September 2013

The Photography Teacher Nobody Wants

There is a teacher of photography that few speak of in today’s industry. She is shunned by many and with good reason.

Nobody seems to like her.

Marked Up Photographs Show How Iconic Prints Were Edited in the Darkroom

Want to see what kind of work goes into turning a masterful photograph into an iconic print? Pablo Inirio, the master darkroom printer who works at Magnum Photos' New York headquarters, has personally worked on some of the cooperative's best-known images. A number of his marked-up darkroom prints have appeared online, revealing the enormous amount of attention Inirio gives photos in the darkroom.

Powerful New In-Browser Photo Editing Tools Added to Google+

Snapseed's team has been hard at work since their company was acquired by Google last September. They've already put new photo filters in the Google+ app and some auto-enhance tools in Google+, and now they're working on something even grander: turning Google+ into a full-fledged, browser-based photo editing tool.

Frog Photobombs NASA Launch Photo

Check out this photograph NASA captured recently during the launch of its LADEE spacecraft. Notice anything unusual? If you're thinking that the strange dark spot seen in the middle of the smoke plume looks familiar, you're right -- that's a frog.

When You SHOULD Do Work for Free

Whenever somebody asks me if they should take a free job I answer with a resounding, no. Don't do it. Just don't. It should be a hard and fast rule in your book: do not work for free! That said, everybody breaks the rules, especially their own. Case in point, I just came off of a job this past weekend where, you guessed it, I worked for free.

So since me sitting here and lecturing you about why you shouldn't work for free would be a big waste of everybody's time, especially having just taken a free job myself, lets instead go ahead and look at when, perhaps, just maybe, you should at least consider working for free.

Humor: 10 Videos of People Using Their Gear in Strange and Silly Ways

Back in the beginning of August, NYC-based camera superstore B&H Photo Video launched a lighthearted contest called "That's Not What It's Meant For!" It asked for videos of photographers and videographers using technology and equipment in unintended ways.

The submission phase ended recently, and now 10 wacky videos have been selected as finalists. Here they are for your enjoyment.

Photography is a Sin, According to India’s Leading Islamic Seminary

Update: The rector of Darul Uloom came out to clarify some of the statements included in the original Hindustan Times article quoted in this post. We have included the significant portion of the update at the bottom.

In response to a question by an engineering graduate who wanted to follow his passion for photography, Darul Uloom, India's leading Islamic seminary, issued a fatwa declaring photography and that particular career path "unlawful and a sin."

Mhoto Automatically Generates Music for Your Pics Based on a Photo’s Content

It might not be quite a trend yet, but associating sound with photos isn't new either. Whether we're talking about interesting photographs created with sound (like Martin Klimas' paint photos) or about a camera that captures both sound and light, the idea of pairing sight and sound in photography has come up before.

Mhoto is a company with an idea along those same lines, only instead of capturing the sounds happening at the moment you take a photo, the company's tech creates music based on a photo.

Video: Ten Photography Life Hacks That’ll Save You Money

We've shared a few pretty cool life hacks over the years -- for example, check out this super-simple drop test that'll let you know if your AA batteries are juiced and ready to go -- but the video above brings together some of the most useful.

Put together by DigitalRev, these ten photo-related life hacks have the potential to make your photographic life that much easier, while saving you some money as well.

Lexar HR1 Reader Hub: Customize Your Setup and Read Multiple Cards at Once

It goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway: pro photographers deal with a lot of photos. Each assignment can mean several thousands, all of which need to be imported to the computer for sorting and post processing. A new card reader hub from Lexar, however, promises to make at least the importing part of the process that much faster and more efficient.

Iconic NASA Space Walk Photos Continue to Inspire

One of the key challenges in environmental portraiture is finding the right balance between subject and setting. Zoom in too close, and you lose the magic of location. Too wide, and it's not a portrait anymore.

There are times, however, when you have to forget the rules. Like when you're orbiting 150 miles above the Earth and one of your colleagues is about to take the first ever untethered space walk.

1996 is a Perfume Based On a Photograph and Created by Photographers

Here's an intriguing new potential revenue stream for photographers: turn a favorite shot into a signature fragrance.

That's what Dutch fashion photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin -- known for their work for major design houses and magazines -- are doing with their portrait "Kirsten, 1996."

Apple Unveils New iPhone Camera with a Larger Sensor and Slow-Motion Video

Today is a big day for tech sites and Apple fanboys alike because it's the day that the Cupertino-based company announces their newest iPhone -- you know, the one that makes you wish your contract was up now and not in 12 months.

This time around Apple announced two new phones -- the more affordable iPhone 5C and the more capable iPhone 5S -- and as you might expect given the smartphone camera culture, the more expensive of the two came with some significant camera improvements.

Giveaway: Win Ten Photography-Inspired T-Shirts from Dodge & Burn!

Update: This giveaway is now over. The winner has been announced at the end of this post.

It's time for another giveaway to show you how much we appreciate that you guys (and gals) continue to come back to PetaPixel day after day. This time around, you'll have a chance to win 10 photography-themed T-shirts by Dodge & Burn worth approximately $300 retail.

250 Million Reasons You Should Register Your Photo Copyrights

We recently spoke to PhotoAttorney.com’s Carolyn Wright and former ASMP President Richard Kelly about the importance of registering your copyright regularly. In that vein, A Photo Editor recently updated us on the Richard Reinsdorf v. Skechers case, which illustrates the complexity of copyright violation cases and re-emphasizes the necessity of copyright registration.

Hasselblad to Open Its First Retail Store in Tokyo

The online shopping revolution has wreaked havoc on brick-and-mortar stores, and photography shops are no exception. If you need an example, look no further than Jessops in the UK, which is down from 187 stores to only 36, and even those are only open because of some serious funding from investor and Reality TV star Peter Jones.

Stories like that, however, don't seem to be stopping camera companies from jumping into the retail store game. Over the past year, Canon opened its first Experience Center, Polaroid opened its first Photobar, and now Hasselblad is joining the party with its first retail store, which will be opening in a few days time in Tokyo.

One of Those Shots… September 13, 2001

I was divorced about a week, so it was perhaps understandable that I was already feeling a little shellshocked when I started another day of work as an advertising photographer at Filenes in Boston on September 11, 2001.

Olympus Unveils the E-M1, Its New High-End Micro Four Thirds Camera

The Olympus OM-D E-M5's retro styling drew a lot of looks when the camera was first announced back in February 2012. Glowing reviews of the camera subsequently showed that it was more than just a pretty face.

Today, Olympus has finally unveiled a followup camera to continue the new OM-D line: the E-M1.

Rare Jonathan Ive-Designed Leica M to be Auctioned Off for Charity in November

Back in September of last year, we told you about an incredibly rare Leica M Rangefinder that was being created by Apple design guru Jony Ive. The emphasis there was on incredibly rare, because only one of these puppies is ever going to get made.

At the time we knew the camera would be auctioned off for charity, but it wasn't until today that we found out the specific event. So if you were banking on trying to buy this uber-special Leica, have your black AMEX at the ready: the date is set for September 23rd.

Building a DIY Battery Pack for Capturing Time-Lapses with a Point-and-Shoot

There are advantages to shooting time-lapses using a cheap point-and-shoot camera -- for example, if it gets stolen, you're not out thousands of dollars -- but there is one particular challenge that is difficult to overcome: battery life. If you want your creation to cover any significant period of time, you need a way to keep the camera running.

The video above shows you one way to get around this problem if you're using a AA-powered camera: just build your own DIY battery pack.