Archive for News

When the media steals your photos

The story of a photographer whose photos went astray – and got re-published by one of the UK’s biggest newspapers without permission There’s something really difficult about looking after your copyright on the internet. Every single word I’ve ever typed in this blog, for example, is duplicated at least a couple of times around the web. The problem is that words are easy to find. Pictures, on the other hand, are a different tumbler of guppies... As Maciej Dakowicz found out, when his photographs suddenly surfaced on the Telegraph’s online edition...

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JPG magazine closes its doors

Well, I'll be damned... I just received an e-mail from the editor over at JPG magazine, bearing a rather quite sad message: They're shutting the doors for good. I was a subscriber (and hell, when I was working in publishing I tried to talk the publishing firm I was working for into buying the magazine, but nothing ever came of it). I'm not even bothered about whether or not I lose money as a result - the amazingly original concept of JPG was a breath of fresh air, and a lot of my friends got their first (and - for some - only) images in print on the venerable pages of JPG. JPG - you'll be missed. I hope that the economic tides will turn so it turns out not to be the final nail in the coffin for one of the most inspirational and creative magazines out there!

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RAW usage up massively, JPEG bites the dust.

There are tons of reasons for using RAW instead of JPG when you're taking photographs. Your photos will be sharper, you will be able to unlock your camera's full dynamic range, and you have a better flexibility over things like white balance. It seems as if people are cottoning on in a big way, too - I ran a poll about 2 years ago about whether people were shooting in JPEG or RAW... And I re-ran the same poll earlier this month. The changes are staggering...

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25 cameras with the best dynamic range

Following from my post about dynamic range in cameras a few days ago, I did some further research... I give you: The 25 cameras with the best dynamic range! Interestingly, it seems as if Nikon is generally doing quite a bit better than Canon, and that a camera launched almost 5 years ago is actually one of the ones with the very best dynamic ranges out there - And it's not the brand you'd think, either! Oh, and interestingly, there's been a serious shift in the number of photographers shooting in raw - more about that in the end of this article.

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The quiet revolution in photography

Shutter speeds? Yaaawn. ISO speeds? Oh-god-not-again. Megapixels? Oh puh-bloody-lease, that's so 2003. The newest frontier of digital photography is dynamic range - and it's arguably the most exciting (r)evolution that's happened in dSLR-world so far. Interestingly, most manufacturers are continually improving the dynamic range of their cameras, but somehow seem to forget to tell us about it - which means that we're witnessing - or should I say not witnessing - a quiet revolution. It seems as if 'dynamic range' gets forgotten in PR world, where a bigger screen, better battery life or Live View is an easier way of getting regular consumers exited. The real technological leaps have been happening under the bonnet, though, and the result of the ongoing improvements will mean that your next camera will be significantly better than your current one - but you wouldn't be able to tell from just reading its specification sheet. So, why, exactly does this make a difference to us as photographers? All will be revealed...

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Tomorrow, the Story Breaks

Photojournalist James Nachtwey is considered by many to be the greatest war photographer of recent decades. He has covered conflicts and major social issues in more than 30 countries. Last year, he won a $100,000 prize, which he decided to re-invest into a special project... A story he felt needed to be told, which no magazine wanted to support or fund. On the 3rd of October, the wait is over, and the story Nachtwey had burning inside of him gets released to the world... Update: The story is here.

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The dirty tricks of food photographers

We've all seen the seductive photos of vividly colorful fresh vegetables, sumptuous cherry pies, and golden-brown roasted turkeys. These pictures, often found in glossy cookbooks and magazines, make us believe that if we follow the recipe we, too, can create such delectable dishes. And many of us can. Well, almost. A peek behind the kitchen door would reveal the sometimes bizarre tools of the food photography trade that transform fresh baked brownies and juicy crown roasts into science fair projects masquerading as culinary delights. Food is among the more difficult of subjects for photographers. The laws of nature guarantee it: Hot foods cool, moist foods dry out, frozen foods melt especially fast under hot lights, vegetables wilt, and fruit turns brown. But determined food photographers rise to these challenges with their extraordinarily inventive bag of tricks. And yes, that includes motor oil, spray deodorant and and brown shoe polish...

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Best pictures – ever!

A friend of mine sent me a link the other day, and I've been deeply fascinated by it - and its concept - ever since. The website is known as 'best pic ever', and it's probably a pretty good description of what the site does - and what it does really quite well. Click on 'random image', and you're offered a series of weird and wonderful images. Some of them are truly some of the most creative photographs I have seen in my life. Others are less technically proficient, but are still likely to make you grin broadly. Not all is well in paradise, however: Where are the photos coming from?

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Cameras of the future

I've done a lot of thinking recently, about what's next for photography. Think about it - while the manufacturers launch new cameras every couple of months, there hasn't been a single fundamental change in the art of photography since the mid-1960s, when through-the-lens lightmetering on SLR cameras meant that you didn't have to have a separate light meter anymore. So, I wonder, what's next?

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Going to the Moo-vies

There are dozens of ways of presenting your photographs, but ultimately, we all want to distribute our photos in as classy a way as possible. Moo is an unusual printing company that might just be able to help. It's very easy to explain what Moo is - it's web 2.0 meets photography meets printing. What isn't as easy to explain, however, is why people go completely bonkers about Moo's products. It helps that it's great quality at bargain-basement prices, of course, but there's also other things at play - a little something that the Big Brother generation would call the X Factor...

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