Hipstamatic’s New TinType iPhone App Taps Portrait Mode for Authenticity

Before Instagram became a worldwide phenomenon, Hipstamatic was the cool kid on the block that popularized retro photo filters. And while Hipstamatic hasn't achieved nearly the level of popularity as the now-Facebook-owned app, it's still innovating: it has just launched a powerful new camera app called TinType that shoots realistic-looking tintype-style portraits.

How Peter Jackson Colorized 100-Year-Old WWI Footage

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is out with a new highly-acclaimed World War I documentary titled They Shall Not Grow Old. Here's a 5-minute look at how Jackson colorized 100-year-old footage to give the world a fresh look at the Great War.

Building an Off-Camera Flash Portrait: A Step-by-Step Look

When it comes to online educational content, there aren’t many photographers out there willing to share their mistakes when trying to create a photo. I think it’s fair to say that there are easily far more who only share their best work online and for good reason; as educators, you want to create an image of a photographer who makes little to no mistakes at all.

Drone Shots of San Francisco Shrouded in Wildfire Smoke

Last month, smoke from wildfires in northern California caused San Francisco to have the worst air quality in the world for a number of days. Here's a 2-minute drone video that offers an eye-opening aerial look at what the city looked like during those days.

Photokina 2019 Cancelled: The Now-Annual Show Will Resume in 2020

Photokina announced in 2017 that starting in 2018, the previously biennial photography trade fair -- the largest in the world -- would become an annual event. The event is also moving from September to May. Since May 2019 is only just over 7 months after the latest show in September 2018, the organizers have decided to cancel the 2019 show and start the new schedule in 2020.

The Red and Green Specialists: Why Human Color Vision is So Odd

Most mammals rely on scent rather than sight. Look at a dog’s eyes, for example: they’re usually on the sides of its face, not close together and forward-facing like ours. Having eyes on the side is good for creating a broad field of vision, but bad for depth perception and accurately judging distances in front.

Creating a UFO Abduction Photo on a Tabletop

I love the theme of science fiction, so I always have these ideas about flying UFOs and houses in the middle of nowhere that aliens show an interest in as they try to take over a new planet.

Hong Kong Landscapes at Blue Hour

At my arrival in Hong Kong, I was firstly impressed by its incredible urban development in terms of verticality and compactness. However, I discovered soon after that the city’s density was juxtaposed next to sheer wilderness with large lands of preserved nature which cover 70% of its territory.

Travel Photography: Equipment and Pre-Travel Checklists

You're full of excitement, and new adventures and life experiences are just around the corner. You have finally completed those last minute errands and your bag is now bursting at the seams as you try to squeeze in the last few items before zipping that bad boy up and darting out the door for the airport. But you pause for a moment and find yourself staring at your bag. You think to yourself, "Have I forgotten anything?"

Learning Photography From a $90.3 Million Painting

Last month, legendary British painter David Hockney's 1972 painting titled “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” (shown above) sold for a jaw-dropping $90.3 million, the highest auction price ever for a living artist!

Jackson Hole: Stop Tagging Locations

There has been much discussion in recent days of how location tagging in social media is harming natural landmarks around the world. And now even authorities are taking a stand: the Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board in Wyoming has launched a new campaign against location tags.

This Gender Reveal Sparked a 47,000 Acre, $8 Million Wildfire

Gender reveal parties are becoming increasingly common in our social media age as expectant parents arrange elaborate celebrations to create photos and videos to share and enjoy for a lifetime. But some reveal ideas aren't as smart as others -- in fact, they can be disastrous. This 49-second video shows how one gender reveal party sparked the April 2017 Sawmill Fire in Arizona.

The Clever Street Photography of Alan Burles

Alan Burles started as a art director in the early 1980s. After investing in a Olympus XA 35mm rangefinder, however, Burles started traveling everywhere with a pocket camera. Since 2005, he has been a full-time photographer, and his street photos are filled with clever illusions.

Tricks Food Photographers Use to Make Food Look Delicious

Food photographers have an arsenal of tricks up their sleeves to make food look delicious on camera. And more often than not, these hacks make use of non-edible products that aren't appetizing. Blossom has created an eye-opening video that reveals the dirty (sometimes literally) little tricks of food photographers.

Can Hasselblad Compete Against Fujifilm in Medium Format?

Hasselblad. The company that went to the moon. A company known for producing some of the most iconic cameras in history. Since 1948, when Hasselblad produced its first consumer camera, it has built a strong reputation within the industry. As with many companies, it has had a few bumps in the road, but for the most part, it remains a highly respected organization.

5 Things Photographers Can Learn From the Old Masters of Painting

Art has arguably been around almost as long as humans have. The moment we learned to mark something for others to see and interpret, the moment art was born. Thankfully for us photographers, we needn’t go quite that far back to begin learning from the history of art. In fact, we only need to go as far as the "Old Masters."

6 Lightroom Tips to Create Moody Landscape Photos

It seems the moody edit trend has been going strong for quite a few years now and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. There’s probably not a better time of the year to capture moody landscape photos than the winter months.

COOPH’s $440 Photo Vest Has Built-In Heating

The photography apparel and accessory company COOPH has announced a new photo vest for feature- and fashion-conscious photographers. It's a high-tech reinvention of the classic photo vest that has built-in heating.

This Video Shows an Untethered Hang Glider Hanging On For Dear Life

There are action shots in movies, and then there's this video that will give you sweaty palms. A camera mounted on a hang glider captured what happened when a man suddenly realized that his safety harness wasn't attached to the glider. It was a 2-minute-long white-knuckle ride 4,000 feet in the air.

There’s Now a Museum of Selfies in Hollywood

The word "selfie" has exploded into mainstream culture over the past decade as more and more people around the world shoot and share self-portraits using their smartphone's front-facing camera. And now the selfie has just unlocked a new achievement: it has its own museum.

Making a Conceptual Photo of the Man Who Controls Day and Night

Swedish photographer and retoucher Erik Johansson has created a new conceptual photo titled "Daybreaker," which shows the man in charge of controlling the transitions between day and night. Johansson is also sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how he put both day and night into one photo.

This ISS Timelapse Captures a Rocket Launch from Space

When the Russian Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft launched on a Soyuz rocket on November 16th, 2018, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst was ready to capture it... from the International Space Station. This timelapse he made shows what a rocket launch looks like from around 250 miles away from Earth in orbit.

Making a Splash in Toy Photography

As a toy photographer I am constantly experimenting with new techniques and effects -- primarily practical effects, but I won't hesitate to dive into some digital effects if it helps me tell a story and create the strongest image possible. Some of my more popular images include real liquid splashes, so I thought I'd share some of those images here.

Ep. 305: Are You Sure You Want to Do That? – and more


Episode 305 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
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Featured: Commercial headshot photographer, Daniel Sommer

Review: Xennec’s CityScape BackPack 15 is Sleek and Spacious

Peak Design is probably the most well-known camera bag brand to leverage Kickstarter to launch their products, going way back as early as 2014 with their camera straps. And since then, there have been many camera bags brands who have tried to follow their footsteps -- some successfully, and some not.

This is Real-Time In-Camera Beauty Retouching

Think modern day Photoshop beauty retouching is impressive? In the future, your professional-grade camera might be able to retouch subjects for you in real-time. Here's a 30-second video that shows this technology in action.