Known for his startling black and white images of supermodels such as Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, and celebrity portraits, Herb Ritts's fashion photography the human body with bold definition. Here, we revisit his most best-known works
We are a culture that loves taking photos of ourselves and immediately looking at them. Some have argued over whether or not selfies are the pinnacle of vanity, but others say that it's rather mild compared to having someone come into your home and paint you in a positive light surrounded by your belongings for massive amounts of money. You know, like they did in the old days.
Of course, some really do love that aspect of photo collage, but not in the sense that you can see everything you've ever posted on Instagram. They want real, solid copies of their snapshot memories, and Polaroids are hard to come by nowadays. If you want a camera that can print instantly, then the Fujufilm Instax 210 can do the trick. This will give you 2 x 3 " color photos in about 20 seconds time after you've taken a picture.
This has an auto-retracting lens, automatic exposure control, and a built-in auto flash. There is an optical viewfinder, LCD control panel and motorized film advance, but you will need 4 AA batteries for this to work. There's even a snap-on lens with a mirror so you can take selfies! This is going to cost you $149.95, which isn't much better than getting an actual Polaroid. Of course, you're going to have to keep buying batteries and paper to be able to keep using this, so that price is going to slowly climb up the more you use it. However, there are more modern options to choose from which may be a better fit for present day usage.
Available for purchase on Hammacher
[ The Fujifilm Instax 210 - Polaroids are a thing of the past, right? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Human beings have always been interested in depicting themselves. We've made statues, paintings, drawings, and every other variant of an artistic medium you can think of. It comes as no surprise that when everyone got cameras on their phone that hundred of millions of photos of peoples faces began cropping up. This gave rise to the one and only selfie, however, how we now take these images is changing.
If you go to any sort of tourist area, you have undoubtedly seen the Selfie Stick. This is an extending arm that you can slip your phone into and take a better picture of your face or have your camera far enough away to include a large amount of friends in the frame. There are also shutter remotes so you can set your phone down far away and click a button that will snap the photo wirelessly. The Podo is next up for selfie taking methods, as it is a stick and shoot camera that you can put literally anywhere, and your phone will act as a shutter remote.
This will prevent you from having to leave your phone sitting vulnerable or precariously somewhere far away from you. Not only that, but it will let you take even more creative photos through your phone as it's not just limited to your arm length or that of a Selfie Stick. Its internal 600mAh battery can last for up to 2 hours of video, and it has internal storage of 4GB if you don't want it to save only on your phone. Of course, if you use the LEDs for the flash too often the power will drain faster. It can take 8MP photos, 720p video, and doesn't need any wires to work. If you want one of these for your very own, you can get it in blue or red for $89.
Available for crowdfunding and more information on Kickstarter
[ The Podo scoffs at the Selfie Stick by making a stick and shoot camera copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Traditionally photography is about preserving a moment in time; you take a picture literally because it'll last longer. The entire art is built around a quest for permanence, and archival desires. But with Snapchat, you're casting off those things you photograph almost as soon as you take the picture - in many cases it's less permanent than just continuing to look at something. For an avid hobbyist photographer, it's somewhat counterintuitive, but also very liberating.
Part of the appeal of Snapchat seems to be that people don't have to be too concerned about how they take a photo; the communication is more important here, and since no one's framing any of your pictures, there's no reason to sweat composition, lighting or anything else. But I do find myself thinking about those things, resulting in an entirely different kind of art compared to traditional, camera-based photography.
Taking photos for Snapchat is, in many ways, much more about audience than traditional photography is. You're creating a moment for another person specifically in most cases, and you've got constraints including your immediate environs, a limited smartphone camera and a camera interface that's simple to the point of being like a blunt instrument, even compared to the stock iPhone camera app. Best of all, you're creating for momentary consumption; the photo has to convey what you need it to in a very brief window of time.
But the best part is the absence of pretense around taking these photos. The snaps aren't trying to be something they're not; they're pictures, and all the fun and the art is uncomplicated by questions of legacy, or of long-lasting quality and memorability. You're making something without having to worry about how making that thing will potentially cast you in the eyes of history. Not that most people are consciously thinking about what kind of museums their work will appear in later, or how it will be judged by future generations, but the act of capturing, writing down or recording something is deeply entangled with those concerns, conscious or not.
Being free of that allows for more genuine enjoyment - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. comes close to describing how that feels in his novel Galapagos when he talks about the narrator writing the book you're reading with this finger, in the air: In other words, taking a very long view reveals that both Snapchat and traditional photographic tools are equally ephemeral, as both are of no consequence on a cosmic scale. But having that temporariness brought home and made understandable makes all the difference.
We're strongly conditioned to believe that if you're going to make something, it's worth making something that will last. But Snapchat is a good reminder that sometimes, it's just fine to make something fleeting, too.
The HERO3: Silver Edition boasts the same high performance specs as the famous HD HERO2 camera it replaces, yet it has built-in Wi-Fi and is 30% smaller and 25% lighter. The HERO3: Silver Edition is wearable and gear mountable, waterproof to 197' (60m), and is capable of capturing ultra-wide 1080p 30 fps and 720p 60 fps video plus 11MP photos at a rate of 10 photos per second.
Smaller, Lighter...Better
Weighing in at a scant 2.6 ounces, the HERO3: Silver Edition is 25% lighter and 30% smaller than the HD HERO2 camera it replaces.
Professional Quality VideoThe HERO3
Silver Edition captures professional quality video at 1080p-30, 720p-60, 960p-48 and WVGA-120 resolutions and frame rates.
Professional Quality PhotosThe HERO3
Silver Edition captures 11MP still photos and has a burst capture rate of 10 frames per second. Time-lapse photo capture mode enables automatic photo capture at 0.5, 2, 5, 10, 30 and 60 second intervals.
Improved Sharpness, Less DistortionThe HERO3
Silver Edition's reduced-distortion aspherical lens combines with user-selectable 1080p Ultra-wide, Medium and Narrow field-of-views to deliver more perspective-capture options than are available on the White Edition camera. The totally updated flat-lens waterproof housing delivers stunning image sharpness both above and below water.
Redesigned Audio System
Understanding that sound quality is as important as image quality, GoPro engineers completely redesigned t
Price: $249.99
Make it memorable with Sony Full HD/60p quality. Capture amazing footage in low light and control, transfer and backup everything via Wi-Fi with NFC in just a touch. Get close to the action with a 27x zoom, wide-angle Carl Zeiss lens and say goodbye to shake with Steady Shot image stabilization. It"s the perfect starter camera.
Price: $229.99
Step it up with the Action Cam that brings pro-quality features along for the ride. Keep things smooth with Advanced Steady Shot and enjoy the convenience of built-in Wi-Fi with remote viewing and control from your Live View Remote. All in a housing-free, splash-proof body that packs XAVC S HD recording and high frame rates in 120/240p. It"s ready for the big time, are you?
Price: $399.99
The Phantom 2 Vision Quadcopter with Integrated FPV Camera is the second generation of quad-rotor RC helicopter from DJI and features their own 14 megapixel wireless HD FPV camera, giving you first-person view (FPV) experience right out of the box. With a larger battery and improved prop design, flying time lasts to up to 25 five minutes, compared to around 14 minutes on the original DJI Phantom Quadcopter.
Included with the Quadcopter is a 5.8GHz wireless controller (TX) that has an operational range approaching 1000 feet (300 m) line-of-sight. The camera is controlled via 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi using an app available for iOS and Android devices. Using the supplied mount, you can attach your smartphone directly to the controller, giving you a "heads up" display directly from the camera's point-of-view with only 1/10 of a second latency. From the app you will also be able to start and stop video recording, take a snapshot and even tilt the camera up or down.
While fully manual operation is possible, most users, especially videographers hoping to get the smoothest possible shoots, will opt for GPS Flight Mode. GPS Mode is an autopilot system that keeps the Quadcopter stable and right-side-up when moving, and holds it in a fixed horizontal and vertical position whenever you release the controls.
Included Free
Price: 1499.99 USD
Camera startup Lytro is announcing $40 million in new funding that it said will help it move faster and reach its broader goals of reshaping photography.
The round of funding is being led by new investor North Bridge Venture Partners, with existing backers Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates and Greylock Partners also adding to their investments.
CEO Jason Rosenthal told AllThingsD that Lytro will use the money to help fund a new generation of Lytro hardware. Thus far the company has released just the single model of its light-field camera which debuted two years ago, though it has added a number of new features via software updates. Last week, for example, the company announced the ability to view 3-D images from any picture taken with a Lytro camera.
"With the first generation of Lytro, there were just a lot of things to be figured out and understood and done," Rosenthal said, adding that the company now has the technology more mature and the infrastructure and team in place to move more quickly. "What you should see from us is just a faster pace of innovation than we have been able to accomplish before."
Rosenthal said the company wants to move in reasonably short order into professional photography, motion picture cameras and making its existing consumer products thinner, cheaper and lighter.
"We definitely won't get to them all in 18 months, but we will get to more than one," he said.
Lytro had some job cuts and executive departures earlier this year, but Rosenthal said the company has been hiring for the last couple months as the funding round came together.
The company hasn't released sales figures, though Rosenthal insists sales this year are ahead of the company's internal plan.
Lomography has made sharing photos from a film camera a heck of a lot easier with its new Smartphone Scanner that's finally available from the company's online store. It replaces a desktop scanner and PC with a compact collapsible rig that uses your smartphone's camera to digitize negatives and slides.
The $60 scanner is mostly designed to complement the collection of film cameras that Lomography is best known for, allowing analog enthusiasts to more easily share their shots on social networks and other digital distribution means. But it'll work just as well with the carousels of slides in your parent's basement, or any non-printed photos since it relies on a glowing panel to illuminate a translucent medium.
There's also an accompanying app enroute that will allow the raw scans to be inverted, tweaked, and color corrected as needed. But you're also able to use whatever app you already rely on for correcting shots, just remember to skip the old-timey filters because that effect will come naturally now.
[Lomography]
Take a dual-exposure photo with a sparkler implying motion.
So here's how it works. Long exposures are great for light painting, but they leave your figure all blurry and undefined. Meanwhile, flash photography can isolate a subject in a dark room, but that's kind of ugly on its own.
As explained in the above video, you'll lock your camera on a tripod and take two shots: First, have a subject do something with a sparkler in their hand or attached to an object (safely, of course). It can be mundane, like putting away dishes, or really sporty, like swinging a baseball bat. Take a long (3-ish-second) exposure shot of that.
Then, put the sparkler away. Have your subject do the exact same thing, with your camera in the exact same spot, and take a photo of normal length. If you're in a dark environment, and you may want to be to exacerbate the sparkler effect, you'll probably need to use flash to capture your subject frozen in motion.
After that, combine the two images in post production. You'll probably just want to layer the sparks on top and erase everything else from the image, but I could imagine doing some interesting things with layering if you have the Photoshop talent.
To make the photos pop, keep in mind, the sparkler is almost like a speed line, or a means to trace out the motion or path of the figure. It doesn't need to line up 1:1 to work, but it should be related.
Our lead shot is from Dave Lehl, who also created the great little tutorial you see here. I can almost guarantee, his friends skateboard better than your friends. So don't let anyone get hurt trying all this X-games crap. Mundane can be cool in its own way. (via petapixel)
0. No watermarks. They're so ugly.
1. Submissions need to be your own.
2. Photos must be taken since this contest was announced.
3. Explain, briefly, the equipment, settings, technique and story behind shot.
4. Email submissions to contests@gizmodo.com, not me.
5. Include 970px wide image (200KB or less) AND a native resolution sized shot in email.
6. One submission per person.
7. Use the proper SUBJECT line in your email (more info on that below)
8. You agree to the Standard Contest Rules - though we DO accept non-US resident submissions.
9. If the image contains any material or elements that are not owned by you and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the image, you are responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the image in the manner set forth in these rules without additional compensation. If any person appearing in any image is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.
Send your best photo by Monday, February 11th at 10AM Eastern to contests@gizmodo.com with "Spark" in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs, and use a FirstnameLastnameSpark.jpg (970px wide) and FirstnameLastnameSparkWallpaper.jpg (2560px wide) naming conventions. Include your shooting summary (camera, lens, ISO, etc) in the body of the email along with a story of the shot in a few sentences. And don't skip this story part because it's often the most enjoyable part for us all beyond the shot itself!
Canon's "G" line of cameras have always appealed to point-and-shooters looking for more of a pro experience. The new G15 has some great details—is it a $499 camera worth considering?
A hefty $499 point-and-shoot camera with plenty of controls and a really fast lens.
Shooters who want physical manual controls, but a cheaper price tag than mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses.
Kudos on this one, Canon. Where looks are concerned, the G15 goes the distance. Everything is well-proportioned and well-placed, with an understated, sleek, yet classic look to it. It is small-ish and more compact than the camera it replaces, the G12. But it's still not too comfortable in a pants pocket.
It's like any other Canon point-and-shoot. Good, user-friendly controls, and no real surprises when operating the G15. It contains a familiar 12.1 MP CMOS sensor and DIGIC 5 processor, with a 5x optical zoom lens that works out to the full-frame equivalent of 28-140mm. It has a tucked-away flash, and a hot-shoe if you need to mount a better one up top. The real story is the lens, which rocks a freaking crazy awesome f/1.8-2.8 aperture.
The images you will produce are quite nice. For a compact, it packs decent sharpness and solid high ISO performance, with an ISO range topping out at 12800. But you will find better quality in larger-sensor cameras like Canon's higher-priced $799 G1X.
That ultra-fast f/1.8-2.8 aperture makes for low-light goodness and a shallow depth of field. Even the terrific Sony RX100 can't match that at the long end.
The real limitation here is sensor size. 1/1.7 inches just cannot compete with the likes of the Sony RX100, or Canon's higher-end G1X, which has a 1.5-inch sensor. Sure, these cameras are more expensive than the G15, but it still seems like the G15's wonderful lens—which is superior to both the RX100 and the G1X—is going to waste on a small sensor.
The rough matte finish is nice but chalky, almost like sandpaper. It will get dirty fast.
As long as you are OK knowing that the the image quality is stuck a notch below larger-sensor cameras, most of the G15's other attributes are a pleasure. It costs $50 more than the Panasonic LX-7, which we liked a lot. Then, for $100 more, you can get the great Fuji X10, with a 2/3-inch sensor and better image quality.
At $499, the G15 is in the middle of a nice pack—and it's a truly satisfying camera to hold and use—but nothing pushes it above and beyond the competition. We hope that sweet lens makes its way to Canon's follow up to the Canon's G1X—then, a better sensor would do it justice.
Canon Powershot G15
• Sensor: 12.1 MP CMOS
• Lens: 28-104mm f/1.8-2/8 (35mm equivalent)
• ISO Range: 80-12800
• Display: 3" with 922,000 dots (non-articulating)
• Video Recording: 24 fps @ 1080p, 30 fps @ 720p
• Price: $499
• Gizrank: 3.5
