Instagram has been used in many different ways. We’ve seen the app inspire an awesome DIY photo booth and even become the tool of choice for certain photography projects. However, we never expected to see the day when you could use your Instagram photos to customize your footwear. And yet, that’s exactly what you can do with Nike’s PHOTOiD web app. Read more…

Two years ago, photographer Chris A. Hughes purchased a 1914 French Richard Verascope camera (shown above) from an elderly man who was clearing out his camera collection in preparation for retirement. When he got into his car after the purchase, Hughes was surprised to find two packages of slides in the camera’s leather case.

Upon closer examination, he discovered that the photographs on the slides were captured by a French soldier during World War I.
Read more…

Want to explore famous New York City locations without leaving the comfort of your chair? Check out photographer Nuno Madeira‘s New York City 360 project. It’s like browsing Google Street View panorama photographs on steroids.
Read more…

If you’re a frugal photographer who’s constantly searching for ways to save some dough when buying gear, you might want to look into the new Los Angeles-based startup company Greentoe. It’s a shopping site that’s trying to turn the e-commerce world on its head by taking pricing power from merchants and putting it into the hands of consumers.

Basically, it’s a site that lets you buy camera gear at prices you want to pay.
Read more…

With more entry-level DSLRs on the market now than ever, the camera manufacturers seem to understand that it’s time to woo the beginners. Canon is doing it with a new DSLR simulator website, and now Sony has launched a helpful microsite of its own, focusing on video tutorials that’ll get Sony α beginners off to a good start in the world of photography. Read more…

Kate Seabrook is an entirely self-taught Australian photographer who fell in love with the art of picture taking after laying her hands on her first DSLR in 2009. For the next couple of years, she made a name for herself photographing Melbourne’s underground music community, but when she moved to Berlin in late 2011, something entirely different caught her eye — the U-Bahn system. Read more…

Earlier today, online photo community and Flickr competitor 500px announced that it would be releasing an overhauled portfolio system very soon. Rebuilt from the ground up, the new system offers a slew of features that 500px “Awesome” users will be able to take advantage of in order to build online portfolios they’re proud of. Read more…

Here’s something you might want to read and bookmark for future reference. Photographer Robert Thomas has written up an in-depth article explaining what the different Photoshop blending modes are and how they actually work:

Working with blend modes is almost always an experimental process. Because it’s nearly impossible to predict the results, you always seem to end up experimenting with different modes and Fill Opacities until you get the results you’re looking for.

In this article I’m going to give you a high-level view of what the various blend modes do, and then I’ll dig deeper into the nuts and bolts of the blend modes by explaining some of the math involved, and their interrelationships with each other. I’m not going to “show” you how the blend modes work—I’m going to “explain” how they work. By the time you finish reading this article, you should have a better idea of how to use blend modes and where to begin your “experimentation,” which in turn should reduce the time it takes to achieve the results you’re looking for.

Photoshop Blend Modes Explained [PhotoBlogStop via swissmiss]

Project Gutenberg is a digital library volunteer effort that takes old public domain and converts them into freely available eBooks for the benefit of the general public. Founded back in 1971, the library now has over 42,000 items in its collection.

Among the books in its collection are a number of old books on the subject of photography. One such book is the 1881 title, The Art and Practice of Silver Printing by Capt. Abney and H. P. Robinson (shown above).
Read more…

If you’re just starting out in photography, there are a lot of resources out there to help you understand the basics before you just jump in. And while books and videos are certainly helpful, one of the more fun ways to learn your way around a camera is by using an online DSLR simulator. We’ve shared one with you before, and now Canon Canada has released a simulator website of its own dubbed Outside of Auto. Read more…