Here's some good news for the smartphone photographers out there who are sick of all the iPhone-only news that seems to flow down the pipeline daily. It turns out that anybody with an Android 4.0 and later phone can install a copy of the superior Android 4.3 camera app without even having to root their phone.
Privacy concerns abound in the digital age, especially where pictures are concerned. With massive social networks like Facebook and Instagram offering more-or-less on/off security with little in way of customization, apps that allow you to take your photos' privacy in your own hands by deleting the photo after a set amount of time have taken off (think Snapchat and Facebook's Poke).
The productivity service IFTTT (short for "if this then that") is a popular digital "glue" that ties different web services together. If you want to create a Facebook status every time you get an email, or automatically upload new photos to Flickr, the app allows you to do that.
You might have run into this problem before: you're out with a group of friends and someone suggests a group shot. At this point, as the resident photographer of the group, several smartphones will probably be passed your way, leading to several good photos, all of them missing you.
Photographers still irked about about Adobe's decision to make Photoshop rental-only have a new alternative with the re-release of the pioneering LightZone application as a free, open-source program for Windows, Linux and (eventually) Mac OS.
Combining the impressive technological improvements humanity has made with regard to cameras and cleverly-written software has yielded some interesting products for consumers. Case in point: UK's Snap Fashion, an application made for iPhone that lets users snap a photo of an outfit they see and get information on where to buy it.
First Lytro tried to make focusing irrelevant, and now an MIT project wants to make choosing a camera angle a thing of the past.
Today's minor update from Instagram -- you can tell it's minor because it's version 4.0.2 -- was actually a bit more feature-packed than the number suggests. Coming on the heels of the major Instagram Video update in 4.0, the newest iOS update adds much sought-after landscape support as well as video stabilization when using the front-facing camera.
The flash built into your iOS device isn't anything to write home about. If you want something more capable, the general approach is to attach something more powerful, like a Kick Light or Manfrotto's KLYP flash. But there is another way to do it.
About a month ago, Leica Camera AG made an announcement that's bound to make prospective buyers happy, while possibly justifying the price tag of a Leica camera a tiny bit. The company has decided to begin including Adobe Lightroom 5 with every Leica S, M, X, V and D-Lux camera from here on out.
We told you about the Postagram app/service by Sincerely all the way back in 2011 when it first made landfall. Using the free app, users could select photos, pay $1, and have them slapped onto a postcard and sent to whomever they chose.
When Windows Phone and Windows 8 came out, Microsoft was eager to point out that the photos app on both systems was built to pull in photos from social networks and sharing sites like Facebook and Flickr automatically. The Windows 8.1 update, however, is scrapping integration from both of those sources, in addition to dropping support for network storage.
We've gotten a pretty good picture (no pun intended) of Sony's upcoming photography-focused smartphone code-named "Honami" as of late. Now that we've seen leaked photos of the front of the phone and a decent list of rumored specs, many expect it to add another higher-end camera to the smartphone market.
When a beta version of Apple's iOS software is released, you can bet developers are sifting through the code like mad to see if any new features have been added to the mobile operating system.
Snapchat may be having a tiny little issue when it comes to iOS 7 usability. Apple's updated mobile operating system (which is currently in beta) reportedly allows users to screenshot Snapchat "snaps" secretly.
If you're a owner of a Fujifilm X-Pro1 or X-E1 and have been dying to see focus peaking brought to your camera, today's your lucky day. Fujifilm has announced a new set of upcoming firmware updates for those two cameras, and focus peaking is front and center as one of the big new features introduced.
Fast-growing and super popular image sharing service Imgur announced the release of their first official application for Android. Even though there's been a beta available since April, Imgur says their mobile application is ready for primetime. Now you can enjoy meme pictures and silly cats wherever you happen to be.
It truly is a cat and mouse game between software developers and software pirates. It's been that way for years. So when a company like Adobe decides to change up their entire business model to subscription-based to curb the piracy of their professional-grade product suite, you would expect it to take a fair amount of time before the pirates managed to find a workaround.
Lytro has today taken their light field camera to the next step with the release of a new application for iOS, eliminating the need for users to connect the device to a PC or Mac computer to sync and manipulate photos.
Adobe officially launched Photoshop CC to the public today after announcing its major move to the cloud at its Adobe MAX conference in Los Angeles last month. The program is now available for download through the Creative Cloud website.
Rumor has it that photo-sharing and social networking service Instagram is said to be getting video support this week -- June 20th. That's according to TechCrunch, who has cited an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
Let's face it: sometimes when you take a picture of someone, they look downright unflattering. Maybe it's that monster pimple on their cheek. Or perhaps the cat got angry again and left some scratches to the forehead.
The iOS 7 announcement was met with a standing ovation at Apple's WWDC keynote. A couple-minute-long video followed by descriptions and demos by chief engineer Craig Federighi left little doubt that he, Jony Ive and their respective teams of engineers and designers have created something worth getting excited about -- or, at least talking about.
It looks like the ongoing revamp of Flickr isn't limited to additional storage space and a new user interface. Yahoo, the company behind Flickr, has acquired Ghostbird Software for an undisclosed sum in order to beef up Flickr's mobile offerings.
Step aside, rich kids of Instagram. There's a new group of people in town sharing images that are equally as unappealing and vomit-inducing. They're called doctors, and they've got themselves a new app dubbed Figure 1.
A few days ago, we told you about an app called Koloid that allowed iOS users to capture some of the look and feel of wet collodion photography using their iPhone. The $1 app let you not only take photos, but 'develop' them as well by tilting your phone to run chemicals over them.
Apple has just concluded the WWDC 2013 Keynote in San Francisco, and they've announced the next iteration of their ever-so-popular mobile operating system, iOS 7.
“Commerce makes progress. Fortune passes everywhere.” – Frank Herbert …
Back in April, Adobe released a Lightroom 5 public beta, a preview version meant to iron out bugs. Today, Adobe brought the program out of beta testing and has officially launched it in its final form for both Windows and Mac systems.
To say that SnapChat has taken off would be an understatement. When we first wrote about the app in December of last year, we were impressed that the (not entirely) self-destructing photo messaging app had managed to raise over $10 million at a $70 million valuation. Now, if we add a zero to each of those numbers we'd still fall short of what several sources are expecting from the SnapChat's latest round of funding.
With the rise of digital photography, good old-fashioned film processing has, for the most part, become a thing of the past for many of us. But with a new app called Koloid, photography enthusiasts can play around with the look and feel of wet plate collodion photography while creating digital images with their iPhones and iOS devices.
Visual Supply Co has been teasing the release of its new VSCO Cam and Grid apps for a couple of weeks now, and the wait is finally over. Released yesterday as an entirely new (and entirely free) app, VSCO claims that the new iOS camera app yields images more "elegant" and "stunning" than have ever been possible out of a mobile platform before.
There was a great deal of excitement when Canon entered the mirrorless camera market with the EOS M last year, but much of the buzz evaporated when people began putting the camera through its paces. Although the camera features impressive image quality, one of the biggest issues is the sluggish autofocus that often gets in the way of capturing "decisive moments." …
When it comes to viewing and editing RAW photos, many photographers turn to editing software such as Adobe Lightroom or Apple's Aperture. But one developer hopes to harness the power behind web browsers to view -- and potentially edit -- RAW image files.
Some might say that simplicity is a lost art these days. Where the digital realm is concerned, many of us judge a product based on how much it can do -- and camera apps are no exception. We want myriad filters, editing options, the ability to comment and like other people's photos in a social environment, and we want it all to be free.
B&H Photo has had iPhone and Android apps for some time now, making it that much easier to browse through, learn about and purchase your photography gear from anywhere. And now, the superstore has announced the release of a brand new app designed specifically for the iPad.
Visual Supply Co is trying very hard to get people excited about the new and innovative products it has up its sleeve.
I was cleaning out my gear drawer recently when I came across a couple of holders for Cokin filters. The filters had long since been sent to an eBay afterlife, but tossing the cases started me thinking, mainly about how I hadn't missed the things a bit.
Given the recent leaps Magic Lantern has been making regarding mind-blowing RAW video capabilities for both old and new Canon cameras, there are probably a lot of Canon owners out there who are thinking of giving the custom firmware a try for the first time.
Visual Supply Co, the people behind the film emulation software VSCO Film and the $1 iOS app VSCO Cam, have taken to the interwebz to tease an upcoming version of the latter that has many smartphone photography junkies excited. The new VSCO Cam will come with an all new interface and, according to them, "represents major advancements in mobile photography image processing." Oh, and by the by, this one'll be free.
In case you thought Instagram was just about faux-antiquing images, au contraire. They're not even a photography company, co-founder Kevin Systrom (shown above) clarified during a recent discussion at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club.
Traditionally, a photographer's post-processing workflow does not include a web browser, but rather, tools like Lightroom and Aperture. Pics.io is hoping to change that, and is working to bring serious RAW picture editing and collaborating to the web browser.
For some filmmakers, the arrival of the Magic Lantern RAW video recording ability has become a godsend. With increased sharpness and a remarkable improvement in dynamic range, it's quickly become a much talked about topic.
There has been no lack of controversy surrounding the announcement of Adobe's new Creative Cloud product line, and the California-based company is well aware. So much so, in fact, they've come out with an update to address some of the major concerns in moving from their traditional boxed-copy to subscription-based model.
Installing custom firmware on your DSLR is becoming more and more standard. Like jailbreaking an iPhone, the new firmware often offers much more customization and features you couldn't otherwise have. Magic Lantern in particular has been on a rampage lately, unlocking RAW video in cameras as cheap as $500.
The Magic Lantern team deserve some sort of award ... or a ribbon ... or at the very least a hug. That's because, lately, they've been making ground-breaking RAW video announcements almost weekly. From the very beginning of the story -- when they discovered a RAW DNG output in live view -- to the breakthrough when they began pulling in that stream at 24fps and full 1080p HD, it's been nothing but good news out of the Magic Lantern camp.
Asking a stranger to snap a photograph of you is a risky proposition. If the person has no concept of basic photography concepts and techniques, the resulting photographs may be completely different than what you had hoped for -- and you're too embarrassed to ask for another photo (so you wait for that person to leave and for a new one to walk by).
We are at about that point in the year when Apple holds its ever-popular WWDC (Worldwide Developer's Conference) in California. The company's keynote is expected to include the unveiling of iOS 7, and the word on the grapevine indicates the next iteration of the mobile operating system could include deep integration with social networks outside of Twitter and Facebook.
Planning lighting is a critical step in the planning of a photo shoot. But what happens if you don't exactly have control of your lighting. What if your planned source of light is the sun or the moon? …
Following the Google+ updates last week at Google I/O that overall improved the photo experience for its users, Mountain View-based Google is now making that very updated experience for users of its Google+ Android application.
