Yahoo can’t catch a break. Within a week of their CEO being thrown out for lying on his résumé, Gizmodo just published an excellent detailed article chronicling Flickr’s turbulent history and continuous decline entitled How Yahoo Killed Flickr. Previously one of the most popular photo sharing services, it is quickly being left behind in the industry.
How Yahoo Killed Flickr (Gizmodo)
I personally hated having to create a Yahoo login in order to then create a Flickr login following the acquisition, Gizmodo chronicles all these decision points:
But moreover, Yahoo needed to leverage this thing that it had just bought. Yahoo wanted to make sure that every one of its registered users could instantly use Flickr without having to register for it separately. It wanted Flickr to work seamlessly with Yahoo Mail. It wanted its services to sing together in harmony, rather than in cacophonous isolation. The first step in that is to create a unified login. That’s great for Yahoo, but it didn’t do anything for Flickr, and it certainly didn’t do anything for Flickr’s (extremely vocal) users.
Marco Boerries was without a doubt one of the most viciously political, and disliked Yahoo! execs and he reigned for 4 years over the Yahoo “Connected Life” team which had universal control over all native mobile experiences within Yahoo. Several Flickr internal attempts to build and ship native mobile experiences (going back to 2006) were squashed relentlessly.
Indeed there are now many photo sharing tools to choose from now. And I feel I must mention that our own free photography social network has been gaining speed quickly in the past year nearly reaching 40,000 active members.
SLR Cameras Placed in Pelican Cases to Film Stunts
1920 x 1080 HD Recording And 24p Frame Rate Enable Gripping Point-Of-View Shots for Theatrical Filmmaking
Canon is proud to announce that its EOS 5D Mark II and 7D Digital SLR cameras have been used on the set of Marvel’s latest movie, “Marvel’s The Avengers,” to capture thrilling point-of-view (POV) action shots that can be seamlessly intercut with footage from the film’s principal 35mm and digital cinematography cameras to heighten the film’s visual impact.
“Marvel’s The Avengers” shows an epic confrontation between nightmarish super villains attacking the Earth and the super-heroic team of Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. Directed by Joss Whedon, the film is the latest and most extraordinary Marvel Studios Super Hero movie to date.
With intense action and visual effects captured by the Canon cameras, “Marvel’s The Avengers” required close-quarter action work with unrepeatable stunts. “The 5D Mark II and the 7D digital SLR cameras produce excellent, cinema-worthy images. They are great for shooting additional angles that give film editors more options for creating powerfully immersive and kaleidoscopic views of action scenes,” explained the film’s cinematographer, Seamus McGarvey.
On the set of “Marvel’s The Avengers,” McGarvey and his crew used five Canon 5D Mark II cameras and two 7D models. Using multiple cameras limited the need to re-shoot complex action scenes, and the affordability and compact size of the cameras enabled the crew to obtain ample coverage by strategically angling them from various vantage points throughout the set. “The cameras’ small size was a major advantage to us.
We were able to place them in tight locations that were really close to the big stunts, which would be too risky to do with bigger cameras that would require an operator and two assistants,” McGarvey said. He was able to slide one of the Canon cameras into a sewer grating, while placing another under a pile of debris for a key shot of a car hurtling toward the lens, flipping through the air on fire.
“We are thrilled that the EOS 5D Mark II and 7D Digital SLR cameras were called to action on the set of ‘Marvel’s The Avengers.’ We designed these cameras with versatility and flexibility in mind, and their ability to record beautiful 1920 x 1080 HD video, coupled with their compact size, make them an ideal fit for filmmakers looking to capture tight action shots,” stated Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group, Canon U.S.A.
One of the scenes where these cameras were used:
Compact, lightweight, and compatible with Canon’s wide selection of EF Series lenses, the Canon 5D Mark II and EOS 7D digital SLR cameras are equipped with large Canon CMOS sensors and Canon DIGIC 4 image processors that enable them to record exceptional full 1920 x 1080 HD video at the user-selectable frame rate of 24p (23.976 fps), which is the standard for today’s high-end filmmaking. Additionally, the cameras’ low-light capabilities were of major importance on the set of “Marvel’s the Avengers,” as many of the film’s scenes were shot at night.
He is probably one of the most recognizable people you have never heard of. The face of countless stock images, yet a name that means little to most people. Jesper Bruun is the “the world’s most downloaded man”. In this short video, Brazilian photographer Fernando Martins tracks down the man behind a million pictures:
Studio photographer, Fernando is increasingly concerned by the loss of business to stock images and he begins to find one particular face appearing in many of his former clients websites and advertisements. Intrigued by this elusive model, he tracks him down to Copenhagen in Denmark and flies out to meet his nemesis.
The World's Most Downloaded Man
The meeting, all captured on video, is odd, somewhat strained and tense at first. However the pair do seem to warm to each other and the final shots feature Jesper Bruun is seen looking through a selection of Fernando’s shots and recommending him, as a creative original photographer rather than photographer of set piece stock images.
For their latest ad campaign, the Canadian Paralympic Committee pulled out all the stops to create a rather impressive campaign. The photograph, which you can see below, tells the story of how a Paralympic athlete came to be, starting with the car accident in which the runner lost his leg. The creative campaign tastefully tackles the tragedy by delivering a heartfelt tale of grit, determination, and the resulting heroism.
"Unstoppable" Canadian Paralympic Ad Campaign (Click to See Full Size)
But wait, there’s more. If you think the photo is incredible, take a look at the following video. The storytelling factor in the video is amped even higher, as the scene from the photograph is put into motion. As the runner tours the stadium’s track, the video takes you on the inspiring ride of the athletes life (for those of you reading this by email you can see the videos here).
Making a such a video doesn’t come without a lot of work and preparation. The team behind the ad met the project head on to make sure that no detail was overlooked. The went as far as making animated mock-ups of the script to make sure everyone was on the same page as well as to help visualize the finished product. As Murphy’s Law would have it, when it came time to shoot, mother nature had different plans in mind. A heavy storm was set to push in, giving the team only two hours to complete filming. In the following behind-the-scenes video, you can take an in-depth look at just how much collective effort producing an ad campaign of this scale required.
The shoot may have taken a while from concept to completion, but the finished product makes it totally worth it.
As some of you may have heard, Facebook recently acquired the angel of the app world, Instagram. Facebook dug deep into their pockets as they forked over a cool 1 billion dollars for the app. That’s $1,000,000,000 (US) for an app that, at the time of purchase was returning a profit of zero dollars. The purchase leaves one’s imagination to wonder about the future of the app and how Facebook intends to turn the retro-camera app into a money making machine.
Leaked news on Instagram
But, we shall wonder no longer as the latest news from the Facebook/Instagram camp reveals it’s newest member of the family: The Instragram Snap. No longer will you need to own a smartphone to take artistic photographs with a hauntingly authentic vintage feel. The new camera will allow hipsters everywhere to share tattered and questionably exposed photographs instantly – no service plan required.
Want to know more? Have a look at the following reveal
By now, anyone using the internet is has seen some photographs of people stiffly laying across some rather unorthodox objects. The trend, known as planking, spread like fire across countless meme sites and included photos of people planking from all walks of life. Russians are now taking the trend to the next level as they have recently started an alarming new fad called skywalking. Daring individuals are photographing themselves perched on the scariest locations, hundreds of feet in the air:
Russian teens risk their lives for daredevil photos
The 19 year old, Marat Dupri, who makes a habit of sky walking, had friends join him on a recent outing to record him work his way out on a steel beam high enough in the air to make my palms start sweating and my stomach churn just watching it.
With all the concern over individuals injuring themselves while planking, it’s no question that sky walking is going to be met by the public with similar worries.
Dupri isn’t the only Russian photographer itching to get the birds eye view either, another is Vadim Mahorov. Take a deep breath and check out some of these shots:
I like to think of myself as an adventurous and daring person, but I think this may be one photography project I’ll leave to someone else! The images, however, are pretty incredible.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — April 23, 2012 — Adobe today announced Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended software, major releases of the undisputed standard for professional digital imaging. B&H is the first to have them available for pre-order here:
Packed with new features and enhancements, the software includes groundbreaking innovations and unparalleled performance breakthroughs that expand the frontiers of imaging science, and deliver new levels of creativity and increased efficiency.
The wait is over: Adobe Photoshop CS6
Photoshop CS6 Extended integrates the state-of-the-art editing, compositing, and graphic design capabilities of Photoshop CS6, as well as advanced tools for 3D design*, image and video editing, and quantitative analysis which address the unique needs of the graphic design, video, Web, architecture, medical, manufacturing and engineering industries.
“Creativity is at the very center of our efforts – both in developing exceptional tools, and enabling our users to create beautiful imagery that stands out from the visual clutter around us,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Photoshop CS6 is unrivaled in capabilities and power and – as we have seen from the astonishing reception of our recent public beta – has once again captured the imagination of the worldwide creative community. ‘Photoshop magic’ is alive and well with CS6.”
Since Photoshop CS6 was released as a public beta on March 22 for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows platforms, there have been nearly one million downloads of the software worldwide – surpassing any public beta in Adobe’s history. With this launch, Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended can be purchased as stand-alone applications, key components of the Adobe Creative Suite 6 family, and now as part of Adobe’s revolutionary Creative Cloud offering, also announced today.
Create with Imaging Innovation and Peak Performance
Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended deliver unparalleled speed and power combined with the creative tools necessary to perform advanced image manipulation, design, motion‐based content editing, and compositing. The software helps users to patch images with control for exceptional results; edit with real-time interactions and a fluid feel powered by the new Mercury Graphics Engine; easily edit video; perform automatic tone mapping and sharpening; and use improved design tools for better results with fewer steps. Creative customers will be able to take advantage of an efficient, modern UI that puts all focus on images, and sync settings and preferences for consistent workflows across multiple devices via Adobe Creative Cloud.
“Adobe Photoshop CS6 gives Trek powerful design tools to help bring our creative vision to a reality faster and with greater control than ever before. The responsiveness of the new Mercury Graphics Engine is simply breathtaking and being able to see the results instantaneously helps us keep to our extremely tight timelines,” said Eric Lynn, creative director, Trek Bicycle. “We often work with large files that include more than 500 layers and being able to search them all – and continue working while saving a large document – is invaluable to our workflow and a huge time saver for us.”
Photoshop CS6 features include:
Content-Aware Patch – Allows greater control by letting users choose the sample area used to create a patch.
Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine – Takes advantage of the graphics processing unit in modern hardware to speed up imaging and editing tasks, and process large images faster.
New and Re-engineered Design Tools – Type styles enable consistent formatting; vector layers apply strokes and add gradients to vector objects; custom strokes and dashed lines are easily created; quick layers search and more.
Intuitive Video Creation – The full range of familiar Photoshop tools and an intuitive set of new video tools to create and enhance any video clip.
Blur Gallery – A simple new interface with on-image and in-context controls allows users to quickly create photographic blur effects including tilt-shift effects, blur everything with one focal point, or vary the blurriness between multiple focal points.
Photoshop CS6 Extended includes all Photoshop CS6 features and:
Mercury Graphics Engine for 3D – Increased power and speed via engine optimized for 3D imaging.
New 3D Controls – UI improvements for more efficient 3D workflows.
New 3D Effects – Reflections and “drag-able” shadows to enhance images.
Adobe Creative Cloud and Digital Imaging
Adobe Creative Cloud gives creative customers a new option for purchasing and experiencing Adobe software innovation, including Adobe Photoshop CS6:
Creative Cloud membership provides designers with access to download and install every new Adobe CS6 application announced today and two new HTML5 products, Adobe Muse™ and Adobe Edge preview.
Creative Cloud powers the integration of creative tablet applications, such as Photoshop Touch, into everyday work – seamlessly synchronizing and storing files in the cloud, for sharing and access on any device.
Creative Cloud members will be able to easily deliver mobile apps to iOS and Android marketplaces and publish, manage and host websites.
Adobe Creative Cloud members will receive access to application upgrades, including new Photoshop features – before they are launched as part of a major update, as well as inventive new products and services, as they emerge. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 will be offered as part of Creative Cloud membership in the future.
Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, Adobe Creative Suite 6 editions and Adobe Creative Cloud are scheduled to be available within 30 days and can be pre-ordered now. Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended will also be available through Adobe Authorized Resellers, the Adobe Store and Adobe Direct Sales; estimated street price for Photoshop CS6 is US$699 and US$999 for Photoshop CS6 Extended. Upgrade pricing is also available to eligible customers. Subscription pricing for Photoshop CS6 Extended is US$19.99 per month for an annual contract and US$29.99 for a month-to-month contract. B&H is the first to have them available for pre-order here:
The 2012 Pulitzer prize winners for photography were announced today and are truly heartbreaking. Both of the honored photographs document the unbearable trauma of war. Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse won the award for Breaking News Photography with this photo captured moments after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a crowd at the Abul Fazel Shrine in Kabul on December 06, 2011. Tarana Akbari, age 12, stands amid the chaos screaming in fear:
Heartbreaking Pulitzer Prize Winner for Breaking News Photography (Pulitzer.org)
Out of 17 women and children from her family who went to a riverside shrine in Kabul that day to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashura, seven died including her seven-year-old brother Shoaib. More than 70 people lost their lives in all.
Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post won the Feature Photography award for his work on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression in today’s community of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans:
Veteran Scott Ostrom lays on the floor with his dog, Jibby, who he credits with saving his life. (Pulitzer.org)
“I’m tired of having bad f—— dreams. I can’t take a nap because I’ll feel worse. I fall asleep, but it doesn’t make it better. Everybody says, ‘With time, with time it will all go away.’ So I’m waiting. He often credited his dog with saving his life. ‘For me Jibby is very therapeutic. … Sometimes I feel like a burden when I unload my emotions on friends, but Jibby’s always there, regardless of what mood I’m in.” -Scott Ostrom
An image has popped up recently showing side-by-side comparisons of supermodels with and without makeup which has caught the world’s attention and the internet is diligently doing their part in making it go viral. The image, which you can see below, sheds light on just how much make-up and creative photoshopping is utilized in the world of fashion photography.
Supermodels Without Makeup (Click to See Larger Version)
In case it’s not immediately clear–the power of makeup is strong in some of these portraits–every two head shots is the same person. The first in the set is the model without makeup and the second in the set is the same model wearing makeup. As you can see, Zeddie Little, the ridiculously photogenic guy at the bottom, right hand corner is handsomely charming even without makeup.
While running the Cooper River Bridge Run in South Carolina, Zeddie “Watkins” Little had a snapshot taken of him by a random bystander. Now, instances like this probably occur all the time, but what makes this snapshot stand out above the crowd is how photogenic Watkins appears, having just completed a 10k race.
Rediculously Photogenic Guy (imgur)
The man who took the photograph, Will King, said he was trying to photograph some friends that were also competing in the race, but when he saw Watkins approaching he was compelled to photograph him.
“He was looking straight at the camera, smiling, the sun was hitting his hair as it was just flowing in the wind…An all around photogenic guy.”
