January 2013

Photographer Recreates His Dreams as Surreal Photographs

Some people use dream journals to record and remember their imaginary nighttime escapades. Israel-based photographer Ronen Goldman uses photographs. Whenever he has a strange dream that he'd like to document, he goes out and recreates that dream as a surreal photograph. The project is titled "Surrealistic Pillow".

Lexar Jumps onto the XQD Bandwagon With a Pair of Cards and a Reader

Back in July, Lexar vice president of products and technology Wes Brewer confirmed that the company was going to jump into the XQD game in Q3. This was good news for the technology, since only one camera was taking them and one company was making them at the time.

Well, the Nikon D4 is still the only DSLR capable of using the cards at the moment, but now Lexar (a couple of quarters late, but here nonetheless) has officially made the leap with its new 1100x pro series cards.

Photographer Discovers WWI Negatives in Antique Store Camera

We've shared some awesome photographic finds before -- from the surprising to the downright amazing. On the surprising end you have things like the memory card with wedding photos still intact found a year and a half after an earthquake. On the amazing side you have the Kansas teen who bought a Polaroid camera at a garage sale and found a photo of his long-passed uncle inside.

This story falls somewhere in between. On the glass plates inside of a Jumelle Belllieni stereoscopic camera that photographer Anton Orlov bought at an antique store, he found some old negatives. And we mean old... like WWI France old.

Short-Lived App Firegram Used Instagram Loophole to Deliver More Likes

For a fleeting, wonderful moment, it seemed that all of our Instagram popularity dreams were coming true. Released two days ago, the app Firegram used some automatic magic to get your photos way more attention than they would ever have gotten on their own. When Roi Carthy of TechCrunch tried it out on one of his photos he got a whopping 56 likes (%1500 increase) in no time.

Alas, if it seems too good to be true, that's because it wasn't meant to last. As of now the app has been "discovered" by Instagram and denied access to its API -- no likes for you.

Polaroid Unleashes the Android-Powered iM1836

After a substantial leak in mid-December, we expected that Polaroid would unveil its android-powered J2 (or is it J3 now?) look-alike at CES. And here it is, officially announced in all its pre-production glory alongside a few other, less-impressive products.

Photos of Beams of Sunlight Bouncing Around a Room

For his project "Trace Heavens," James Nizam found an abandoned property in Delta, Canada, and, with the government's permission, sliced gaps and holes into a couple of the rooms. He then allowed sunlight to stream into the space in the middle of the day, and then used small mirrors attached to ball joints in order to direct the light beam around the room in various patterns.

How Not to Do Trainspotting Photography

When doing trainspotting photography, it pays to be extra alert and aware of your surroundings. The video above, captured at the Thurston, Suffolk train station, shows how one camera-wielding trainspotter almost learned (or didn't learn) that lesson the hard way.

Pentax Announces Its Own Retro-Styled Camera, the MX-1

More and more camera companies are giving their products vintage camera-inspired designs these days, and Pentax wants to join in on the fun. The company announced its own retro-styled camera earlier today called the MX-1.

It's a fixed lens compact camera that features a sleek metal body, a fast lens, and a 12-megapixel sensor.

A Hands-On Demo of Fujifilm’s New Split Image Manual Focusing Feature

We were just able to get some hands-on time with the new Fujifilm X100s immediately after the company's press conference. In addition to blazin' fast autofocus speed, the company has also introduced a couple of new features that manual-focusing photographers will love.

One is something many photographers are already familiar with (and have been clamoring for): focus peaking. The second hasn't been received with as much fanfare, but is actually quite fantastic. It's split image focusing -- something rangefinder users will appreciate very much.

Sigma Has DP3 Merrill Photos and Specs Leak on the Eve of CES 2013

Earlier today, pictures and specs for Sigma's soon-to-be-announced DP3 Merrill leaked in an article that has since gone missing on the Spanish camera site DSLR Magazine. Of course that wasn't before all of the info contained in that article was copied and pasted on several rumor sites, bless them.

Pick a Color, Any Color: Pentax Offers 100 Custom Color Options for the Q10 ILC

Pentax newest goal is, and we quote, "Heightening Individualized Photographic Expression." So if that just happens to be one of your New Years resolutions, and you also happen to be in the market for the "world’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera system," you're in luck -- you can now pick from 100 different color combinations for the Pentax Q10.

Canon Takes Smartphones Head-On With the All-New PowerShot N

As smartphones have risen to compact supremacy, slowly killing the point-and-shoot market as a result, every company has tried one thing or another to somehow save the compact. Now, it's Canon's turn. But instead of adding a gimmicky feature, or doing away with compacts all-together in favor of mirrorless systems, the company has decided to re-invent the wheel... okay, the point-and-shoot.

The result is the new PowerShot N, a compact camera that has no top, bottom, left or right -- it's an incredibly thin square with a center-mounted lens and articulating screen you can use however you see fit.

Light Painting Smoke Effects Tutorial

There's no end to the fun and creativity you can pour into a great light painting session. And the more techniques you have in your photographer's utility belt the more interesting and professional your light painting can become.

In recent weeks we've shown you how to add 3D objects to your light painting, how to create light-painting rain, and how combining bullet time photography and light painting can yield some pretty awesome results. Now it's time to put the old saying to rest and create smoke -- without a fire.

Eyeballs and Fine Art: Tyler Shields’ Take on Standing Out as a Photographer

Tyler Shields has led a very successful career -- both as a photographer and previously as a skater -- and in his talk at Luminance 2012 he spent some time explaining how he differentiates himself in an increasingly photographed world.

Specifically, he spends time explaining that there is photography that gets you "eyeballs" (viewers and attention for your work) and photography that gets you paid. (Warning: The video includes some strong language and a few potentially offensive PG-13 photos.)

Fujifilm Announces the X20 and X100s, Boasts the ‘World’s Fastest Autofocus’

There has been no shortage of leaks, pictures and rumors surrounding Fujifilm's followups to both its X10 and X100 models, but things just got official.

Only two days before the company gets to show off its new stock to the world at CES 2013 (and with little in way of mirrorless competition from Olympus, Sony and Panasonic, apparently) Fujifilm has officially unveiled the X20 and X100s.

The Rise, Near Demise, and Rebirth of the Leica Camera

Leica made its name a very long time ago by creating the first practical 35mm camera to use standard cinema 35mm film. The rest, as they say, is history. A history filled with successes and failures alike, most of the latter coming in the early 2000s when the company was having trouble moving into the digital age.

In 2013, Leica has a couple of things to celebrate. For one, its no longer in financial trouble; and for another, the company is turning 100 this year. In light of that momentous birthday, here are a couple of short videos (the first one is above) by Deutsche Welle that take a look at Leica's past, present and future.

The Photo Bus: An Old Volkswagen Bus Converted into a Mobile Photo Booth

Photographer John Deprisco of Deprisco Photo has put together two fairly unrelated things and, as a result, created something pretty cool. By combining his love of old, run-down VW buses and the tradition photo booth, he's created the Photo Bus, a rentable photo booth on wheels -- available for whatever soiree you're planning to host next.

Japanese Truck Driver Photographs the Front Lines in Syria as a “War Tourist”

When you mention the words "vacation photos," most people might think of trips to the mountains or to the beach. Not Toshifumi Fujimoto. The 45-year-old Japanese trucker is passionate about "war tourism" -- he actually takes on the role of a conflict photographer when on vacation. In recent days, he has been shooting on the front lines of the Syrian civil war, putting his life on the line for images that he keeps as a personal collection rather than sells for reportage purposes.