Industry

This Leica Video Just Got ‘Leica’ Banned in China

Leica has sparked a huge backlash in China over a short film released by its ad agency in Brazil. The video (warning: strong language) depicts a news photographer covering the Chinese government's crackdown during pro-democracy protests in Beijing in 1989.

2019 Pulitzer Prizes Won by Photos of Migrants and Famine

The Pulitzer Prize has just announced the winners for 2019. In the area of photography, Reuters' photography staff won in the Breaking News Photography category for photos of migrants journeying to the US, and photographer Lorenzo Tugnoli of The Washington Post won for his photos of the famine in Yemen.

The Huawei P30 Pro’s Game-Changing Camera Sensors Were Made by Sony

Huawei's new P30 Pro smartphone has jaw-dropping low-light abilities and industry-leading image quality. The company has been touting its quad camera system as being co-engineered by Leica, but here's an interesting piece of info that isn't being widely publicized: all the imaging sensors were made by Sony.

Godox to Retailers: We Did NOT Steal Profoto’s Designs

Profoto has been publicly accusing Godox of stealing its A1 round-head flash designs for the upcoming Godox V1, going as far as to send threatening letters to retailers warning them of legal trouble if they stock the V1. But Godox isn't letting Profoto thwart its V1 launch.

Why Affordable Photography Isn’t Devaluing Your Work

At least once a day I see a social media rant about other photographers, also referred to as “the competition”, and how they are “devaluing” photography. I see it across the board from wedding and newborn photography to commercial work and fashion photography.

The Problem of Viewing Photos on Digital Displays

In the good old days of analog photography, print aspect ratio was ultimately determined by the paper size. In other words, if you printed an 8x10-inch, you had to crop your negative to a 4:5 aspect ratio. For slide film, the image aspect ratio was determined by the film format, for instance, 3:2 for 35mm film.

To Stage or Not to Stage in Travel Photography

With the recent polemics surrounding a certain image that won a photography competition this week, I feel like we need to talk about travel photography. About people photography, in our case. And to set up boundaries as to what’s acceptable in both cases. Honestly, in my opinion, it’s a matter of common sense – but it seems that’s not enough. We still witness some shocking scenes in the world of travel photography these days.

Photographers crowding a woman and child in Vietnam

The Problem Isn’t the Photo Contest, It’s Us

Eye-rolls, shrugs, and barbs greeted the $120,000 Grand Prize winner of Dubai’s HIPA Photography Prize. Malaysian photographer Edwin Ong’s photo of a partially blind Vietnamese woman carrying her baby was derided for representing yet another “poverty porn” contest winner before it was suggested that the image was staged by photographer Ab Rashid.

The Winning Photo of the $120K HIPA Prize Was Apparently Staged

The prestigious Hamdan International Photography Award (HIPA) has announced its 2019 winners, and Malaysian photographer Edwin Ong Wee Kee won the $120,000 Grand Prize with a photo shot in Vietnam showing a mother carrying two children. But the win is proving controversial today after a behind-the-scenes photo revealed that the shot was apparently staged.

Profoto Accuses Godox of Stealing Its A1 Design for the V1

Godox is getting ready to launch the V1, its affordable rival to the $995 Profoto A1 round head flash, but it may soon hit a major roadblock: Profoto is accusing Godox of patent infringement, saying the Chinese lighting company copied its A1 designs for the V1.

CFexpress Memory Cards Will Come in Three Different Sizes

The CompactFlash Association's new CFexpress standard is getting ready to take its place as the new dominant memory card format, and six companies have already announced CFexpress cards: Apacer, Delkin, Lexar, ProGrade Digital, SanDisk, and Sony. But here's something you might have missed: CFexpress will feature three different card sizes.

Huawei Busted for Faking Smartphone Photos Yet Again

It looks like Huawei still hasn't learned its lesson after getting caught faking smartphone photos in ads multiple times. The company's latest teaser ads for the upcoming P30 Pro smartphone imply that they show sample photos, but they don't.

Meyer Optik Gorlitz Admits Nocturnus was a Modified Chinese Lens

After years of launching lenses through much-hyped Kickstarter campaigns, Meyer Optik Gorlitz died in 2018 but was brought back to life after its parent company, net SE, was acquired by the German company OPC Optics. With a new owner, Meyer Optik is now confessing that yes, the Nocturnus was actually a modified Chinese lens.

Sony: E-mount Can Take f/0.63 Lenses

At its a6400 announcement event back in January, Sony also gathered press together for a presentation in which it aimed to debunk some of the things being said about its E mount in recent days. One of the interesting facts shared is that the E-mount supports a maximum aperture of f/0.63.

Flickr Unveils a New Login That Ditches Yahoo’s System

After being acquired by Yahoo in 2005, Flickr became bound to its new owner's authorization system, meaning all users needed to have a Yahoo account just to use Flickr. Flickr has just announced a new login system that finally frees the service from Yahoo.

Costco Closing (Some) In-Store Photo Depts., Cites Plummeting Printing

Costco's wholesale warehouse stores used to be an ultra-affordable place to get film developed, as it charged less than $2 a roll while competitors often charged several times as much. But film processing started disappearing from Costco locations a few years ago (to the dismay of many). Now the entire in-store photo departments may be the next to go.

Kodak’s Kodakit Asks Photographers to Give Up the ‘Entire Copyright’

Kodak launched an on-demand photography service called Kodakit back in January 2017 that aims to connect photographers to brands looking for photography. But there's something all photographers need to know about this "Uber of photography," as it's been called: it demands that you sign over the "entire copyright" to the photos you shoot.

Is Bowens Really Back? Yes, And It’s Manufactured by Godox

For those of you that are unaware, a couple of weeks ago, the U.K. online photography retailer WEX photographic, quietly announced that Bowens was coming back and to many, myself included, this was a huge surprise.

Landscape Photography is NOT a Competition

A little more than 10 years ago, I had a realization that would one day change my life forever. During an evening stroll in the local woods with my camera in hand, I became aware of just how much I love photography and what it means to me; it was at that moment I knew it would be a part of me for a long time to come.

The EOS RP is a New Low for Canon

Prior to Canon releasing its first full-frame mirrorless camera, I wrote an article discussing how Canon will dominate the mirrorless industry. Many of you made fun of the title, which was fair enough; the comments did make me chuckle.

Debunking the Myths of Robert Capa on D-Day

I want to give you a brief overview of an investigation that began almost five years ago, led by me but involving the efforts of photojournalist J. Ross Baughman, photo historian Rob McElroy, and ex-infantryman and amateur military historian Charles Herrick.

How to Save 100,000 Cameras: A Look Inside Camera Rescue

Camera Rescue is a project based in Finland that's working to rescue 100,000 analog cameras by 2020 in order to preserve them for future generations. Photographer Jordan Lockhart of Cameraville recently traveled to Tampere, Finland, and made this 10.5-minute behind-the-scenes video at the organization's ambitious endeavor.

Are Wedding Photography Competitions Fixed?

In recent years I’ve been privileged to be on the jury for a whole range of photography competitions. These include single image competitions such as WPS International Excellence Awards, Masters of Wedding Photography, and the Irish wedding photography awards (In association with Learning to Fly).

Award-Winning Photographer Lisa Saad Accused of Stealing Photos

Lisa Saad is considered one of Australia's top photographers and has won numerous prestigious photo contests both in her country and internationally. But Saad has now come under fire with serious accusations of stealing other people's photos without credit for her prize-winning photos.