facts

How Steve Sasson Invented the Digital Camera

Steve Sasson is an electrical engineer who invented the digital camera while working for Kodak. The Rochester, New York, company, which had made its fortune by selling photographic film and paper for most of the 20th century, did not think that Sasson's digital camera had any place in photography, and that lack of foresight ironically put Kodak out of business.

The Numbers Behind Selfie Deaths Around the World

Back in September 2015, we reported that selfies now cause more deaths worldwide than shark attacks. As people become more and more daring in their attempt to snap the perfect self-portrait to share online, there are more stories of those picture-takers getting seriously injured or killed.

Here's a closer look at the numbers behind this disturbing trend.

This Photo of an Astronaut Shows How Big the ISS Is

You've probably seen countless photos by now of astronauts working inside and outside the International Space Station, but sometimes it's hard to get a sense of scale when the photos don't show much of the station. If you'd like an idea of just how big the station is, check out this photo of American astronaut Kjell Lindgren working on it.

13 Mind-Bending Thoughts About Photography

Photographer Matthew Rycroft put together this video containing 13 strange, random, and mind-bending "facts" about photography. These are short and seemingly obvious statements that may make you stop and think.

The Camera Versus the Human Eye

This article started after I followed an online discussion about whether a 35mm or a 50mm lens on a full frame camera gives the equivalent field of view to normal human vision. This particular discussion immediately delved into the optical physics of the eye as a camera and lens -- an understandable comparison since the eye consists of a front element (the cornea), an aperture ring (the iris and pupil), a lens, and a sensor (the retina).

Despite all the impressive mathematics thrown back and forth regarding the optical physics of the eyeball, the discussion didn’t quite seem to make sense logically, so I did a lot of reading of my own on the topic.

18 Facts of Life for Photography Students

Every year, I go to my alma mater and give a lecture for 3rd-year advertising-photography students on the business of photography. At this two-hour lectures, I cover all sorts of points about the ups and downs of being a busy commercial photographer in NYC, and also try to tell them straight facts of what the “real world” is like. Here is a summary of some of the most important words of wisdom I try to pass on to young photographers.

Marketing Fail: A Demo of AF Speed with a Lens Set to MF

In the beginning of last month, Nokia was caught faking sample photos and footage in a promo video for the camera on its new Lumia 920 phone. A couple of weeks later, bogus information about camera sensors was found on the official website for Hasselblad's new Lunar mirrorless camera. This week, we have a new episode of "camera marketing fail" for you, this time brought to you by Phase One.

Fascinating Facts About How Humans Perceive and React to Color

Unless you only shoot in monochrome, color likely plays a huge part in the experience of viewing your photographs. You may be aware of how you use them, but do you know how the colors in your images affect the people that look at them? PBS Off Book put out this fascinating video today that explores just how powerful colors are.

The Invention of the Pigeon Camera for Aerial Photography

We've featured a couple of projects involving cameras strapped to birds recently (see here and here), but photographing with birds is anything but a new idea. It was actually invented a little over a century ago, in 1907, by a German photography pioneer named Julius Neubronner.

Inkonomics: Why It Pays to Pay a Little More When Buying a Photo Printer

In the market for a new photo printer and not sure what to buy? Here's a tip: shelling out a little more dough on the printer itself could potentially lead to massive savings over time.

The reason is ink, sometimes called "black gold" (or... "colored gold"?). The general rule of thumb in the printer industry is: the cheaper the printer, the more expensive it is to keep it filled with ink.

Leica: The Little Privately-Owned Engine That Could

The camera maker we know as Leica, officially known as Leica Camera AG, is now 100% privately owned. The main shareholder, Lisa Germany Holding GmbH, announced earlier this week that it had successfully bought out the 2.44% of stock still in the hands of third-party shareholders, paying a set price of €30.18 (~$39) for each of the shares.

The stock will also be removed from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as a part of this plan, a move designed to save the company time and money -- the management will no longer need to worry about all the hassle that comes with being a publicly traded company.

Photography Makes an Appearance on Jeopardy

"Photography" was featured as a category on last night's episode of Jeopardy. Here are the 5 questions that were asked. If you consider yourself a photography buff, see if you can answer all of them (answers at the end).

A Snapshot of the Photography Industry

Did you know that more photos are created every two minutes than in the entire 1800s? HighTable created this infographic that gives a quick overview of the state of the photography industry and the rise of mobile photography.

Behind the Scenes with Camera and Lens Testing Service DxO Labs

Stephen Shankland over at CNET has written an interesting behind-the-scenes look at how DxO Labs -- one of the world's premier camera testing services -- evaluates equipment. DxO Labs is based near Paris, France and was the result of a 2003 spinoff from a company called Vision IQ, which specialized in swimming pool safety. Since then, the group has published over 185 in-depth camera reviews on its website DxOMark.

Eerie Hidden Mothers in Vintage Photos

Did you know that in vintage tintype photographs of infants mothers were often present in the photo but hidden by a veil? Subjects needed to remain still due to the longer exposure times required back then, so mothers were often asked to hold their children tightly while the portraits were being exposed. It was common practice back then, but the resulting photos are pretty eerie when you look at them now.