Articles written by Joseph Gamble

I an effort to bring more professionals into the S system, Leica Camera has gotten aggressive with a new S-System Trade Up discount program. Launched as a component of their "100 Years of Leica Photography" centennial, Leica Camera is granting a $5000 credit towards the purchase of a new Leica S (Typ 006) digital medium format camera for customers trading in any SLR camera or medium format camera (film or digital).

Donna Von Bruening’s studio was thriving: bookings of more than 50 weddings a year, a full time studio manager, associate photographers and a new studio space but she lacked one thing — quality of life. Ten years after starting her studio in Savannah, Georgia, she faced the common small business dilemma of having to turn down work due to scheduling. So she expanded and grew her business only to realize that she regretted it and missed the quality of life she had with a smaller studio.

Polish photographer Emil Stankiewicz’s has created a unique, handmade Talbotype camera nicknamed Idlozi, which means “window to your heritage soul.” Each unique image captured by the wooden camera starts as a paper negative which is then rephotographed with the same box camera to yield a positive print. The camera also known as a “street camera” or “á la minute camera” are inspired by Henry Fox Talbot’s calotype, the British inventor who was able to create a paper negative from which positive prints could be contact printed.

Black bear bile, rhino horns, shark fins and other endangered wildlife and their illicit trade account for more than $10 billion annually. For the past ten years, documentary photographer Patrick Brown has explored this story, shooting from the jungles of Cambodia to the markets of Guangzhou. The work is now collected in the book “Trading to Extinction,” published by Dewi Llewis and released to coincide with this week’s global summit on illegal wildlife trade hosted in London.

Boston Magazine’s May 2013 cover image by photographer Mitchell Feinberg depicted running shoes from Boston marathoners shaped into a heart. It was a fitting, smartly conceived statement to a city recuperating from the terror of the finish line marathon bomb attacks. To promote the upcoming Bath Half Marathon 2014, Bath Magazine in the UK printed a cover image almost identical to the Boston edition, sparking an internet controversy.

Nikon's update to its flagship D4 DSLR will be on view today through Friday at the International Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. A new image processing engine and better autofocus highlight the improvements to come from the full frame HD-DSLR. There are scant details beyond yesterday's press release.

The swirly bokeh of fast lenses designed by Joseph Petzval in the mid-19th century is no longer solely available to fine art photographers using view cameras. In July, we profiled a Kickstarter campaign by Lomography to fund the creation of a brass Petzval for Nikon and Canon mounts. Now, a new campaign is hoping to fund the production of an F3.8 120mm lens for medium format cameras with a Pentacon Six and Hasselblad compatible mount.

Cheryl Dunn’s visceral documentary of New York street photographers “Everybody Street” is now available for rental or purchase online via Vimeo. The 90-minute film debuted in April at Toronto’s HotDocs International Documentary Film Festival, traveled to several international festivals and continues to be screened. Featured photographers include Boogie, Bruce Davidson, Bruce Gilden, Elliott Erwitt, Jamel Shabazz, Jill Freedman, Mary Ellen Mark and Joel Meyerowitz among others.

Think Tank and MindShift recently released a number of notable new travel products for photographers including the rotation180 backpack, 2nd Brain laptop collection and PowerHouse organizers. Designed by photographers for photographers, their gear excels in functionality and durability. They are currently offering rebates on Rolling Camera Bags and Urban Disguise Shoulder Bags. Here are the details.