The Building Blocks of Artistic Portrait Photography

Of the many creative photographic genres, it is perhaps portrait photography where two camps—the representative and the artistic—can be most clearly observed. Whilst the former requires context through captions and backstory to elevate it, in the later, the absence of such requires creative aptitude. Attempting to merge both camps in one photograph can often diminish its effectiveness.

Is There Anything Nikon Can Do to Keep Up With the Competition?

On the 14th of October, Nikon is set to announce its latest cameras. These are due to be updates to the Z 7 and Z 6 mirrorless cameras. There are a lot of expectations, but the biggest expected update for these cameras is... the second card slot.

Photographer Creates Bullet-Time Rig with 15 Raspberry Pi Cameras

Famed bullet-time expert Eric Paré decided to challenge himself by building an experimental bullet-time rig using the Raspberry Pi Camera Module V2, a tiny 8-megapixel camera. While he encountered a few problems with the rig, he eventually got the 15 cameras working together without using custom electronic components.

US Army Putting AR Camera Goggles on War Dogs

Augmented reality camera glasses haven't broken into the mainstream yet, they're already making their way to dogs. The US Army is showing off new AR camera goggles that are designed to be worn by military dogs in the field.

Sony LA-EA 5 Adapter Review: A Nice Gesture From Sony

It has been a while since we talked about Sony A-mount. The A99 II felt like the last hurrah for the format when it was announced, and seeing continued support in any way probably wasn't necessary from Sony, who has clearly moved on to the E-mount. The LA-EA 5 adapter, though, shows that despite not needing to, they still care about A-mount users.

The New Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Produces Gorgeous Swirly Bokeh

Cosina has announced the Voigtlander Nokton Vintage Line 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical II VM lens for Vessa and M-mount cameras, replacing the first version that was released in 2013. The lens is constructed nearly entirely out of metal and glass and features knurled rings for the manual adjustment of aperture and focus.

A Teardown of the Sigma fp Mirrorless Camera

Since making is debut in July of 2019, the Sigma fp has gained notoriety as a very capable camera despite its mixed reviews. The decidedly lowercase ‘fp’ is Sigma’s first full-frame sensor.

Dell’s New $5,000 Monitor for Creatives Can Color Calibrate Itself

Dell has announced the UltraSharp 32 HDR PremierColor Monitor, a $5,000 4K monitor designed for photographers and videographers that promises professional levels of color accuracy combined with excellent contrast. The monitor includes a host of inputs from HDMI to Thunderbolt 3 and has a built-in Calman-powered colorimeter.

NASA Turns Space Photos Into Music

NASA has a new project that turns space photos into sounds. Using sonification, images obtained from telescopes are turned into "music" that sounds like what you'd hear when your operating system boots up.

Snappr Has Raised $13M to Be the Uber of Photography

Snappr wants to be the go-to service for business to get fast, easy access to photographers at rates as low as $89 per session. The company operates like a mix of Uber and ThumbTack, with on-demand access to creatives in 200 metropolitan areas, and could be coming to a city near you.

Among Us: Watch 6 Photographers Try to Identify 1 Imposter

With the game Among Us going viral these days, photographer Jessica Kobeissi decided to set up her own kind of secret identity game with social deduction: he invited 6 photographers and 1 imposter to have an online chat to see if the photographers could identify the faker.

How To Take Photos Like Vivian Maier

Armed with her Rolleiflex, a roll of TRI-X 400 (or Ektachrome) film stock, and her bold character, the late Vivian Maier made herself legendary with her dramatic street photography. Her street portraiture in particular is riveting thanks to the expressions on her subjects. As Frederik Trovatten puts it in this 13-minute video, "she takes the photo she wants to take whether the subject wants to be a part of it or not."

Instagram Brings Back Its Classic Icons, Adds ‘Stories Map’ Feature

Instagram is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week with a couple of new features and a fun surprise. The photo sharing app has expanded its anti-bullying features, created a 'Stories Map' and calendar, and has added a hidden option that lets users roll back to one of its classic logos.

The Photo That Got Me Into Brown University

Around the time I was applying to college in 1980, Time magazine ran a short piece about the college application process (coincidentally, at Brown); in it, they described an applicant who had soaked her application in water, then let it dry completely, so it got warped.

The Xcube Backpack Protects Your Gear with ‘Space Material Tech’

It seems like we get a new backpack promising to change the backpack paradigm on a near-monthly basis – and it's entirely possible that is an unreachable aspiration – but the Xcube isn't making such highfalutin promises in its Kickstarter. Instead, it sticks to just the facts about its modular pack and for photographers, what they're offering might be extremely appealing.

Sam Hurd’s PIXII Rangefinder Review: It’s Complicated

Sam Hurd recently published a video review of the PIXII Rangefinder: a rear-LCD-less, smartphone-connected, M-mount rangefinder developed by PIXII, an upstart camera manufacturer. And while his introductory statement that it is the "worst camera I have ever owned" does more to get the click than convey his actual opinion, it doesn't look like the PIXII is a camera you should be picking up just yet despite some extremely promising design choices.

Zeiss’ ZX1 Android-Powered Camera Costs $6,000

Announced nearly two years ago, Zeiss' compact Android-powered fixed-lens camera finally has a price: $6,000. While this is likely more than most thought Zeiss would ask for the camera, Zeiss seems to be banking on the value of an all-in-one experience.

I Shot All These Photos from My Yard — Here’s How You Can Do It Too

As recently as the early 1900s, astronomers believed the Milky Way was all that existed in the universe. That view persisted until 1923, when Edwin Hubble used glass plate photographs of the Andromeda galaxy (then still thought to be just a nebula) to discover that the universe was unimaginably larger. His discovery was so significant that NASA’s first space telescope was given his name.

Stop Upscaling and Colorizing Photos and Videos, Historians Say

Colorizing and updating photos and footage from the past is becoming more common and much easier thanks to the advancements of AI. We've shared stories and images of colorized images and videos many times over the past decade, and colorists say it is designed to bring the past forward for a modern audience. However, there are some historians who believe the process is doing more harm than good.

This Guy Prints Color Photos with Dirt

Photographer Calvin Grier is a master of the alternative photography process known as carbon transfer printing, but for the past few months, he has been taking things to a new level. Grier is creating full color photographic prints using dirt.

The Bridge, Reconstructed: A Different Perspective of the Golden Gate Bridge

I wanted to challenge the perceptions of the Golden Gate Bridge. In solid red-orange and spanning 1.7 miles long, the Golden Gate Bridge is an icon of San Francisco. Though it is visibly massive, people often chase after the same handful of popular perspectives that garner significant social media engagement, which can become repetitive.

12 Tips for Autumn Photography

It's autumn again, and I thought I'd share some tips (and possibly inspiration) for your autumn photography.

Canon EOS M50 Mark II Coming Soon, Key Specs Leaked: Report

Over the past few days, rumors that Canon is preparing to release an EOS M50 Mark II have been all-but-confirmed by dealer product listings. The camera is almost certainly going to be unveiled very soon, and now, we have a pretty good idea about the key specs as well.

NASA Shares Time-Lapse of Exploding Star that Outshone Its Entire Galaxy

NASA has just published a stunning, one-of-a-kind time-lapse captured by the Hubble telescope. The short video shows an exploding star (AKA a supernova) in a galaxy 70-million light-years from Earth—a fireworks show so bright it outshone every other star in its galaxy before fading into oblivion.