Okay, this video doesn't necessarily have much to do with photography, but we could think of no better way to wake you up on a Monday morning than by sharing this gorgeous footage of creamer being poured into a cup of coffee at 2,000 frames per second.
We introduced you to F-Stop Gear's 'Life in Focus' miniseries when it first debuted back in April. Since then, eight more inspirational episodes of the series have aired, and since we neglected to share them one by one over the last eight months, we thought we'd share them all here as a sort of motivational kick in the pants to end the year on.
The key to creating a good photo-based service is to fill a need that isn't being filled by any other app or website -- a task increasingly difficult as more and more players enter the market. Still, once in a while someone stumbles on an idea that is just the right mix of concepts to create a service really worth your while, and Exposure seems to be just that.
A portrait is a powerful thing. Programs like Help Portrait -- which is dedicated to spreading joy, inspiration and hope by taking portraits of people who have never had one taken before -- are easy proof of this. But just in case you find yourself in need of more proof, the If Only for a Second portrait project is here to provide it.
This is, as they say, an oldie but goodie. Put together all the way back in 2009, this self-portrait time-lapse chronicles one man's journey walking almost all the way across China on his way to Germany. A journey as much about the physical challenge as it was about self-discovery.
There are a lot of photo book makers out there -- even Flicker joined the fray not too long ago -- but one company that we've been really impressed with ever since it debuted is Mosaic, and now, Android users can take advantage of the service as well!
Yaakov Israel was born in 1974 in Jerusalem, Israel where he lives and works. He graduated in 2002 (B.F.A) with honors from the Department of Photography at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem. Since 2004 he is has been teaching photography at some of the most prominent art and photography schools and colleges in Israel.
In his work he constantly investigates the Israeli identity as perceived through architecture, landscape and the people living in his country.
His first Monograph, “The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey,” was recently published by Schilt Publishing from Amsterdam.
It seems LEGOs are quite the muse for many a photo enthusiast, whether they're shooting creative dioramas or cool 'action' scenes. But one type of photography where LEGOs come in particularly handy is stop-motion, and if you don't believe us, check out the video above by Bricktease founder Duncan McConchie.
It's getting harder and harder for photographers who shoot time-lapse to get our attention. You see, they're getting too darn good, and so gorgeous time-lapse after gorgeous time-lapse makes its way across our computer screens forcing us to be very picky.
That said, veteran time-lapse photographer Andrew Walker's recently released "Journey Part 1" time-lapse had no issue getting our approval, because it's absolutely, unequivocally breathtaking.
Although it can't compare to a quality camera, it's hard to deny that the iPhone is capable -- after all, we've seen NY Times cover photos, fashion shoots and even a professional portrait taken using an iPhone as the camera of choice.
We've seen some pretty terrifying stuff captured on action camera before, but this one ties with the skydivers who got hurled into empty space when their planes collided. It was uploaded by a BASE jumper who, on November 24th, took a leap that was almost his last.
Some of the most extraordinary photography we've run across was created by folks who use little to no Photoshop while capturing incredible photos that seem impossible without some manipulation. A great example of this kind of work is Kirsty Mitchell's series Wonderland, where all of the costumes and props are painstakingly put together by hand.
Korean artist Lee JeeYoung, however, takes it to the next level. Not only does she eschew digital manipulation entirely, but all of the fantasy worlds she creates have to fit inside her 360 x 410 x 240 cm studio (approximately 12 x 13.5 x 8 feet).
A couple of weeks ago, we told you that Adobe was extending its special $10/month Photoshop Photography Program (better known around these parts as the 'Photography Bundle') to everybody, even if they didn't own a previous copy of Photoshop.
That deal was supposed to end on December 2nd but, thanks to widespread positive response from photographers, they've decided to extend the deadline to December 8th!
The Polaroid iM1836 has had a rough go of it since it first burst onto the scene at last year's CES. Nobody seemed to think the camera was anything to write home about, and its similarity to Nikon's 1-Series cameras was undeniable.
So undeniable, in fact, that earlier this year, Nikon filed a lawsuit to try to get the iM1836 pulled from the shelves. Yesterday, they succeeded.
In case you haven't noticed, we're fans of quirky camera-themed products that put gear to creative use. Be it a lamp made out of un-fixable retro cameras or a humidifier disguised as a lens, we just like that sort of thing. Phlite, therefore, is right up our alley.
Called crazy or awesome (and sometimes crazy AND awesome... or crazy awesome) depending on who you ask, Phlite transforms your gear into a camera-themed desk, table or floor lamp in seconds, so you can enjoy your gear even when you're not out shooting with it.
Photojournalist Christopher Morris has documented some of the world's hottest war zones, reclusive North Korea and the 2012 Republican National Convention. But it took modern Detroit to totally punk him, with thieves there stealing $15,000 in camera equipment and another crook cheating him out of $200 in reward money later that same day.
Rest easy, future astronauts. If occasional filmmaker and full-time tinkerer Mark Rober and his pals are any indication, NASA engineers can MacGyver their way into or out of any situation.
Selfie, schmelfie! How self-absorbed do you really have to be to spend all of 20 seconds pointing a phone at yourself and tapping a few buttons? But a process that requires up to 15 minutes of statue-still posing, exposure to hazardous chemicals and construction of custom camera? Now that's something worth bragging about.
So all hail pioneering American photographer Robert Cornelius, whose rough but certainly recognizable image, taken mere months after Louis Daugerre revealed his daguerrotype process in 1839, is undoubtedly the world's first photographic self-portrait and may even be the first photographic portrait of any kind.
Sometimes inspiration strikes when you're out in the wild, climbing mountains and taking in breathtaking vistas. Other times, it happens when you're looking after your 7-year-old daughter and playing LEGOs. You can probably guess how photographer Jeff Friesen's 50 States of LEGO series came about.
Once in a while, you wake up in the morning with problems on your mind (or in your Inbox) and immediately start your day in a funk, focused on those problems. It's these mornings that benefit most from some perspective-giving imagery, and perhaps nothing puts our tiny Earth-bound problems in perspective quite as decisively as photographs taken from the International Space Station.
The time-lapses you see above and below will do just that, and do it in spectacular fashion as you fly over the Earth feeling a bit like Superman trying to turn back time (oh, I'm sorry, is my Nerd showing?)
Adventure Sports Photography often doesn't get a lot of attention in the photography world. While street, portrait, and wedding photography seem to reign supreme, this small genre is usually only appreciated in the respective sports it covers.
Which is really quite sad since it showcases some of the most amazing photographers working today. Not only are they able to compose and capture stunning shots, but they often do so in the worst conditions imaginable.
So emergency workers are all over the Brooklyn Bridge, trying to talk down a suicidal man poised to jump. Media people are everywhere, doing their usual sensitive storytelling. A big chunk of the city is holding its breath, waiting to see how the life-and-death drama plays out.
Perfect time for a selfie, right?
What do you do when you're not busy destroying rebel planets, choking out generals and dealing with traumatizing father issues? Why, you grab a quality selfie and upload it to Instagram of course.
PRO Photographer magazine just released an app that it's calling "a new media hub for the connected photographer." More specifically: it's an iPad, iPhone and Android phone app that, for the first time, brings together premium magazine content and live, curated news feeds under one digital roof.
The ability to pull photos out of your camera and onto your computer wirelessly is an incredibly useful tool that many photographers use, but what if you could pull those photos instantly into Lightroom right there on-location? Well, it turns out you can, and it's not all that complicated either.
Swiss photographer and artist Fabian Oefner calls his Disintegrating series of exploded car photographs 'possibly the slowest high-speed images ever taken."
One of the most recent videos to go extremely viral over the past several days involves a behind the scenes look at how a portrait of Morgan Freeman came together... and when we say came together, we mean created from scratch on an iPad by finger-painting!
Stunning, breathtaking, Oh Em Gee, however you want to put it, the photos in this post are incredible to look at and incredibly difficult to capture. Not because it takes any crazy skills to properly photograph the Grand Canyon, but because the atmospheric conditions necessary to make these photos possible happens only about once per decade!
Metabones, maker of the impressive Speedbooster adapters is back at it again. When the Speedbooster first came out, I wrote about it being like magic, increasing the aperture and field-of-view of Nikon and Canon full-frame lenses mounted to NEX and micro 4/3 cameras, while maintaining or even improving image quality. Now they’ve brought the Metabones magic to the Blackmagic cinema and pocket cinema cameras.
When it comes to photo apps, VSCO Cam is one that stands out from the myriad other options out there. But, up until now, only iOS users could enjoy the app that calls itself "the standard of mobile photography." All of that changes today with the release of VSCO Cam for Android.
If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you may have noticed that our news editor DL Cade has been running the show as of late. Here's the reason: for the past 3-4 months, I've been hard at work building a new website and service -- one that we're finally revealing to the world today.
It's called Bokeh, and is a mobile lifeblogging service that lets you save and share all of life's little moments through an easy-to-use app and easy-to-browse website.
Canon owners certainly boast the most advanced custom firmware with Magic Lantern, but Nikon Hacker is making some progress. Case in point: with the release of a new hack, Nikon D5100 owners can now use manual controls while shooting in LiveView.
Last week, photographer Richard Gottardo decided to trek into the Rocky Mountains (not his first time by any means) for a couple of days because, as he puts it, "conditions looked right for some good fog." Two days in the mountains, 620 miles of driving and about 18 hours worth of shooting later, he returned with some gorgeous footage that he was kind enough to send our way.
Canon's first mirrorless camera, the EOS M, received mixed reviews when it first hit the market, mainly because of its slow autofocus. Canon is hoping to address those concerns with the newly-announced EOS M2, but it looks like this one might not even make it to the US or Europe.
This is certainly not the first time we've shared a video uploaded to YouTube by a frustrated videographer whose shots were consistently ruined by the photographers at the wedding, but this might be the most extreme example we've seen.
Try all the tricky ski moves and skateboard jumps you want, but it'll be hard to beat the latest action video auteur -- a curious Australian sea eagle who snagged a wildlife camera to create a brief but exciting aerial tour of his neighborhood.
"Put down that phone and eat!" That's what a lot of frustrated cooks must have been yelling Thursday, as Instagram set a new one-day record for uploads thanks to the overlapping of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.
In the past, before resumes, interviews and portfolios, there was the master/apprentice relationship. If you wanted to learn a trade, craft or skill, you sought out a master of that skill and humbly asked for their tutelage.
That system has all but disappeared where most professions are concerned, but photographer Trey Ratcliff wants to bring it back into the world of the arts, and he's doing it through a newly-formed online "Magical Academy for the Mastery of the Arts" that he's calling "The Arcanum."
Media giant Clear Channel recently stirred up some controversy when it decided to flat out reject an advertising image of an American soldier embracing a veiled Muslim woman from its Times Square billboards due to its 'uncomfortable' nature.
Kevin Parry and Andrea Nesbitt of Candy Glass Productions have a thing for creating 'spinning' hyperlapses that make you feel like you're flying around a landmark at super-speed. But while they've taken on landmarks like the CN tower and a few notable San Francisco locations before, they recently took their craft to the next level when they decided to 'spin' an entire mountain. (Note: Spinning mountain starts at 1:15 in the video above).
Usually we try to stay away from traumatizing you at the very beginning of the week, but this week, we'll make an exception. The video above started out as a tutorial on how to quickly attach and detach a lens "just like a pro"; it turned into a cringeworthy photographer fail.
Photographers have the power to make dreams come true, and if you've ever doubted that statement you won't after watching the video above and hearing the story behind it -- a story that includes a sweet, sick woman's shy email, and a photographer's determination to come through no matter what.
It's in the Oxford Dictionaries Online, it's even been dubbed the word of the year 2013, and now, it's also a highly secure way to encrypt your personal data. We're talking, of course, about the selfie, which added the last of those three abilities to its repertoire recently with the debut of iOS app FaceCrypt.
There's something inspirational about watching a seasoned photographer work at his craft -- whether it's a studio photog who molds light to his will or a street photographer whose demeanor and results both scream professionalism.
Jack Simon falls under the latter of those categories, and in the video above, fellow street photographer Eric Kim takes us behind the scenes with Simon as he walks the streets of San Francisco.
One of the more difficult things about being a creative is having to come up with fresh ideas on a daily basis, constantly challenging yourself and expanding your horizons. These things aren't always easy and it's not uncommon to find yourself in a creative rut with (seemingly) nowhere to turn.
Thankfully, there's a new app in town that is designed to help you out of those kinds of situations while simultaneously keeping you on your game even when you are inspired. It's called OKDOTHIS.
A few commenters have on occasion joked that we need to add a "tenuous links to photography" category for those stories where, strictly speaking, there's not much photography involved. The video above might quality, but we ask your forgiveness ahead of time because, a) there is a link, and b) it is one of the most touching, uplifting and inspirational things we've seen in a long time.
Sometimes you run across a photo that causes you to feel equal parts wonder and envy all at the same time. Wonder because the photo is just amazing; and envy because... well... you didn't take it. The photo above by photographer Guido Montañés is such a photo.
If you're in the US and you've decided to brave Black Friday to get the most recent must-have Elmo, here's an awesome London time-lapse that'll give you a chance to escape the Black Friday madness, if not the crowds, for a few minutes.
This is just awesome: professional-looking product photography done using nothing more than a tripod, an iPad, an iPhone and your camera of choice. Given the extremely affordable nature of the process, the results are downright epic.
Photographers around the country are banding together to figure out the best way to help out a once-prominent photojournalist who has ended up homeless and panhandling on the streets of Manhattan.