December 2013

Nikon Rumor Roundup, or: What to Expect in the Next Few Months

The folks over at Nikon Rumors have been hard at work keeping everybody up on what you can expect from Nikon, but if you're like us, you just don't have the time to follow rumors day in and day out. So here's a roundup of what the most exciting and plausible rumors that should give Nikon lovers some idea of what to expect in the next couple of months.

David Guttenfelder on What It’s Like to be a Photojournalist Inside North Korea

In 2011, former AP president Tom Curly had the ambitious idea that the AP should establish a bureau in North Korea, and the photographer the agency ended up sending to the country is a man you should, by now, be very familiar with: David Guttenfelder.

Guttenfelder's images, both in newspapers and on Instagram, have given the whole world a peek behind North Korea's own Iron Curtain, and in the video above he explains the power of photography as if pertains to this secretive and isolated world.

Video Demonstrates the Stabilization Magic of a Brushless Gimbal Rig

If you've never seen a 3-axis brushless motor gimbal in action, this video might seem out of this world... or fake. But it's not fake, just the magic of advanced camera stabilization technology that'll cost you several thousand dollars to wield for yourself (unless, of course, you have the engineering know-how to build one yourself).

Darkroom Gear Recycled Into Chic Table Lamp

You, of course, are an analog purist who will forever be devoted to film. Other folks, however, may be wondering what they're going to do with a bunch of darkroom equipment that's getting lonelier by the year.

Photos Capture the Ecstatic Expressions of Dogs with Their Heads Out Car Windows

Our quest to improve dogs' standing in the world of photography continues today thanks to an awesome photo series by LA-based photographer Lara Jo Regan that's bound to put a smile on your face. The series is called "Dogs in Cars," and if you like what you see you'll be happy to know that it's being made available as a 2014 calendar.

Iran Temporarily Shut Down Instagram this Weekend, Then Denied it Ever Happened

#اینستاگرم فیلتر شد - #ایران #فیلترینگ #iran @ListenToUs @HassanRouhani pic.twitter.com/NnIDry4jsf— Soheil Gonzalez (@soheilr7) December 28, 2013

In most countries around the world, it's taken for granted that if you'd like to share a photo of your lunch or cat (even if, just maybe, you shouldn't) Instagram is ready and able to help you accomplish your goal. Of course, that's not true everywhere, as the people of Iran found out yesterday.

Astronauts Beam Down an Epic Christmas Eve Spacewalk Portrait

Well, if you're gonna put a portrait of your mug on Instagram for the whole world to see, this is the way to do it. Taken from outside the ISS during one of the two spacewalks required to replace a faulty water pump, this selfie-like portrait (it is NOT a selfie, contrary to just about every headline you'll read) was uploaded to NASA's Instagram account yesterday.

Stunning Photos of the European Alps that Inspire Awe and Envy

If you live in a place that's not likely to see snow this winter, or you're bitter that the white Christmas you've been dreaming of decided to remain a dream, these stunning photos of the European Alps by Swedish photographer Jacob Sjöman will either ease the pain, or make you incredibly jealous. Either way, they're worth a look.

100-Year-Old Box of Negatives Discovered by Conservators in Antarctica

Almost one hundred years after a group of explorers set out across the frozen landscape of Antarctica to set up supply depots for famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, a box of 22 never-before-seen exposed but unprocessed negatives taken by the group's photographer has been unearthed in one of those shacks, preserved in a block of ice.

Reuters Under Severe Scrutiny in Wake of Teenaged Photog’s Death

A few days ago, we shared the tragic news Reuters freelancer Molhem Barakat, who some were claiming was as young as 17-years-old, had been killed while photographing a battle in Syria. Since then, Reuters ethics and business practices have been called into question by an outraged journalistic community that has even gone so far as to start a Change.org petition demanding that the news organization take responsibility for the young boy's murder.

BTS: How the Sony Skydive Lens Change Ad Was Filmed… and No It Wasn’t Fake

There's no doubt the ubiquity of fake and mis-reported content on the Internet has turned many of us into big-time skeptics. Whenever we see something that seems incredible or outlandish, our knee-jerk reaction is to call it fake and begin searching for evidence of that fact, using our confirmation bias as a guide.

One video that elicited such a response from many of the people that saw it was this recent Sony ad that showed an a7R lens change happening in mid-air during a skydive.

Google Maps Out the Most Photographed Places in the World

Two weeks ago, Instagram released its annual top 10 lists of the cities and locations that were photographed most often using the photo sharing service. But this year, Google has seen fit to one-up them by releasing a heat map that gives us a more visual representation of the most photographed places in the world.

Video Tries to Explain Film Photography to Modern Kids

It's difficult to fathom, but there is massive segment of the population who remember nothing of film photography. The idea of not having your images instantly available for review and deletion, or having to go to a shop to have a roll of film developed, is as foreign as the floppy disk and the VHS.

BuzzFeed is trying to remedy this somewhat in the video above, which they have dubbed "Film Photography Explained to Modern Kids."

Love Sick: An Incredibly Creative Medical-Themed Pre-Wedding Shoot

"Don't be afraid to be different." That is the moral of this video. Usually you save the moral for the end, but it is stated, restated and demonstrated so well with this shoot that it's worth starting the post with. Don't be afraid to let your creativity break the barriers of the proverbial box and try something different, because you might just stumble onto an idea as unique and creative as "Love Sick" by Simeon Quarrie of Vivida.

Out with the Old: Three Ways You Can Put Your Old and Extra Gear to Good Use

The holidays are a great time for gift giving, which also normally means they're a time for cleaning out closets and camera bags. Every year, I find myself needing to get rid of old stuff that has been replaced; or dealing with the thoughtful but odd and/or useless gifts given to me by well-meaning family and friends.

But what to do with that redundant lens or knitted camera cozy? The simplest answer is to return or re-sell it, but sometimes there's no gift receipt to be found or the gizmo in question is too beaten up to be sold for any real value. Fortunately, there's plenty of ways to find a use for your used gear.

Touching 61st Anniversary Photos Inspired by the Pixar Movie ‘Up!’

Sixty-one years ago, when Dorothy and Donald Lutz got married, there was one conspicuous absence as they recited their vows: the wedding photographer... he never showed up. And while they can't go back in time and right that wrong, granddaughter-in-law and event planner Lauren Wells recently made sure that they would have a photo album worth envying.

Photographer Called Out by PhotoStealers Threatens Defamation Lawsuit

Many of you are familiar with the website PhotoStealers, which acts as "a wall of shame... dedicated to photographers that feel that it's okay to steal others work and post it as their own." Photo theft is expertly weeded out and exposed by the site's creator, who has taken on some big names including Jasmine Star and Doug Gordon.

The most recent PhotoStealers post, however, might reach even more epic proportions than the Star/Gordon shame-fest. It involves one Christopher Jones of CJ Photography and, before long, might involve a defamation lawsuit as well.

The Camera Store Shares Its Picks for Best and Worst Cameras and Lenses of 2013

Everybody is coming out with their editor's choices and best of's and holiday gift guides, but The Camera Store added another facet to their "best of 2013"... the "worst of 2013." From lenses, to still cameras to video cameras, take a gander at what was really good and, inevitably more entertaining, what was really bad.

Pro Soccer Player Ponies Up $20,000 After Stomping Camera

Just incase @29_JL @hullcityteam your not sure the ball is the yellow thing.... not the £6k camera (photo al walter) pic.twitter.com/op6zGrUBVX— Richard Heathcote (@rheathcote) December 21, 2013

Professional sports photographers know their equipment is always at risk, but British Getty Images shooter Richard Heathcote was still surprised and more than a bit miffed when his DSLR bit the dust at Saturday's Hull-vs.-West Bromwich Premiere League soccer match.

Finding the Silver Lining: Why It’s Actually a Great Time to Be a Photographer

Over the years I've tried to get better about reflecting on my work and life at the end of each year. Sure lots of people will claim to do this, but that usually just boils down to reviewing their Facebook page for a quick ego boost.

I'm talking about going in-depth. Go pull up those photos you loved at the beginning of the year and try looking at them again with a newly critical eye, do it when you're free of the fresh-born-photo sentimentality all photographer's (and really artists in general) suffer from. Try to figure out what went wrong in your failed work and what went right (purposefully or accidental) in the work that turned out good. Regardless of the conclusions you arrive at I can guarantee you'll be a better photographer as a result.

Parents Recreate Famous Film Scenes with Cardboard Boxes and Their Baby Boy

I don't have kids just yet, so I can't say from experience, but it seems one of the benefits of having a child is the ability to feature the adorable little guy or gal in creative photography projects. Examples abound: from Queenie Liao's wondrous naptime photos, to Nagano Toyokazu's series My Daughter Kanna.

Now, another great project has popped up on our radar. This one is called Cardboard Box Office, and it's the result of a parenting duo's creativity, an excess of packing materials and the addition of a baby boy to the family.

What Amazon’s Most Wished For Cameras Tell Us About the Industry

There are all sorts of statistics we can look up to tell us how the photography industry is doing and whether or not smartphones really are going to steamroll the market (spoiler alert: it's not as bad as some make it out to be). One source of information that probably doesn't cross your mind, however, is Amazon's Most Wished For lists.

Where statistics on cameras shipped give us an idea of what the companies want, Amazon's list gives us a glimpse of what the customers want, which might just be a good indicator of how the big players in the industry are really doing.