January 2015

Sony World Photography Awards Adds a Smartphone Category for 2015

Another sign of the times: the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards has announced that they will be launching an entirely new award today dedicated to mobile photography. Organizers say that the new award recognizes "how mobile photography has helped redefine the way in which photographers approach their art."

Write Your Signature with a Long Exposure Photo of the Moon

Ever since light painting exploded onto the scene some years ago, writing your signature by waving a light source in a long exposure has become a very common photo idea. But have you ever tried writing your signature by waving your camera at the moon?

That's what photographer John Kraus attempted recently, and the photo above shows the results of his effort.

Illusion of Lights: A Time-Lapse of the Night Sky Above the Western United States

In 2013, photographer Brad Goldpaint and his wife Marci quit their day jobs, sold all of their possessions, and began living out of a motorhome while traveling through the Western United States. Their new career was teaching photography workshops while educating the public about the damaging effects of light pollution.

As the duo moved from place to place through some of the nation's most pristine wilderness areas, Goldpaint spent countless nights out in the dark, capturing long exposure photos over many hours with his camera gear. The images have since been put together into an independent stop-motion film titled “Illusion of Lights: A Journey into the Unseen.” Above is the film's trailer.

Keepers of the Streak: A Film About the 4 Guys Who Have Photographed Every Super Bowl

Countless photographs have been captured by numerous photographers over the course of Super Bowl history, but only four photographers have covered all 48 Big Games since Super Bowl I in 1967: John Biever, Walter Iooss, Mickey Palmer and Tony Tomsic.

"Keepers of the Streak" is a new documentary film by sports photographer Neil Leifer that chronicles the journey of those four men. Above is the official trailer for the movie.

World of Warcraft Adds a Selfie Camera for Capturing Virtual Duckfaces

The "selfie" has made quite an impact on our culture in the past couple of years. The word was selected as Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year in 2013 and the keyword grew by over 2000% in the stock photo industry in 2014.

Companies have also been riding the selfie's popularity to make their products more "hip" -- Fujifilm's latest mirrorless camera is one example. The latest brand to do so is Blizzard, which is incorporating new selfie cameras into its popular World of Warcraft video game.

What If Clients Don’t Really Need ‘Professional Photography’?

Author's disclaimer: This article is aimed toward commercial, business-to-business photographers. Consumer photographers may get something from it as well, but there are different market forces at work in that genre.

Yes… it is sort of a “link-bait” sounding headline, but I worked hard trying to figure out how to say it without sounding like I was tricking you into reading something far off the mark.

And here is why I think it is on the mark; photography has become ubiquitous. It has become the ordinary and the mundane, the avocation and the whimsical. With the advent of digital, 80-90% of the tools photographers needed to make photographs were eliminated. The learning curve was now no more than a bump for those wanting to simply record what they see as a photograph.

Camera Drone Crashes Onto White House Lawn and Causes More Wariness of Drones

Photographers have long been grumbling about the FAA's tight regulations for camera drone usage, and the actions of one operator over in Washington DC aren't going to help the cause. An anonymous DJI Phantom owner and government employee crashed his DJI Phantom quadcopter on the White House lawn yesterday morning, causing a lock down of the President's residence.

Macro Photos That Focus In on the Beautiful Details of Ordinary Things

Can you tell what the translucent object is in the photograph above? It's a single grain of sugar captured in a macro photograph by artist Pyanek, whose "Amazing Worlds Within Our World" project is a series of macro shots that show the beautiful details of ordinary things -- things that we generally don't (or can't) see with our naked eyes.

Walk Through a Wedding: 20 BTS Videos That Cover a Wedding from Start to Finish

Last year, lighting company Profoto teamed up with New England-based wedding photographers Justin and Mary Marantz to create a series of behind-the-scenes videos showing how the duo goes about shooting a wedding from start to finish. The Walk Through a Wedding series started in February 2014 and ended in December of that year with 20 short videos.

Identity At Play: Basketball Culture In the Sierra Norte Villages of Mexico

I grew up in Guelatao de Juárez, a Mexican village of approximately 500 people in Oaxaca's Sierra Norte. Guelatao is famous not only as the birthplace of Mexican president Benito Juárez, but also as the site of the annual Copa Benito Juárez, in which more than 200 teams of indigenous Zapotec, Mixe, and Chinantec players compete at basketball over a period of three days.

W. Eugene Smith Considered Darkroom Work to be 90% of a Photo’s Creation Process

American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith was widely praised for his devotion to photography and for pioneering the use of the photo essay to tell stories. He is said to have "created at least fifty images so powerful that they have changed the perception of our history."

There's one little fact about how Smith worked that may be of great interest to photographers these days, especially as debates rage on regarding the merits of "straight out of camera" (SOOC. i.e. non-Photoshopped) photography: Smith believed that most of what makes a photo is done in the darkroom rather than in the camera.

The Leatherman Tread Moves Your Multi-Tool Out of Your Camera Bag and Onto Your Wrist

Depending on the type of photography you're involved in, a multi-tool may be one of the invaluable items found inside your camera bag. If so, Leatherman has a new product for you called the Tread. Upon first glance, the product may look like a sleek but rather ordinary metal bracelet, but look a little closer and you'll see that it's actually a fancy new multi-tool that puts 25 separate tools around your wrist.

Words of Wisdom for Photographers by Renowned Photojournalist Steve McCurry

Last month, we shared a popular video in which photojournalist Steve McCurry talked about the danger of focusing on your destination so much that you miss your journey. That clip was actually from a series of videos in which McCurry shares wisdom he has learned over the decades of traveling the world and hunting for photos that will be remembered.

How USA Today Photographers Shoot a Hollywood Awards Show

USA Today created this short behind-the-scenes video that offers a glimpse into how its staff photographers go about covering the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards ceremony, one of Hollywood's major award events that's attended by some of television and cinema's biggest celebrities.

A Look Into the Life and Work of Surf Photographer Zak Noyle

Zak Noyle is a surf photographer based out of Oahu, Hawaii who's considered to be one of the best in the business. He became the senior staff photographer of Surfer Magazine when he was just 25 years old, and his work has appeared in numerous magazines (e.g. ESPN, SI, Nat Geo) and advertisements (e.g. Billabong, Chanel).

Call of Duty Ad Imagines the Crazy Man Behind the KillCam Camera

A common feature of first person shooter video games is an instant replay that pops up every time your character is killed, showing you exactly how you met your demise. Above is a new ad for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that features Randal Higgins, the imaginary cameraman behind the game's "KillCam". (Warning: There's some strong language).

24 Tips by Legendary Filmmaker Werner Herzog

German filmmaker Werner Herzog is considered by some to be "the most important film director alive." Writer and fellow filmmaker Paul Cronin recently published a book of conversations with the legendary film director, titled "Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed." The back cover of the book features 24 pieces of advice by Herzog -- words of wisdom he picked up over the decades.