[UPDATE: Martin has chimed in with more details and original photos...all info after the jump].After reading the headline of this post and looking at the image, you're probably waiting for the other shoe to drop. What's the catch? Well, there isn't one. Yes, my pal Martin Gisborne used only an iPhone 3Gs and a telescope to get this shot. He did some slight tweaking in Aperture, but no crazy-fancy space cameras, no Photoshop, no compositing,... read more ›
Aug
10
Aug
09
Whether you love it or hate it, the term "journalist" is increasingly being accepted by our culture to include freelancers, bloggers, even just citizens who happen to "be there".In a crazy story I read about first over at Wired Mag's new photo blog, RawFile, they report that a student photographer who photographed paramedics tending to a homicide victim was given journalistic protection provided for by the law. From the Wired story: "In recognizing the journalistic... read more ›
Aug
05
Problem: I think a lot of photographers (myself included at some point in the past) pour too much strobed light into an image out of technical misunderstandings rather than stylistic choice. Under-exposing 2 stops and then popping your subject from 5 feet away with a direct shot from your strobe is certainly a style, but unless it’s done deliberately as a style, it often distracts the viewer from the image rather than adding to it.... read more ›
Jul
27
It was fun reading all the great attempts to deconstruct the photo from Monday's post. As you might imagine, many of you got close or even nailed some of the components, and many of you were way in left field. And that's exactly what I expected, especially since this image has some tricky, unexpected stuff going on. At any rate, here's the debrief: Concept: This image is really a snapshot. I confess to liking it... read more ›
Jul
27
One of the ways that helped me learn to create the kind of pictures I wanted to create from a technical standpoint was by trying to reverse engineer the work of others... work that was my friends, that was the photography masters, or, even just cool images I'd seen in magazines. I'd sit there for hours considering what might be at work. It's a good exercise in trying to understand both the technical stuff AND... read more ›
May
12
I'm taking the liberty of suggesting that you do one or more of the following today:1. Shoot personal work. Call in some favors, get creative with no budget, and shoot something for yourself.2. Set free that idea you've been holding onto. Write a blog post about it. Ask your friends what they think. Tell the world.3. Learn about video. Don't have a camera? Buy drip coffee for a month instead of lattes, and buy a... read more ›
Dec
28
My iPhone has been like crack to me since the day one on the market, June 3, 2007. Most of us iPhone users make regular and swift use of the impressive 'Net, email, and location-based tools, but as a professional creative I'm always using the built-in camera to grab snaps of anything that catches my eye for ideas, inspiration, and such. In fact--in case you didn't know--I post daily mobile iPhone snaps to my Facebook... read more ›
Nov
05
Want to learn something about color correction and Photoshop CS4? Just got off the horn with my friend Craig, founder of CreativeTechs here in Seattle (I reference them regularly on this blog). CreativeTechs is THE go-to group for Apple Mac support here in Seattle, offering "right brain support for left brained people". In addition to tech support, they also do cool seminars on a variety of topics including retouch techniques, software, etc... They've been doing... read more ›
Oct
15
Step 1 (The Premise): If you like photography, cameras, flashes, strobe lighting, computers, knives, Photoshop, or fast action, read on. Step 2 (The Concept): I know you've seen still photographs of arrows piercing apples, exploding water balloons, and bullets tearing through roses. If you've ever wanted to know how we photographers freeze this crazy-fast action, you'll want to watch this 3-minute video on high speed photography. Step 3 (The Background): A short while... read more ›
Jun
26
For a long time, I've been a playful advocate of POV (Point-Of-View) photography. Years and years ago, I did this with my custom POV rig:Hell, we all did it.Then, it got more complicated. I was having fun and I sync'd my camera with a camera strapped to the athlete, so you'd get one moment from two perspectives. I have a ton of these, but generally the result is pretty interesting and looks this:Then, after doing... read more ›
