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

NeverWet Spray-On Coating: A Godsend for Outdoorsy Photographers

Ross Technology Corp. has developed an amazing silicon-based spray-on coating called NeverWet that can make almost anything completely waterproof. An iPhone sprayed with NeverWet still functions perfectly after being submerged underwater for half an hour. Spraying the coating on clothes causes liquids (e.g. water, oil, chocolate syrup) to slide right off.

Thumbtiles Are Frameless Picture Frames Designed for Fast Swapping

Dissatisfied with the disconnect between his giant photo collection on the Internet and his bare walls at home, architect and photo-enthusiast Steven Johnson set out to create a picture frame that would let him show off his photostream in real life. The result was Thumbtiles -- frameless frames designed for easy photo swapping rather than permanence. The 7-inch square frames are dead simple: each one is simply four removable wall dots and a transparent sheet that attaches to the dots using magnets.

Leaked Photos of Fujifilm’s Upcoming Interchangeable Lens Mirrorless Camera

Fujifilm is set to release an interchangeable lens mirrorless camera -- likely styled like the X100 and X10 -- in February 2012, and details about the camera are already starting to leak onto the Internet. Six photos that appear to show the upcoming camera were leaked on Chinese forum Xitek, but were quickly taken down. PhotoRumors writes that the new camera will be called the Fuji LX and will pack an APS-C sensor.

Amazing Stop-Motion Music Video Made Using 920 Colored Pencils

Here's another cool example of what's possible when you combine creativity with an insane amount of dedication: animator Jonathan Chong spent hundreds of hours creating this stop motion video for the song "Against The Grain" by the Australian band Hudson. He animated everything by hand, and captured 5125 individual photographs of 920 pencils for the three-minute long finished product.

Why Gursky’s Photo of the Rhine is the World’s Most Expensive Photo

The art world was abuzz last week after Andreas Gursky's photograph Rhein II sold at auction for a ground-breaking $4.3 million. The print may be Plexiglas-mounted, signed, and gigantic (it's nearly 12 feet wide), but the price had many people scratching their heads. Thankfully, there has been no shortage of articles written since to explain things to uncultured folk who don't understand the astronomical prices paid for fine art.

X-ray Image of a Nikon Photographer

Photographer Nick Veasey created this amazing X-ray image of a Nikon photographer for the Focus on Imaging 2010 catalog cover. It's a composite, with the image of the camera itself requiring 12 separate X-rays.

Jaw-Dropping Time-Lapse Shots of Earth

Between August and October of this year, the crew onboard the International Space Station used a Nikon D3S (at high ISOs) to capture photographs of Earth as they zipped around it at 17,000mph. Michael Konig then took the footage and compiled it into this eye-popping time-lapse video showing what our planet looks like from up there.

Strobist Jet Pack: A Ridiculous Looking Apparatus for Off-Camera Lighting

Photographer Jesse Rosten wanted a more efficient and mobile way to do off-camera lighting, so he invented this backpack-style apparatus that he calls "The Strobist Jet Pack". Although it's pretty ridiculous looking (it reminds us of Ghostbusters), it works well for placing lighting equipment in exactly the place needed while still being able to move about.

Play Around with Macro Photography Using a Magnifying Glass

You don't need to shell out money for a nicer camera or a special lens to play around with macro photography. In addition to freelensing and using your lens backward, you can also place an ordinary magnifying glass in front of your lens to enlarge the world. Graphic designer Clif Dickens shot these close-up photos using a magnifying glass and an iPhone 3GS.

Polaroid Z340: A Futuristic Digital Instant Camera That Spits Out ZINK Prints

This week Polaroid launched its new Z340 instant digital camera, perhaps to pave the way for its upcoming uber-futuristic GL30 shooter. The Z340 isn't as flashy but offers the same fusion of digital and instant: it's basically a 14-megapixel digital acmera combined with a ZINK printer. It can capture 75 shots and print 25 photos on a single charge, has a 2.7-inch LCD screen, and allows the photographer to decide whether to make a 3x4-inch instant print or to simply store the image on the on-board SD card.

Portraits Blended with Photos of Nature

New York-based artist Matt Wisniewski creates digital collages by blending fashion and nature photographs together into surreal images. The images remind us of photographer Dan Mountford's double exposure photographs, except Wisniewski uses digital manipulation rather than in-camera trickery.

Guess What the Shape of Sony Alpha DSLRs Was Inspired By? A Sock!

In interviews published on Sony's website, the company's designers talk about how its latest DSLRs are based on a styling technique called "Tensile Skin", in which sharp lines and curved surfaces giving a "natural sense of tension". What's interesting is the tool they used to explore this idea: an ordinary sock.

Idea Mine: An App for People Suffering From Photographer’s Block

"Idea Mine" is an upcoming iOS app by Canon that helps photographers save and generate ideas. The idea is that photo ideas can always be broken down into four components: location, subject, feeling, and technique. Provide the app with these four things, and it will store your idea for you to come back to later on. If you need some inspiration, hitting the "randomize" button will fill in the fields for you -- kinda like a photographic mad libs.

The Backstory to the Scandal That May Bring Down Olympus

The financial scandal rocking Olympus is one that the company may not survive. The company's stock price plunged another 17% today, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange has informed the company that it will be delisted if it doesn't meet a December 14th deadline for reporting earnings. The New York Times has a great piece on how Olympus got itself into this mess.

How to Unlock the Hidden Panorama Mode in iOS 5 Without Jailbreaking

A couple days ago it was discovered that iPhones, iPods, and iPads running iOS 5 have a secret panorama mode that's hidden in the operating system. The feature can be enabled, but featured either a jailbroken device or knowledge in how to edit a particular iOS 5 preference file. Luckily for non-hackers, Redmond Pie has discovered an easy way to do this by taking advantage of iTune's backup feature. This tutorial will teach you how to get the panorama feature unlocked in 5-10 minutes.

Swivl: A Motion Tracking Dock that Keeps Your Camera Pointed At You

We first heard about the startup company Satarii back in January when they began raising money for a novel camera dock that offers motion tracking. They went on to raise nearly $25,000 through crowdfunding, and now the dock is official and available for pre-order. Named "Swivl", it helps cameras follow a remote tracking marker by doing its best to keep the marker in the frame.

Photographer Lets Exhibition Attendees Build Their Own DIY Photo Books

In 1974, Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama had an exhibition in Tokyo called "Printing Show" that featured a Xerox machine in the center of the room manned by Moriyama himself. Visitors were encouraged to select photos from the show, which were then reproduced and assembled into custom photo books. This past weekend, Moriyama repeated the show in New York, once again using a photocopier to provide attendees with custom signed editions of the DIY book. The book was titled "TKY" and bound in a nice silk-screened cover.