I have captured photos of stars above distant thunderstorms before, but I never imagined I would be able to capture the Milky Way above a nearby thunderstorm. While out storm chasing in Eastern Montana on June 4, 2018, that's exactly what happened.
The Soviet Utopia: sending your hard-working state citizens on a health holiday to one of the empire's many sanatoria. Originally conceived in the 1920s, these USSR sanatoria offered a combination of health and medical benefits alongside thermal baths and spas. These institutions were once among the most innovative buildings of that era.
Photographer Jill Greenberg recently gave this 8-minute talk at TEDxWabashCollege on the importance of and discrimination against female photographers.
Episode 287 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
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Featured: DJI and Phase One Ambassador, Baber Afzal
Just this past week, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs approved amendments to EU’s Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which includes the infamous Article 13.
Adobe's software has been widely used for many years now as a tool to create fake photos, but now the company is developing software for the other side: it's using AI to spot photo manipulations to aid in the war against fake photos.
Here's a 16.5-minute video by OWL BOT in which photographer Omar Kenji demonstrates how you can develop C-41 color film in your own bathroom instead of passing it to a photo lab.
It’s becoming harder to get the entire image sharp with the constantly wider lenses and more extreme foregrounds that are used in today’s photography. Even optimal apertures aren’t enough to get both the foreground and background as sharp as desired. That doesn’t mean that it’s impossible, though. Focus stacking for sharper images has become a go-to technique for photographers of all levels to achieve images that are sharp all the way through.
The rotors on camera drones can do serious damage to human flesh if the two come in contact. Researchers are working on a new flesh sensor that would stop a rotor so fast that an approaching finger can be spared from harm.
Decades before the word "selfie" exploded into popular culture, NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin shot the first space selfie while on a spacewalk during the Gemini 12 mission on November 12, 1966.
Irving Penn is either the best or second best portrait photographer of all time. Depending on the day, he’s either ahead of or behind Richard Avedon. At least that’s what I think.
I did it. The photo I have had in my mind for almost two years was finally taken, and I’m proud of the result. Liv Johanne and Rune became (what I believe to be) the first couple to get their wedding photos taken at Himakånå, Norway.
One of the most talked about photos in the ongoing immigration debate has been Getty Images photographer John Moore's iconic photo of a 2-year-old Honduran girl crying at the feet of her mother and a border patrol agent. It has become a symbol in the debate over family separations, but it has now come to light that the girl was never separated from her mother.
Photographer and astronomer Juan Carlos Munoz was browsing a flea market in Santiago, Chile, a few days ago when he stumbled across some crystal balls. He bought one for a few dollars and then decided to use it for astrophotography. This "cosmic marble" photo of the Milky Way in a crystal ball is what resulted.
Camera gear is about to get more expensive for most online shoppers in the United States. The Supreme Court just ruled that states may force online retailers to collect sales tax on their behalf. While Amazon already does this -- it has a "nexus" in every state -- camera gear giants like B&H and Adorama will now have to follow suit.
"Great photos! You must have a great camera!" If you take your craft seriously, the odds of having heard these words are quite high. Audiences associate good images with great cameras, and for the longest time this (almost) accusation has bothered photographers who felt their skills were downplayed. But the interesting bit is that we’re walking towards making the “great cameras = great photos” equation true! And they fit in your pocket.
For about a year and a half, every time I opened my fridge I saw my last remaining 10 exposure pack of Fuji FP 100C instant film, and every time I opened said fridge I was reluctant to take it out and shoot it. I did not want to waste my last remaining packfilm but I knew I shouldn’t wait too long, because eventually the chemistry inside the film would dry. And since the film expired in late 2007, I was running out of time.
If you think you may have a passion for photography, try "developing" that passion instead of "finding" it. The shift in mindset could help keep you from giving up when the going gets tough.
Want to see which cameras are used by characters in movies and TV shows? Product Placement Blog is a website that tracks brands that appear on screen, and one of the categories on the site is cameras.
We've all heard of some of the world's greatest and most spectacular places. Places like Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Machu Picchu. Many of us dream of going to far away places such as Iceland, Santorini, Dubai, The Maldives, but for many of us, it is just that -- a dream! Something we have to save long and hard for. Something we are lucky to do just once a year.
Dora Goodman, a maker of handcrafted cameras and straps, has released a new open source camera called the Goodman One that anyone can make if they have access to a 3D printer.
If you're just starting out in photography, seeing all the technical terms being thrown around can be confusing and daunting. Apalapse created this 12-minute video with quick explanations of 25 of the most common terms you'll run into.
I recently took my Sony A7 III and a rented $2,500 Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens to the 2018 Montreal GP. A friend of mine had recommended that I use a polarizer. I remembered that I had a pack of 77mm Vivitar Series 1 filters that came with my 24-105mm, so I threw that onto the 100-400mm and started shooting, completely zoomed at 400mm.
The Chinese electronics company OPPO has just unveiled a new smartphone called the Find X. Featuring an edge-to-edge display covering 93.8% of the front, the Find X avoids having an iPhone X-style notch through an unusual design choice: the front-facing camera module is hidden and pops out of the top of the phone.
Daryl Aiden Yow is a Singapore-based photographer and social media influencer who has over 100,000 followers on Instagram. He's at the center of controversy today after it was found that many of his Instagram photos were actually uncredited images shot by others.
I admit to being a bit of a Fuji fanboy. I have to be in order to put up with all the quirks of the Fuji X system. I believe it is this unconventional approach by Fuji that results in their growth and dedicated following.
Loupedeck made a splash when the custom photo editing console for Lightroom was announced back in 2016. Today, the company just announced the original console's successor: the Loupedeck+.
Award-winning photographer Michelle Frankfurter is taking to social media to share a horror story involving her precious camera equipment. She says American Airlines lost her cameras equipment worth $13,000.
Lomography has unveiled the Diana Instant Square, a lo-fi toy camera that shoots Fuji Instax Square instant film. It's the world's first Instax camera to feature interchangeable lenses and a hot-shoe mount.
"Take it again, I blinked." That's something commonly said after pictures are snapped, but it may soon be a relic of the past if Facebook has its way. The company's researchers have created an AI that can automatically replace closed eyes with open ones in your pictures.
NVIDIA researchers have created a new AI system that can turn standard 30fps video into high-quality slow-motion that looks like it was actually shot at higher frame rates with a high-speed camera. The 1.5-minute video above has demos and comparisons showing what the AI can create.
B&H held its Optic 2018 conference and trade show for outdoor and travel photography earlier this month, and now you can watch 20 of the talks given by top photographers over the course of the four days.
It looks like electronic info displays are becoming a new norm for camera lenses. A new patent filed by Canon suggests that the company's next 18-55mm kit lens will feature an LCD display.
In addition to releasing a host of new features and improvements across its Lightroom lineup, Adobe has also unveiled a new Technology Preview for Lightroom Mobile on iOS that allows you to capture simulated long exposure photos without a tripod.
CineStill just announced a "holy grail" of film photography: a single-step monobath called Df96 for processing any black-and-white film. The company says it's the world's fastest process -- one that can develop your film in just 3 minutes, from start to finish.
Adobe has just announced its June 2018 release of Lightroom CC, and one of the big features found in the update is preset and profile synchronization. It allows you to sync between Lightroom on various operating systems and devices (and even the Web).
Photographer Willis Chung was shooting in Yellowstone when he came across a solitary bison bull in the plains. As he walked parallel to the animal, photographing it from a safe distance (a minimum of 25 yards), the bison began charging at him.
The Chinese drone juggernaut DJI has outgrown its current headquarters and is now building a giant new complex for its future. The twin towers will also be located in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and will feature giant quadruple-height indoor drone flight testing spaces as well as a sky bridge that will be used for showing off new drones and technologies.
Landscape photography takes a lot of patience. When we share shots on the Internet, people often don't realize how much effort can go into creating some of them. I'm often told, "you’re always at the right place at the right time." And yes, I am sometimes at the right place at the right time, but it took me lots of effort and sometimes a bit of luck!
There is something all-newcomer photographers tend to do: they either dream of camera gear or buy a lot of it. When I started in photography I went through the same thing. I thought that I needed all the lenses that my idols used. I believed I needed the highest megapixel camera, with all the video features just in case a potential client wanted video. But over time, with age came wisdom.
One of the most viral and talked about photos this week is of a 2-year-old daughter looking up and crying at her mother at the US-Mexico border. The Honduran mother and child were being taken into custody by federal agents when they were photographed by Getty Images photographer John Moore, who shares the story behind the shot in the 7-minute CNN interview above.
Samyang has just announced its new Samyang/Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 full frame autofocus lens for Canon EF-mount cameras. The announcement comes just one week after the company unveiled its new 24mm f/2.8 lens.
In October 2017, I visited a good friend in Seattle, Washington, who runs an international animal rescue organization. Animals can have a positive impact on people’s lives. Unfortunately, I also saw and learned how much animals suffer abuse around the world. During my visit, I saw that many homeless people kept animals with them, and it gave me an idea to document their connection and dependence on each other.
Think medium format CMOS sensors are big? Check out what Canon's largest sensor looks like when placed next to a DSLR camera (an EOS Rebel T3i/600D). The picture above is to scale.
Nissin has just announced the MG10, a new versatile 2.4GHz wireless TTL flash that comes with a hand grip you can mount to it.
Episode 286 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
Download MP3 - Subscribe via iTunes, Google Play, email or RSS!
Featured: Tenba Australia and Spider Holster Ambassador, Hanna Saba
I picked up a camera in 2008, and I laid my mother to rest in 2010. Guess what I never got around to? That’s right: I never created a real portrait of her before we said goodbye.
Apple just launched a new ad campaign called "Behind the Mac," featuring stories of how people are using the company's gadgets and technology in special ways. One of the creatives featured is photographer Bruce Hall, who's legally blind. You can watch his feature in this 1-minute ad.
Leica has just announced a new ultra-limited edition Leica M10 rangefinder created in collaboration with the Italian luxury car company Zagato. Instead of being covered with leather trim to provide grip, the Leica M10 "Edition Zagato" is covered instead with fine grooves in the metal body.
Johnnie Behiri of cinema5D recently visited the Cartoni tripod factory in Rome, Italy. The 11.5-minute video above is a behind-the-scenes look at how the famous tripods are made by a small team at the family company.