For about five minutes on May 29, 1919, the Moon blotted out the Sun over an island in the Gulf of Guinea and a hard-baked plain in northern Brazil, and two teams of astronomers pointed their cameras at a patch of sky no one could normally see. They were not photographing the eclipse for its beauty. They were trying to measure whether a handful of stars had moved.
When a hurricane spins up over the Atlantic, the most frequent, most continuous pictures of it come from a camera parked 22,236 miles above the equator. That camera is the Advanced Baseline Imager, the primary instrument on NOAA's GOES-R series of weather satellites, and it works nothing like the one in your bag. It never racks focus, it has no shutter in the conventional sense, and what it delivers is not really a photograph. It is a stack of measurements that gets rebuilt into an image on the ground.
At 5:29:45 in the morning on July 16, 1945, in a stretch of New Mexico desert the Spanish called the Jornada del Muerto, the sky turned brighter than the noon sun. Aimed at that flash, tucked into steel-and-lead bunkers and buried instrument boxes ringing a 100-foot tower, sat roughly fifty cameras. Most of the cameras were unmanned and triggered automatically, although Brixner personally occupied a tracking-camera position at North 10,000. Every one had been focused, loaded, and left in the dark hours earlier, wired to fire on a countdown, because no human eye could be trusted to catch what was about to happen and no photographer could survive standing close enough to try. The world has entered the nuclear age.
In 2022, a camera on the floor of the Izu-Ogasawara Trench off Japan, 8,336 meters down, filmed a small translucent snailfish drifting through its beam. No fish had ever been filmed so far down. No sunlight has ever reached that trench, and the light that does exist down there, the faint blue flicker of bioluminescence, is nothing like the broad-spectrum white the camera carries. When the lights came on, they almost certainly gave that fish a kind of light it had never seen. A great deal of deep-sea photography works this way: the scene has no sunlight of its own, so the camera has to bring it.
Researchers in Germany have shown that an ordinary Wi-Fi network can pick a specific person out of a crowd with near-perfect accuracy, no camera involved. In a test with 197 people, the system recognized individuals in seconds, from different angles, no matter how they walked.
Imagine trying to photograph a moon the size of a fist while flying past it at 45,000 miles per hour, using a camera you cannot see through, cannot focus by hand, and cannot even talk to in real time. Every instruction you send takes hours to arrive. By the time you learn whether a shot worked, the target is long gone, and there is no second pass. That was the daily reality for the people who ran the cameras on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
On July 6, 1989, physicists at the University of Minnesota aimed a low-light video camera at a distant thunderstorm to test the equipment and accidentally caught the first image of what is now called a red sprite, a burst of lightning firing upward toward space. That first frame was black and white and only proved the flashes were real; their crimson color would not be captured on camera until the mid-1990s. For most of the previous century, pilots who reported those flashes were told they had imagined them. Some of the atmosphere's most photogenic events are exactly that rare, that brief, and until recently that easy to dismiss.
When Curiosity looked across Gale Crater and captured a portrait of "Miraflores," it wasn't simply documenting another rock on Mars. It was photographing a landscape shaped by erosion—a roughly 20-foot sand-capped butte that survived while the surrounding rock slowly disappeared.
You stood at the canyon rim at sunset, took in the glowing sky and the shadowed rock below in a single glance, and pressed the shutter certain you had it. The file came back with a white sky or a black cliff, never both. Your eyes were not lying and your camera was not broken; the two simply do not measure light the same way, and the gap between them is large enough to explain almost every disappointing landscape you have ever shot.
The first picture of a black hole was not taken with a camera, and no single telescope ever saw it. It is a reconstruction, assembled from petabytes of radio data recorded at seven observatories scattered around the globe, then flown across the planet on hard drives. Even the famous orange glow is a decision: the color was assigned by scientists to show brightness, because the radiation itself is invisible to your eyes.
Scientists just released the highest-resolution images of the Sun's visible surface ever captured, taken in violet light at 416 nanometers. The pictures resolve features as small as 19 kilometers across and reveal tiny, swirling, whirlpool-like patterns nobody had directly seen on the Sun before.
Researchers in Oregon have built a low-cost camera trap that uses AI to spot and identify wild bumblebees without netting or killing a single one. The system matched the species diversity that lethal traps and hand-netting turned up in the same field, at a fraction of the effort.
It seems smart telescopes are taking off, bringing more and more people into the astrophotography hobby. I've reviewed a few of these new categories of products, most recently the Dwarf Mini. 3, a low-priced entry in the computer-driven portable telescope offerings.
Hyperspectral satellites are rewriting what "seeing from space" means. Instead of the three color channels your eyes use, a new generation of satellites captures hundreds of color bands per pixel, and the implications stretch from farming to military surveillance.
Low f-number lenses have always been a kind of optical myth. You chase them for that magical look in dim light, but the physics behind them is rarely simple. The pursuit of brighter images and faster glass isn’t only about collecting more light. It’s about understanding how light itself bends, refracts, and behaves once it passes through a lens.
Astrophotography is growing rapidly in popularity. Better and more reasonably priced equipment, computer control, and a heightened interest in what is in the night sky have all combined to expand the number of photographers who do night sky imaging. Some create landscapes, better termed “nightscapes,” while others focus on capturing planets, nebulae, and galaxies.
As a film manufacturer, Kodak’s role in America’s development of the atom bomb might seem unlikely. But this new book tells the story of how film manufacturers on both sides in WWII became integral to their nation’s war efforts, ushering in the age of nuclear weapons and the Cold War that followed.
There's a moment in every storm chaser's career when they realize they're no longer just documenting weather—they're bearing witness to something far more profound. For Hank Schyma, better known as Pecos Hank, that realization came gradually over three decades of pursuing supercells across the Great Plains, but it crystallized into something deeper: an understanding that storms aren't just meteorological phenomena to capture, but windows into the very nature of scientific truth and human humility.
Scientists are reporting progress on a “quantum camera” that could vastly improve early cancer detection by capturing visual details that conventional medical imaging might miss. This next-generation camera is designed to be so sensitive that it can detect a single photon of light – the smallest possible unit of illumination. By leveraging principles of quantum physics, the device would produce extremely high-contrast, high-resolution images of biological tissues, potentially allowing doctors to see cancerous cells or tumors at a much earlier stage than current technology permits.
Have you ever taken a photo of a breathtaking scene, only to find that the image doesn’t match what you remember? The colors seem dull, the depth is missing, and the overall impact just isn’t there. This is a common problem, and it comes down to the fundamental differences between how our eyes and brains process a scene versus what a camera can capture.
Sharks, crocodiles, snakes—these are my favorite photography subjects. I am constantly asked why.
Ever wonder what it’s like to do bird research in the Amazon jungle?
The Bumblebee Atlas Project focuses on the role of bumblebees in the broader ecosystem, helping to conserve species that are essential to pollination. Bumblebees and other pollinators help maintain the biodiversity that produces the vibrant, flourishing landscapes we all love to photograph.
As a photographer, you understand the importance of capturing sharp, detailed images. But have you ever considered how the capabilities of the human eye influence the technology we use to create and view those images?
The Sigma fp and fp L cameras, recognized as the world's smallest and lightest full frame interchangeable lens cameras, are products of Sigma's meticulous design and manufacturing process. A recent video reveals the detailed behind-the-scenes of how Sigma designs, machines, and assembles these cameras.
A number of years ago, while still an ambassador for Hasselblad, I received a fateful phone call from a gentleman asking if he could pick my brain about the newly released Hasselblad X1D. I agreed, and we proceeded to talk about cameras, both past and present, along with the photos we had taken with them. It was a jovial conversation, but it wasn't until we were talking about the Hasselblad 500 that he said the line: "That is the camera I used to photograph the Mir Space Station."
Cross polarization transforms images of a variety of clear subjects into rainbow, fluorescent works of art with equipment that you probably already have. Learn the easy process behind this clever optical technique to create some masterpieces of your own.
It hasn't been long since I reviewed that Dwarf II portable telescope/camera combo. I found it reasonably priced, ($595 with filters, tripod, extra battery and carry bag), easy to use, and something that was going to excite people of all ages who have longed to take good astrophotographs without spending a fortune or having to learn a lot of complicated science and processing skills.
What does an atomic detonation look like with a 1/1,000,000 s exposure? If you drop milk onto a red table, do you make art? This article holds an interesting discussion about high speed photography.
Hold on to your taste buds, folks, because we're about to embark on a deliciously hilarious journey through the secrets of protein bars! Get ready to discover the five covert tricks that turn these humble snacks into protein-packed wonders that would make even James Bond jealous. So, grab your fork and knife (yes, we take protein bars seriously), put on your best British accent, and let's uncover these delectable secrets and how they can help you overcome the hunger pains that might force you back home and miss that banger shot.
Photography is not just about capturing beautiful images; it is a powerful tool that can positively impact our mental and physical well-being. Whether you are an amateur or a seasoned photographer, picking up a camera and immersing yourself in the art of photography can bring numerous advantages to your overall health. In this post, let's explore the remarkable benefits that photography offers for both mental and physical well-being.
Do you know what a barm or a zarf are? They're two items seen practically every day but rarely called by their real names. A barm is the foam head on a beer, and a zarf is the cardboard burn prevention sleeve. This brings me to Manhattanhenge. Can you believe it’s a New York City sunset?
The northern lights are one of the great unicorns of the photography world. Researching how to find them can sound as complicated as entropy. Luckily, this video breaks down everything you need to know about analyzing the science behind hunting the auroras.
Have you ever wondered what the frame rate of the human eye is and, just importantly, why it matters? It turns out the answer is far more complex than a simple numerical value, and that has tremendous consequences for the design of cameras and why we work the way we do. This neat and informative video takes you behind the scenes of the science behind how the eyes sees to discuss the topic and the implications it has for filmmakers.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the photography industry by automating many tasks that were previously done manually. This has the potential to greatly impact the way photos are taken, edited, and shared. Should we be worried about AI or embrace it?
The World Cup is in full swing, and this year, technology is helping officials to make more accurate calls. This neat video takes you behind the scenes to show you the new “semi-automated AI offsides technology” that uses a combination of sensors, a multi-camera array, and machine learning to help officials to make the correct call each time.
I had recent cataract surgery on both eyes, about a month apart for each eye. The doctor told me my vision would improve (a good thing). I was having the surgery because it was getting more difficult to see, especially close up. I knew it was time to do something when I realized I couldn't clearly read my weight on my bathroom scale, and I was sitting closer and closer to the computer when editing.
Earlier this year, the scientific community was abuzz when an image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the galactic center of the Milky Way, was released. How did scientists actually create the image, though? It took petabytes of data from a virtual telescope that size of the entire planet. This interesting video will take you behind the scenes to see how it all came together.
It has been 26 years since development started on the eventual successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. In that time, after numerous delays, cost overruns, one major redesign, and 10 billion USD, the James Webb Space Telescope has finally taken its first images.
Landscape photographers have a love/hate relationship with clouds. Too many or too little in our shot can be cause for grief while trying to compose a landscape image, unless the clouds are interesting, of course, like during a storm.
Machine learning and AI are quickly becoming commonplace with the tools every photographer uses. There are neural filters for Photoshop, AI enhancement tools in Luminar Neo and PortraitPro, and even programs that use AI to generate captions for photos.
If spring has been a mixed bag of poor weather and few targets for you, as it has been for many of us, things are looking up as May rolls in. A total lunar eclipse highlights the list on May 15-16.
March brings the Spring equinox, hope for improved weather, and the possibility of a marathon road trip through the sky via the Messier list of astronomical objects. Note: it’s not supposed to be a “messy” list.
We encounter and use JPEG files daily, but rarely do we give any thought to what the process entails. More importantly to us as photographers, what data do we lose when using this lossy image compression technique?
Advances in technology are too often in the news for the bizarre and almost dystopian applications they bring with them. However, on occasion, we get to see wholesome and encouraging uses, like this.
Ocean drones have been around for a while, but unlike their aerial siblings, they don't see quite as much use. They are, however, conducting important work and one has recently achieved a world first by filming inside a hurricane at sea.
It is easy to get hung up on the artistic side of photography and forget about how significant the craft is in the sciences. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a camera so minuscule that it allows the observation of chemical reactions in real-time.
As you’re probably aware from the level of hype in your news feed, the Perseid meteor shower is approaching and you should get outside to see it now! Technically in late July, it is already active in our skies, but the reality is that there is a fairly narrow window of high activity only around the peak time. My own experience is that the number of meteors drops off dramatically a day before or after the peak evening.
Ever wonder how film works? A recent video from SmarterEveryDay covers this topic in great detail describing how film works.
Every lens has a sweet spot, the aperture where the image sharpness is at its best. If the aperture becomes larger, lens errors will become visible. When the aperture is closed, lens diffraction will become visible. In this article, I am going to take a closer look at lens diffraction.