August 2014

Have you ever wondered what you life would be like if you ended up with one of your exes? Or just a random person on the street, somebody whose trajectory in life would have changed your own drastically?

Czech photographer Dita Pepe has, but she took it an step further than most of us when she turned these spousal what-ifs into a series of portraits that take an interesting look at "what might have been" had her family life taken a different direction.

Instagram is a wonderful social network with simplicity built right into its infrastructure. But while simplicity may work for the masses, there are power users out there who would like to make the most of the photo-sharing network using third party options -- options that just got a bit more tempting thanks to the introduction of Picdeck.

Picdeck, a new web app for Instagram users, hopes to bring an interface similar to popular Twitter app TweetDeck to Instagram, letting users make the most of their square-cropped image streams.

So, you think taking your film to the local shop to get developed is a pain? Try being an American spy satellite in the 1960s. Getting your film developed then meant dropping it in a special 'film bucket' capsule from space, which the US Air Force then had to catch in mid-air.

Bellamy Hunt of Japan Camera Hunter recently stumbled across a very rare Leica IIIc Red Curtain Rangefinder -- rare because it comes complete with Nazi engravings on it. And though these Nazi symbols were not placed on the camera by Leica themselves -- the company actually helped Jews flee Nazi Germany during the Holocaust -- it's still a fascinating camera find.

Typically, colorizers focus on famous images. Photos like the V-J Day kiss photo from Times Square, or historic portraits. Honk Kong resident and Photoshopper Victor Liu's focus is more specific. His new project is all about Hong Kong, and he's hoping that his colorized images will encourage others to rediscover the city's past.

It seems Canon has a lot more up its sleeve for Photokina than just the rumored 7D replacement. In fact, if recent rumors prove true, you've got three new lenses to look forward to.

In April of 2007, to commemorate their first anniversary, the Leica Store Ginza in Tokyo, Japan released the beautiful camera above: a Leica MP Titanium limited edition that was only created in a single run of only 150.

Since then, the only place to get one of these has been at the Ginza store in Tokyo. But now, buyers outside of Japan have the rare opportunity to grab one of these gorgeous shooters through the Leica Store Miami... assuming, of course, that you've got $40,000 to drop on a film camera.

When photographer Mark Dawson and his girlfriend photographer Kari Wehrs were challenged to the popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, they decided to go old-school. In addition to donating -- that is, after all, the real point of all this -- they set up an old tintype camera and captured the entire thing 1850s style.

Casey Neistat doesn't believe he is the best looking, tallest, most talented, most capable, best funded filmmaker. In fact, he's pretty convinced he's not, and there's nothing he can do about those things. What he can do is be the hardest working person in the room, and the way he sees it, "the hardest working person will always win."

These little nuggets of wisdom and a whole lot more are all shared in the inspirational video above, which Neistat created a couple of months ago for National Geographic and their $50,000 dream expedition giveaway called Expedition Granted.

Yellowstone is no longer taking a slap-on-the-wrist, "we'll let you off with a warning" approach to people who violate the park's ban on camera drones. Egged on by several incidents since the ban went into effect, the park is starting to file criminal charges against violators that could mean $5,000 fines and/or 6 months in jail.

Dave MacLean from the Center of Geographic Sciences has put together a pretty awesome resource for space photography lovers. He's created an interactive map that lets you browse through over 650 photographs taken by ISS astronauts on Expeditions 40 and 41.

Jaco Marx is a dental surgeon by profession and a photographer and conservationist by passion. Currently living in central South Africa, Marx spends much of the limited free time he has photographing the African wilderness, both to simply enjoy his passion, as well as to document the wildlife and Earth around him. And the results are nothing short of gorgeous.

Ever wonder what a small mammal sees in its last moments of life before a bald eagle (we'll call it: 'Murica) swoops down out of nowhere and snatches it away? We're sure that question haunts your every waking moment, but it doesn't have to anymore, because 'Murica finally joined the many other animals who've taken a liking to GoPros they find lying around.

Second to actual food, there's nothing more appetizing than feasting your eyes on some beautiful food photography. Perfectly-crafted meals with just the right amount of sauce and the perfect garnish all contribute to the mouth-watering photography we come across.

This series from Australian photographer T.Q. Lee, however, is going to require a second look. Because if you look closely, you'll quickly realize that these are not the kinds of meals you want to sink your teeth into.

14 million historic images collected from over half a millennium's worth of books are currently making their way, million-by-million, onto the Flickr Commons courtesy of a man named Kalev Leetaru and an organization called The Internet Archive.

500px has been working on something special for its users. After months of hammering away at keyboards and staring at screens, the 500px team has officially launched its new Groups and Discussions section, both of which are currently in beta.

What’s the best way to ensure that your latest selfies are on par with the rest of society? Why, you practice them in the backseat of the car while your father takes you across town, of course!

Unfortunately, this poor teen (who was doing just that) didn’t realize her father was recording her hilarious facial expression practice as she enthusiastically captured a range of creative selfies on her phone.

Earlier this week we shared the reliable rumor that Zeiss was about to lift the veil on a new ‘Loxia’ lens lineup designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras -- at this point limited to the Sony a7, a7r and a7s.

Well, it seems that rumor was true, at least according to these leaked pictures of the 50mm f/2.0 and 35mm f/2.0 Loxia lenses said to be announced next week.

Forget surgery, serendipity is the way to get a great engagement ring photo. Case in point: check out this awesome viral engagement ring shot by Reddit user kitten-little.

Really want to get the most out of your new GoPro? You're in luck, because GoPro recently turned to their own in-house production team and asked them to create a series of tutorials called the GoPro Field Guide.

This collection of videos -- made by the same guys who follow some of the top extreme athletes in the world around and film their insane antics -- will help you get the hang of that little action cam and really take advantage of everything it can do.

There are a lot of great, fun, and interesting things people can do with an iPhone and that FLIR 'predator vision' infrared camera case we told you about at the beginning of this year. But, as it turns out, there is also a very bad thing people can do.

Using just an iPhone and the Thermal camera case, people can actually steal your PIN codes, be that for an ATM or that keypad on your car or garage door.

Despite living in one of the most photographed locations on earth, Michael Wolf has never been short of creative, unique ideas. Be it photographing street view scenes or, in this case, showing off his incredible composition skill with photographs of Parisian rooftops that look like two-dimensional, abstract paintings.

Here's an interesting cautionary tip and something that we'd honestly never given a second thought to: it turns out that certain chemicals in sunscreen can damage cameras with polycarbonate resin bodies, so you'd better wash your hands the next time you put on sunscreen at the beach and decide to go out shooting afterwards.

Since the early 20th century, people have been studying and theorizing how some rather heavy rocks in Death Valley called 'Sailing Stones' somehow glide across the dry, desert floor of what is often the hottest location in the United States.

And while a number of feasible theories had come to light, it's only recently that one of these theories was proven thanks to a dedicated time-lapse camera setup.

Want to see that ultra-rare Canon 1200mm f/5.6 L USM lens we told you about a couple of weeks ago in action? Well, you're in luck, because the folks over at MPB Photographic have delivered on their promise to create some content with it by putting this monster through its paces in London.

Back in June, I decided to try my hand at modeling.

This photo isn't actually a photo. From the furniture to the beautiful light falling on the countertops and wood floors, what you're looking at is a CGI rendering that has replaced 75% of the 'photos' in the IKEA catalogs the college kids, divorced men and NYC residents in your life have lying around.

New Zealand-based photographer Amos Chapple is a name you might recognize from his intimate look inside Iran that we shared just over a year ago. Today, he’s back on PetaPixel with a series of stunning images from Meghalaya, India -- a village known as ‘the wettest place on Earth.’

Instagram only just released Hyperlapse earlier this week, and already it’s amassed a cult-like following thanks to its dead-simple interface and amazing results.

But, as simple as the interface may be and as impressive as the results are, what happens between when the app is opened and the final hyperlapse actually involves a lot of incredibly technology at work.

Apple wishes they could say more about their event on September 9th, invites for which just went out. Sadly, they cannot, but all rumors point to an iPhone 6 announcement on that day with the possibility of an iWatch as well, so you'd better mark your calendars.

There's something to be said for thinking outside the box and turning an idea on its head, and that's exactly what photographer Trevor Christensen is doing with his hilarious and surprisingly thought-provoking series, Nude Portraits.

That's because there aren't actually any nude people in his portraits... the only person who's naked during the photo shoot is Christensen himself, who is busy capturing his subjects' reaction to his birthday suit.

Metabones already has an impressive lineup of Speed Boosters -- the lens adapters that can bypass crop factors, increase maximum aperture and more -- but they made headlines yesterday when they added a much sought-after adapter to the lineup: the Canon EF to Micro Four-Thirds model.

The goal of almost any portrait is to ensure that the subject being photographed looks their absolute best. That is NOT the case with the newest video and portraits series by Patrick Hall.

Hall instead chose to shock his (willing) subjects with 300,000 volts of electricity and capture the literally and hilariously shocking results in stills and slow motion video.

It turns out the average Instagram image looks a bit like a dirty piece of cloth, and we arrived at this Earth-shaking conclusion courtesy of a surprisingly addictive web app called Metagramme.

If you're sick of retro, love cameras, and used to dream of installing 'underglow' on your souped up Honda Civic, then Pentax has a DSLR you will absolutely adore.

Jokes aside, the new Pentax K-S1 from Ricoh combines portability and powerful imaging capabilities with a status quo-shattering flashy design and simple UI that will undoubtedly appeal to a lot of first-time DSLR buyers.

There's only so much you can do with a smartphone, and as more and more people begin exploring photography through the little device in their pockets, they inevitably bump up against those boundaries.

These are the people Olympus built the new PEN E-PL7 for, with its social sharing capabilities and selfie-friendly features, hoping to lure a few of the smartphone faithful over to the world of interchangeable lenses and sensor size wars.

Editor's Note: Part two of Rfotofolio's interview with San Francisco photographer Fred Lyon

Cue privacy overreaction in three... two... one...

Remember DigitalGlobe's WorldView-3, the first high-res public imaging satellite we told you about earlier this month? Well, it's up in orbit, and the company wants to show off just how capable the WorldView-3 really is.

Photographer and mother Holly Spring's photography has always been about her daughter. Born with only one hand and suffering from something known as Hirschprung's disease, little Violet almost died from surgical complications before Holly ever got a chance to take a single picture of her.

Shortly after that, her husband bought her a DSLR, and she has been taking pictures of Violet ever since.

It's unlikely that pointing fingers and placing blame will do anything to help freelance journalist Steven Sotloff, who was kidnapped in 2013 and is currently being held by ISIS, the same militant group who executed photojournalist James Foley on video.

But blame is being placed, and there's a lesson to be learned from the supposed actions of one Canadian photographer initially identified only as "Alex."