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

First Photos of the Nikon D800 Leaked

The Nikon D800 has been rumored for quite some time, but was reportedly delayed last month after production was halted by the massive floods in Thailand. If you've been frustrated with the lack of Nikon news on the DSLR front, here's something that should tide you over temporarily: photos of the upcoming Nikon D800 were leaked this past weekend.

The World’s Smallest Wet Plate Camera

Kevin Klein has a hobby of miniaturizing Victorian technology, and recently he made the world's smallest wet plate camera using 1/32-inch plywood and other wood materials. The camera is only a little bigger than a quarter, and shoots miniature 1/2-inch square plate images.

Cheap Ring Light Made for $20 Using Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Caleb Barrett wanted a simple ring light to play around with, so he built himself one for just $20 using built himself a makeshift ring light using eight cheap compact fluorescent light bulbs. The lights are pretty dim and have a horrible color rendering index, but are fun to play around with if you're just looking for something to experiment with.

A Homemade Potato Chip Tube Lens

John Sypal of Tokyo Camera Style spotted a photographer on the streets of Tokyo using this homemade lens created out of a potato chip tube. It captures photos that show the world in a glass-like sphere, with everything else blurred.

How to Photograph a Flock of Phones

Award winning Korean photo studio Indylab shot this award winning advertisement without the aid of computer generated imagery. Instead, they manually tossed and photographed phones one at a time, and then composited all the images afterward.

12,225 Mile Road Trip Around America in a 5-Minute Time-Lapse

Brian DeFrees spent two months between August and October of this year driving a giant loop around the United States on a 12,225-mile-long road trip. He captured a photo every 5 seconds using an intervalometer with his Canon 60D while in his car, and by creating individual time-lapse videos when parked or exploring an area. The result is this epic 5-minute long time-lapse.

How to Make Your Gloves Compatible with Touchscreen Cameras

We've featured special gloves and mittens designed for photographers before, but what if your camera uses a touchscreen instead of physical controls? Here's a video by Make's Becky Stern showing how you can sew some conductive thread into your glove to make it compatible with capacitive touchscreens.

Epic Photos of Lasers Slicing Through the Night Sky

European Southern Observatory photo ambassador Yuri Beletsky shot a series of epic photos showing astronomers shooting powerful laser beams into the night sky. The photo above showing a laser beam pointed at the center of our galaxy was voted as last year's Picture of the Year over at Wikipedia.

The Most Eye-Catching DSLR Ever

We never thought we'd say it, but someone finally found a DSLR that makes Pentax's limited edition models look bland. Erle Kaasik was walking on a sidewalk in Seattle when she walked past a woman using this eye-popping Canon DSLR and 28-135mm lens that a local artist had decorated. It looks like someone mistook the camera for a cupcake or something.

Giving Away a Large Stretched Canvas and a $300 Gift Card

Update: This giveaway is now over. The winner was randomly selected and announced below.

Hello peoples. We're back this week with another awesome giveaway. This week one lucky winner will receive a couple great prizes graciously donated by UPrinting: a 2x3 foot canvas print made using your photo (worth $122) and a $300 gift certificate to a camera store of your choice!

Mountain Biking Photos Captured with a Chest-Mounted DSLR

Many extreme athletes these days use helmet-mounted HD cameras for photos and videos captured from a first person point of view, but photographer Justin Olsen does things a little differently: he uses a chest-mounted DSLR. Using a custom rig created for him by a local sewing shop, Olsen snaps his unique photos using a 15mm on a Canon 1D Mark III or a 5D Mark II, and a PocketWizard to trigger the shutter wirelessly.

Star Wars-Themed Engagement Photos

Now here's something we haven't seen before: a Star Wars-themed engagement shoot. All you need are two working lightsabers and a couple crazy enough about the franchise to do it. These photos were shot by San Jose-based photographer Michael James.