July 20, 2011

The North Korean government is the latest to get caught trying to feed a poorly Photoshopped photo to the media. This past weekend the Korean Central News Agency -- a state-run organization -- released a photo of citizens trying to wade through floodwaters in Pyongyang, saying that heavy rains flooded farmlands, destroyed homes, and caused deaths. After initially passing the image onto its members, the AP decided to issue a "kill notice" (yup, that's what it's called) a day later to withdraw …

The WVIL concept camera that made the rounds on the Internet featured a lens that could operate separately from the camera body, but Or Leviteh's MMI camera is even simpler: it's a small screen-less camera that uses a smartphone as its "camera body".

Check out this mummified camera used by Reuters photographer Jo Yong-Hak. Yong-Hak was assigned to cover the popular Boryeong Mud Festival this year in South Korea, and decided to protect his gear with some good ol' fashioned plastic wrap.

For the first time ever, an Adobe program is available through the Mac App Store. Yesterday, Adobe began selling Photoshop Elements 9 there for $80, a generous 20% off the regular $100 price for the boxed version. It's a pretty big deal, because Adobe -- along with Microsoft -- is a company that would love to keep its software out of Apple's App Store. It generates significant profits by selling its popular programs in the traditional boxed format, while businesses that sell through the Mac App …

Lv Sisi created this music video, titled "Digital Analogue", using only sounds recorded from a collection of antique cameras and 6,000 individual photographs carefully shot and edited together into an artistic stop-motion video.

Here's an awesome tutorial that teaches you how to create beautiful light painting sparkler photos. The materials are pretty cheap: all you need is some steel wool, an egg whisk, and a rope or cable. Simply place the steel wool inside the whisk, light it on fire using a lighter (or 9V battery), and swing it around at the end of the cable while your camera snaps a long-exposure photo. Just be careful not to start a fire!

Here's a couple images of Sony's upcoming A77 translucent mirror camera (with a battery grip attached), which is expected to be announced in late August. It's rumored to have a 24-megapixel sensor, HD-video recording, and a $1,000 price tag. It's unknown whether or not it packs the crazy double translucent lens hybrid viewfinder that was talked about late last year.

On June 21, 2011, non-profit organization Shoot Experience sent out six photographers to various parts of London to see the current state of photographers' rights.