Photography News

For an instant, she stares blankly out into the distance as she would for any photograph. But almost immediately, she takes notice. You're there. She turns her head, looks over, and then slowly turns back, looking down at her outstretched legs. Her eyes move slowly, looking down, as her chin lifts her gaze from the top of her legs to her feet. She's admiring herself — for you. She even starts crawling toward you. You turn your head to look around ("Toward me?," you think, but no one else is there). You turn back to her. The clip is over. You can take off your Google Cardboard viewer and go back to flipping channels on your living room TV.

A bug in a recent Adobe Creative Cloud update is currently deleting a folder on the root drive (Macintosh HD, by default) of Macs upon installation. This issue is affecting Backblaze users disproportionately due to the fact that the bug results in the deletion of the contents of the alphabetically first hidden folder on the root drive, which is often the folder ".bzbol" for Backblaze users.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), based in Pasadena, CA, recently released a 360-degree video of a vista of Mars' Namib Dune from their rover, Curiosity. On one hand, it's an all-encompassing, but static, noiseless video. Yet, on the other hand, it's the most realistic, hands-on, feels-like-you-were-there video of another planet that we have. If you think about it for a moment while you're watching, it suddenly hits you: we're really there. We have a presence on Martian land.

When Pixellu came out with its too easy to believe drag and drop album creator that synced with every popular album company's layouts, those who were not Mac users were certainly bummed to hear they would be missing out. But today, after Pixellu released SmartAlbums 2 for Mac, the SmartAlbums version for Windows is here and it comes at a generous $50 discount for those who have waited so patiently.

Users of Adobe Bridge will be pleased to learn that the latest release of the software includes several performance enhancements and new features. Available today for Creative Cloud subscribers, Adobe notes that this release "will lay the foundation for future development."

The day has come; Instagam will finally add support for switching between multiple accounts this week! Yes, you heard that right. After almost five years in the social game, they have come to their senses and added the ability to flip through accounts quickly and easily.

Adobe Stock has been around for a short while now, featuring useful, deep integration into Creative Cloud products, as well as a more traditional online portal through which to purchase content. Through a blog post on its website, Adobe recently announced these platforms will now benefit from native 4K video content in addition to the photos and standard high-definition videos previously offered.

One of the primary reasons many have given for stalling in making the switch to mirrorless is the lack of solid fast aperture zooms. With the newly announced Sony G Master series and initial debut of a FE 24-70mm f/2.8, FE 70-200mm f/2.8 OSS, and FE 85mm f/1.4 lenses, not only are we getting the highly requested fast zooms, but we are getting some of the best precision optics overall for the Sony Alpha system.

Today Sony has announced a follow-up to the insanely successful Sony a6000. The new 24.2-megapixel Sony a6300 with internal 4K video recording once again pushes autofocus capabilities into uncharted territory. Take a closer look at all the specs of this prosumer beast and tell me you aren’t impressed.

We fell head-over-heels when we saw CineStill’s 35mm 800T film, repackaged from Kodak cinema film. Beautiful golden skin tones, cool shadows, and that ever-difficult-to-explain magic glow, brought the beauty of true filmmaking to the still format. It’s been a long wait since the 35mm format was introduced in 2012, but today, CineStill launches their high-speed, tungsten-balanced cinema film in the 120 format.

Just behind Nikon's announcement of the D5, Canon comes with their own anxiously-awaited update to their flagship DSLR: the new EOS-1D X Mark II. Building on the experience of both the 1D X and the 1D C, the 1D X Mark II features a modest increase in resolution to 20 megapixels, instead counting its improvements mostly in the areas of image quality, autofocus, and speed.

Flash meters are often seen as archaic and of no use anymore. However, good flash meters such as the L-478DR can make photographers and assistants lives much easier. Even more so with the two new products Sekonic releases today.

Drones are great, but they also pose a huge threat to general safety and national security if in the hands of the wrong people. The Secret Service has even said they don't yet have an effective method of defending against drones, although they recently began testing drone flights in their own backyard to defend against them. While some turn to strictly technological methods of bringing drones to the ground, the Dutch police are evaluating the effectiveness of a new program that trains eagles to grab drones from the sky with their talons.

Today, Adobe released version 2015.4/6.4 of Lightroom, which adds support for many new cameras and lenses, speeds up performance, and introduces an intriguing new feature: Boundary Warp.

Adobe launched a new YouTube series through their Lightroom channel to give Lightroom users some extra tips on features they may not have come across yet. While some highlighted features such as viewing masking for the sharpening tool are a little better known, others are more tucked away and might come as a surprise, like this feature that allows you to update the overall effect of a local adjustment with multiple sliders in effect.

We all know it's a little bit more competitive for females to "make it" in the photography and film industries. Yes, it is. The gender gap is real, and I'm not being a feminazi. There are studies about this — science. Even women who are the main characters in films don't get paid as much as their male counterparts (Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games, anyone?). It's even worse for women who are behind the screen, the creators of these big projects. The team over at Vimeo isn't having it anymore, so they are doing something about it.

Young photographers often don't have a great budget to buy a lot of equipment when starting out, let alone high-end lighting gear such as Broncolor's flashes and light shapers. Unless the equipment in question is given away, which is exactly what Broncolor offers to talented photographers under 30.

After the drowning death of an 18-year-old girl and a man who tried to save her last week, authorities in Mumbai, India have taken drastic steps by banning selfies from being taken at 15 sites, including many popular tourist attractions.

The X-Pro1 started it all as it cemented its place while paving the way for its segment — the mirrorless rangefinder-style APS-C camera — as the way of the future. But until today, Fuji’s focus has been on further diversifying the segment with other high-end, mid-range, and budget mirrorless systems. Today’s announcement brings a new, true compact flagship to XF platform in the form of the 24-megapixel, professional-level X-Pro2.

In addition to the X-Pro2 announcement, Fujifilm also announced the release of the X-E2S, X70, and XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, each helping to further refine and round out Fuji's mirrorless lineup. The X-E2S is largely similar to it's predecessor (the X-E2), but improves ISO performance and offers several software enhancements. The X70 offers the same 16-megapixel X-Trans II CMOS sensor as the X-E2S in an appropriate update to Fuji's more affordable, fixed-lens XF line-up with an 18.5mm f/2.8 (28mm in 35mm equivalent) lens. And the 100-400mm lens fills out a part of Fuji's XF platform that has historically been in sore need of bolstering: it's lens selection.

Finding just the right music for your video project can be an overwhelming process in filmmaking. You may have spent weeks, months, or even years tirelessly capturing footage and now it comes down to music track selection which can make or break all the film work you already put in. Musicbed, the popular music licensing website, has just launched a new “Discover” page which they hope will make the track selection process faster and easier by giving you a much more personalized experience.

CameraLends has been letting gear owners rent out their gear to peers when it's not in use since its inception three years ago. Until now, everything has been done through their website. The new CameraLends iPhone app, however, lets users manage the entire rental process from the ease and mobility of their iPhones. Making money on your gear when you're not using it is now easier than ever.

Love it or hate it, mobile photography is the king right now. So what’s a world-renowned lens manufacturer for “traditional” system cameras to do when a large majority of photos these days are coming from smartphones? You adapt. Today Zeiss has announced, in partnership with Fellowes Brands, plans to ship a macro, wide-angle, and telephoto lens for iPhone in Q2 2016.

Did you catch the news today? Nikon went on a spree, releasing flagship FX and DX cameras, as well as some exciting new accessories. Pre-orders are now available; use the links in this post to grab your gear as soon as possible, as these are likely to be some highly popular items!

2016 is going to be an exciting year for gear-lovers. Both Canon and Nikon will be updating multiple camera bodies and lenses, while Sony, Fujifilm, and Pentax are all continuing their charge against the big two. Today, Nikon kicked off the new year with the announcement of their new flagship cameras, the D5 and D500.

Samsung's Portable SSD T1, has been a fantastically tiny and handy external drive since its inception. Yesterday, for CES 2016, Samsung announced its successor, the Portable SSD T3, sharing many of the same features with the T1, such as the claimed 450MB/s transfer rate, 850 EVO-based NAND flash memory, and AES 256-bit encryption that won't slow the drive down. Meanwhile, a new shockproof design almost doubles the weight and adds to its bulk a bit, but protects the drive in up to 1500 g drops. Also new to the line is the 2 TB capacity and USB-C connection.

Those eagerly awaiting the upcoming release of Pentax's new full-frame DSLR will be pleased to know that the company recently updated the teaser page for the camera, introducing an intriguing feature that will make current users of their DSLRs very happy.

Sony's 50-megapixel sensor found in the latest 645 medium format digital CMOS bodies brought such cameras down in price considerably for the first time while extending ISO usability to the more DSLR-normal ISO 6,400. Today's announcement brings a new iteration of that technology in the form of the IQ3 100MP, also in a CMOS flavor. Although the resolution is doubled (and file size is quadrupled), Phase One also managed to pull out an extra stop of ISO performance on both ends of the spectrum, which now goes from ISO 50–12,800. Dynamic range also increases a stop over other models to 15 stops.

You have probably seen these already swirling around Facebook and Instagram. The "Best Nine of 2015" has gone viral and like me, if you were a little bit late to the party, you can head over to 2015 best nine to have your best nine Instagram posts of 2015 curated for you. The site will then let you share directly to your Facebook profile, business page, or directly to Twitter.

If you've been saving up your holiday money for some new gear, check out this opportunity. In a big year end bash, Canon and Nikon are both offering some pretty big discounts on a bunch of different cameras and lenses. The best deal Nikon is offering gives you $1,000 off a D750 and lens while Canon is offering $650 off a 7D Mk II with various lens options. Not only do Canon deals include some of their best bodies and lenses, the award winning Canon 600EX-RT speedlite is also on sale. These discounts will only last until January 2 so check out your options below.

When looking for new creative ideas, it seems like everything has already been done by someone. But there are still people, like Jay Philbrick, that manage to create pictures never seen or even never thought of before.

When Austrian Alpine Skier Marcel Hirscher made his way down the course during the World Cup Slalom in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, gates weren't his only obstacle. In a miraculous near miss, what looks to be a very expensive drone made an explosive appearance only ten seconds into the run. As the drone shattered into tiny pieces, a very loud message about the dangers of drone use in professional sports was exemplified on the world stage.

The countdown to mandatory drone registration with the Federal Aviation Administration has begun here in the United States. But there is one major privacy issue that has recently come to light. Personal information from drone owners, including names and addresses, will eventually be publicly available, according to a report from Forbes.

Leave it to a German drone company to create the world's first light painting by drone with a fully programmed flight path, all to create one fantastic holiday time-lapse of Santa Claus delivering presents. Perhaps the most unique part of the project isn't the world-first of programming a drone to complete a multi-colored light painting, but is instead the reimagining of Santa Claus' method of delivery, as something more similar to that of your neighborhood newspaper boy with perfect accuracy.

Today's airspace is more and more crowded with drones that, for the most part, all do the same thing. This lack of product diversity is the reason Lily, with its unique combination of features including landing and taking off in water or on your hand, awed thousands when its promo video launched. Its incredibly good pre-order deal undoubtedly helped spread it further at a low price of $499. The best part: this wasn't a crowd-funding campaign. Lily had financing. This was happening. Until it wasn't.

An annual award that TIME magazine started three years ago has chosen it's official 2015 winner. Stacy Kranitz is an Instagram photographer who is most famous for her work in the Appalachia area. The poverty stricken, drug and alcohol filled area is certainly an eye opening subject. But why her in particular?

Did you forget to order some of your Holiday gifts in time? B&H is offering free next day shipping on a wide variety of their products to get it to you in time for the Holidays. The special is only good for the next few days and only applies to orders made within the USA. If you're one of the many who forgot about the lengthened delivery dates for all things mail, this could be a welcome Holiday relief. Check out the full list of gear and available items below.

As the latest addition to Booq’s growing camera bag offerings, the new Slimpack brings together many features perfected in their previous packs and includes the staples that many photographers now expect.

Phase One released Capture One Pro 9 just a little over two weeks ago and announced today its first update. This new version includes a couple of bug fixes and adds support for the DxO One camera.

Landscape photographers use polarizing, neutral density, and graduated filters of all types for effects they would consider pivotal to their work. Meanwhile, however, the Internet has been beating up UV and other clear types of filters, bringing to light that "UV filters protect your lens" is a falsehood. While even the best UV filters might shatter in an impact, Sigma has developed a brand new filter type called the "WR Ceramic Protector," which is actually supposed to absorb, bend with, and mitigate shock from an impact.

A little over two weeks ago, Adobe released CC 2015.1 for most of its apps. The updates looked great on paper, but for photographers, there were a couple of glitches in the new Photoshop that turned out to quite be annoying. Yesterday, Adobe released a new update, CC 2015.1.1, meant to correct most of the issues.

Adobe released today the version 2.1 of Lightroom for mobile devices. It comes with a bunch of interesting new features making full use of the possibilities offered by iOS 9 and the iPad Pro. Some of the new features also could make one think that Adobe is becoming serious about making great apps for mobile devices.

The Verge reported Tuesday that British hydrogen fuel cell technology company Intelligent Energy has been successfully testing a miniaturized version of a hydrogen fuel cell as part of a drone system with the intent to increase flight times. Through such hydrogen fuel cell technology, drones could start flying for up to and over two hours, which would be a six-fold increase over the current industry-standard 20-minute flight time for many drones.

There used to be a time when getting into digital medium format meant you had to put a mortgage on your house and your family. This time seems far gone now that a full kit can be found for under $20,000. With the promotion Hasselblad is running, it looks like Christmas is early this year.

MacPhun released Aurora HDR just a few weeks ago and touts it as the most advanced high dynamic range (HDR) software in the world. Certainly, veteran users of Photoshop and Lightroom might be skeptical. But if your sole purpose is to create HDR photos on the Mac, Aurora HDR might be the best option out there, seeing as it was created with the close consultation of HDR photographer Trey Ratcliff. In this video, Ratcliff dives deep in a first-hand look into how to get the most from Aurora HDR.

When the terrorist organization, ISIS, isn't busy terrorizing people, they are apparently busy stealing photographer's artwork. In this day and age, it's not uncommon to have your work stolen. Heck, it's pretty common. But having the bane of the earth stealing your work has to be a new experience. That's not the end of the story though. It gets worse.

The FAA has been working on establishing rules and regulations for drone owners for several months, and today they have announced a mandatory registration law for drone operators that goes into effect on December 21 of this year. Starting on December 21, you will be to apply at the new FAA registration website.

Users of the immensely popular GoPro line of rugged cameras will be pleased to know that the company has updated its app with new features, including Apple Watch integration that gives users the ability to control the camera right from their wrist.

Have you ever had trouble finding a model, make up artist, or stylist to work with? Maybe the traditional methods of networking aren't working for you, or you are new to the area. Pro Photo Shoot is a new IOS app designed to help photographers find other industry professionals to collaborate with.

Have you been trying to think of creative ways to use your skills with a camera for the good of your community? Well look no further! In Jacksonville, FL a vigilante photography group calling themselves, "Photography Is Not a Crime" is doing just that.