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Photographing the Default Wallpaper for Windows 10

'Bliss,' the default wallpaper that shipped with Windows XP, was photographed in Sonoma County, California, and may be the most viewed photo of all time. For its upcoming Windows 10 operating system, Microsoft enlisted the help of creative director Bradley G. Munkowitz for a fresh new default desktop photo that the company hopes will one day be just as iconic.

How Kowa Makes Its Micro Four Thirds Lenses

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how Japanese lens maker Kowa creates its Prominar line of lenses for Micro Four Thirds cameras. The 3-minute "how it's made" video above steps through each of the stages of manufacturing, from designing the lenses on a computer to putting the components together into a final product and testing its optical qualities.

How I Did a Zombie Attack Pre-Wedding Photo Shoot

The 2014 wedding season was very unique for me. It wasn't just that I participated on it from “the other side” -- I myself became a happy husband -- I was also a part of one particularly unconventional wedding photo shoot.

BTS: Photographing Jimadors in the Agave Fields of Tequila, Mexico

NYC photographer Joey L was recently tasked by Jose Cuervo, the best selling tequila brand in the world, to shoot advertising photos in its agave fields in Tequila, Mexico. The behind-the-scenes video above, part of Joey's Dudes with Cameras series, offers a look into how the shoot unfolded and the different challenges Joey and his team faced (warning: there's some strong language).

Shooting a Portrait of a Man with a Cloud of Falling Lemons

Israeli photographer Ronen Goldman was recently commissioned by UK-based premium luggage manufacturer Redland London to shoot a series of advertising photos promoting an upcoming line of luggage. The company wanted to show the durability of the product and how it helps you "be prepared for anything," so Goldman created a photo of a man protecting himself from a cloud of falling lemons. The video above is a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how the image was created.

Immortalizing Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield with a Wet Plate Portrait

I get a call on Saturday, February 28th, 2015, telling me “The Champ can give you an hour if you can pick him up at the hotel in 10 minutes”. “I'll be there in 8," I say to the person on the phone.

This "Champ" they are referring to is none other than Evander Holyfield, 4-time heavyweight champion of the world, and I am being offered an opportunity of a lifetime.

Shooting Portraits of Superheroes on the Corner of a 1,000-Foot Skyscraper

Photographer Benjamin Von Wong wanted to capture the fearlessness of superheroes without the use of a green screen or cheap special effects, so he recruited some ordinary people, dressed them up as well-known comic characters, and placed them on the edge of certain death.

The portraits he captured shows the models standing on the corner of a tall skyscraper in San Francisco.

A Benedict Cumberbatch Photo Shoot for Vanity Fair

Here's a behind-the-scenes video showing how photographer Jason Bell recently photographed actor Benedict Cumberbatch for a special issue of Vanity Fair.

After observing that "this British invasion of Hollywood has gotten so out of hand," Bell (who was born in London) came up with the idea of doing an all-British edition of Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood portfolio, which will arrive on March 2015. Cumberbatch is one of the stars featured in the series.

How USA Today Photographers Shoot a Hollywood Awards Show

USA Today created this short behind-the-scenes video that offers a glimpse into how its staff photographers go about covering the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards ceremony, one of Hollywood's major award events that's attended by some of television and cinema's biggest celebrities.

Shooting the Movie Poster for Step Up All In

When Summit Entertainment tapped me to shoot the Movie Poster for Step Up All In I was super excited. Combining professional dancers who can pull off moves I didn’t think humanly possible, a water tank, and good creative direction from the agency had this shoot set up to be the perfect storm of photo awesomeness. Add a lot of gear, fast sync speeds and this photo tech head was in heaven.

Space Awaits! Shooting a Photo of Young Astronauts in Their Backyard Space Program

“Space Awaits!” is a personal project I did. I came up with the idea of a photo shoot featuring young astronauts. My inspiration was retro futurism as a fashion style and the era of human excitement about space travel.

The story is about two kids sneaking out of their house before everyone is awake, probably to try out the lunar lander parked in their backyard.

Watch as Fashion Photographer Mario Testino Shoots Special Editions of Vogue

For its 100th issue back in 2013, Vogue China invited renowned fashion photographer Mario Testino to help create a special issue by contributing every one of the photos inside. Testino delivered, and 153 pages of photographs went out to 1.2 million subscribers of the magazine.

Testino recently released a set of videos that offer an in depth look at how he went about tackling this ambitious project and a couple of similar ones he did for other Vogue magazines (Note: there's some nudity in the videos).

This Time-Lapse Reveals the Insane Amount of Work That Goes Into Stop Motion Animation

Want to know how much work goes into an old fashioned stop motion animation movie? The short clip above will show you. It's a short extra scene that appeared during the end credits of the 2014 film "The Boxtrolls."

The shot starts out looking like a normal scene from the film. However, the camera starts zooming out, turning the clip into a creative behind-the-scenes time-lapse that shows how it was made.

Creating a Star Wars Themed Christmas Card Photo of Santa in Carbonite

Here's my 2014 Christmas card: Santa in Carbonite! At the end of every year my studio collects all of the cool card ideas that we thought of during the season. I then create a calendar event for the next November, listing out the ideas we thought of. Last year we came up with a Star Wars Christmas card idea with the boys guarding Santa Claus, frozen in carbonite. Call them Imperial Elves.

From Above: Astronaut Don Pettit on the Experience of Photographing Earth from Space

Check out this gorgeous short film in which NASA astronaut Don Pettit shares what it was like to photograph Earth from orbit in the International Space Station. During his time aboard the station, Pettit became one of the most prolific astronaut photographers in the history of space exploration -- one time he clogged up data transfers for three days with photos from a 30-minute shoot.

Requiem of Ice: A Thought-Provoking, Visually Compelling Ode to a Disappearing Ice Cave

In a decade's time, the Sandy Glacier Caves -- thought to be the largest glacier cave system in the continental United States -- might disappear entirely. It was this startling discovery that led filmmaker Ben Canales and his team at Uncage the Soul onto the steep slopes of Mount Hood to film a visually breathtaking short film called Requiem of Ice.

A Day in the Life of National Geographic Photographer and Extreme Athlete Jimmy Chin

Jimmy Chin -- regular National Geographic contributor, world-class climber, outdoor junkie, and overall genuinely awesome guy -- has the capacity to inspire wanderlust in the most couch-friendly of us. And in the video above, Mashable followed the multi-talented bada** around for a day to show you what a day in the life of Jimmy Chin is really like.

Product Photography with the Light Blaster, a $3,450 Cheaper Alternative to Broncolor’s Optical Spot

We introduced you to the Light Blaster when it first came out in July of last year. A neat light modifier, it allowed you to use a lens and flash to project all sorts of patterns, slides and other non-digital backgrounds (or foregrounds) into your images.

The creative possibilities are pretty vast, but if you want to see what happens when a professional studio photographer gets his hands on it and starts experimenting, Alex Koloskov of Photigy is more than happy to oblige.