The guys over at HouseholdHacker have come up with and shared a cheap product photography trick that's incredibly simple but yields awesome results. And all you need to take advantage of it is some sort of reflective surface (they used a glossy black trashcan...), a computer monitor, and a smartphone camera!

John Wilhelm, a 44-year-old IT director and father of three girls has used his passion for photography and digital photo manipulation to create a strange, eclectic and downright adorable series of photographs. While there is no singular theme to this collection, the series depicts his growing family getting themselves into some crazy, albeit fictional situations.

Google used to have a standalone photo sharing service. It was called Picasa. I never really liked it. It wasn’t a very social site. I thought Flickr was a lot better.

Today’s news is that Google is looking to spin off Google Photos from Google+. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. You never know. The timing of Friday afternoon stories and leaks always makes you wonder. Usually when companies want to push something they release it more like Tuesday mornings or make a big deal about it at I/O or something.

As photography technology continues to improve year in and year out, the ISO ranges we’re capable of pulling quality images from are getting truly ridiculous. But as amazing as the improvements in ISO are, it's important to have an understanding of what ISO actually is and how you can make the most of these growing numbers.

It's those questions that Mike Wallace tackles in the detailed video above, as he breaks down that part of the exposure triangle that is all too often misunderstood or ignored altogether.

There are few gadgets as impressive and versatile as the GoPro. Small, lightweight, and capable, it packs a fairly mean punch into a very portable package. But small as the device is, there’s one notable thing missing: a viewfinder or LCD screen of some sort.

Fortunately, GoPro was wise enough allow you to use your smartphone as a live view for your camera, and now that feature is being taken to a more practical level by a new iPhone case/GoPro mount hybrid called Gorigit.

To honor the centennial of Britain’s beginnings in World War I, a pair of artist teamed up to work on an incredible installation, which you can see in these stunning photographs.

Titled “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red,” the display was put together by artist Paul Cummins and stage designer Tom Piper, and when it's all said and done it will consist of 888,246 red ceramic poppies surrounding the dry moat of the Tower of London. Each of the individual flowers represents a British or Colonial Military fatality.

We've said this about a few other wedding photography resources, but this infographic is the kind of thing every bride and groom should be shown before they embark on the harrowing journey of hiring a wedding photographer. If they did, maybe they wouldn't be so shocked at what are, essentially, perfectly reasonable prices.

Over the past few years Google has spent a great deal of effort trying to consistently improve and add to its photo service lineup. However, as robust and useful as the platform has become, its main caveat is the need to have the photographs you’re wanting to edit tied into your Google+ account. But, according to a report from Bloomberg, that might not be the case much longer.

From the creators of photo-editing apps, Intensify, Focus and FX Photo Studio comes a new black and white image editor for Mac called Tonality. Both a standalone app and plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture, Tonality is versatile in its implementation into your workflow.

Walter Leica, a small company known for their specialized lineup for Leica’s M-series cameras, has released an interesting little piece of gear. It’s called the Walter Contrast Lens and it’s a little, gold-toned eyepiece designed to improve focusing capabilities.

Globe-trotting photographer couple Peter Sedlacik and Zuzu Galova have found a fun way to document their travels around the world. Wherever they are, they face each other, frame up a great composition, and take a picture of each other... taking a picture of each other.

Thus was born the photo series/project Lens Between Us, which is quickly scooping up followers on Tumblr, Facebook and Instagram alike.

In terms of marketshare, it’s rather obvious digital photography has the upper hand. Whether it’s convenience or other reasons, digital seems to make sense for many for its flexibility across the board. But, despite vast advantages of a digital workflow, there are those still dedicated to analogue photography.

In an attempt to understand why it is some photographers are dedicated to film, wedding photographer and filmmaker Amrit Vatsa took a look into the art form that is analogue photography.

The Berrics, in collaboration with Red.com has released the final installment of their REDirect series, an 11-piece video collection created to celebrate the niche of skateboard filmmaking. The final piece, shown above, is aptly titled Urban Isolation.

If you're gonna do an anniversary picture, THIS is the way to do it. After hundreds of Redditors last year pointed out his resemblance to Sean Connery -- thanks in large part to his penchant for fedoras and his grizzled look -- 'Hillbilly at Large' and photographer Ken Thomas and his wife decided to capitalize on the look with a fun 21st anniversary photo.

Dressed up as Indy and Professor Jones, the two hopped in Thomas's Ural motorcycle and sidecar and snapped what has to be one of the most creative anniversary pics we've ever seen -- a photo that has since taken off like crazy on both Facebook and Reddit.

While Russia continues to claim it has no involvement in the civil conflict in Ukraine, the selfie-strewn Instagram profile of Russian soldier Sanya Sotkin may tell a slightly different story. A story which is landing Russian President, Vladimir Putin in even more hot water than he’s already in.

For photographer George Probst, Shark Week must be like looking through a family photo album. That's because this photographer's bucket list item turned passion is swimming with great white sharks and taking pictures that will help smash the 'Jaws' stereotype that clings to these majestic (if terrifying) creatures.

Noise reduction, much like sharpening, is one of those post-processing tools that is often overused or used improperly, yielding terrible results. But as Bryan O'Neill Hughes shows you in the video above, tackling noise in Photoshop can be both easy and effective just as long as you know what you're doing.

Warren and June Krupsaw, a husband/wife photography duo, have created an interesting series called Photographer/Photographs. A unique take on the BTS-style photographs, Warren captures his photographs of the world around him, while June captures him capturing the photograph. Once both images are captured, they’re paired together, showing both sides of the story, from a first-hand and third-person perspective.

The photo above was taken by Nathaniel Jude Heres (who goes by the Reddit username cuddymonster) and it might just turn out to be the next fun group photo trend. Rather than taking a standard beach shot or the nearly-impossible-to-get-everyone-in-the-shot group selfie, just toss your GoPro in the air and hope for the best!

If you missed your chance to snag a free license for DxO FilmPack 3 last September/October when they were handing them out for free, you're in luck! The company is at it again, and this time you have until August 15th to grab a quality piece of film emulation software for the price of 'on the house.'

The oceans are in trouble, and while marine biologists and conservationists and (God help us) politicians are the main advocates for the health of our planet, photographers can also play a role.

One photographer doing his part to help ensure future generations enjoy pristine oceans is Richard Salas, a talented underwater photographer with a decade of underwater photo experience who is currently crowdfunding the last of a trilogy of underwater photobooks that are helping both fund and inspire change.

The general consensus is that photography as a business is competing in a 'race to the bottom.' Photographs are regularly devalued by people who steal them, agencies that sell them for a pittance, and photographers who are willing to work for free.

Given this rapidly worsening status-quo, wedding and commercial photographer Greg Lumley's latest venture is either incredibly ballsy, or incredibly naïve: he's trying to sell a single print of his viral aerial photograph of Cape Town for $35,000... no we didn't add a zero by mistake.

A team from Berkeley, in collaboration with MIT and Microsoft, have developed a super exciting display technology that should have glasses and contact-wearing photographers jumping for joy. Due to be showed off at SIGGRAPH this coming week, the prototype they've developed automatically adjusts to suit your less-than-perfect eyesight so you can ditch your contacts and/or glasses when you're using it.

The next time you want to photograph some cool graffiti, you might want to think twice... you could get sued by the artist if that picture makes it big.

After the popular Canadian drama 30 Vies aired, graffiti artist Alexandre Veilleux recognized a tag of his in the opening sequence. Now, Veilleux -- who goes by Alex Scaner in the graffiti community -- is seeking $45k in damages from Radio-Canada and Productions Aetios Inc., stating they used his work without permission.

As someone who accumulated $25,000 in student debt in just the one semester I chose to attend medical school, the fate of photographer Damon Casarez's subjects in the series Boomerang Kids is one I've tried my damnedest to avoid. I've been fortunate, many of my friends have not.

A slumping job market and rising average student debt from undergrad, grad school and beyond means that more and more college graduates are moving back in with mom and dad, and it's their stories Casarez told in this poignant series of portraits commissioned by NYT Magazine.

When you’ve captured as many photographs as renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz has, it’s not exactly a simple task to pick and choose your best work. Shooting for over four decades for the likes of Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, her collection of work is as vast as it is rich.

And so, when it came time to create her latest book, rather than selecting just a few dozen of her photographs, she decided to step it up... a lot. Her latest book is a $2,500, 476-page visual journey through every single step of Leibovitz career.

Well, this is awkward. From the looks of it, Lens Rentals Canada is suspending services due to the theft of their equipment while in transit.

TL;DR: If you are using Dropbox as a sole backup of your files, think again. Without making a mistake, you might lose your files.

I started using Dropbox back in 2009 and have always loved the service. Over time, I kept moving more and more files to my Dropbox folder and eventually had to upgrade to the Pro plan to keep up with the space requirements. In particular, I moved there all of my photos in order to be able to view/share them online and also to have them backed up.

In April of this year, a hard drive in my laptop was running low on space so I decided to use the Dropbox’s Selective Sync feature to unsync some large directories from the laptop. Because there was never any problem with the service and also because it’s already the year 2014, I thought it might be about time that one can trust a cloud-based storage service and use them as a sole backup of their files. Boy, I was wrong.

One of the draws of Urban Exploration photography, or Urbex, is the chance that you'll discover and photograph something truly strange and unique. A building abandoned for so long that nobody realizes the treasures hidden within. Or, in this case, a 'train graveyard' with over 70 dilapidated subways, trains and busses in the middle of a North Carolina forest.

As the rumor mills continue to churn out their dose of information, more and more information on Canon’s successor to the 7D is coming to light. Earlier rumors have pointed to a brand new, “revolutionary” sensor being in this impending beast, but new rumors have pointed out even more exciting use for those holding out, specifically, that the 7D replacement is going to have “a lot of 1D X” in it.

A couple of days ago, we republished a short tutorial by talented photographer Justin Ng that explained how he uses the Expose To The Right (ETTR) method to capture milky way photos in the heavy light pollution of Singapore.

But if you'd like a more detailed, video run through, this tutorial by astrophotographer Ian Norman -- whose Sony a7S Astrophotography Review, incidentally, appeared on PetaPixel yesterday -- shows you exactly how to adjust your images to get the perfect results.

One of the last vestiges of the Kodak of old, the one part of its film division not sold off in 2012, is the company's motion picture film business. But even that is in trouble, and might be taking its dying breaths right now if it wasn't for some of Hollywood's biggest filmmakers coming to the rescue.

There is beauty in imperfection. In fact, imperfection might be considered the subject within a subject that photomicrographer Danny Sanchez tirelessly seeks out to create his stunning photography.

Sanchez's main subjects are gemstones, but the colorful, alien 'landscapes' he captures are made up of imperfections called 'inclusions' that actually make a gem less valuable. You might say that one gem merchant's trash is a gem photographer's treasure.

Noted photographer Gregory Heisler has captured hundreds upon hundreds of iconic photographs. But, in the above video, he tells the inspiring and even humorous story behind one particular photo shoot that involved Olympic gold medalist diver, Greg Louganis.

The video above by photographer Gary Yost is remarkable for two reasons. The first is that it was shot in true infrared, with a camera that had a 650 nanometer conversion applied. The second, is that the haunting, stirring quality of the time-lapse serves a greater purpose than simply offering a novel look at the Hawaiian landscape.

The subjects of the video are skeletons of the endangered Māmane trees of Hawaii. "A powerful metaphor," Yost says, "for how outsiders have crushed the native Hawaiian ecology."

In portraits, we’re well aware of the role physical proportions play on how a subject looks. Generally speaking, longer legs, an elongated neck, and other such physical attributes dramatically affect the aesthetic quality of portraits for many, be it subconsciously or not. And while ethics are rightfully called into questions when changing these proportions in Photoshop, it’s continuously done.

Looking to take this questionable practice and capitalize on it in the mobile market, developer Kim Taewan has created an application for both Android and iOS called Spring.

When his wife Meghan refused to have maternity pictures taken, Justin (who goes by DruishPrincess69 on Reddit) decided to take matters into his own hands. And by matters we mean his belly. Since his wife wouldn't take the photos, he hired a photographer and posed for all the stereotypical maternity shots himself.

Who Pays Photographers? is a Tumblr dedicated to demystifying at least some of the compensation standards held by many editorial clients throughout the world.

Dear Eric,

You are 18 years old. You just got a point and shoot digital camera from Mom as a high school graduation present. You are super excited, as you never had a camera before. A lot of exciting things will happen in your life surrounding photography. I wanted to write this letter to you and give you some advice I wish I knew. This is coming from your 26-year-old-self.

As a SWAT officer, Hou Weilin needs to be constantly prepared for any situation that may arise. Thus, when his fiancée, Li Jinyang, wanted to get engagement photographs, he was unable to do so in a studio setting, where he’d be too far distanced from his equipment and gear, should a situation arise.

As a compromise, Weilin and his fiancée used his workplace to their advantage to create some crazy, cinematic engagement photos.

As soon as the Sony a7S was announced, I knew I had to try it for astrophotography. With a full frame sensor and ISO 409600, is it the best low light camera out there?

If it wasn't for the very short behind the scenes video we've embedded below, we would have a hard time believing that the animation above really was just an incredibly intricate mix of stop-motion and long-exposure lighting effects -- it's beyond impressive.

We knew that Instagram was working on a Snapchat competitor of its own, and now that competitor has arrived... sort of... not really. It's called Bolt, and the 'sort of' and 'not really' have to do with the fact that the iOS and Android app is currently only available to people in New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa.

It may seem as though creativity is an innate trait, passed down in the genetic code from generation to generation, but that's just not the case.

It’s been shown over and over again that with the right mindset and ideals, creativity and success can indeed be taught. And in the above video, writer Shawn Blanc shares his insights on the abyss of creativity and how proper time-management, focus and routine lead to creativity and success.

Mirrorless Rumors has caught wind of a strange-but-exciting rumor from a trusted source: namely, that Nikon has a medium format camera based around Sony's much-lauded 50MP CMOS MF sensor in the works, and could be debuting it as early as this year's Photokina.

When it comes to photographing the elusive Milky Way in one of the most light-polluted major cities like Singapore, timing is critical. Most of the faint details will be washed out by the extreme light pollution and if we were to shoot the Milky Way under unfavorable atmospheric conditions, our attempt would be futile.

Unfortunately, most of the tutorials online only work in locations that are at least 2 stops darker than most of the dark locations in Singapore and so, we need to do more in post-processing to unveil the elusive Milky Way and more complex workflow is required if we’re shooting at much brighter locations.

Today, Mobli, a mobile app maker known for its ridiculous Yo application, has launched a new photo-messaging app called Mirage. Hoping to take away some of the ephemeral messaging marketshare of Snapchat, Mirage takes a minimalistic approach to sending and receiving self-destructing messages.

This past March Leica announced the opening of a new flagship store. It sits on Hanamikoji Street in the Gion district of Kyoto, Japan.

Most of us baby our film, making sure it's kept at the right temperature so that it produces the best possible photos when we finally do use it. Photographer Brigette Bloom takes a different approach: she pees on hers... seriously.

For her series Float On, the Hawaii-based photog produced ethereal imagery by soaking the film in a cup of her own pee before she ever went out to shoot it.

Only NASA could turn photography into literal rocket science. As Reddit user truetofiction points out in a resource-rich post, NASA meticulously decided upon a number of factors that determined the fate of the space-bound Hasselblads and the resulting images.