Michael Zhang

Founder, Editor

Michael is a photography enthusiast, entrepreneur, and programmer based in Northern California near San Francisco. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with two degrees in computer science.

Articles by Michael Zhang

The Top Photos and Cameras on Flickr in 2015

Billions of photos were uploaded by photographers to Flickr over the course of 2015. As this year is winding down, Flickr has crunched some numbers and announced the top photos and cameras on the photo sharing service this year.

Lumu Power Turns the iPhone Into a Light, Flash, and Color Temperature Meter

Back in 2013, Slovenia-based Lumu Labs raised over $244,000 on Kickstarter to launch the Lumu (currently available for $150), a headphone jack attachment that turns the iPhone into an accurate light meter for photographers. Now the company is back again with the Lumu Power, a next-gen attachment that doesn't just meter light -- it can measure and calculate flash and color temperature as well.

Yahoo May Sell Flickr and Its Core Internet Business

Flickr could soon find itself with a new owner. Yahoo is reportedly considering a sale of its struggling core Internet business, in which the photo sharing service Flickr -- acquired back in 2005 for around $25 million -- is just a small piece of the pie.

This Aerial Short Film Shows the Beauty of Scotland’s Wilderness at Golden Hour

Freelance aerial videographer John Duncan of Edinburgh, Scotland, recently spent about 5 months taking his camera drone to remote locations around his country, searching for epic landscapes and ethereal light (especially during golden hour).

The fruit of his efforts is this 3.5-minute short film, titled "Wild Scotland." It's a gorgeous tour of Scotland's beauty.

SunsetWx Can Forecast Picture-Perfect Sunsets

There are a number of websites and apps out there that help you track sunset and sunrise times so that you can plan your shoots around specific golden hour lighting. SunsetWx is a new website that takes things to the next level: it can forecast the quality of the upcoming sunset in your area (in the United States).

Annie Leibovitz Shoots the Pirelli Calendar Into a New Direction

The annually published Pirelli Calendar is known for its history of racy photos by renowned photographers that often show models in various states of undress. The photographer behind this year's edition is renowned portrait shooter Annie Leibovitz, and instead of focusing on themes of sexuality, Leibovitz has taken the photos in a completely new direction.

Stormchasing to Shoot Portraits with Crazy Weather in the Background

There are stormchasing photographers and there are portrait photographers. Usually people don't combine the two genres, but that's exactly what photographer Benjamin Von Wong recently did. He spent two weeks chasing storms in an ambulance to shoot a series of unique portraits that have real storms in the background.

Leica’s New Cufflinks and Pendants Are Shaped Like Shutter Speed Dials

Leica is getting serious about hip photographic fashion accessories. Earlier this month, Leica USA unveiled an $840 lighter, $840 pen, and $175 keychain. Now, Leica Russia is getting in on the action as well: the company has launched pendants and cufflinks that are faithful replicas of Leica camera shutter speed dials.

This Pop-Up Book Features a Working Camera

After months of development, artist Kelli Anderson has created a new pop-up book titled "This Book is a Camera." As you can probably guess from the title, the book contains a pop-up camera that can actually be used as a real camera.

Canon Tried to Buy Sigma and Was Rejected: Report

Sigma's reputation has skyrocketed in recent times after the introduction of its highly regarded Art series of lenses for a number of mounts. It looks like the success has attracted the attention of at least one major suitor.

Canon reportedly tried to acquire Sigma recently, but had its offer rejected because Sigma hopes to continue its growth as an independent company.

R.I.P. Holga: The Hit Toy Camera Comes to an End

After being designed in 1981, the Holga medium format toy camera developed a cult following among photographers who valued its affordability and unique lo-fi results.

But all good things must come to an end: Holga cameras will no longer be produced from here on out.

The Top Dog Photographer on Instagram

Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York has millions of online followers and two NYTimes bestselling books by capturing people's portraits and stories on NYC streets. Elias Weiss Friedman has had a similar type of success by photographing dogs.

Instagram is Testing Support for Multiple Accounts

Being able to easily manage and post to multiple accounts in Instagram's app is something users have been requesting for quite some time now. If you've been struggling to maintain separate accounts for your personal life and business, here's some good news for you: it looks like Instagram will soon be rolling out a multi-account feature.

This is How Smiles in Yearbook Photos Have Changed Over the Past 100+ Years

Smiling is a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of photography. If you take a look at photos from many decades ago, people commonly wore stoic expressions on their faces and portraits were a much more serious affair.

Researchers at UC Berkeley recently crunched through an enormous trove of high school yearbook photos to show how smiling and portraits have evolved over the past 100+ years.

Samsung Officially Exiting the UK Camera Market

Samsung's rumored shuttering of its camera business looks like it's continuing to play out. After pulling out of the camera market in Germany earlier this month, the company is now saying that it's ditching the UK as well.

Woman Becomes Face of Suicide Bomber After Photo is Sold by ‘Friend’

Earlier this month, we shared how a Sikh man named Veerender Jubbal was misidentified as a Paris attack terrorist after someone maliciously Photoshopped a selfie he took. A similar thing just happened to a Moroccan woman.

Nabila Bakkatha was misidentified by major media outlets as Hasna Ait Boulahcen, the terrorist suspect who died in a suicide vest explosion a week ago during a police raid in France. It turns out a former friend sold Bakkatha's photo to a journalist.