Earlier this year, wedding photographer Lexia Frank published a series of 4 short videos that teach how to properly pose models in order to minimize possibly undesirable features. The first video focuses on removing double chins, the second on hiding the upper body, the third on cutting inches off the waist, and the last on posing your model’s feet correctly.
Whether you are shooting outside or in a studio, reflectors help you make sure that light is hitting your subject exactly how you want it. Typically, reflectors will have a silver side and a white side for varying intensities of light -- they can also cost quite a bit of money. This short video by photographer JP Morgan of The Slanted Lens shows how you can go with a cheaper DIY solution.
Photographers are often advised to carry their camera gear onto an airplane rather than check it in with luggage. If you'd like to see what goes on behind the scenes with checked-in luggage, check out this interesting video by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands, which strapped a camera to a piece of baggage and put it through the maze-like conveyor belt system.
Well, this is a bit... awkward. Getty Images recently threatened a lawsuit against German blog Get Digital, which had published the famous ‘Socially Awkward Penguin’ meme without first obtaining permission.
That is right: you technically need permission to use the meme. According to Getty Images, the meme contains an image originally shot by nature photographer George F. Mobley. The blog ended up paying Getty Images $868 for the copyright violation.
Olloclip is a company that may need no introduction for many of you after their quick change lens system for the iPhone took Kickstarter by storm in 2011. Since then, the company has been kicking out a number of exciting and creative products for mobile phone shooters. The latest photographic toolset to emerge from Olloclip’s lab is the new Macro Pro Lens for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
How much would you pay to celebrate 100 years of Leica photography? The Leica Store in Miami recently asked that question and found over 100 people who were willing to pay out $55,000 for a limited edition ‘Leica M Set’. Now, Leica is asking that same question yet again, but with a pre-production camera set from an even more finite collection... and a much higher price tag.
Ricoh has announced the new Theta S, the latest in the company’s lineup of 360-degree cameras. The Theta S features two 12 MP sensors that interpolate with each other to output high-resolution 14.4 MP spherical still images or full 1080p HD video at 30fps. The device is also capable of streaming live video via its built-in USB or HDMI port and is compatible with Google’s Street View technology.
Google set out in 2007 to create an ambitious effort called Street View: a project aimed at providing panoramic views of individual streets around the world. The unique feature, which has since been copied by other mapping services, has, on Android devices, lived within the Google Maps app. Now, however, Street View is breaking free into its own separate application, and it includes a few features for capturing and sharing your own photospheres.
Nothing seems to be a more tedious task than the need to fill out paperwork. Especially if the paperwork has to be sent back and forth between you and a client multiple times. Luckily, Agree.com is a website that aims at making contracts easy to compile and sign for photographers (and videographers, designers, and more). Let’s take a moment to try out the service and is if it delivers on its promise of simplicity.
Every year, Crankworx Whistler hosts a Deep Summer Photo Challenge that pits six elite mountain biking photographers against each other. The shooters have three days to put together the best and most epic slideshow they can, and the results are judged by a panel of judges, the audience at the event, and online voters. Two photographers each walk away from Whistler, British Columbia, with a $3,500 prize.
Being able to capture and preserve memories is at the heart of everyday photography. In 2012, Narrative (then called Momento) took to Kickstarter to fund their new "lifelogging" camera that clips to a user and automatically captures a photo every 30 seconds. The second generation of the Narrative was then unveiled earlier this year. Today, Narrative announced that its second camera will also offer 1080p HD video recording when it's available later this month.
Panasonic has introduced a brand new lens to their Micro Four Thirds system lineup at IFA 2015 in Berlin, along with color tweaks for three of their existing pieces of glass. The new Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH is making its debut, while the company’s existing 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6, 45-150mm f/4-5.6, and 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 will soon all be offered in a ‘matte black’ color finish.
Videographers wielding the Panasonic GH4 will be excited to learn that the company will soon be making a compelling new update available. Firmware version 2.3 will allow GH4 cameras to shoot with a new ‘V-Log’ recording mode that enables the camera to capture an additional 2-stops of dynamic range. The technology was previously shown off at NAB 2015 and is finally landing on consumer devices.
What happens when you combine the art of light painting with fifty Olympus OM-D E-M10 mirrorless cameras? The team at ZOLAQ in Germany wanted to know just that. Teaming up with Olympus and design agency ‘Bird Like’, the team created the 2-minute video above, titled ‘Bullet Time’.
Today, some GoPro users are getting quite a nifty upgrade for their action cameras. The company has introduced a new firmware that allows HERO4 Black, HERO 4, and HERO+ with equipped LCD screens to trim video directly from the back of the device. In addition, you can now also trim and share videos directly from your smartphone.
Whether we like it or not, our culture has become obsessed with selfies. Front facing cameras on smartphones are increasingly getting better and every other week another ‘selfie flash’ product seems to appear in the wild.
Now the Australian government wants to help tourists take bigger and better selfies that include the environments around them; they are being dubbed ‘GIGA Selfies’.
What is your process for quickly printing out a piece of your work? If you currently use a website to get the job done then it probably involves uploading your images, surfing through menus, making adjustments, selecting paper types, and more - quite a lengthy process. Now, LTD.RUN is here to make printing as simple as possible. Simply visit the website, upload your photograph, and you are good to go.
Rhino Camera Gear is a manufacturer of professional sliders and stabilization rigs for videographers and photographers alike. This month, we got a chance to test out two of their latest products, the Rhino Slider EVO Carbon and Rhino Motion module. Combined, both pieces of equipment promise to create butter-smooth videos and time-lapse effects.
The latest Superman movie Man of Steel had an estimated budget of $225 million. Camera drone owner and …
Washington D.C.-based wedding photographer Sam Hurd has quite a wild backup system for his clients' images. In an article and video Hurd posted on his blog, he explains the extensive setup behind his apocalyptical-style backup protection. If you thought you had your files well protected, you might feel otherwise after watching this (unless you're careful to the same degree).
We’ve written a number of times recently about how flying your camera drone near wildfires is both dangerous and illegal, but this week two men also discovered that getting too close to killer whales can also get you in trouble with the law. Two drone pilots recently did just that in Washington, and they received hefty fines.
There have been different solutions developed over the years for quickly and easily swapping out lenses with a single hand. First, GoWing introduced the Lens Flipper and Clip, which allows photographers to quickly do swaps in only a few seconds. Now, the folks over at Peak Design have announced the CaptureLENS, a similar fast lens switching device with a few unique stand out features and a smaller price tag.
If you happen to own a Leica M camera, here is an accessory you may find useful: MGR Productions of Hong Kong is selling an adjustable viewfinder magnifier. Simply screw the accessory into your viewfinder ocular and you are ready to begin using it. Twist the dial to vary the magnification level between 1.1x and 1.6x.
Working with a collection of film negatives can be quite an overwhelming task that requires each photograph to be carefully loaded into a scanner for identification. However, when developer Bruce Johnson needed to go through his grandfather’s extensive collection of photographic work, he realized a better solution was needed. Light Box Loupe is the easy iOS solution for proofing negatives (and reversal film) in real-time.
PRENAV is a company aimed at developing extremely sophisticated automation systems for small aerial drones. Recently, the company announced that they had acquired $1.2 million to help make their drone technology smarter. So, what better to do with a bit of the seed money than fly drones around, create precise light patterns for light painting, and photograph them?
Disappointed with Instagram's limited selection of filters? Well, a new app on the block called ‘infltr’ is promoting the ability to give your photograph over 5.1 million unique hues. Throw in one of your favorite pictures and simply swipe your finger to begin moving throughout the color spectrum. For a small price, you can have more hue filters than you could dream.
For some photographers, no term strikes more fear into one’s heart than "Color Spaces." The idea that different devices, along with our eyes, perceive light differently can seem confusing. Anyone that has gone to print one of their photographs probably knows that it can take some know-how to ensure your images are correctly represented on paper.
If you're new to the world of color theory, photographer Forrest Tanaka wants to help: in the 13-minute video above, he explains color spaces in an easy-to-understand way.
Last month we reported on the AstroPad App for the Apple iPad: a solution that allowed you to turn your consumer tablet into a professional graphics tablet when working with applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or Illustrator. Now, the company is announcing a new app for the iPhone called AstroPad Mini -- it's everything you love about AstroPad... just minimized.
Typically, tying a model up and throwing her to the bottom of a pool isn’t a recommended practice for both legal and moral reasons. However, this new music video for the song "Lydia" by Highly Suspect dares to do just that. You begin to realize something is a bit odd as the video rolls on and on -- there are no cuts, meaning Marina Kazankova actually had to hold her breath during the entire 4-minute-plus video.
Earlier this year, Canon unveiled their EOS M3 24.2 MP mirrorless compact camera with interchangeable lenses. Unfortunately for those in North America, the M3 was only launched in Europe and Asia at the time. Now, Canon’s mirrorless compact is making its way to American shores and will be launching in October of this year.
Cube is a small new device from the Australian company Palette. Easily sample colors around you using the portable color digitizer and sample them later on your PC or Mac. While the Cube’s central abilities focus on identifying the beautiful colors that surround us every day, it can also be used for color matching and achieving picture-perfect white balance in photos.
Adobe Photoshop is ubiquitous on the desktop computers of photographers around the world, but the company has yet to win the same amount of love on mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones. After calling it quits on Photoshop Touch earlier this year, Adobe will be bringing a full-featured version of Photoshop to iOS this October.
If you constantly move your camera from one device to another in the course of your work, you may have experienced the annoyance and inconvenience of different manufacturers offering different plate designs. What they generally have in common, however, is the same standard tripod screw. The folks at Edelkrone used this fact to create the QuickReleaseONE, which the company claims is the world's first universal quick release for switching between plates.
The team at Uncage the Soul Productions followed 23 high school students around as they spent a week at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s Astronomy Camp. The event was held during the 2015 Perseids Meteor shower and videographers were able to capture the reactions of students as they witnessed the beauty of space through their own eyes and, of course, a couple of DSLRs.
Finding the perfect camera strap can seem like an overwhelming endeavor due to the sheer number of available options. Today, we are going to be taking a look at two different straps that are coming soon from Peak Design and may just help you in your search. The first strap is the Slide Summit Edition: a design variation of the company’s standard Slide strap. The second is the Slide Lite strap designed for smaller mirrorless camera systems.
Elinchom have just announced the Litemotiv, a new extension to their lineup of softboxes. The two new modifiers are made up of sixteen sides and come in two distinct sizes. According to the company, theses monster softboxes help to create “close to perfect catchlights.”
Earlier this year, Facebook launched the Moments app for both iOS and Android. Similar to many other applications out there, Moments is aimed at combining your photographs and your friends’ photographers from a single event into an easy to navigate album (and then uploading them to Facebook, of course). Today, the app has received an update that can automatically create movies from your experiences.
If you happen to have a plethora of Contax lenses stored away and are now busy playing with a Sony A7 or NEX camera then we have some exciting news for you. Thanks to eBay shop Kens_Camera, it is now possible to purchase a Contax N-mount to Sony E-mount adapter. The seller explains he designed the adapter himself and that it is an entirely automatic adapter with only slight autofocus limitations.
As photographers, we capture the light around us to preserve moments in time. Sometimes, however, we not only want to contain the light, but also control it. So, when Elinchrom asked us if we wanted to test their powerful ELB 400 portable battery pack and Quadra Pro flash heads, we, of course, said yes. Now, let’s see what we can do with 424 watts of portable power.
Have you ever looked at a piece of artwork -- a photo, for example -- and had the thought “I could do that”? PBS's The Art Assignment takes a closer look at the statement to explore a few questions it raises.
Professional free runner Jason Paul recently teamed up with Red Bull to create this wild optical illusion video that you have to see to believe -- or not. The video’s description says that “Life as a free runner means the world is your playground… or is it just one big illusion?” It's a mind-bending visual experience that will have your brain questioning reality.
Photography is an art; by looking upon past examples, we can not only learn to improve our own technique, but also to study and appreciate times before ours. However, with the first photograph taken almost two-hundred years ago, it can be difficult to find a place to start. Enter, The Red List: a website with over 100,000 images that continues to cull the world of photography to find the very best images.
A magical moment of soft and warm light, the golden hour is a period slightly before sunset or slightly after sunrise when the sun is low in the sky. Many photographers aim to shoot during these time periods in order to take advantage of the unique natural lighting. Rizon is an elegant new app for iOS that will not only find you the best time but remind you to head outside when the time approaches.
The Everyday Messenger bag is Peak Design’s latest product to make a debut on Kickstarter, and it has blown past its $100,000 goal and raised over $2.2 million so far. Designed with the help of photographer Trey Ratcliff, the bag aims to fulfill the “workflows of photographers, creative, travelers, and commuters." We got our hands on the world's first pre-production sample bag, and today we'll be taking a closer look at it.
Nikon has been taking us behind the scenes in a series of new videos published on YouTube. Now, we get to see what it is like to be a zoo photographer as we follow Nikon Ambassador and naturalist Ron Magill to Zoo Miami. Armed with a Nikon D7200 and two Nikkor super telephoto zoom lenses, Magill captures a majestic herd of giraffes.
Jamey Price is an award-winning motorsport photojournalist who was recently named one of GQ Magazine's '10 Best Car / Racing Instagram Accounts to Follow.' Price has had his work published around the globe by Road and Track, RACER Magazine, F1 Racing Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Motorsport Magazine, ESPN, SPEEDTV, The Washington Post, and many more. He also currently works as a freelancer for a number of commercial clients including Ducati, Audi, Lamborghini, Aston Martin Racing, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Red Bull.
We had a chat with Jamey to see what he had to say about his career thus far, what advice he could give to those interested in this field, and his views on using social media to spread his work and obtain new assignments.
The Rugby World Cup is coming up this September and New Zealand sports television channel Sky Sports wants to make sure that their cameramen are ready for the job. In this series of hilarious videos from 2011, we witness ‘cameramen at boot camp’. Whether they are trying to keep their lenses focused or assemble their camera bodies while blindfolded, we wish them all the best.
Olympus Russia had recently posted a photograph showing the above image, which showcases a secret data screen on one of their OM-D cameras. In fact, there are three pages of data screens that provide information from how many times the camera’s shutter has been released, to how many times the flash has been fired, and much more. Olympus has since taken down the image, but the secret access code has now been outed.
Popular browser-based editor Polarr has released a new plugin for both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox that enables users to instantly edit any photo they stumble across on the Internet. With the click of the mouse, an image can be imported into Polarr’s online web-based editor for a number of adjustments. No more having to download an image to your local drive -- this is complete editing in the cloud.
In addition to the prototype tripod design that we recently featured, ProductTank has also created a new design for a simple camera slider. A bit different than traditional rail style sliders that keep the camera locked to an axis, the ProductTank slider simply uses a guided rail and friction to get the job done. The result is a slider that be easily adjusted to your shooting situation, and can be seen in the 6-minute video above.