May 2014

Update: The extension's creators have emailed us with some corrections, which have been applied throughout the post. See bottom for details.

RAW image files are wonderful in almost every regard. The problem is, viewing them requires software capable of reading the various formats RAW images take, none of which are easily accessible to the masses and all of which are tied to an application. But a new Google Chrome extension by FilePreviews.io is changing all that.

It looks like we have at least one major camera announcement to look forward to in June, courtesy of Nikon. According to Nikon Rumors, the followup to the popular D800/D800E DSLRs is set to arrive that month (NR is calling it the D800s), and there's even a spec list to throw at you in the meantime.

Photographer Alastair Bird recently came across a modified Polaroid camera that is capable of shooting 4x5 instant film. So, naturally, he put it to work!

As a the Senior Photo Editor at TakePart, Lauren Wade sees a lot of over-Photoshopped images of impossibly-proportioned models. And being as familiar as she is with the practice, she's surprised at the amount of retouching that people are ignorant of.

Looking to address the growing market of touch devices, Adobe today showed off a new, touch-friendly version of Photoshop CC at Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 announcement. A touch iteration impressive simply because it doesn't cut corners or features on its way to touchscreen functionality.

This week is full of firsts from North Korea. Yesterday we shared what may be the first Google Glass coverage from inside the country, and today we have what is quite possibly the world’s first state-sanctioned city tour of Pyongyang, filmed using a GoPro Hero 3 camera.

At the ripe old age of 103, New Englander Conrad Heyer, a veteran of the American Revolution, sat down to have his portrait taken. Maybe he knew this at the time, or maybe he didn't, but the gruff, stern man staring defiantly out of the portrait above is believed to be the earliest born human ever photographed.

In their ongoing efforts to better organize and curate media, Google has announced the addition of Google+ Stories. Automatically pulling together media and data from photographs uploaded to Google+, Stories pieces together impressive chronological photo albums.

Reason number 14,526 why you should insure your gear: because a rowdy bunch of over-excited Croatian high school grads might just push you into a freezing fountain and destroy it all.

This might seem like an unlikely scenario (which is why it's so far down the list) but it actually happened earlier this month to one poor Croatian photojournalist, and the incident was caught on camera.

Instagram already boasts some high-profile names, but the community got a whole lot more impressive yesterday when none other than Google itself decided to finally joined up.

Many spectacular sports photos are captured by cameras that are being triggered from a ways away, as this allows for angles that would otherwise be dangerous -- for both the photographer and the athletes -- or outright impossible to capture. But have you ever wondered how these remote cameras are set up?

Well, if you have (or even if you haven't and are now intrigued) then professional sports photographer Brett Wilhelm has some answers for you in the form of a BTS/tutorial video that was shot on-location at the 2014 NCAA Final Four.

The story of GoPro's humble beginnings is an interesting one, and if you've not heard it we definitely suggest you click on this link and watch the video there before going on. But today's news isn't about those humble beginnings. It's about the meteoric heights to which the company has climbed.

Announced at market close yesterday, the former one-man surf camera operation and current action cam king has officially filed for a $100 million IPO.

If there was ever a time to use the term jaw-dropping, this might very well be it. Because while we've seen some amazing footage and even more amazing pictures of supercells and other spectacular weather phenomena, this (GoPro?) time-lapse by the storm chasers at Basehunters Chasing is really something to behold.

Sigma took a unique approach when it worked together with its sensor subsidiary, Foveon Inc., to build the newest version of Foveon sensor found in the DP Quattro camera.

Using technology that captures light simultaneously across three separate layers of sensors -- one each for blue, red, and green -- Sigma claims that, while smaller, the sensor is actually capable of out-resolving a 36-megapixel full frame sensor similar to those found in the Nikon D800E and Sony A7r.

NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has officially made available 400,000 high-resolution digital images of the collections it currently has in its possession.

Hoping to keep up with other museums, the Metropolitan has created an initiative, called Open Access for Scholarly Content (OASC), that will “provide access to images of art in its collection that the Museum believes to be in the public domain.”

500px already 'changed the game,' or at the very least raised the bar, when the photo sharing site launched the 500px Prime licensing marketplace. Initially said to offer a 30% cut to photographers, they actually listened to feedback and flipped that number on its head before the final release. Now, those 500px users who want to license their work through 500px Prime make a 70% cut off the top.

But 500px is determined to keep shaking things up, which is why, today, they've decided to put some of the piles of social network data they have at their disposal to use and let clients search the service by gender preference. And this, they promise, is just the beginning.

While Google Glass user Kenny Zhu was in North Korea this past April, he took advantage of the small and comparatively inconspicuous size of the device on his head to snap what appear to be the first images taken in North Korea using the wearable tech.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum opens officially in two days. It is the final …

We're big fans of anybody who helps to stop gear theft, and so naturally, we've always been big fans of the free service Lenstag. Initially unproven, the service made its first recovery a couple of months ago, and as its database of registered gear expands, it can only get better.

But Lenstag isn't just resting on its laurels and waiting for that moment to come, content with what it has achieved. No, the service is branching out with an awesome new feature that will help you keep track of unauthorized use of your images as well!

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice sat down with Marc Silber on Advancing Your Photography recently to discuss how she approaches capturing life through a lens.

Although the battle between drone owners and the FAA carries on in terms of definitive laws and regulations, it looks like progress is being made. According to a report by Bloomberg, the FAA is looking to expedite the handing out of permits for owners of “low-risk” drones.

Wedding photography has grown exponentially over the past decade, and with that growth has come some new trends in weddings that weren’t nearly as prevalent before. One of these is the ‘first look,' the moment that the groom first sees the bride in her dress, and a moment that is quickly becoming a must-capture.

The above video, put together by B&H in collaboration with photographer Joe Buissink, shows just how to get the most out of this rising trend.

Is mirrorless medium format the next frontier? If you pay attention to the rumor mill, it sure seems like it is. Less than two months after rumors of a "completely different" Sony MF camera surfaced, Fuji is taking its turn as new and anonymous sources come forward to share bits and pieces of a potential mirrorless MF camera.

What happens when ‘the cloud’ gets personal? According to Kwelea Inc., you end up with MBLOK. Deemed “one memory for all devices,” MBLOK is a pocket-sized SSD with integrated Bluetooth technology that allows you to store and access data from up to 7 mobile devices, all on the go.

One of the basic Photoshop skills that many beginners want to learn early on is how to change something's color in one of their images (be that an object or someone's eye color). Well, you're in luck, because Aaron Nace and Phlearn are here with a simple tutorial that will show you how to do just that, and do it well.

It was the year 1974 when Jamaican reggae king Bob Marley met a young, 16-year old photographer by the name of Dennis Morris. Marley was enamored by Morris from the start, and their relationship quickly blossomed into a friendship which would last for many years to come.

The above video, titled “Bob Marley: Giant,” documents that friendship by sharing the story of Bob Marley's life through Morris' eyes and viewfinder.

When it comes to simple photography hacks, few are as useful and clever in the field as this one, presented by 34-year wedding photography veteran Frank Donnino.

Tony Northrup, an award-winning author and well-known reviewer of camera gear, recently put out a video that takes an interesting, in-depth look at how mirrorless camera companies might be fudging the specifications of mirrorless cameras to make them seem better than they are.

Last week, Nikon released its financial results for the last fiscal year (ending in March) and things aren’t looking good. The company missed financial forecasts yet again, closing at a three-year low that, it seems, has prompted Nikon to do some serious restructuring within the company.

Consider this your GoPro video break for the week. So sit back, relax, put on the head phones and make sure the video is playing in HD, because this underwater footage shot by photographer Nana Trongratanawong is a real stunner.

In news that will either make you smile, sigh or shake your head, Adidas has announced plans to one-up Nike's PHOTOiD program by letting you print your Instagram photos directly on your shoes because... well... we're not sure why.

In a copyright battle truly worthy of the David and Goliath designation, it seems that Walmart and its founding family, the Waltons, have filed a lawsuit against the widow of a photographer who ran a small Arkansas studio called Bob's Studio of Photography.

Tokina broke new ground yesterday when it announced its very first optically-stabilized lens. Dubbed the AT-X 70-200mm F4 PRO FX VCM-S, it uses a voice coil motor-driven IS system to deliver a promised three stops of image stabilization for the shaky of hand.

Author note: The images in this post contain graphic language.

Most photographs, they say, are worth a thousand words, but these portraits by photographer Rich Johnson each tell the tale of only one word. It's a word that, in the worst kind of way, can be more powerful than a thousand others.

We've been told again and again that gear only matters far down the road, like last step down the road, once all of your skill and creativity has already been put to use.

Everybody, meet Otto. Otto, this is everyone.

Okay, now that we have that awkward ice-breaker out of the way, let’s get down to business. What is Otto? Why, Otto is a hybrid between a still and video camera... a GIF camera. Yes, that GIF.

Today only, Amazon is giving away 900 free Amazon Coins (worth $9) for downloading 9 free photography Android apps. Ranging from camera apps to editing apps, the free bundle comes in at $17 worth of Android applications for nothing, plus Amazon Coins that are good for future downloads!

Called “The Five Stages of Inebriation," this collection of photographs hilariously depicts, well, just that. From sober but wide-eyed all the way to passed out on the street, this dapper 19th-century gentleman shows off just what type of effects various amounts of alcohol will have on you.

Captured by Charles Percy Pickering back in the 1860s, these are considered to be staged photographs showing off the various stages of drunkenness for use in educational resources directed towards temperance groups.

In stock photography more so than any other type of photography, the trends of photographs being taken and shared change from year to year. As marketing approaches and accompanying business values change, so does the stock photography market, so as to reflect the growing need for a specific ‘look’ or ‘type’ of photograph.

Here to show us what’s trending for 2014 is an interesting (and possibly useful) infographic released by Getty Images’ iStock.

When it comes to street photography, much of the aesthetic appeal is the limited editing that usually takes place (or doesn’t take place, I guess), leaving the story and subject the focus of the image instead of creative editing. But that's not to say that editing should be left out of the equation or completely disregarded.

If you're wondering where that line should sit, this tutorial by Swiss street photographer Thomas Leuthard shows you what he does when he imports his street photos into Lightroom 5.

If you thought cat photos were something new, you’d not only be greatly mistaken, you'd be stepping all over the life's work of one Mr. Harry Whittier Frees.

Born in 1879, this American photographer made his fortune taking photographs of cute kittens and puppies dressed up in human clothes and posed in human environments, which he then turned into postcards, calendars and even children’s books.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Acclaimed photographer Amy Toensing recently sat down with National Geographic, for whom she is a frequent contributor, to talk about her craft and offer insights into the world of photojournalism.

Singapore-based artist Lim Zhi Wei, who goes by Limzy or @lovelimzy on Instagram, doesn't use your typical materials to create her mini masterpieces. Where others might use paint or, in the case of photographers, light, the artwork that she shares with her 50,000+ followers is created using flower petals, watercolors, food and random household objects.

Last week, we reported on the news that Amazon had actually patented the age-old practice of photographing things against a white background. This led to much ridicule from the photography community, but one of the big guys just got in on the well-deserved roast, and his name is Stephen Colbert.

It's finally here, and lest you feel the surprise of the RX100 Mark III was ruined by the spec and photo leak from early this morning, fear not, they got at least one thing wrong.

We don’t typically dedicate an entire post to a pricing and availability announcement, nor do we usually talk so …

When you're first starting to experiment with using strobes, it's easy to get confused by all the talk of flash durations, flash sync speeds, and the other technical aspects of lighting up a scene. Heck, it wasn’t until two years into my photography career that I understood how it all worked.

Obviously this video and post isn't for the advanced HDR photographer, but even if you have a good understanding of what High Dynamic Range is or how to capture it, you'll probably find one or two tidbits of very interesting information in this short video by Techquickie.

Man down! And by man down, we mean Adobe Creative Cloud. Starting late yesterday afternoon, a number of subscribers to Adobe’s Creative Cloud platform -- myself included -- started noticing that upon trying to use our applications or login to with our Adobe IDs, an error message would appear, deeming the applications and services useless.

Released in September of 1998, the Game Boy Camera was actual deemed the world's smallest digital camera by none other than the Guinness Book of World Records in its heyday. Created to be an official accessory of the then-revolutionary Nintendo Game Boy device, the camera was capable of capturing images with a resolution of, hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, 256x224 pixels.