closeUP: Winter Sentry

Winter Sentry © Keith Skelton

"Afghan Girl" Sells for $178,900

photo: Afghan Girl by Steve McCurry

At the National Geographic Society's an art auction Thursday, records were set for several artists and photographers, including Steve McCurry, whose haunting photograph "Afghan Girl" soared to three times the high estimate, selling for $178,900. Read the full story here.

From Photoshop to Filters: Living in the Age of Photography Skepticism

photo: Christopher Tomas / via dailymail.co.uk

We live in the age of skepticism. In all things, yes, but especially in photography.

For instance, BuzzFeed recently ran a list of Perfectly Timed Photographs, and while the shots were awesome, the dominant sentiment in the comments section was along the lines of "These were obviously Photoshopped." Listen, some of the images might have been manipulated in this case, but I do find it sad that we've gotten to a point where viewers of spectacular photography tend not to take into account just how spectacularly talented photographers can be. To be fair, some commenters---photographers themselves, one guesses---rejected the idea that each of these shots couldn't have been captured with a mixture of the right gear, the right place/right time, and a healthy dose of patience.

This is not a rant against Photoshop. I don't intend to assert that Photoshop and other post-production software are out of place in the world of photography. Obviously, editing is an essential part of the process and many professionals use software to tweak elements of their shots in order to produce the highest possible impact. This is about the climate of disbelief that has been inevitably generated by these tools, and by the more recent ubiquity of filters, thanks in large part to Instagram. (Which DP loves!) This is about the knee-jerk skepticism that denies a viewer the experience of looking at a photograph in genuine wonder. And, in turn, giving credit where credit is due to the photographer who pulled off such an artistic and technical feat as capturing a passenger plane at the moment it crossed the path of the moon.

In a way, this is simply a rant, because I'm not offering an answer. I don't think there is one, except to keep encouraging photographers to practice their craft.

***

photos: Unidentified American artists / via Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop

This skepticism isn't actually new. Brain Pickings recently featured a book called Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop. As Maria Popova points out, the book is the companion to a current exhibition of the same title at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Aside from providing pure delight, the photographs found in the book, and on view at the Met, teach us that the art of manipulating photographs vastly predates the digital age. And that very early on this visual trickery created an uncertain relationship with "visual truth." From the Met:

Featuring some 200 visually captivating photographs created between the 1840s and 1990s in the service of art, politics, news, entertainment, and commerce, the exhibition offers a provocative new perspective on the history of photography as it traces the medium’s complex and changing relationship to visual truth.

(Please note that the exhibition is sponsored by Adobe Systems Incorporated, maker of Photoshop.) The images in Faking It are divided into seven categories: Picture Perfect, Artifice in the Name of Art, Politics and Persuasion, Novelties and Amusements, Pictures in Print, Mind's Eye, and Photoshop. It's interesting and useful to see how each of these sections serves as a road map, I believe, to where we are today. To this place I'm calling The Age of Photography Skepticism, which isn't really an age so much as a state of mind. And I have to admit that after looking at these old images more closely, I'm not so convinced that's a bad place altogether. It's worth considering how exciting photo manipulation is when viewed in this old-timey context. It loses the sting of "Meh, that was Photoshopped" and instead manipulation becomes an art form to marvel at just as one would marvel at well-executed, untouched photography.

In the end, I guess this isn't a rant against anything at all. Maybe it's a call (to myself, to you) to approach all photography with fresh eyes. After years---in the digital age and long beforehand---of viewing photo manipulation, post-production editing tricks, and a heavy layering of filters, some of us might need to refresh our settings. First, it would do us well to give photogrphers of jaw-dropping images the benefit of the doubt and at least consider that they could have captured such stunning images with nothing more than a good camera and a good eye. Second, now I can see that it's equally as important that we recontextualize the "that's obviously Photoshopped" indictment, turning it into a compliment---a celebration of the amazing things artists can do with editing tools.

Either way, let's promise to always be excited by good photography. Because there should always be an audience for the beautiful images shutterbugs like you make.

***

Dear DP readers, this has been my final post for Digital Photographer. After four and half years, I am passing the mantle of Editor on to former "Politics in Photography" contributor and talented photographer Debbi K. Swanson Patrick. I have been honored to be a part of the DP community these past several years, on the journey from print to digital publication, and from the crowded halls of CES Las Vegas to the inspiring daily task of choosing a reader photo to feature in our closeUP column. I will still be a part of the DP community going forward, and I will always count on you to provide me with the experience of looking at photography in genuine wonder.

Keep Shooting, Allison Gibson

Nikon Full Story Photo Contest Sends Winner on a National Geographic Traveler Expedition

photo: Nikon/National Geographic

If you enter one photo contest before the end of the year, let it be this. With The Full Story contest, Nikon and Nat Geo are soliciting shutterbugs to share stories that will make for great photo essays. To enter, they're asking for one photo, accompanied by a >100 word paragraph about its meaning. They also want to see three additional photos, just to check out your photography chops.

The prizes, my friends, are more than worth the price of admission. (The price is free, but still.) Five first prize winners will be given Nikon D600 DSLRs with which to shoot their "full story" photo essays, and then one grand prize winner will be selected from among the five and sent on a National Geographic Expedition to the Galapagos Islands.

For more information, and to enter, visit the official contest page. Good luck!

(Nikon)

A Momentary Lapse: A Time Lapse Photography Competition

We've featured a lot of great time lapse photography on the blog recently, so we were excited to see that Intel is hosting a big time lapse competition. With, I might add, $50,000 worth of prizes. The contest is called A Momentary Lapse, and it ends in five days. So enter your time lapse or slow motion videos now!

(Intel)

Sunbathers Shrunken to Specks in Aerial Photographs

Photographer Gray Malin's "A La Plage, A La Piscine" series shrinks sunbathers down to specks. Shot through open helicopter doors, Malin's aerial photographs manage to capture serene patterns on the otherwise crowded beaches and pool decks of Europe, Australia, South America and the U.S.

While the photographer's artist statement notes the color, light and shape of these "celebrations of summer," one can't help but also notice a pattern of what appears to be luxury and decadence in these photographs. From Las Vegas to Copacabana, the glitz of sunbathing seems to only be magnified when seen from above---which is, of course, ironic considering the scale of the people in these shots is  shrunken down. The series is truly mesmerizing to look at, no matter what ultimately catches your eye.

(Beautiful/Decay, via Lenscratch)

Fashion Photography: Tips from a Fashion Week Pro

photo: Jamie Beck / From Me To You

"When I first started there were 6-7 photogs shooting the shows. Vogue, WWD, NYT, the top publications. Before you had to be with a magazine or newspaper but now it has changed," Condé Nast photographer Robert Mitra tells New York-based photographer Jamie Beck in a great interview on Beck's site, From Me To You, about the realities of working the Fashion Week "pit" for 25 years.

If you follow fashion week photography, you know that saying "it has changed" is an understatement. These days, everyone from solo street style bloggers to online publications big and small are firing off photos of the runways and the beautiful people in the front rows from New York Fashion Week all the way through the final shows in Paris. And of course they're doing so on DSLRs and iPhones alike, with Instagram shots uploaded in real time often serving as the public's first views of the collections.

In the behind the scenes interview, Mitra lists his gear of choice (Canon 1D Mark IV, 70-200mm lens, monopod) in addition to sharing his tips for capturing candid backstage shots of the models and discussing why he shoots JPG rather than RAW. Check out the full interview on From Me To You.

Icelandic Aerial Photographs of Landscapes Look Like Marble Paintings

At first glance, photographer Andre Ermolaev's stunning aerial shots look more like paintings, or maybe even CGI landscapes, than actual photographs of the Icelandic countryside. And yet, photographs they are. My Modern Met quotes Ermolaev as saying that, as a photographer, "What has become a real discovery for me is the bird’s eye view of the rivers flowing along the black volcanic sand. It is an inexpressible combination of colors, lines, and patterns."

Can you believe these are photographs? Also, how badly does this make you want to befriend a helicopter pilot so that you can take your camera up high and discover what unlikely scenes are yet to be captured of your local landscape?

(My Modern Met)

Time Lapse of Pacific Northwest Makes Us Starry-Eyed

Yep, I'm still utterly moved by well executed time lapse photography. This stunning compilation of 260,000 shots captured in various locations across the Pacific Northwest is no exception.

Portland, Oregon-based photographer John Eklund shot the photos between August 2011 and August 2012 on both a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon 5D Mark III, using three different lenses. He needed 6.3 TB of hard drive space to store the year's worth of shots. And, as you can see below, the resulting time lapse is truly amazing.

Purely Pacific Northwest from John Eklund on Vimeo.

Samsung EX2F Smart Camera Available Today for Lower Than Anticipated Price

Samsung announced today that their new EX2F Wi-Fi enabled Smart camera is now available nationwide for $499.99 ($50 less than the anticipated retail price when the camera was announced in early September). The compact EX2F offers full manual control, an f/1.4 24mm wide-angle lens, a 1/1.7-inch 12-megapixel BSI CMOS image sensor, and a 3-inch Swivel AMOLED display. With Wi-Fi connectivity, photographers can instantly share their shots via email or social networking directly from the camera. Users can also use the Remote Viewfinder app to frame shots on a smartphone or tablet’s screen.

(Samsung)

Bacteriography: E. coli Bacterial-Growth Photography

If developing and printing photographs is a foreign process to many shutterbugs of the digital age, then one photographer's "bacteriography" technique will seem downright unimaginable. Like a true Renaissance man, Zachary Copfer---a self-proclaimed microbiologist masquerading as an artist"---has developed a process for printing photographs that blends the fields of art and science in a decidedly da Vinci-esque manner.

Copfer's bacteriography mimics in some ways traditional darkroom photography--- and, as PetaPixel points out, is also similar to the Collodion photographic process of the mid-19th Century---except that, as Copfer puts it, "the enlarger has been replaced by a radiation source and instead of photographic paper this process uses a petri dish coated with a living bacterial emulsion." You know, just makin' photos with bacteria. NBD.

Check out Copfer's bacteriographs over at his website, including the especially impressive series called "My Favorite Scientists." Of course, among those who've inspired him is Leonardo da Vinci himself.

(PetaPixel, via HuffPost Arts)

photo: Leonardo da Vinci Bacteria (Serratia marcescens), Nutrient Agar, Petri Dish by Zachary Copfer

Sony Action Cam Packs Rugged Power into a Tiny, Wearable Package

Sony's new Action Cam has jumped into the market with a big splash (action sports pun intended), and it can't be making GoPro very happy. The tiny (3 oz, with battery), wearable Sony Action Cam---boring technical name: HDR-AS10---lets you capture point-of-view shots while you surf, mountain bike, or engage in pretty much any activity during which you want to show off your skills.

The camera ships with a rechargeable battery, adhesive mounts, and a ruggedized waterproof case that will let you take it down to 197 feet---so you can snap diving shots as well. And the good news is, you'll be doing more than "snap," because the sleek-looking Action Cam features a 16-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor, a 170-degree field-of-view Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, and records full HD video (1920 x 1080, 30p) and "HD SLOW video" (2x at 1280 x 720, 60p; 4x at 1280 x 720, 120p) so that you can study the form of your snowboard jumps or just plain look cool in slow motion. It also features Interval Still Recording mode and, soon, Sony will release additional mounting accessories, like a waterproof head mount kit, a handlebar mount, and a suction cup to make the shooting experience even more extreme.

Action Cam will be available this month for $199.99 or $269.99 with Wi-Fi.

(Sony)

Diptic and Layover App Photo Contest

While I love shooting photos with my DSLR, I find that I use my iPhone just as often, if not more often, to capture the everyday scenes of my life. Often, those shots make their way to Instagram (@digiphotomag). And very often I use one of my favorite apps--Diptic--to collage two or more shots. So, naturally I'm excited about the recent debut of the new app Layover, by the makers of Diptic. Layover allows you to blend up to five photos into a single image. It can also be used in conjunction with Diptic.

Today Diptic and Layover announced the #LayoverMyDiptic Photo Contest, the winner of which will win a $200 iTunes gift card. To enter, post your submissions (photos in which it's evident that you used both Diptic and Layover) to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #LayoverMyDiptic. Or, you can email them to contest@dipticapp.com. The contest ends on October 8, 2012 at 12 a.m. PST. Their judging criteria is: creativity, aesthetics, and best use of Diptic and Layover. Head over to the contest page for official rules and to view the latest entries. Unfortunately, Diptic says that the contest is only open to U.S. residents, among other restrictions.

(image via Diptic)

Canon Announces PowerShot SX500 IS and PowerShot SX160 IS Superzoom Cameras

Canon announced today two new compact superzoom cameras---the PowerShot SX500 IS and PowerShot SX160 IS. The 16-megapixel SX500 features a 30x optical zoom 24-720mm lens and Canon's DIGIC 4 image processor (the same processor in the EOS 5D Mark II). It also has a 3-inch LCD with Canon's "Zoom Framing Assist" feature, which helps you keep track of your subject after zooming in.

The SX160 features the same image sensor and processor as the SX500 and has a 16x 28-448mm equivalent lens. Both cameras are expected to be available in September for $329.99 (SX500) and $229.99 (SX160).

(Canon)

Classroom Portraits: Photos of How Children Learn Around the World

Julian Germain, "Yemen, Manakha, Primary Year 2, Science Revision"

English photographer Julian Germain has been working on an ongoing photo series called "Classroom Portraits." The series, which is currently on view at Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam, consists of large format portraits of schoolchildren taken in classrooms in over 20 countries around the world---from USA to Argentina to Bangladesh.

There is a striking balance between formality and energy in Germain's photos. On the one hand, the children are posed and studious-looking, and on the other hand, of course, they're kids and teenagers whose spiritedness shines through even the most serious of looks.

Check out more shots on Germain's site. Some of the photos from the series have also been published in the book Classroom Portraits.

(Feature Shoot via Brain Pickings) 

Photobucket Facelift is Filled with New Features for Photographers

above: DP's preview of the new Photobucket experience

Photobucket is back in the game. The company announced today that their revamped image hosting site (which is gradually rolling out to the public) will feature solutions to common issues that photographers face regarding organization and backup. They say the new experience will help shutterbugs "take back control of the entire photo and video lifecycle."

These changes are in response to the results of an exhaustive survey conducted by Photobucket, from which they learned that photographers' biggest frustrations are lack of options and tools for secure backup in a single place, organization across multiple devices and sites, and improved creative tools.

To address those issues, the new and improved Photobucket allows you to:

 *   Automatically upload photos and videos from PCs, mobile phones and social sites *   Control what is shared, when and where *   Utilize diverse creative tools, including fast and easy-to-use editing *   Preserve all original images, maintaining the complete picture *   Ensure safe, secure storage of all photos and videos, forever

In addition to the revamped site, next month Photobucket will debut the Photobucket Stories site, which will allow users to add a narrative element to their photography. "With Photobucket Stories," the company says, "you can easily create, curate, and collaborate with friends, combining photos, video and text all on a single canvas that can be easily shared. No longer are you confined to sharing images one at a time or in structured album formats; with Photobucket Stories you can tell your complete story with context and meaning." Sign up here to be invited into the public beta when the site goes live.

(via Photobucket)

Curiosity Rover: Thumbnails from Mars

photo: NASA/JPL

Being a proud space geek, I of course sat up in bed with my iPad late Sunday night, watching the live USTREAM of the Curiosity Rover's landing on Mars. I've been to NASA's Jet Prepulsion Labratory (JPL) in Pasadena before, and on this night I was as thrilled by the successful touchdown as I'd have been if I was in the JPL control room at that moment. I held my breath and then erupted in cheers along with the geniuses in blue shirts. And then I cheered some more at the "We've got a thumbnail!" announcement. As a photo junkie, I never thought I'd be so excited in 2012 to see photos captured by a 1-megapixel camera. But on Sunday night I couldn't take my eyes off that first image shot by the rover's Hazard-Avoidance camera (in which you can see Curiosity's wheel).

Curiosity has since sent higher resolution versions of those initial photos, as well as its first color photo of the Red Planet. You can see those here. Still, I will never forget the thrill of that first thumbnail image.

Documentary Photography: Humans of New York

photo: Humans of New York

I can't get enough of the amazing photo project Humans of New York. Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the site, has a colorful past (he's been arrested for taking photos inside Gianni Versace’s South Beach mansion and has been a bond trader in Chicago). He now finds himself in New York, where he photographs and tells stories about the strangers who make the city vibrant. Strangers of New York is a stunning collection of those 5,000 portraits and 50 stories.

(A Cup of Jo)

Watch Gabby Douglas Fly: Incredible Time Lapse Still Photo of the Olympic Gold Medalist

Mitchell Haaseth / NBC Olympics, Getty

We couldn't be more thrilled that the "Fab Five" USA women's gymnastics team took the gold this week, and also that today spritely 16-year-old Gabby Douglas won the Gymnastics All Around title. As shutterbugs, we're also pretty amazed by this time lapse still photograph of Gabby soaring through the air during her winning balance bar routine.

What's the best shot you've seen from the Olympic games so far?

(Just Jared Jr)

EOS M: At Last, Canon Announces Compact Mirrorless Camera

The last of the major camera makers to unveil a mirrorless camera, Canon today announced the compact interchangeable lens (ILC) EOS M. With an 18-megapixel APS-C size CMOS image sensor (familiar to Canon DSLRs) and a Powershot-size body, the EOS M is both recognizable and entirely new to Canon shooters.

The first Canon ILC to abandon the mirror box, the EOS M operates with an entirely new lens system, designed specifically for this format. So far the system includes two lenses---the EF-M 22mm f/2.0 STM kit lens and the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens, and, fortunately, with a mount adapter the camera can also use any Canon EF and EF-S lens. The EOS M features an ISO range of 100-12800 (expandable to 25600 in H mode) for stills and ISO 100-6400 (expandable to 12800 in H mode) for video. It uses the Movie Servo continuous AF function for shooting video that was first unveiled with the Canon T4i DSLR, which allows you to lock focus on subjects as you pan around a scene or track a single, moving subject and keep it in focus. The camera also features a 1,040,000 dots smudge resistant, 3-inch touchscreen LCD with pinch-to-zoom and swipe scroll controls.

The Canon EOS M---with the new EF-M 22mm f/2.0 STM kit lens---will be available in October for $799.99, and the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens will be available at the same time for $299.99.

(Canon)