Long Form

What I’ve Learned from Albert Watson’s Iconic Portrait of Steve Jobs

October 5th, 2011 was a Wednesday, and the Cache Valley Photographers were gathered at my studio for their weekly lunch time meeting to discuss Scott Kelby’s Guest Blog, and I remember the day well. The Guest Blogger was Jodi Cobb, who wrote about her project documenting modern slavery. Unfortunately, the group didn’t spend as much time discussing this as it deserved because it was also the day that Steve Jobs passed away.

I Replaced My Dual Screen Editing Setup with a 34-Inch 3440×1440 LG Monitor

As a photographer, I’ve long been an advocate of a dual screen set-up for a more efficient workflow. After all, what is better than having the ability to spread out all your applications palettes across multiple screens? For a couple of years now, I’ve had a Dell U2412M 24” (1920x1200) and Dell U2713HM 27” (2560x1440). That is no longer the case...

The Electro-Optic Camera

The Electro-Optic Camera was designed and constructed by Eastman Kodak Company under a U.S. Government contract in 1987 and 1988. Kodak's Microelectronics Technology Division (MTD) had announced the first megapixel CCD in 1986. In 1987, a government customer asked Kodak's Federal Systems Division (FSD) to build a prototype camera around the new CCD. It was a true skunk works project with a very small team. Ken Cupery was the project manager. I (Jim McGarvey) was the lead engineer. MTD engineer Bill Toohey designed the CCD analog circuitry, and technician Tom McCarthy assembled the whole system.

Review: The Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS

Can the new Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS compete with the Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8? Here are my thoughts on this unique lens.

For Jennifer, Whomever You Are

Jennifer is a composite of all the students who’ve asked me to look at their work online and offer some advice. My advice has changed over the years.

How To Convert Your Room Into a Giant Camera Obscura

We heard how dangerous it could get outdoors with all of the traffic-crossings, pollen, UV rays and so on, and so we decided to stay inside and paint our walls with a live stream of the outside world...

A Portrait Journey Through Eastern Europe

This story is not going to be a technical how to. It's not about lighting gear, cameras or lenses. It's not about technique in camera or post production. It's about the unexpected things that can happen, the people you can meet and the work you can make when you travel.

The Camera that Saw the Great War

At first glance, this little black camera looks like a tiny, worn-out shooter from a hundred years ago. But …

Dear Young Photographer

Here’s what I know. You grew up, like most, where you got trophies for participation, medals for winning bullshit things …

Journey to the Top of the Freedom Tower

In March of 2013, I found myself back at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. I had been invited there by Illah Nourbakhsh and a couple of their Directors to assist in teaching a group of educators about our EPIC Pro, as well as the benefits of what high-res imaging offered to classrooms.

A Beginning Photographer’s Guide to Photographing The Northern Lights

Dean J. Tatooles specializes in fine art panoramic landscape photography, wildlife photography, and indigenous portraiture from remote locations around the world. He also works with top-rated travel companies and fellow professional photographers to lead photographic safaris in Iceland, India, Kenya, and more. Fresh off a trip in Iceland, Tatooles and colleague Tim Vollmer answer some common questions about the eerie natural anomaly known as the Aurora Borealis. If shooting the Northern Lights is on your photographic bucket list, be sure to check out their tips below, which have been gathered from years of experience.

These Pictures Are Not For You

As photojournalists, we live the good life, getting the rare chance to make pictures for a living. While that is all fine and good, being a human first is always most important. There is no exception -- especially in the case of spot news.

When a square mile of earth swept west into Oso, Washington, leaving 36 (and rising) dead, media from local and national outlets hastily mobilized to the rural area to cover one of Washington’s most catastrophic natural disasters. In times of great sadness, tragedy and personal loss to others, a journalist’s job is to clearly, accurately and respectfully report the story to an audience, keeping dignity at the forefront. While “clearly” and “accurately” smack of journalism school requirements, “respectfully” is often passed over.

How I Lost Over a Hundred Photographs to a Corrupted Memory Card, And Got Them Back

It’s probably every photographer’s worst nightmare. You’ve shot gigabytes worth of images, ready to be imported for post-processing, when suddenly: card is unreadable. Your captures are all gone. All that time and effort lost to a corrupted card. It happened to me, and this is how I got them back.

What Would the World Look Like If the Air Were Truly Transparent?

For the purposes of this question, I'm going to assume that "truly transparent" means that air and its constituents are no longer able to absorb and re-radiate incident radiation, which in visible light seems to be our definition of transparency. To make things much more fun, let's make this true over all wavelengths.

Capturing the Perfect Proposal Moment

When a lot of the really big life moments are happening, we’re often too busy living them to find a way to document them for later. Who wants to be fumbling with a camera when you’re trying to say something important? But maybe there is an option that lets you capture the precious moments without having to worry about manning your camera at the same time...

Disruption and Innovation

This is a long article, meant to be read at your leisure.

You better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’. -Bob Dylan

Technology changes tend to be of two types: incremental improvements or disruptive innovations. Incremental improvements allow one manufacturer to take market share from another and give fanboys fuel for internet forums. Disruptive innovations may create a million new customers. Or make a million potential customers leave for some new hobby or way of doing things.

Hey Seoul Sistas: On Assignment for the Bachelor Season 18 Episode 4

The first time that I had worked with Disney ABC TV as their official stills photographer was a couple years back when they came to Japan to film for the reality show I Survived a Japanese Game Show. It was a super big production and I'm grateful I got to be a part of that. Although the working hours were somewhere between 12-14+ moving around on foot each day, I couldn’t complain because the entire crew were all fun to work with.

As with lots of the non-news related picture work that I do, it’s typical that I can’t post any pictures up due to contract reasons (or until the story runs) even though the Internet makes it so tempting with just four clicks of a button. One of the assignments that I’m allowed to finally take out of the bag (now that the show is broadcasted) and share with all of you is when Disney ABC TV put me on the plane bound for Seoul, South Korea to shoot all the stills for the filming of The Bachelor Season 18 Episode 4. Although I couldn’t fly first class, they did put me up in a nice little room towards the top at the Millennium Seoul Hilton Hotel, which I was more than fine with. Thanks again Disney and ABC.

Photographing the Jaw-Dropping ‘Crystal Caves’ of Iceland

If there is only one way for me to describe Iceland, it would be “Monumental Scale Shock”. The country really borders on the extreme. The entire country’s population of 320,137 (as of 2012) is less than one half of Boston’s and two-thirds of everyone lives in the capital, Reykjavik. It's north of NYC by almost all of Canada, but it is warmer by about ten degrees in the winter. And 85% of the country is on renewable energy (Volcanic and Water) as compared to the 13.2% for the US.

Life As a Bike Race Photographer in Asia

Life as a race photographer can be a tough and risky one. Add in a little eastern spice and it has a whole different taste. Steve Thomas takes us on a back seat ride through the pelotons of Asia.

Revolution in Kiev, Ukraine

In the last days I received multiple requests to translate my posts for foreign readers, as they have very limited information about the happenings in Ukraine. This material describes events which took place in Kiev on January 22nd and 23rd.

Sharing and distribution is appreciated.

How a 365 Project Changed My Life

Just over a year ago, photography was my most precious hobby. I really enjoyed it and took photos fairly often, but I felt that if I wanted to take this thing to the next level, I had to do something extraordinary. A couple of days before New Year's Eve I decided to start a "365 days 365 photos" project like so many other photographers before me. It felt like a great idea, and so I just went for it. What could possibly happen?

My Photo Archiving Find Of A Lifetime

A big thank you to Mosaic for sending us this article! We hope you enjoy this amazing story!

One day in the spring of 1975, my phone rang, and that call led me on an incredible journey. The call was from my brother, who was starting his career as an art researcher and historian. He specializes on forgotten or overlooked American artists.

“Do you remember me telling you about the research I am doing on Alfred Waud, the Civil War artist”, he says, “well, I have tracked down his present day descendants living in Vermont. I visited them the other day and you won’t believe what I found. I need your expertise. We need to go back to Vermont right away. I’m not going say more. You’ll see for yourself.”

Of Cameras: ‘Traditional Photography’ is Most Certainly Not Dead

Hello photographer, the report of my death was an exaggeration.

Yours,
Camera

The latest ad from Apple about the usefulness of their iPads got me thinking, for whatever reason, about cameras, photography, and articles that pop up from time to time to declare ambitious statements about photography.

Fashion Photography With the Sony RX1, A Little Beast of a Camera

A Little Background...

I am a 23-year-old photographer who moved to Chicago from Nigeria 6 years ago. I started photography about 3 years ago. After playing around with a DSLR in Target, I was hooked. I shoot mostly fashion photography, and female models. I have shot full frame since late 2011 with the 5D Mk2, then the D800 since November 2012.

Photo Projects That Made For A Better 2013

It’s that time of the year when we all take a moment to reflect back on the major events that will forever be remembered, the trends that changed our zeitgeist, and the pop culture phenomena that will soon be forgotten.

For the photo industry, this was the year that the word “selfie” was coined Webster’s Dictionary’s word of the year. In such a context and with so much of the conversation focused on the mobile photo taking frenzy, it almost started to get a little too easy to overlook the stories out there that, if not for the photograph, would not have been told nor raised in our collective social consciousness.

To Hell with Blown Highlights

Here is a good example why it is so important to work the scene to get the best results from …

Pushkar Mela: A Fair for Camels or Photographers?

Take a deep breath. Picture it in your mind. The world’s largest gathering of camels. Taking place at a tiny Rajasthani town filled with temples, narrow streets and a picturesque lake. Men in brightly coloured turbans as far as the eye can see. Enough dust and sand to make your nostril hairs work overtime. And hundreds of photographers in every nook and cranny, taking thousands of photographs of this annual event.

My experience at the Pushkar Mela earlier this month was definitely unexpected. In all honesty, I guess I should have known better. I went there with the expectation to capture a town lost in time, an event that would bring back memories of the old days gone by and boy, how wrong I was. The Mela turned out to be a hunting ground for photographers from all over the world.

The Nine Hundred Dollar iPhone Photo

I’m not going to say that we flew down to Florida to get a picture, because we didn’t. We flew down to Florida to see my grandfather, who is 94-years-old and my son’s only living great-grandparent. All my own great-grandparents passed away long before I was born, as did my husband’s great-grandparents.

So I’m not saying that we flew down to Florida to take a picture, but I’m admitting we wanted one. A photograph of four generations, all alive at the same time. Proof that it had happened. Me, my son, my father, and his father.