February 2016

Here's a recent episode from the Science Channel's show How It's Made that shows how modern camera tripods are manufactured. We get a tour of a Manfrotto tripod factory, starting from when aluminum tubes are sliced to specific lengths by precise machines and up through when tubes are joined through custom housings by hand.

This surreal photo-manipulation is titled "A Dream," and it was created using a single photograph that was edited in Photoshop. In this post I'll provide a step-by-step walkthrough of how it was made to show you how you can make a similar image yourself.

Sigma today dropped a surprise bomb on the camera industry by announcing a pair of formidable mirrorless cameras. While the DP Quattro packed Sigma's Foveon sensors, the fixed lenses and unwieldy designs weren't popular among photographers.

Last week we shared some stunning photos of "Firefall," the phenomenon that occurs in Yosemite during the last 2 weeks of February each year, when the Sun lines up just perfectly with Horsetail Fall on El Capitan to make it look like glowing lava.

One of the highly touted features in Canon's new 80D DSLR is the Dual Pixel autofocus system, which uses ever pixel on the CMOS sensor for phase-detect AF.

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS features a 50x optical zoom lens, the equivalent of a 24-1200mm in 35mm terms. Combined with its 4x digital zoom, the camera has a reach of 200x. The video above is a mind-bending demonstration of how powerful a 200x zoom is. It was filmed by YouTuber TheSleeb during a trip through Bilbao, Spain.

Sigma today announced a new groundbreaking 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art APS-C lens, the first telephoto zoom lens with a constant f/1.8 aperture. The company also unveiled a 30mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary mirrorless lens, the first affordable f/1.4 for that segment.

Nikon just announced a completely new line of premium compact cameras. The DL series (the DL stands for "Digital Lens") is geared toward serious photographers and packs powerful 1-inch sensors into cameras of different focal lengths. The series launches with the DL18-50 f/1.8-2.8, DL24-85 f/1.8-2.8, and DL24-500 f/2.8-5.6.

Swedish photographer Mattias Burling recently decided to experiment with shooting 4K video with his Microsoft Lumia 950 smartphone... through his collection of Nikon SLR lenses. Using an old 35mm adapter, Burling put together a rig that lets him shoot with a Nikkor 25mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.4, and 17-35mm f/2.8.

Zacharie Turgeon is a photographer based in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. While he normally shoots with a digital camera, Turgeon decided at the last minute to take his Canon 35mm film SLR on a recent trip to Asia. It turned out to be the best decision he made.

In this post I'll be sharing the best one light portrait setup I've ever used. I'll come clean right off the bat here and say that I stumbled across this little super easy lighting technique more by luck than skill.

Cambits is a new modular camera being developed by scientists over in Columbia Engineering’s Computer Vision Laboratory. It's a set of colorful plastic blocks that can be assembled into a custom camera of your choice.

Warning: this is a rant. This one just left me shaking my head. Sure, there are probably times when you think the words “Photography Experience Not Required” might be completely applicable or acceptable. But how about in a job listing for a camera store?

Samsung today announced a new virtual reality camera called the Samsung Gear 360. It's a ball-shaped camera that lets anyone easily capture 360-degree photos and videos.

This is the cheapest yet most effective photography hack I can think of. Step one: get disc reflector. Step two: cut lens-sized hole in said reflector. Step three: profit.

Tamron today announced a new accessory that helps photographers apply firmware updates and custom settings to Tamron lenses. It's called the Tamron TAP-in Console.

Tamron today announced a new 85mm f/1.8 VC lens, the world's first fast-aperture telephoto lens with Vibration Compensation (VC), and a 90mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Adobe today launched Lightroom on Android 2.0, the world's first end-to-end RAW mobile photography solution. It's an app that lets you shoot, edit, and share RAW/DNG photos using an Android smartphone.

There are a number of video and computer games out there that feature photography as a prominent in-game element. "Firewatch" takes the idea a step further.

If you are willing to get up early or stay up super late, Milky Way season is back in North America! Above is a shot I made on February 14th, 2016, in Sedona, Arizona. This image was taken at 5:45 AM, just prior to sunrise. Something I tried for the first time with this photo is taking 10 consecutive shots of the sky at a higher ISO (5000) and shorter shutter speed (15s), and then stacking the photos, which gives you awesome pinpoint stars with minimal noise.

Someone Photoshopped Ronda Rousey's arm without her knowing, and the mixed martial arts star is publicly apologizing for the picture.

I was internalizing a dialogue I had the other day after seeing a mistake someone made on how they presented their thoughts and the reaction it received, when I realized that what I was actually doing was telling myself what I wish I knew early on in my career. It encompassed some mistakes along the way, and some key points that I feel some people may benefit from reading.

Gulf Photo Plus 2016 just wrapped up in Dubai this week, and this year's event featured another ShootOut, which pitted 2 well-known photographers against each other on stage to see who could create the best shot of the same subject.

My name is Aram Pan, and I'm a photographer documenting North Korea through 360° panoramas, photos and videos. I’d like to share with everyone my experience with what I call “copyright infringement abuse.” …

World Press Photo yesterday announced the winners of its 2016 contest, honoring the best news photos captured in 2015. Above is a breakdown of the cameras that were used by the photographers who were honored by photojournalism's biggest prize.

The Southern California-based startup company Aurora Aperture has just announced a new variable neutral density filter called the PowerXND 2000. With a range of 4 to 11 stops, the filter is the world's most powerful, according to the company.

"Normal" stock photos often feature scenes and situations that would be incredibly strange if you ever saw them actually happening in real life. DigitalRev made this humorous 3-minute video that reveals what's actually happening in those generic stock shots of business people, doctors, and scientists.

Photographer Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens made this short 8-minute video with 7 easy ways you can lose your photography clients.

The British company Bullitt yesterday announced its new Cat S60 rugged smartphone, the world's first to feature a built-in thermal imaging camera. The product is essentially a fusion between Bullitt's Cat smartphones and FLIR's thermal camera technology.

My name name is Rustam Azmi, and I'm a photographer based in Dubai. I recently captured this photo of lightning striking the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper. In this post I'll share a little about how the shot was made.

Have you ever wondered why some Canon lenses are white while most other lenses in the industry are black? No, it's not just for aesthetics and marketing... Canon has a technical reason for it: heat reduction.

For a short time every February, when conditions are just right, Horsetail Falls in Yosemite gets transformed by a phenomenon known as "firefall." When the sunlight hits the water just right, the waterfall looks like molten lava flowing down the side of El Capitan.

NPR's All Things Considered aired this interesting 5-minute segment that discusses Japanese internment camp photos of photographers Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and Toyo Miyatake.

Whoa. Sigma is on the brink of shaking up the camera lens industry yet again with another groundbreaking Art lens. Next week, on February 23rd, 2016, Sigma will reportedly announce a new 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens -- a zoom lens with an unusually large f/1.8 fixed aperture.

My name is Brian Podnos, and my wife Donna and I run an architectural photography company called Donna Dotan Photography. We were recently commissioned to create a giant 60-foot photo of Citifield with New York City in the background at twilight. Here's a look at how we made the photo.

Clifton Cameras in the UK is asking for help this week after a CCTV surveillance camera caught two thieves stealing £4,000 (~$5,700) worth of Sony cameras and lenses from the company's camera store in Dursley, Gloucestershire.

As with many major cities around the world, the bustling streets of Tokyo, Japan, are filled with advertisements that vie for your attention as you pass through. French graphic designer Nicolas Damiens wanted to see what the city would look like if every single advertisement were removed, so he shot some photos of ad-filled locations and then digitally removed the ads. The resulting series is titled "Tokyo No Ads."

People often complain about how terrible they look in their passport photos, and it doesn't help that the US government has some pretty strict requirements regarding the layout, lighting, and composition. That's probably why everyone seems to be talking about Prince's official passport pic, which the musician shared with the world recently.

A year has passed since the controversial World Press Photo contest in which 20% of the finalists were disqualified the prestigious award was stripped from the winner, and today World Press Photo just announced the best news photos of 2015.

A baby dolphin was killed in Argentina last week after beachgoers scooped it out of the water and passed it around for selfies. The incident has sparked outrage from animal rights activists and warnings from a wildlife foundation.

Canon just announced two new high-end compact cameras for advanced amateurs and pros who are looking for solid image quality in a portable body. Say hello to the powerful PowerShot G7 X Mark II and the lightweight PowerShot SX720 HS.

Canon's new 80D DSLR has a new 18-135mm kit lens, and that kit lens has a fancy new accessory. It's called the Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E1, and Canon says it's the "world’s first detachable zoom adapter that provides silent and smooth zoom."

Canon just announced the 80D DSLR, and unveiled alongside the camera was a new 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM kit lens (28.8-216mm in 35mm terms). The new lens is the first Canon lens that features a new type of focusing motor called Nano USM.

Canon today announced the new 80D, a mid-range crop sensor successor to the 70D.

Pentax is finally in the full frame DSLR game. Ricoh today announced the new Pentax K-1, a camera that it claims "offers innovations not available in any other DSLR."

Using a single, ordinary still camera, you can shoot a traditional 2D static portrait of a person. With an array of multiple still cameras, you can stitch together a 3D portrait. To add yet another dimension, you can use video cameras instead of still cameras.

Becoming a professional photographer is pretty "easy" in one sense, yet incredibly "hard" in another. The lower and lower barriers of entry makes jumping in easy, but developing yourself and your business in the industry can be a challenge that takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication.

There are often stories of huge (and often hilarious) Photoshop fails in the advertising industry, in which models are seen with extra limbs or ridiculous body proportions.