August 2013

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Photojournalist Buddies Stage a Friendly Instagram Photo Battle

There's nothing like a friendly competition among peers to make a road trip that much more enjoyable, and when you can get a few thousand people to join in and judge the outcome, that's even better. That's what photojournalists and friends Eric Thayer and Joshua Lott did recently when they found themselves in a midst of an impromptu Instagram battle.

Photographer and Senator Patrick Leahy Talks About His Passion for Photography

Vermont senator Patrick Leahy is a lot of things: an expert marksman, the most senior senator on Capitol Hill, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and third line for the presidency, just to name a few. But even though he's had as successful of a political career as a Senator might ever hope to have, if you ask him what he would like to do full-time, he'll tell you photography.

FlexCam is a Flexible Camera that Snaps Dynamic One-Shot Panoramas

Companies and researchers are always coming up with interesting new camera concepts and prototypes that approach snapping photos in some unique way. The most recent creation to make its way across our desks is the FlexCam, a panoramic camera array that does away with sweeping or stitching to create panoramas. Instead, you simply bend the camera itself.

13 Photography Gadgets We Didn’t Need

The world of photography is awash with gear and accessories for an eager public. But not every invention is worthy of merit as seen by this glorious collection of “WTF were they thinking?”.

Thai Villagers Arrest a Google Street View Driver, Thought He Was a Spy Photog

On your own mental list of "most perilous jobs," chances are Google Street View driver doesn't make it very close to the top. But one of Google's own wound up in a strange situation recently when a group of villagers in Thailand put him under citizen's arrest, believing him to be a spy for a government dam project they oppose.

How to Turn a Smartphone Panorama Into a ‘Tiny Planet’ Photo

Ever since Google released the Photosphere feature for their Nexus devices, I have been obsessed with making tiny planets. The photosphere feature enables you to take 360 degree photos, essentially creating a "room" of photos. You also have the ability to turn your panorama into a "tiny planet". Android does all the work for you, and while you may get some errors with the stitched image, they usually turn out pretty great.

Then-and-Now Photos of New York City

NYC Grid is a website run by Paul Sahner that explores and documents New York neighborhoods, "street by street and block by block." One of the awesome reoccurring features on the blog is the before-and-after section, which features pairs of photos showing identical locations but shot decades -- or sometimes over a century -- apart.

Tutorial: Creating a Surreal, Conceptual Photo Using ‘Zone Lighting’

In this tutorial I’d like to demonstrate that you don’t need expensive studio flashes to create a complex scene with subtle lighting. I haven’t yet seen anyone else do this quite the same way and there doesn’t seem to be a name for it, so I named the process “zone lighting”, a form of exposure blending by dividing the scene in different zones. But let’s start with a little bit of background about the project and its concept.

TEDx: Photographer Fabian Oefner Talks About Combining Art and Science

Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner recently gave this short 10-minute talk at TEDx Warwick 2013 in which he shares about how he tries to use photography to explore the two worlds of visual art and scientific principles. Many of his personal projects revolve around making natural phenomena visible, showing them in "previously unseen and poetic ways," and "encouraging viewers to pause for a moment and appreciate the magic that constantly surrounds us." …

Man Puts Up Website and Photo Memorial of His Life Before Committing Suicide

Some sad news has emerged from the Midwest today: The Kansas City Star is reporting that a former employee and blogger committed suicide yesterday outside a local police station. Prior to ending his own life, 60-year-old Martin Manley created his own memorial website that includes detailed information about his life, including photographs captured over the years of himself and his experiences.

Ghetto-Flo: How to Create Your Own DIY Kino-Flo-style Lights for Portraiture

We were introduced to the “Ghetto-Flo” lights after reading the excellent blog of New York-based photographer Brad Trent. He had mounted 4 standard workshop fluorescent light fixtures into light-stand mountable strip lights. “Ghetto-Flo” because they're similar in use to the much more expensive Kino-Flo lights, though there are advantages to the later (variable power and output).

Long Exposure Photography of a Moving Car at Night Using a Carbon Boom

I have a passion for automotive photography at night, but for the most part I'm forced to shoot static images. Long exposures require a stable support for your camera and that's only achievable when everything's locked down -- including the car. Sure, light painting, traffic trails and even the occasional star trail all help to introduce dynamism to static automotive images but sometimes there's no substitute for shooting the car whilst its moving.

Use This Simple ‘Drop Test’ to See if Your Batteries Are Juiced

Even though most camera bodies these days use some sort of Lithium-ion battery, chances are there's still some gear in your bag that still runs off alkaline batteries. If you've ever found yourself in need of checking the charge on those batteries but you happen to leave your volt meter at home (I know ... what were you thinking!?) here's a cool little life hack that'll give you the info your need.

Photographer Captures a Soccer Player Looking Extremely Small

Reuters photographer Yves Herman captured this peculiar photograph at a match between the Belgian and French national soccer teams yesterday. The photograph has attracted the Internet's attention due to the fact that it makes 28-year-old soccer player Mathieu Valbuena look like a child playing among men.

New Algorithm Can Pick Out Photo Fakes by Looking at Shadows

As post-production software continues to become more and more powerful, researchers are doing their best to keep up by developing new methods of spotting digital photo fakes. In the past, we've seen that noise patterns and even Twitter trends can help spot fakes, but a new method out of UC Berkeley is taking a look at something else entirely: the shadows.

eBay Unveils ‘My Gadgets’ Feature, Keeps Track of How Much Your Gear is Worth

It seems like new and improved camera gear pops up every couple of weeks these days, leading to an endless cycle of discover, buy, sell and repeat. Well, if you're the kind of person who always wants to have the newest gear around, and you're constantly selling off your old gear on eBay to make it happen, the website has just officially announced a new feature that will make your life much easier.

Photographer Bernie DeChant Takes the New Panasonic GX7 for a Spin in Japan

Earlier this month, Panasonic unveiled the new Lumix GX7: a rangefinder-style Micro Four Thirds camera that the company packed full of Panasonic firsts. Since Panasonic is hoping the camera appeals to professionals and consumers alike, the folks over in advertising decided to put together a series of videos dubbed "Shooting Impressions" in which they get professionals to use the GX7 on assignment and talk about the features they liked best.

Magic Lantern Brings Brick Breaker-Style Video Game to the Canon 7D

Lest you think that smartphones have the mobile gaming market all but wrapped up, the folks at Magic Lantern have decided to shake things up a little bit. In the spirit of the old Kodak DSLR that came equipped with Pong, ML's pravdomil has added the ability to play a stripped down version of the old 1980s brick breaker-style game "Arkanoid" on the Canon 7D.