Quite often we just believe what we want to believe or what we’re told to believe. The occasions are rare when we forge our own path to find out for ourselves what’s right to believe and what not. That’s exactly what Aram Pan did, a Singapore photographer specialized in commercial virtual tour photography. He wanted […]
On Photography by writer, filmmaker and aktivist Susan Sontag remains a cultural classic of the most timeless kind, with every reading unfolding timelier and timelier insights as our visual vernacular continues to evolve. Complement it with 100 Ideas That Changed Photography and Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop, and you come to understand what happened […]
Everyone likes good food. Food photography — some call it foodtography — is not something always whetting one’s appetite. This however is food like you’ve never seen before. The Photography of Modernist Cuisine, an amazing photography book for food, is not if you’re looking for recipes. You get enthusiastic descriptions — of food photographs. Nathan […]
Nice Pentax K-50 promotion from Adorama. They’re including a case, 32GB memory card, extended warranty plus a $200 Adorama gift card. Pentax’s latest rugged DSLR with a 16.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor and sensor shift stabilization gets some great reviews. The K-50 neither pushes the limit on pixel count nor jams in as many video capabilities […]
Leica CEO Alfred Schopf tells THEME in an interview he’s not giving away anything. So don’t expect any breaking news or secret product insights. Nevertheless, we’re assured that Leica’s strategic expansion with the soon-to-be-opened Wetzlar manufacture “will certainly make it easier for us to translate innovations into products.” Next key event Leica is “particularly looking […]
Some of us are buying cameras like articles of daily use. There’s no bonding whatsoever between photographer and gear. Imagine using your current digital camera — or iPhone, for that matter — 30 years from now. That’s exactly the concept of the folks at Ilott, refurbisher of fine vintage cameras: take pictures with their lovingly […]
These are some great inspiring time witnesses and documents: long forgotten videos with Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel interviewing some of the greats of American photography. Recorded in 1981, the series portrays the iconic photographers Arnold Newman, Elliott Erwitt, Garry Winogrand, Horst P. Horst, Harry Callahan, Frederick Sommer, Duane Michals, Cornell Capa, Burk Uzzle and Joel Meyerowitz. Especially […]
By BENGT NYMAN Camera manufacturers insist on proprietary lens mounts to favor the sales of their own lenses. Proprietary autofocus communications and algorithms contribute to this protection. Even proprietary electronic shutter controls do. However, this is all about to be turned on its head. Nikon has probably been restricting when and how Sony can enter […]
Or virgin Leica? This one-of-a-kind variant of the M Typ 240 is a clinically clean design by and true to the style of Apple’s chief designer Jonathan Ive. Designed by Ive and Marc Newson, this purist Leica M will be given to the highest bidder this November in New York at Sotheby‘s “Jony and Marc’s […]
By ANONYMOUS* WTF, just read an article you tweeted Dan, about a National Geographic photographer “capturing the aura of the Scottish Highlands with the iPhone 5S“… What a brave new tool for brave new photography… Worst of all, I can’t even tell if these images are really shot with an iPhone or not!! Paid by […]
Amazon has some cool Sony RX100 II bundles. Pay a bit more than list price and get a wealth of extras. For instance the bundle below, it’s yours for $788. Bundles start from $748. BTW, also make sure to check out Sony RX100 II eBay deals…
Who doesn’t post-process images to enhance reality. But there’s a growing concern that news photos are excessively manipulated. After the assumingly false allegations of forgery leveraged against photographer Paul Hansen now even World Press Photo updated its rules for the 2014 contest. Following discussions and widespread speculation regarding the permissible levels in post-processing of image […]
Zeiss calls its new groundbreaking Otus 55mm F1.4 APO-Distagon the perfect standard lens. And no better lens to shoot with at night, promises Zeiss. Manually focused, rather big and heavy, the first Otus lens stands for the perfection of Zeiss optical design and engineering. Announced a year ago, the Distagon has finally been baptized, slightly […]
Soft, mellow photographs like watercolor paintings, taken by Julian Lennon, son of the iconic father. Lennon doesn’t set his images up. He calls his photography “a lot more random.” Isn’t that, in essence, the smartphone’s snapping approach. Nope. He finds a level of peace and calmness, Lennon says. He just tries to be more aware. […]
These deals come and go quickly. Most stores have the Fujifilm X100S in stock now — but not for $1,179 like top rated eBay dealer cameraland with 100% positive feedback. Better hurry or miss your chance. Find this special deal here. Should it be gone, another top rated eBay dealer with 99% positive feedback has […]
Take a cloudy day, a quasi black-and-white motif with dominant dark and light tones — and any camera. Et voilà, without any post-processing, you end up with unintentional black-and-white photography. Subject/object of this series is the marble and granite mountain church San Giovanni Battista in Mogno, Valle Maggia, Switzerland, by well-known architect Mario Botta. Near […]
By YVAN COHEN, LIGHTROCKET In an era where images are so omnipresent they sometimes appear to be on the verge of replacing complete sentences, the laws of supply and demand are exerting their inevitable downward pull. The first big slide occurred in the early 2000s when newly created agencies like iStockphoto and Shutterstock sought to […]
A series of interesting recent articles makes you think whether it will be worth in the future to pay big money for good lenses — given the fact that digital imaging is more and more about in-camera algorithms and post-processing. A digital image is nothing but a numeric, normally binary representation and therefore interpretation. Yes, […]
By DIERK TOPP My topic is sort of special and probably not for many readers, but it may be worth to think about using tilt-shift lenses on your Leica when shooting architecture. We’re not talking the miniaturization tilt-shift, but the serious architectural photography. Now, what are tilt-shift lenses? Wikipedia does a better job explaining it […]
In case you try to get hold of a new iPhone 5S or 5C, they’re available on eBay. With a bit of luck you might catch a good deal. And check out some of the cool iPhone top accessories. Visit eBay for all iPhone 5S, 5C and accessories offers.
The other night, at a gala dinner, I dropped into some fashion models. With the camera at home, the iPhone was completely overwhelmed. It resulted in a totally failed image that breaks about all known rules of photography basics — but has kind of something to it. Made me think of Edgar Degas’ Danseuses Bleues. […]
It’s the time of the year again with substantial savings on Canon lenses and flashes. Save up to $300 via mail-in rebate and instant savings on select Canon glass and speedlights: The promotion is available from B&H and Adorama, with a limited selection on Amazon. BTW, Adorama also offers lens packages including a free lens […]
Everyone talks Olympus OM-D E-M1. You get a lot of camera — for a serious amount of money. For some photographers, it may be too much camera for too much money. Take the closest competitor, Panasonic’s Lumix GX7. Its kit with the Lumix G Vario 14-42mm for $999 costs less than half of the Olympus. […]
Google didn’t invent the smartphone, that was actually Palm (R.I.P.), but Google does everything to give market leader Apple a really tough time with the ascent of Android. Google likes to take on competitors on many fronts — maybe, or hopefully, even Adobe. The Mountain View company announced that they’re improving their RAW conversion services. […]
By YVAN COHEN, LIGHTROCKET Realizing the professional landscape has forever changed, many photojournalists are seeking new and creative ways to continue to earn a living doing what they love. Where once editors would have assigned a photographer, today they are often able to find the image they need with a few clicks of a mouse. […]
By BENGT NYMAN First a thank you, DxO, for introducing the expression P-Mpix — or Perceptual Megapixel — for describing the sharpness of a lens. It elegantly translates the older one-dimensional line pairs per millimeter measurement into a two-dimensional resolution matrix directly comparable to the MP specification of a camera image sensor. I believe that […]
Meet Maurice Haas, photographer for renowned magazines and one who shoots a Hollywood star now and then. Haas talks to THEME about what it takes to be a photographer today — and what’s the point of always having the latest and greatest gear? The Swiss is a kind of anti-photographer, shying away from the limelight […]
By JAWAD RIACHI I’ve recently downloaded DxO Optics Pro (demo version) just for the sake of experimenting with the software on some photos I shot with a small Micro Four Thirds camera. The camera I used had a fairly sharp wide angle lens (14mm F2.5). When I uploaded the photos into the software, DxO Optics […]
Nikon, world’s second largest camera maker behind Canon, has inaugurated its newest DSLR manufacturing facility in Savan-Seno, a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos. The grand opening on Sept. 23, 2013, laid the foundation for cheaper camera production costs. Just don’t hold your breath for DSLR prices to come down. […]
Press Release — Following it’s launch a couple of months ago, LightRocket, a new online website, media management and hosting service for photographers, is continuing its upwards trajectory. Entering the competitive space of established players such as PhotoShelter and Zenfolio, LightRocket offers photographers a fresh approach with a service that includes personalized photo websites, secure […]
