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Did you know that Adobe Photoshop was almost Nikon Photoshop? It's true -- in 1988 at the MacWorld tradeshow, two brothers approached Nikon and offered them the rights to an image editing program they had developed. The brothers were Thomas and John Knoll, and the program they had created was called Photoshop.

With a suggested retail price of £19,800 (currently about $32,000) and only 500 units in existence, Leica's limited edition M9 Titanium probably isn't a camera you're ever going to lay eyes on in real life. When it was announced back in September of last year, we predicted that most of them wouldn't see the light of day and would be placed immediately into collectors' vaults. Luckily for us, someone decided to actually unbox (gasp!) one of these babies (camera #164), allowing us to see what …

You know you're a professional photojournalist when you try to take good care of your cameras but they still end up look like these.

Last Friday the art collective THIS had a gallery opening during which a patron asked to use the restroom shortly before closing time. Turns out it wasn't just to relieve themselves -- the person brazenly snatched a one-of-a-kind Polaroid photograph of Dennis Hopper taken by Jason Lee off the wall and walked off with it. Now Lee is personally offering a $25,000 reward for the return of the photograph.

If you think the expression on these people's faces don't look like ordinary street portraits, it's because they're actually looking at themselves in a mirror. Moa Karlberg captured these unique candid portraits of strangers by using a one-way mirror, capturing what it looks like when people look at reflections of themselves.

Think it's difficult to muster up enough courage for street photography? At least strangers don't eat you! This wildlife photographer got quite a scare while shooting a pride of lions when a lioness decides to investigate him. Luckily, he escapes without a scratch and now has a great story to tell his buddies.

With the limited lens and sensor sizes of cell phone cameras, the megapixel race isn't really doing much to improve the quality of the resulting photos. A new startup called Pelican Imaging thinks it can revolutionize the game by increasing quality without focusing on megapixels. Instead, they use an array of 25 micro-cameras to capture each image, processing the data into a single photograph with fancy software. If all goes well, future cell phones will be taking much nicer photos while still …

Rockie Nolan captured these beautiful photographs of vintage cameras placed next to matching shoes. It's the perfect fashion guide for vintage photo geeks! …

At CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show that just kicked off today in Japan, Sony is showing off a see-through prototype of an upcoming translucent mirror A77 camera. It will replace the A700 DSLR as a mid-range to high-end shooter, will shoot AVCHD video at 1080p with a APS-C sensor, and will be available sometime in the middle of this year. Not much else is known about the camera at this point. Looks like the whole translucent mirror thing is working well for Sony.

One of the many thank you notes Leah Dieterich has on her "thank you note a day" blog, thxthxthx.

Remember Wafaa Bilal, that NYU professor that decided to have a camera implanted on the back of his skull? Well, turns out the human body doesn't like it when random electronic devices are fused with it, so the cost of having the camera on his nogging has been antibiotic and steroid treatments to get the body to ignore the thing. Despite the treatments, his body still decided to reject one of the three posts onto which the camera is screwed, forcing him to have the camera and one of the posts …

You might have framed photographs up in your home, but what about using an entire wall to show off your pictures? Photographer Lyanne Wylde turned her hallway into a photo wall by putting up wallpaper with frames and slowly filling in the frames with her own photographs. You can buy the wallpaper, titled "Frames", yourself from Graham & Brown for $45 a roll and start your own wall!

Nikon announced the high-end compact P300 today to compete against the likes of Canon's popular S95 and Olympus' XZ-1. First, the good things -- the 12 megapixel camera has a sweet f/1.8 24-100mm equivalent lens that should perform quite nicely in low light situations (especially with an ISO that can be boosted up to 3200). It can also record HD video at 1080p and 30fps, and has a 3-inch LCD that's easy on the eyes.

External hard drives are a convenient way to store your digital photographs, but they have finite lifetimes and eventually fail. Failing drives have a number of distinctive sounds that can warn you and give you some time to start a data-exodus to a healthier hard drive. Datacent, a data recovery company, has a useful page on which you can listen to some of the most common "bad drive sounds". These are categorized by manufacturer, and include things like stuck spindles, disk heads crashing, …

For Christmas, I received a Canon 60D. I’m definitely still learning how to use it, but I’m excited to have it. The first big problem I encountered, besides the need for more regular exercise so I can lift the beast, is that I am going to lose the camera lens cap. I take this cover off the lens and leave it everywhere. I had the camera for about 4 days before I was considering checking the price on replacing it. Lucky for me, I came up with a better idea while I still knew where it was.

Sigma isn't planning to let EVIL cameras have all the large-sensor fun. They've decided to stuff their new DP2x compact camera with a Foveon X3 sensor -- similar to the ones found in the Sigma SD15 and SD1 DSLR cameras (about 12 times larger than traditional compact camera sensors). The camera is capable of capturing 14 megapixels worth of data with its stack of three sensors, generating 4.7 megapixel photographs. It also shoots RAW, lacks HD recording (video clips are a paltry 320x240), has a …

What would a calendar look like if the world was run by photography geeks? Photographer David Schloss woke up one morning with the idea of creating such a calendar, with days being incremented by 1/3 f/stops, and the year being ISO 2000. He's also selling them as t-shirts for $15 a pop over on Mac Create.

A day after Carl Zeiss announced they would be joining the Micro Four Thirds format, Sony is striking back by announcing that they will be releasing specifications for its E-mount, allowing lens makers to develop third-party lenses for the NEX line of mirrorless cameras and camcorders. What's more, Carl Zeiss, Cosina, Sigma and Tamron have already committed to manufacturing lenses for the format.

What would it look like if you tripped and with a Pentax Spotmatic F camera in hand, and it somehow smashed neatly into its most basic components? Artist Todd McLellan gives us an idea by taking one apart, neatly arranging it on a table, and photographing it in a style similar to Carl Kleiner's IKEA baking book shots.

Pete Eckert didn't start out too seriously in photography. Trained in sculpture and industrial design, he was working as a carpenter when one day a doctor diagnosed him with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition that leads to permanent blindness. He eventually discovered photography and has been doing amazing work since. The beautifully made video above sheds light on how he goes about creating art despite his visual impairment.

I had some stuff lying around as well as saw some parts as I was out and thought this would be fun to make. I have around $20 invested in parts. On eBay I saw ring lights for anywhere around $40 on up, so this will save you money and it was fun to make.

We don't post deals here very often, but when really good ones pop up we do (e.g. $5 photo magazines last month). Well, right now you can snag a Pisen Lens Cleaning Pen with Two Heads over at Meritline for only $1.19 with shipping included. Simply add the thing to your cart and enter the code MLCK400237020871AL1 into the coupon field at checkout.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how Annie Leibovitz went about shooting Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette for Vogue magazine. Back in August 2010 we also shared a video of Leibovitz shooting Sean Connery for Louis Vuitton.

Canon is on a tear today with its announcements. In addition to new Rebel cameras and new entry level flashes, they also have some lens news. First, they're releasing new versions of their 500mm and 600mm lenses, but even more interesting is the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x lens they announced the development of. This is a zoom lens that has a 1.4x teleconverter built right in. Once you switch it on, it instant turns into a 280-560mm f/5.6 lens!

The Micro Four Thirds system is apparently headed somewhere big, as more and more lens companies are joining in on the action. Just a few days ago Schneider Kreuznach announced they would be joining the system, and now Carl Zeiss is joining too, bringing 160+ of producing quality glass to future MFT cameras.

In addition to two new entry-level DSLRs, Canon is also releasing two new entry-level flash units, the 320EX and 270EX II. The 320EX includes a built-in LED light designed to provide illumination for video recording DSLRs, can be assigned to one of four channels, and can be wirelessly controlled with the newly announced T3i/600D. The 270EX II is a compact, lightweight flash that swivels in four positions ranging from 0 to 90 degrees, and can be wirelessly triggered but does not have channel …

We've featured a Brownie camera clock in the past, but that one was a custom-made gift. Minnesota-based artist Debra Dresler converts vintage cameras into clocks as well, but makes them available for purchase. You can buy this clock made from a Brownie Hawkeye Flash Model camera for $165 over at UncommonGoods.

Canon has just announced two new Rebel DSLRs, the Rebel T3 (aka 1100D) and the Rebel T3i (aka 600D). The entry-level T3 is a 12.2 megapixel camera with a 2.7-inch LCD screen, an ISO range of 100-6400, HD video recording, and a 9-point autofocus system. The T3i is a step up, offering many of the basic features of the T3, but also 18 megapixels of resolution, 3.7fps continuous shooting, built-in wireless flash control, and a swiveling 3-inch LCD screen. The T3 will be available at the end of …

Even if you know how to operate your SLR camera and external shoe-mount flashes, you might not have any understanding of the complicated, technical mojo going on that limit and affect your photography. This uber-informative lesson by photographer Paul Duncan brings you up to speed on how things like focal plane shutters and "second curtain sync" work.

Landscape and architectural photographer David Kaplan captured this stunning photograph of the Moon and Venus rising above the village of Trübbach in Switzerland.

Here's a cool and creative video that will only take 6 seconds of your time. Photographs from 3 different locations were taken every day over the course of six months, converted to HDR imagery, and combined into this short time-lapse video that shows the changing of a face and of seasons.

Update: This giveaway is now over. The winner was randomly selected and can be found below.

A new limited edition Pentax K-r has emerged to steal the award for "ugliest looking DSLR" from the Korejanai robot edition one we shared last year. The camera is designed for fan's of the Japanese singer Bonnie Pink and will cost $1,100 when they're available in March 2011. Luckily, mankind will only be cursed with 100 of these cameras.

If you use the LCD on your DSLR for shooting images or video, you probably know how much of a pain it is when sunlight shines directly on it, preventing you from seeing whether the scene is in focus. LCD viewfinders solve that problem, but can have devastating effects on your wallet. If you're just a hobbyist that wants a simple LCD viewfinder for cheap, this video tutorial will teach you how to make one with items you probably have lying around the house worth $5.

Elizabeth Clark, an industrial design student at the California College of the Arts, was given the assignment of designing a camera in one of her classes, and came up with this Leica "E-System" DSLR. Her goal was to develop a product that breaks free from traditional SLR designs and appeals to multiple generations of photographers. An interesting aspect of the camera is that the materials used for the exterior include warm leather and wood accents... A wooden DSLR -- now that would be something! …

Patryk Kizny created this short HDR time-lapse film titled "The Chapel" that explores the inside of a Protestant chapel located in Zeliszów, Poland built in 1797. The HDR imagery gives the video a eerily beautiful surreal look that makes the video look like it came from a video game.

If you're not content with having a massive telephoto lens for your DSLR camera, you can get one for your cell phone as well! The Conice Zoom Lens is a 6x lens for the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S, or Sony Xperia 10 that makes your phone look absolutely ridiculous.

You can now visit some of the most famous art museums in the world the same way you visit streets in the Street View of Google Maps. Art Project is a new Google website that uses Street View technology to make 17 top museums accessible to people who might not otherwise visit them.

Flickr user Chris Devers recently found that one of his photographs had been used by The Gap as a design for children's clothes (here and here). The photo itself was published under a Creative Commons license requiring attribution, non-commercial use, and no derivative works -- usage conditions that were completely ignored.

Here's a nifty behind-the-scenes video tutorial by photographer Jay P. Morgan that shows how to make a cheap DIY rain machine for adding rain to your photographs.

If you're in need of a creative idea for a portrait of your family, check out this one by Flickr user Tu Do -- it's like the "Inception" of family portraits.

This DIY viewfinder was created using LEGO bricks and components from a disposable camera and CD-ROM drive. It adds an optical viewfinder to the Sony NEX-5's electronic one, providing a view equivalent to a 24mm or 28mm lens, and mounts neatly to the camera via the hot shoe.

When Mirco Wilhelm tried to log into his Flickr account yesterday, he was surprised to find that his 5-year-old Pro account with roughly 4,000 photographs had completely vanished. It then dawned on him that only a week earlier he had reported another account for posting stolen photographs.

Beth Blafka (known as bethtastic on Etsy) makes hand casted resin bangles that look like old film negatives. Each one is hand made -- and therefore unique -- and costs $65 from her store. At this price it's a fashion accessory that fits between the focal length gel bracelets ($10) and the cuffs created from old lenses ($201) that we featured before.

Ever wish you could take shallow depth of field photos on your iPhone that look like they were taken with a DSLR and large aperture lens? With an app called SynthCam you can. You simply aim the camera at a foreground object, press Record, and then slowly move the phone around a little while keeping it aimed at the subject. The app will then create a "synthetic aperture photograph" that blurs the background while keeping the subject you locked onto in focus.

Sony has just announced two new 16.2-megapixel cameras that pack a lot of zoom into compact bodies. The DSC-HX100V (on left) includes a 27mm Carl Zeiss lens with 30x optical zoom, or the equivalent of a 27-810mm lens on 35mm film. The DSC-HX9V packs a smaller 24mm Sony lens with 16x optical zoom, but is still the equivalent of a 24-384mm lens.

Ann Arbor-based physician and photography-enthusiast Stephen Rosenblum was visiting the Breckenridge International Snow Sculpture competition when he came across this giant large format camera that some giant snowman must have accidentally dropped earlier. The 12-foot tall camera was even hollowed out to look realistically like the inside of bellows from behind.

Davy and Kristin McGuire created a magical pop-up book by projecting video recorded with a Canon 5D Mark II onto its pages, creating a 3D effect and placing miniature people into the scenes.

Sony has been gaining ground on Canon and Nikon lately by focusing on innovation, creating new technologies and entering the mirrorless market early while the two mega-corps have mostly been content with playing it safe with their popular products. Sony recently filed an interesting patent in Japan that shows some of this creative thinking at work. It's a design for a compact camera in which the panel that hides the lens on the front of the camera turns into a camera grip when the lens is …

DOF Calculator is an app for Android phones that helps you easily calculate depth of field and hyperfocal distances. Simply tell it your camera, lens, and aperture setting, and it'll spit out the numbers you need for optimally sharp landscape photographs. You can download it for free by searching for "DOF Calculator" in the Android Market.