October 2013

The Essentials Of The Affordable Care Act For Freelance Photographers

Let's not kid ourselves, when it comes to health insurance, freelance photographers are in an unfortunate situation. Despite working long hours like everyone else and managing their own business, freelance photographers don't get the same group rates that regular employees do. There is no question that buying insurance as an individual is more expensive.

See Chess Pieces Brought to Life in These Creative Portraits

There are a total of six piece types in the game of Chess, and Italian photographer Francesco Ridolfi has managed to bring each of them -- in both black and white versions -- to life in his creative fine art portrait project "Chess Portraits."

Successful 21-Year-Old Photog Shares His Inspirational World View at TEDxYouth

There's a belief that being successful as a photographer these days runs the possibility gamut from difficult to almost impossible, but examples like Wyn Wiley seem to run contrary to that belief. Wiley is a very successful 21-year-old photographer, and in the Lincoln Nebraska TEDxYouth talk above, he blows minds by sharing his incredibly optimistic and inspirational world view.

Rumor: Nikon to Announce a Retro-Styled Full-Frame in the Next Three Weeks

There's no denying that the Sony a7 and a7R made quite the splash in the photographic industry both before and after their official arrival. With full-frame sensors, a mirrorless design and price tags that make at least the a7 cheaper than even the most affordable full-frame alternatives, Sony hit the trifecta.

But a new rumor seems to indicate that Nikon, at least, wants to get in on some of the action by releasing a new retro-styled full-frame that will compete directly with Sony's offerings.

Does Lighting the Olympic Flame Involve Setting Fire to a Piece of 35mm Film?

Every two years, the lighting of the Olympic Flame amidst the ruins of the Temple of Hera is a pretty interesting performance. The torch is lit from the light of the Sun, using a parabolic mirror to focus the Sun's rays on the fuel in the torch and set it ablaze... but what exactly is that fuel? By the looks of it, at least a small part is a piece of

BTS: Richard Renaldi Introduces & Poses Complete Strangers on the Streets of NYC

Photographer Richard Renaldi's 6-year-long project Touching Strangers has been an incredible success. From viral Internet fame to a full-fledged photo book that exceeded its Kickstarter goal eight times over, there's something profoundly moving about complete strangers posed together, sometimes quite intimately, on the streets of NYC.

In the video above we get a behind the scenes look at how Renaldi does what he does, and how his subjects, sometimes reticent at first, often wind up feeling at ease and connected to this perfect stranger they didn't know existed 10 minutes ago.

Thief Caught on Tape Stealing $2,250 Worth of Prints from Art Gallery in Broad Daylight

In the digital age, having your photos stolen usually indicates copyright infringement by someone who decided to use your work without permission online. But for Ukranian-born photographer Aleksandr "Sasha" Onyshchenko, the term recently took on the old definition: two of his prints were literally stolen right out of the gallery they were being displayed at in broad daylight!

Using ISO 100 for Concert Photography: Is it Possible?

Have you ever heard of the "4 Seconds" myth in concert photography? Well, probably not, because I made this phenomenon up as a play on words with the 4 Leaf Clover "Myth." The 4 Seconds Myth talks about the fact that there’s a maximum period of time at just a few concerts when you can in fact shoot at crisp, noiseless ISO 100.

Turn Your Smartphone Into a Microscope and Macro Photography Stand for Only $10

If you've followed PetaPixel for a little while, you'll already know that a laser pointer's focus lens can be put to good DIY use helping you take macro photos with your smartphone.

And even though you can simply find a way to secure the lens against your phone, a new Instructable shows you how to build a microscope stand/macro photography rig that will eliminate that particular problem altogether... and for only $10!

Ethereal Elephant Photo Crowned Wildlife Photo of the Year

Each year, London's Natural History Museum hands out awards for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and the winner of this year's competition brought home top prize with an ethereal, beautiful and accidental photo of elephants at a watering hold in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve in Botswana.

NYC Mayoral Candidate in Hot Water After Campaign Ad Used Swiped Flickr Shots

New York Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota may be running as a law and order guy, but apparently the "law" part doesn't cover intellectual property.

Turns out nine of the images used in a recent Lhota campaign ad -- an ad meant to illustrate what a mess the Big Apple used to be -- were taken without permission from Flickr users, several of whom are not too happy about it.

Mind-Blowing Saturn Photo Mosaic Made from Pictures Taken Earlier This Month

The NASA spacecraft Cassini has sent back some incredible imagery of the planet Saturn over the years, much of which is being put to use to create an IMAX movie. But thanks to the work of a Croatian software developer, we now have a full, breath-taking, high-resolution photo mosaic of Saturn in all its glory as it looked on October 10th.

Fire-Breathing Made Even More Epic with 24-GoPro Bullet Time Rig

With all of this talk of new cameras and new lenses and fake potential cameras, we thought it might be good to take a quick break and just share something awesome. So, courtesy of the good folks at GoPro and the sheer number of spare cameras they have lying around, we give you: fire-breathing in bullet time.

Photo Shows the Hasselblad Solar: A Sony a7 Dressed in Fancy Materials

Now that we think about it, we should have expected this, but we just didn't see it coming. The photo above supposedly shows a new camera on its way from Hasselblad. In keeping with the Lunar and Stellar before it, the Hasselblad Solar pictured above will basically be a Sony a7 redesigned using expensive materials and sold at a much higher price.

Behind the Scenes with Brandon Stanton and His Humans of New York Project

When we first covered Brandon Stanton and his Humans of New York project almost a year and a half ago, he had accumulated about 3,000 portraits of people from around New York City. Now that number has grown to over 5,000, and the blog that started it all has birthed a book and the kind of viral fame the Internet it known for.

Nikon Announces the D5300, Its First DSLR with Built-In WiFi

Adding to the deluge of camera announcements this month, Nikon chose today to release an update to its D5200 consumer DSLR. The new camera, the D5300, isn't a huge breakthrough, but Nikon managed to pack in a few new features that'll help the shooter keep up with competitors like the Canon 70D.

Say Hello to the Panasonic GM1, a Tiny Yet Capable Micro Four Thirds Shooter

Small interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs) usually come with small sensors and a diminutive spec list. Take the Pentax Q7 for example, its 1/1.7-inch sensor was a big (or rather a small) deterrent for serious photographers who want a small yet capable camera of their own.

Fortunately for those photographers, however, Panasonic has their back with the newly-announced GM1. It's not, as previously rumored, the world's smallest ILC, but it isn't far off, and it does grab the title of smallest Micro Four Thirds (MFT) camera.

What the Photo Community can Learn from the Jasmine Star and Doug Gordon Ordeal

Last Friday, WPPI Director Jason Groupp announced that Jasmine Star and Doug Gordon withdrew from next year’s conference in light of all the controversy surrounding allegations of plagiarism.

I advocated for this move with many others who saw their transgressions as a violation of trust that affected the entire industry. The outcome seemed proportional to the infraction, and I saw no reason to urge further action. I have no vitriol against either Jasmine or Doug, I just think we all have to own up to our mistakes, pay the piper, and move on.