March 2011

Michael Zhang

Handmade Model of a NASA Hasselblad

"Space Program" is a project by artist Tom Sachs featuring 1:1 models of various space related objects, including an Apollo lunar module, a mission control unit, space suits, and handmade space suits. He also included the above NASA Hasselblad camera as part of the exhibition. Note the stylish wooden crank.

Michael Zhang

Legal Rumble Over Alleged Ansel Adams “Lost Negatives” Ends with Settlement

A huge story last year was when a painter named Rick Norsigian came across 65 glass negatives at a garage sale, purchasing them for $45. He then had them examined by experts, who told him that they were previously undiscovered Ansel Adams photographs worth at least $200 million. Just as the find was being heralded as one of the greatest in art history, Ansel Adams' relatives and Publishing Rights Trust expressed skepticism that they were in fact Adams'. It then came to light that the photos might actually belong to a man named Earl Brooks who once lived in the same city as Norsigian (Fresno, California).

Michael Zhang

Hipster Traps in NYC Use Holgas as Bait

"Hipster traps" have been springing up across New York City, and one of the baits used is a Holga 120N camera. The traps are the latest project by artists Jeff Greenspan and Hunter Fine.

Urban Traps is a project where we lay traps for certain subcultures. Our goal is protect neighborhoods from infestation and collect different species for further study. [#]

Other items used for bait are sunglasses, a yellow bicycle chain, a can of PBR and a pack of American Spirits.

Michael Zhang

How to Instantly Double Your Film Stash

Lomography shop manager Liana Garcia Joyce recently discovered an awesome trick for increasing your film stash: all you have to do is get married to someone who loves analog photography just as much as you do!

Michael Zhang

Canon 5D Mark II Used to Convert 8mm Footage to Digital

Cinematographer James Miller spent two years developing a technique for converting 8mm footage to digital by beaming it directly onto the sensor of a Canon 5D Mark II. He replaced the bulb on an old projector with LED lights, and used elements from a disassembled lens to focus the light. You can read a step-by-step walkthrough of this project here.

Michael Zhang

Man Uses a Canon 5D Mark II as a Secret Video Camera in North Korea

When's the last time you saw some amateur video shot from inside North Korea? There's a good chance the answer is never, given how secretive the country is and how tight the policies are for what outsiders are allowed to do. Photojournalist Steve Gong, however, captured some really high quality video from inside the country using a Canon 5D Mark II.

Michael Zhang

Flickr Chief Matthew Rothenberg Departs

Matthew Rothenberg, the man who has led Flickr the past two years has Head of Product, announced today that he is leaving the service. In a message posted to his Twitter account, Rothenberg states,

Here goes: after 5 years, I will be stepping away from Flickr. Will miss working with such a talented, hard-working, and hard-drinking team.

Despite reassurances from Yahoo that Flickr is doing well, many will undoubtably look at this development and wonder whether the future for the service is as bright as the company would like us to think. TechCrunch also reported today that the situation inside the service isn't too great.

Michael Zhang

Surreal Double Exposure Photographs Created Entirely In-Camera

"Double Exposure" is a series of surreal photos by Dan Mountford creating by exposing single frames of film twice. While they look like photo-manipulations done with fancy image editing programs, Mountford relies on fancy camerawork for the images, leaving only the color additions/modifications to post-processing.

Michael Zhang

How Not to Do Wedding Photography

You've probably heard people say that you shouldn't try to get a cheap photographer for wedding photography. Here's a good example of why.

Can you point out all the things this wedding photographer is doing wrong? Leave a comment and we'll get a running list going here.