns the Lens on Paparazzi Photographers

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt has become one of the hottest stars in Hollywood in recent years, appearing in a number of major blockbuster movies (e.g. Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, Lincoln). Back in 2006, as he was still a smaller name in the industry, Gordon-Levitt had a run-in with a couple of paparazzi photographers.

Having a video camera with him, Gordon-Levitt decided to turn the camera lens on the two men to capture a glimpse into the world of celebrity photography. The encounter can be seen in the video above, titled "Pictures of A**holes," which Gordon-Levitt uploaded to YouTube (Warning: there's some strong language).

Explore 75 Miles of Grand Canyon Trails and Roads With Google Street View

Back in October, Google took several Trekker Street View backpacks into the Grand Canyon to capture the majestic beauty of the national park for those who can't actually go there. Several months have gone by since that point, but finally, the cubicle-bound and financially unable among us can now visit the Grand Canyon from the comfort of our own desktops.

Ten Years Later: The Impact of The Tragic Columbia Space Shuttle Photo

Two days ago marked the 10th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, in which 7 astronauts lost their lives during reentry as the rest of us watched horror-struck from the ground. The following day, newspapers the world over were announcing the tragic news, all of them using the same photo taken, not by a prolific AP photographer, but a cardiologist and his 6.3MP Canon D60.

Time-Lapse Captures Amazing Footage of Ten Different Tornadoes in One Chase

Tornadoes can be simultaneously awe-inspiring and terrifying (as an Alabama resident for the past 6 years, I can attest to that), and this time-lapse captures ten of them in action, including a mile-wide EF4. Fortunately, the majority of the tornadoes caught on camera during this chase missed (sometimes barely) major towns and cities. If you wanna get right into the action, the good stuff starts around 3:45.

BTS: Shooting Portraits of Models Being Hit with Colorful Powder

Photographer Philippe Echaroux tells us that he recently completed a photo shoot for a series he calls, "The Pigment Party". Echaroux's idea was to capture studio-lit portraits of models posing serenely amidst explosions of colorful powders. After covering the studio with tarps, hanging up a black backdrop, and setting up his lighting, Echaroux had his assistants toss pigment powders of various colors onto the model's face.

The behind-the-scenes video above offers a look at how it all went down.

Haunting Long-Exposure Photography of WWII-Era Bunkers

To fill the time during slow winter months, photographer Jonathan Andrew decided to follow through on an idea that he had a few years back: he started photographing old WWII bunkers. Based out of Amsterdam, he already had several to work with close-by, but as the project has received more and more media attention, he's taken the time to travel all over Europe, adding more beautiful, haunting bunker images to his portfolio.

FireFly Lets You Safely and Easily Clean Dust Off of Your Sensor

Getting dust out of your camera body, and especially off of your sensor, can be a tricky process. It's not that there aren't plenty of options out there, it's that most of them put your sensor and other sensitive pieces of your camera at risk. Even ye olde air blower isn't entirely safe. The FireFly digital sensor cleaner, however, seems to be.

George Eastman House Enlists Scientific Aid in Preserving Fading Daguerreotypes

Eight years ago, it was discovered that some of the earliest daguerreotypes ever taken were fading away before our very eyes. Given the historical significance of these photographs, watching them deteriorate over time was unacceptable. So, in an attempt to save them, George Eastman House has enlisted the help of the University of Rochester.

New ezShare Wi-Fi SD Cards Offer On/Off Switch to Minimize Power Drain

You've got plenty of options when selecting a wireless memory card, but one thing is fairly universal across the board: they drain way more battery than their non-wireless brethren. Some cameras have menu options that will allow you to control your Wi-Fi cards, but if yours doesn't, Chinese software company LZeal has you covered.

Photographer Shoots Creepy Mug Shots by Sticking His Face in Snow

If you're looking for a bizarre photo concept to try out, and live in a cold snowy environment, look no further than Yorkshire, UK-based photographer Oliver Turpin's Snow Portraits project. Turpin shot a series of self-portraits, but instead of photographing his real face, he captured photos of imprints of his face in snow.

Using a Hand-Held Bullet-Time GoPro Rig to Shoot a Music Video

You might remember PermaGrin Films' Marc Donahue from his amazing "Dream Music: Part 2" lyric-lapse video that took 6 hours of work for every 3 seconds of footage. We even shared a behind the scenes look at how that time-lapse was put together, complete with deleted scenes and director commentary.