July 2014

DIY: Build Your Own Anti-Vibration Camera Drone Mount for Only $10!

Just picked up a DJI Phantom but don't have the cash to drop on an expensive gimbal to keep your shots steady and level? Well, it turns out $10 will get you at least half-way there and keep the 'jello effect' and blur out of the videos and photos you plan to go out and capture.

Flickr Takes on 500px and Getty with New Commercial Licensing Platform

Flickr announced this morning the addition of a new licensing program to their lineup. Describing the program as a way for photographers to “partner with photo agencies, editors, bloggers and other creative minds who are seeking original content,” Flickr seems to be taking strike at 500px and others to get their hand in on the licensing game.

Viddy: The ‘World’s Cutest’ Medium Format and 35mm DIY Pinhole Camera

DIY paper pinhole cameras aren't a new idea, but a new creation called Viddy thinks it can stand head and shoulders above the crowd by sheer 'cuteness.' Seriously, the camera has dubbed itself the 'world's cutest' medium format and 35mm pinhole camera, and it's so easy to put together, it might even entice some newbies to give pinhole photography a shot.

Crop or Crap: Zack Arias Takes a Real-World Look at the Crop vs Full-Frame Debate

Zack Arias is a man who knows his gear inside and out. Switching multiple times between various companies, he’s seen almost everything there is to see in terms of equipment. In the past, he’s continuously praised full-frame sensors, for their quality and the aesthetic they’re known for.

But lately, as many you may know, he’s fallen in love with the FujiFilm X-Series. It’s this switch that lead him to realize that while full-frame most certainly has its benefits, crop sensors com with a myriad of their own benefits. In the above video he takes a look at both full-frame and crop sensors, giving his honest outlook and opinions on both.

500px Launches ‘Insights,’ New Analytics App for iOS

Today, 500px launched a new iOS app. It’s called 500px Insights and its purpose is to provide users access to the statistics of their 500px content. Not only does it provide statistics though, it’s also meant to provide a better promotional platform to strategically engage with their audience, all from a mobile device.

Good Enough to Succeed in Photography

It’s been a tough few years and people are frustrated with the state of the industry. Everywhere I turn, people seem to be saying that a photography career isn’t what it used to be and that budgets are tight. Many of the blogs I read and the message boards that I visit all seem to be repeating the same message: There’s no work, there’s no money, and the competition is too intense to succeed. To quote one frustrated photographer, “How do you f’ing make a living shooting pictures anymore?”

How I Used ‘Grandpa’s Photos’ to Honor My Grandfather’s Memory and Retrace His Steps

It’s a sad day when your Grandfather needs to go into a ‘nursing home.’ For years my Grandpa, Stephen Clarke, had always been the strongest, smartest, most capable guy in the room. Now, he had been reduced to needing 24-hour care in a place that smells like a hospital.

In an effort to help him, my family and I cleaned out his now empty house. As I was sorting through things and cleaning I found a box of old 35mm slides. Little did I know just how much these slides would change the next half-decade of my life, eventually leading me to create my latest project, Grandpa’s Photos.

Video: Inspirational Words on Having Confidence as a Photographer

We are our own worst critics. It’s always the case. Naturally, we see the works of others and gawk in amazement, but when viewing our own work we can often only notice the flaws and imperfections. But, photographer Mike Browne is here to hand out a healthy dose of inspiration and speak to the power of self confidence.

Striking Black & White Photographs Capture the Chaotic Streets of Tokyo

While he was born in 1965, it wasn’t until 2008 when Tatsuo Suzuki first picked up a camera with the intent to be a photographer. Since then, he’s been traveling around, camera in-hand, capturing the turbulent street life of Tokyo. Deep in contrast, strong in grain and often paired with a dragged out shutter, his monochrome images seem to paint a perfect picture of the world around him.

No Bokeh? No Problem! These Out of Focus Backgrounds Hold You Over Until You Get that Fast Lens

Want a blurry background for your portraits on-demand, whether or not you're using a fast lens? Or maybe you are using a fast portrait lens, but you want to shoot with it stopped down to the sharpest possible aperture without sacrificing that beautiful bokeh you're going for.

Well now you can now do that without having to put serious distance between your background and subject. Just pop up one of Lastolite's new Out of Focus Backgrounds.

Video: Comprehensive Introduction to Macro Photography

Landscape photographer Tim Cooper is a name we just recently shared with you. Today, we’re sharing his work with you again, this time in the form of a presentation he shared at a B&H event earlier this year. In it, he gives a detailed look at the world of macro photography.

Kayakers Raised Out of the Water by Playful Whale, Capture the Incredible Encounter on Camera

A couple of kayakers, believe to be a father and daughter, had an unbelievable encounter with some playful whales in the waters off the coast of Puerto Madryn, Argentina. They captured the entire thing in a GoPro video that has since gone viral, but the footage has sparked serious criticism from authorities and those who capture professional footage and photos of these gentle giants.

Canon 7D Officially Marked ‘Discontinued’ on Amazon

There are plenty of reliable rumors from trusted sources claiming that the 7D Mark II (if that's even what it'll be called) will finally be arriving sometime in early September, but those rumors are now being bolstered by another piece of news.

The Inspirational Story of How Photography Helped One Man Recover from Paralysis

July 4, 2011 is a day architectural and commercial portrait photographer Kevin Young will never forget. While taking a short break from a plethora of assignments he was working on, he was involved in a swimming accident that broke his C4-C6 vertebre, paralyzing him from the neck down.

In the above video, Young details his recovery, how he used photography as a motivation, and how the entire situation left him with a desires to help others, including the woman who saved his life.

Nostalgic Photo Series Shows the Evolution of Video Game Controllers

Photographer Javier Laspiur has long been a fan of video games and their respective consoles. And so, to pay tribute to the consoles of his past and the memories he made with them, he created a series that takes us on a journey through the consoles of Laspiur’s past and gives us a fascinating 'time-lapse' look at how much consoles have changed over the decades.

DJI DropSafe Automatic Parachute Will Try to Save Your Camera if Your Drone Falls Out of the Sky

Drone photography is the next time-lapse (which, incidentally, was the next HDR), but it presents a challenge that the previous two styles never did: safety. In this particular case we don't mean safety of the people around (or rather below) you, but rather the safety of your gear itself.

As we've seen time and again, drones drop from the sky on occasion, and when they do, they rarely survive the journey south... Until now. A new product called DJI DropSafe aims to change all that.

Play Around with Refocusable Images from Pelican Imaging’s ‘Light Field’ Camera for Smartphones

With each passing day, it seems as though light field photography (and its imitators) is becoming more and more ubiquitous. Patents here, rumors there, it’s a conglomeration of what is very likely the next frontier in photography.

And this past week, Pelican Images published a collection of online 3D viewer images captured with its thin light field camera that might be making its way into mobile devices soon.

iOS App Solves the Problem of ‘Overswiping’ When You Hand a Friend your Phone to Look at Photos

Admittedly, it's a VERY first world problem, but a problem it is nonetheless: you hand your friend your phone to look at certain photos you took, and they go on a swiping spree. Immediately your mind goes into overdrive as you try desperately to snag the phone out of their grasp without looking too much like you're hiding something.

We'll call it 'overswiping,' and it's even got its own meme. But you can save your ulcers, because a new app is making sure that overswiping is a thing of the past.

Stop Hiding: Show YOU and You Won’t be ‘Just Another Photographer with Pretty Images’

In the world of photography, we typically hide behind our cameras and our images. Many of us are shy and would prefer to stay behind the camera, not in front of it. And then that starts to extend into our online brand as well.

I can relate. I’ve done this for a long time. But I recently had a meeting that changed everything.

Ghostly Images of WiFi Signals Captured Using Long Exposure Photography and an Android App

So much of the world today is invisible to cameras. Technology operates in a light-less world of zeroes and ones, electromagnetic waves that fly over our heads in ever-increasing abundance.

For his fascinating project Digital Ethereal, designer Luis Hernan set out to capture one of these invisible signals, WiFi, using a creative combination of long exposure photography and an Android app.

iPhone Case Looks to Keep Away Prying Eyes, Eases Privacy Concerns

This is the iPatch, a cheekily-named iPhone case hoping to add an added layer of privacy to your mobile device(s). Currently seeking crowdfunding on HeadFunder, iPatch as an iPhone case with a built-in slider for the front and back cameras that allows you to manually cover them when not in use.