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

Slow-Motion: Amtrak Train vs. Snow

Here's a slow-motion video that's going viral: Nick Colvin captured an Amtrak train arriving at a station where the tracks were covered with a thick layer of snow. What results is a beautiful (and scary) white explosion.

Rhino Walks Up to Cameraman for a Belly Rub

While shooting for a conservation film about rhino poaching in South Africa, cameraman Garth De Bruno Austin was approached by a wild rhino who was apparently in search of a nice belly rub. The unusual encounter was captured in the 15-second video above.

Saturn’s Moon Pan Looks Like a Ravioli in New NASA Photos

NASA has just released new raw photos of Saturn's tiny moon Pan, captured on March 7th, 2017, by the Cassini space probe from about 15,000 miles away (~24,500km). The photos reveal a bizarre-looking moon -- one that looks like a giant ravioli floating in space (or a dumpling or walnut or "paper mache mini-planet").

8 Ways the New Canon 77D is Different from the 80D

Canon made an unusual move in 2017 by announcing the Canon 77D as the first camera in a new line that fits between the 80D and the 800D (AKA the Rebel T7i). If you're scratching your head about what makes the 77D different, check out the 4.5-minute video above by ZY Productions about 8 differences between the 77D and 80D.

This is What Horses Look Like from Below

Everyone knows what a horse looks like, but have you ever looked up at a horse from below? Photographer Andrius Burba wants to show you what this unusual perspective looks like through his latest project, titled Under-Horse.

This Guy Turned a Sony Camera Into a Digital Back for His Nikon Film SLR

Ever since the advent of digital cameras, some film photographers have dreamed of having a way to convert their beloved film cameras into digital ones. Photographer Robin Guymer took matters into his own hands: using his knowledge of electronics, he converted a Sony NEX-3 mirrorless camera into a digital back for his film Nikon FE SLR camera.

When a Camera’s Frame Rate is Synced to a Helicopter’s Rotor…

YouTuber Chris Chris captured the above video showing what happens when your camera's frame rate is perfectly synced to the rotation speed of a helicopter's rotor: the blades are frozen at the same angles in each frame, making it look like the helicopter is magically floating around with frozen rotor blades.

Black Hole to Be Photographed in 2017

Here's an interesting photography first that is set to happen in 2017: scientists are planning to capture the first ever photo of a black hole's event horizon (the boundary of no return that light can't event escape).

Gameface Media to Pay Photographers Soon After Raising Another $2.6M

Since being founded in 2012, Gameface Media has become a dominant force in amateur sports event photography. But in recent times, photographers shooting for Gameface have complained of payments being delayed by many months. Today there's a bit of good news: Gameface has raised another $2.6 million from investors and is now promising to pay photographers very soon.

The LG G6’s Wallpaper is Actually a Photo

The new LG G6 smartphone ships with an artsy wallpaper that looks like a stylized number 6. A neat fact about the image is that it's not a computer rendered artwork: it took two months to create and shoot the photos.

This LEGO Photo Booth Helps You Build Your Portrait with Bricks

If you're a fan of photography and LEGO, you should pay a visit to LEGO's flagship UK store in London if you're ever in the area. That location has the world's first "Mosaic Maker," a special photo booth that turns your portrait into a one-of-a-kind LEGO kit for building your face with blocks.

Demotix Photographers Still Waiting a Year After Corbis Sold to VCG

After Bill Gates sold Corbis Images to Visual China Group (VCG) back in January 2016, the citizen journalism photo agency Demotix (which Corbis bought in 2012) suddenly went dark. Now, after over a year has passed since the Corbis sale, some Demotix contributors have finally received an email from VCG... with few happy answers.

These Fujifilm Monochrome Cameras Are $4,800+ Cheaper Than Leica’s

The Leica M Monochrom is special in the Leica lineup due to the fact that it lacks a color filter, which improves image quality and restricts the camera to shooting black and white. If you'd like a monochrome-only camera but don't want to shell out $7,450 for the latest Leica M Monochrom, there are now converted Fujifilm cameras for a cheaper alternative.

Portraits of Dogs with Human Bodies

For his latest project, titled "Reflection of Me," photographer Isaac Alvarez shot portraits of dogs and their owners, and then combined the dog heads with the owner bodies.

The State of News Photography in 2016

We now know which cameras top photojournalists around the world are using these days, but what are they saying about the state of their industry? A newly published study uses responses from nearly 2,000 photographers to reveal the current condition of the photojournalism landscape.

Humor: Marriage Proposals in the Age of Instagram

Comedian John Crist made this humorous 3-minute video poking fun of the "The Millennial Marriage Proposal," in which a girlfriend being proposed to (played by Megan Batoon) is too focused on the resulting photos and videos to enjoy the moment.

50,000 Film Canisters Were Crushed to Create These Cubes

On May 2nd, 2016, Melbourne, Australia-based independent photo lab Hillvale developed its 50,000th roll of film since opening its doors in 2013. To commemorate the milestone, the lab decided to crush its massive stockpile of empty canisters into cube pieces of art.

The Winning Photos of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017

The international Underwater Photographer of the Year photo contest has announced its winners for the 2017 edition. The winning photo (shown above) was by French photographer Gabriel Barathieu, who captured a "Dancing Octopus" in a lagoon on the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean.

Google Pixel vs. Apple iPhone 7 Plus: A Smartphone Shootout

The smartphone camera landscape is getting crowded with high quality cameras these days, but the Google Pixel and Apple iPhone 7 Plus are two of the front runners when it comes to popularity and publicity. We did a simple shootout to pixel-peep at how the cameras in these two smartphones stack up against each other.