May 2013

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Latest Photo Fad Involves Photographing Your Cat as Your Beard

Need a chuckle? Look no further than the latest bizarre photo fad to sweep across the Internet. Called "Cat Beard," the meme involves shooting a self-portrait with your face above a cat's head. If you can nail the right perspective, you get a humorous photograph that looks like you have a strange beard covering your face (and a frown as well).

13 Traits That Make a Photographer “Professional”

This appears to be a big week for Yahoo! with their $1 billion Tumblr acquisition announcement followed by a number of changes to their Flickr service. Exciting stuff in the tech world. However, amid the Yahoo! hoopla, CEO Marissa Mayer managed to insult the entire professional photography community with her comments, being widely interpreted as “there’s no such thing as professional photographers” anymore.

Flickr Expected to be Deeply Integrated in Apple’s Upcoming iOS 7

We are at about that point in the year when Apple holds its ever-popular WWDC (Worldwide Developer's Conference) in California. The company's keynote is expected to include the unveiling of iOS 7, and the word on the grapevine indicates the next iteration of the mobile operating system could include deep integration with social networks outside of Twitter and Facebook.

Nine Month Time-Lapse of Photos Taken on Mars by the Curiosity Rover

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover has sent down a constant stream of images from the Red Planet. Ever since it landed on August 8th, 2012, it's spent every spare moment snapping selfies, panoramas and surveillance footage, and sending it back home from between 33.9 and 250 million miles away (depending on the relative positions of Mars and Earth).

Man Sticks His Camera Out Storm Shelter Hole, Captures View of Tornado Up Close

When the 2013 Moore tornado struck Oklahoma on May 20th, 2013, Charles Gafford III took refuge in a storm shelter. Once inside, he noticed that there was a small gap in the shelter that he could stick his smartphone through. He did, and ended up capturing the footage above that shows what it's like to have an EF5 tornado -- the strongest strength rating assigned -- pass almost directly overhead.

What It Was Like to Capture the Aftermath of the Oklahoma Tornado

In Oklahoma, tornados are a common thing. Every spring they occur and every Oklahoman grows up knowing what they are and the damage they can cause. As a native Oklahoman, I've only seen two tornados in person after chasing them down. Most of the time they do little damage and dissipate fairly quickly. People are usually more worried about damage that comes from the gigantic-sized hail than from tornados.

3D Camera Canon

Researchers Develop ‘Content Aware Fill’ for 3D Photographs

For many user who use Adobe's Photoshop software, the "Content Aware Fill" tool has been a welcome addition in their arsenals of retouching tools. And while the vast majority of Photoshop users are editing 2D imagery, a partnership between Adobe and Brigham Young University has produced algorithms that'll do with 3D images what Content Aware Fill does with 2D images.

RIP “Professional Photographers”

...there's no such thing as Flickr Pro, because today, with cameras as pervasive as they are, there is no such thing really as professional photographers, when there's everything is professional photographers. Certainly there is varying levels of skills, but we didn't want to have a Flickr Pro anymore, we wanted everyone to have professional quality photos, space, and sharing." -- Marissa Mayer, Yahoo Event, May 2013 …

Comparing Burst Mode Shutter Speeds of Various Nikon DSLRs

Last Friday, we shared a video that compared the burst mode shutter speeds and sounds of various Canon DSLRs, and lest Nikon fanboys think we're biased towards one brand or another, here's a similar video by YouTube user bauercti that does the same thing for several of the camera's in Nikon's lineup.

The Kobayashi Maru of Photography

(Note: This is not an article about whom I feel is the better captain (Kirk). I mean, that would be ridiculous, because we all have our favorites (Kirk) and to bring up who I feel is the best (Kirk) really has no bearing on this photography column (Kirk). Just wanted to be clear.) …

10 Fantastic Instagram Users You Should Follow Right Now

While some people still regard Instagram as a hipster gimmick bound to eventually wear out its welcome, most people have come around and found it to be much more than just another spoke in the social media wheel. Instagram is perhaps the most simplistic of the social media applications but much like Twitter, it has used that to its advantage rather than let it become a hindrance.

Trojan Horse: How Flickr Screwed Me Out of My Pro Account Through a Photo Walk

Yesterday, Flickr announced new changes that included a free, ad-supported terabyte of storage for all Flickr users. When I heard the news, I believed that Flickr Pro account users would be given an opportunity to stay Pro going forward. I thought this because this, in fact, was my understanding of what was told to me by a Flickr Senior Manager in a briefing earlier in the morning before the announcement.

Wacom Announces ‘Bamboo Loop,’ a Fun Photo Messaging App

Wacom -- the same company that brings Photoshop artists and big spenders products like the 24HD Touch -- announced today that it is making an addition to its more whimsical line of Bamboo products. Dubbed Bamboo Loop, the new iOS (and soon Android) app puts photo sharing and SMS together to create a more fun and engaging messaging experience.

Shooting Color Photos with PhaseOne’s $45,000 B&W Digital Back

The announcement of the PhaseOne IQ2 series introduced a clear functionality based stratification of the IQ line up of digital backs. The PhaseOne IQ280 still reigns supreme providing the highest resolution single capture of the bunch. The bigger and more interesting changes however, are within the IQ260 “series” of backs. Now there are two different versions of a 60MP full-frame medium format digital sensor; both of these two versions offer their own vastly different “skill sets” for …

Return of the Legend: Hands-On with the Ricoh GR

This is a “first look” preview of a pre-production unit of the Ricoh GR, which I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on -- for a day. My time with it is limited to the half-day of shooting I had, and I am only sharing my initial impressions of it.

Thomas Campbell at the Kentucky Derby

Interview with Texas Sports Photographer Thomas Campbell

The idea of being a sports photographer to many enthusiasts seems glamorous and exciting. Free and seemingly unfettered access to major league games with a view just meters away from live action. Akin to a soldier on a battleground armed with the latest gear, carefully and methodically (yet rapidly) shooting his subjects with the aim to make a publish-worthy photograph in the midst of chaos.

Awe-Inspiring Photo of a Grand Canyon Lightning Strike

This incredible photo of a lightning strike at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon was shot by photo and videographer Travis Roe in July of 2012. A spectacular capture by a photog who has been shooting lightning since he was a teenager, the most surprising thing about this photo is that it went viral only after it somehow didn't even place in the National Parks Service 2012 photo contest.

Camera Captures What It’s Like to Get Eaten by a Grizzly Bear

When Brad Josephs took his GoPro camera out in beautiful Alaska, he was probably trying to get majestic footage of Grizzly bears for the BBC's Great Bear Stakeout. Instead, what he got was a hungry mother Grizzly and her cub trying to eat his camera. We get some, shall we say, interesting views of what a Grizzly bear's mouth looks like (not that that's something we're all interested in seeing, is it?).

Shooting Photos of 10K Runners with an Off-Camera Flash

Lately I’ve been looking for ways to photograph people besides just my friends and family. I was super inspired after reading photographer Peter Waterman's account of photographing 80 people in 1 day. I’m a hobbyist just looking to improve my skills and have fun. I like to get the best bang for the buck with my equipment purchases and keep my gear budget contained.

Canadian Anti-Piracy Site Caught Using Photos Without Permission

Canipre -- short for Canadian Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement -- is a Canadian anti-piracy company that has joined hand-in-hand with film studios and record companies to track down those who steal and share stolen content over the internet. On the surface there's nothing wrong with this, what is wrong is when an intellectual property advocate is found using photos without permission, which is exactly what happened to Canipre a couple of days ago.

Sony May Make A-Mounts Fully Mirrorless in 2014, Working on a A-E Hybrid As Well

A few weeks ago, we reported that Sony may be in the process of dropping its unique pellicle mirror SLT technology. The rumor claimed that the company would be saying goodbye to the translucent mirror in favor a fully mirrorless A-Mount line. Well, if patents are to be trusted, that rumor has been confirmed just as another exciting Sony rumor hits the mill.