Update: Mr. Hamilton has gotten in touch with us to tell his side of the story, filling in some of the missing pieces that help explain his actions. Read the full update at the bottom.

Think before you post. This should be the message greeting all of us when we open up our social network of choice. Before we get a chance to do anything else, a big bold ALL CAPS message reminding us that our social media comments have consequences should appear front and center.

Maybe if they had, Australian photographer Mark Hamilton wouldn't be embarrassed, apologizing for a Facebook tirade in which he threatened to release racy photos of a model because she had 'liked' a post that insulted him.

News in the photo world isn't always uplifting -- what with all the layoffs and copyright scandals -- but once in a while you stumble onto one of those 'renew your faith in humanity' stories that just make you smile.

That's the uplifting story told by Imaging Resource Editor-in-Chief Dave Etchells, who recently lost $7,000 on a bullet train in Japan, only to have it found and returned to him with nary a piece missing.

Spoiler Alert: The first paragraph of this article gives away a major part of the movie 'Gravity.' Skip past it if you haven't seen the movie yet.

"You should see the sun shining on the Ganges. It's amazing..." says George Clooney in the movie 'Gravity,' as his character floats through the cold vastness of space, cool as only a very George Clooney-ish character can be when facing insurmountable odds and indescribable beauty all at the same time.

But while Sandra Bullock's character had more important things to worry about just that second, chances are anyone reading this doesn't. And so, ahead of the Oscars where 'Gravity' is bound to take home at least a few of the golden statuettes, NASA has released a beautiful photo series to remind us what the view really looks like from space.

In yet another impressive (and sexual innuendo-filled... you've been warned) DigitalRev Cheap Camera Challenge, Kai has Benjamin Von Wong try to create some of his epic fire imagery using nothing more than a crappy Ricoh point-and-shoot that was probably bought at a Best Buy... on clearance... five years ago.

Update on 12/16/21: This video has been removed by its creator.

In a bit of contrast to the RAW Beauty Talks portraits featured yesterday, today we have an interesting before and after Photoshop comparison of the hosts of the TODAY show

With the help (if you can call it that) of Cosmopolitan's "Photoshop experts," Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and Natalie Morales were given a substantial post-production makeover.

Almost a year to date after the digging up and opening of Oklahoma City's Century Chest, researchers are getting a rare glimpse at early 20th century Oklahoma City thanks to the help of a Kodak Vest Pocket Camera and eight negatives found in "pristine condition" buried inside the time capsule.

Watch out aerial videographers, you may soon be replaced by birds with cameras. A few weeks ago we shared some great footage captured by a bird who got his beak on one of the BBC's egg cameras and took flight over a group of penguins. And today, we show you what a pelican can capture when his human helps him 'hold' the camera.

What's the best thing about a 365 project? Some would say it's that you develop the habit of shooting every single day. Others that you develop your skill because you're shooting more than you probably ever have. But for photographer Aliza Razell, the best thing about a 365 project is the ability to experiment.

And it's experimentation that led her to create the stunning images you see above and below. Images that combine watercolor and photography into something greater than the sum of its parts. Images that, as you probably already guessed, are spreading like wildfire.

Created by Polaroid in 1976, the 20x24-inch instant camera is one of the most unusual and massive pieces of photographic history you can get your hands on (if you're lucky enough... or have the dough). Fortunately for those of you who want to see the cam in action, photographer Chuck Close managed to do just that in a series of images for Vanity Fair's 20th Hollywood issue.

When a lot of the really big life moments are happening, we’re often too busy living them to find a way to document them for later. Who wants to be fumbling with a camera when you’re trying to say something important? But maybe there is an option that lets you capture the precious moments without having to worry about manning your camera at the same time...

I'm all for a little monkey business when it comes to taking photos and playing around with your gear, but this guy here might've taken it a bit too far...

A new photo released by NASA and taken from the International Space Station shows just how dark North Korea really is, and we don't mean figuratively. Taken on the night of January 30th as the ISS was passing over the Korean Peninsula, a nearly completely blacked-out North Korea jumps out at you, surrounded by its well-lit neighbors.

If you browse around online, even if you stay away from the magazine covers with their models liquified into long-legged oblivion, you will be hard-pressed to find professional portraits of women that are as honest and raw as the ones featured on RAW Beauty Talks.

That's because this organization, dedicated to empowering women through portrait photography and an honest conversation about beauty, doesn't just do away with photo manipulation in its portraits... it does away with anything meant to enhance or cover up the way the models actually look.

A reader over at Gizmodo sent a tip their way yesterday pointing to an embarrassing situation involving PayPal's use of a certain stock photograph.

Although it has since been removed, a photo of a small pocket watch over on PayPal's Political Campaigns page with a "donate" button located over it was found bearing a rather obvious iStock watermark... oops.

Here at PetaPixel we enjoy the crunching of numbers. So, naturally, when Mosaic told us about a blog post they had done recently that broke down some Lightroom catalog statistics, we were intrigued.

With "tens of thousands" of Lightroom catalogs synched to their service, they sampled a random 3,000 of those to come up with the average size of a Lightroom catalog. And in the end, they were actually quite surprised by the results.

Sigma made quite a splash at CES this year when the company not only announced that a 50mm f/1.4 lens would be added to its superb Art series, but claimed that this lens would be so good that its competition wouldn't be Nikon or Canon, but the indisputably exceptional $4,000 ZEISS Otus.

Well, thanks to the website Xitek and their recently posted lens test results, we finally get to see if the 50mm's bite measures up to its bark.

Earlier this morning, we received a tip from a reader (who has chosen to remain anonymous) that Doug Gordon -- who was embroiled in a nasty plagiarism scandal along with Jasmine Star late last year -- is still presenting at WPPI, despite having officially withdrawn in October.

As part of a new campaign, Profoto has teamed up with photography pair Justin and Mary Marantz to create a twenty-part video series aimed at educating (and promoting) how best to capture the vital moments of a wedding using TTL lighting.

An advocacy group concerned with the issue of campaign finance reform recently managed to capture some footage that has never been captured before: video from inside the Supreme Court.

What happens when you pit Nikon's $3,000 D800E up against a $30,000 Hasselblad H5D? Well, photographer Benjamin Von Wong -- whose work we've featured quite a bit here on PetaPixel -- got to do just that in a friendly comparison.

Earlier this week, the photography staff of the Orlando Sentinel in Florida was pulled into a meeting in which they were told that their current jobs are disappearing, and they will need to apply to new more 'videocentric' positions by tomorrow, Friday, February 28th.

As with most fields that are technology driven, in photography, if you don't keep moving you'll quickly find yourself dead in the water. This is why seasoned pros and amateur hobbyists alike should always be learning and expanding their abilities. It's really the only way to stay competitive. And I don't even mean that in a financial sense, I mean that just in terms of your skill set.

Update: This giveaway is now over. The winner has been announced at the end of this post.

It's time for another giveaway, and this one is a doozy! We promised you a big giveaway at the end of February and you're getting one. Just follow the instructions below and you can enter to win the new Fujifilm X-T1 with the 18-55mm lens and the battery grip to boot! That's a $1,950 value!

In need of some spiritual inspiration, photography style? Well you're in luck, because His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama himself has opened an Instagram account and is proving to be a fairly prolific poster.

Back at it again, the team over at Lomography has created a new "Super Kit" edition for one of their best-selling creations: the original DIY Konstruktor Camera.

If you've followed PetaPixel for a while, or even if you just keep up with popular photo news, the image above probably looks familiar. Created by photographer Fong Qi Wei, it looks like it's a part of his very successful series Time is a Dimension, which we featured back in August of last year.

But this isn't part of that series, it's actually one of 37 images combined into a single GIF. A GIF that is part of his creative followup to TIAD called Time in Motion.

Commercial mountain photographer Alexandre Buisse is a natural adventurer. When it comes to rock climbing or going for his major dream client with a cold call, Alex is a brave soul with immense talent to match. His client roster includes Patagonia, Red Bull, Sports Illustrated, Outer Edge Magazine, and many more.

We talked with Alex about his experience cold emailing and calling, what he’s learned about negotiating licensing rights, and his key marketing strategies. He also lays out the three things a budding adventure photographer should do when looking to get work -- including the importance of a work/fun balance.

The time-lapse above by photographer Colin Legg does a great job of showing off the power of Magic Lantern RAW video while capturing a cool astronomical phenomenon at the same time.

Update on 12/16/21: This video has been removed by its creator.

One of the biggest battles currently going on in the world of photography is DSLRs versus mirrorless cameras. There's no doubt that DSLRs are still on top in terms of numbers, but as more and more companies put their faith in the mirrorless market, they continue to tempt consumers of all levels to give this five-year-old system a chance.

We spend all day staring at pixels, but really, just how good is our vision when it comes to noticing the small details in photographs? Well, I can't speak on behalf of everyone, but using the tricky images below, you can get a good idea for yourself.

German artist Simon Menner created an interesting photo series that features military snipers hiding in various landscapes. The photos show just how well these highly trained individuals can blend into their surroundings, which vary from empty fields to rocky valleys.