June 2013

Photographer Creates Portraits of Family Members by Shooting Possessions

How much can you learn about a person by simply looking at things he or she has owned in their life? This question was explored a couple of years ago in a project that documented the things people would save from a burning house, and it's also the question behind photographer Camilla Catrambone's project titled, "Portraits of My Family."

Exclusive: Check Out the Winners of This Year’s Photo Hack Day Berlin

Each year, hundreds of hackers developers descend on Berlin for EyeEm's hackathon Photo Hack Day in hopes of walking away with the top prize and moving the world of photography forward. In 24-hours, developers have to take a swing at prototyping a brand new photo app and presenting it in front of their peers.

Over 120 developers took part this weekend, and now that the dust has settled (only just) we have the privilege of being the first to tell you which of the 41 hacks submitted last night came out on top.

Shooting on the Streets of San Francisco for 24 Hours Straight

I have driven through San Francisco many times for business and pleasure, and have always been intrigued by how its energy constantly changes depending on the time of day. Glimpses of tall structures casting shadows, observing lighting and framing scenarios, and colorful people performing urban rituals often seen from my periphery had an affect on me.

These glimpses inspired me to undertake a 4am to 4am 24-hour-long project to capture unaltered reflections hour-by-hour how the city, the traffic, lighting, commerce, and ultimately the people change... or do they?.

Hawthorne Heights Band

Band Offers Streamlined Access to Shoot Them in Concert — For a Fee of $150

Sometimes getting access to shoot concerts or major concert events can be tricky. Dealing with publicists, event planners, and even security. But one band is making it super simple to get into the pit with your camera in hopes of capturing great shots -- for a fee.

Well-known American rock band Hawthorne Heights has posted an advertisement of sorts on their website, selling anyone the chance to take photos of them at this year's Warped Tour.

The Enclave: A Powerful Documentary on The Congo Shot Entirely on Infrared Film

A few years ago we shared photographer Richard Mosse's unique infrared imagery that he had shot in The Democratic Republic of Congo for his series Infra. Taking advantage of an old type of Kodak film called Aerochrome, he infused new color into this war-torn and often forgotten part of the Earth.

Now he's taken that project a step further by creating a documentary film called The Enclave. Shot entirely on 16mm Aerochrome film, the footage reveals both the unseen infrared bouncing off of the vegetation, and this too-often unseen "ongoing humanitarian disaster."

Interactive Panoramic Photo Series Takes Viewers On An Architectural Journey

We recently introduced you to some gorgeous wide-angle photos of the interior of La Sagrada Família that were taken by photographer Clement Celma. These photos revealed Celma's love of gorgeous architecture, but they're far from his only expression of it.

Another of his photo series, called Mes Petite Planètes, literally translated "My Little Planets," takes a more interactive and panoramic approach, exploring beautiful architecture from all angles.

Create 360° Photos and Video Easily With 360Heros’ Plug-and-Play GoPro Holders

360-degree photos and videos are a niche market, but one that is growing. The ability to capture every angle, all at once, is intriguing to many photographers and videographers, but doing so is anything but simple. 360Heros, a pioneer in the field of 360° video, is trying to change that.

The company has come out with a set of patent-pending GoPro holders that promise to make it much easier to take 360° panoramic photos and video, and they've launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to bring the idea to fruition.

Light Painter Jason D. Page Talks About What Inspired Him to ‘See The Light’

Photographer Jason D. Page came to light painting by accident. Carrying his camera down the beach on a full moon night, he was taking long exposure of the water when he accidentally bumped his tripod -- from that moment on, he was hooked. But the reasons why light painting was able to have such an instant and significant impact on his life go much deeper than the accidental discovery of a cool technique.

In this short documentary, Page talks about his passion in depth, explaining how light painting works and giving us a glimpse into the dark past that drove him to ultimately 'see the light.'

Photos Depicting the Slow Decay of a City Made of Bread

In 2009, Swedish artist Johanna Mårtensson read an article that described how well the Earth would do if humans simply ceased to exist. Within a few centuries, most buildings would be collapsed or collapsing as animals, plants and bacteria re-established the social order in cities once ruled by the curious primate Homo sapien.

The article got her creative juices flowing, and ultimately led to a photo installation called "Decor:" a city built by Mårtensson entirely out of bread, and left to decompose as she took daily photos over the course of 6 months.

Installing Magic Lantern: A Basic Step-by-Step Video Walkthrough

Given the recent leaps Magic Lantern has been making regarding mind-blowing RAW video capabilities for both old and new Canon cameras, there are probably a lot of Canon owners out there who are thinking of giving the custom firmware a try for the first time.

However, before you go installing one of the nightly builds (the unstable ones that can actually do RAW video), we would suggest installing the current stable build and getting to know the ins and outs of Magic Lantern first. With that in mind, here's a quick tutorial put together by Dave Dugdale from Learning DSLR Video that walks you through the steps of installing Magic Lantern for the first time.

Beautiful Light Painting Photos Created With Dancers and Athletes

Combining light painting with sports that involve long fluid motion is a match made in photography heaven that companies like Red Bull have already taken advantage of to create some pretty spectacular shots.

Photographers Joanna Jaskólska and Zach Ancell both had similar ideas, and their resulting photo series -- Breakdance Baby! and Trajectory -- are both unique examples of the awesome photography you can create when you mix dance, athletics and light painting.

Blast From the Past: High Quality Color Footage of New York City in the 1930s

Color film first burst onto the scene in 1935 when Kodak introduced the world to Kodachrome, and the first of this film that was available to the public was the 16mm variety for home movies. Later, Kodak introduced similar 8mm and 35mm film for home movies and photography, respectively, but it was the 16mm film that had finally offered consumers the ability to easily capture their world in color for the very first time.

The above video is a rare clip released by the Romano Archives that shows what French tourist Jean Vivier was able to capture using the 16mm film all the way back in 1939, when he came to visit the Big Apple.

Tornado Chasers Getting “Too Close” In Their Hunt for Dramatic Imagery

There has been a series of devastating tornados in the American Midwest recently, and one of the emerging trends -- especially in this social media era -- is the hunt for dramatic photographs and videos. Earlier this week we wrote about how one particular filmmaker created a tornado-proof vehicle to capture footage from directly inside funnels.

That filmmaker is backed by the Discovery Channel and has the funds and know-how to do things correctly (i.e. "safely"). On the other hand, there is also a new generation of storm chasers who are getting closer and closer to the storms in ordinary vehicles; the video above is one example of when people take their cameras too close.

Inexpensive ‘Infragram’ Camera Lets You Take a Peek at Photosynthesis

Public Lab, also known as the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, is all about creating affordable, DIY versions of expensive scientific equipment. In the past, we covered Public Lab's work creating a balloon mapping toolkit that allowed anyone and everyone to take and add user-created weather balloon imagery to Google Earth's repertoire.

For their most recent project, they're bringing things a little closer to the ground. This time, the folks at Public Lab are photographing the secret internal life of plants using an extremely affordable near-infrared camera they've designed.

New Series Gets Big Time Photographers Talking About Their Most Iconic Shots

Think Tank Photo is putting together a brand new video series in which producers and Think Tank Photo co-founders Kurt Rogers and Deanne Fitzmaurice catch up with some of the world's top photographers and photojournalists.

The series is dubbed "About a Photograph," and in it some of the best photographers of our time tell the stories behind their best known and most influential photographs.

Quick and Easy Trick For Adding a Black Background to Your Shots Anywhere

Photographer Glyn Dewis shared this cool little technique that lets you work with a black background even if you don't have an actual backdrop with you. It's a fairly common trick that he refers to as "the invisible black background," and it's a nifty little tip that many photographers may want to keep up their sleeve.