News / Other News

Another day, another controversial change to Facebook's terms of service. The American Society of Media Photographers has warned its members to 'beware' Facebook's proposed new terms of service, which - the A.S.M.P claims - would allow the social media giant to 'exploit your name, likeness, content, images, private information, and personal brand by using it in advertising and in commercial and sponsored content - without any compensation to you'. Click through for more details. 

Photographer Stéphanie Gonot's food photos aren't the stylized, sexy kind you'd see on the cover of magazines like Bon Appetit. Images in her 'Fad Diets' series are frightening visual documents of some of the weirder diets out there, while also being striking experiments in color and texture. Gonot's work may not make your mouth water, but it's a lot of fun, and might just make you reconsider that crash diet...

We've been fans of Aaron Johnson's comic strip 'What the Duck' for years. 'WTD' is one of the best satirical comic strips in the world, and it's published here every week, as well as being included in our weekly newsletter. Barbed, topical and always amusing, we hope you enjoy WTD as much as we do. 

Leaked details of a possible inexpensive Fujifilm X-series cameras have hit the web today. The camera pictured in the leaked images is apparently named the X-A1, and appears to be built around a 16MP APS-C CMOS sensor with a more traditional Bayer filter instead of X-Trans, but otherwise it looks pretty similar to the recently released X-M1. Other leaked details mention a 3-inch tilting LCD, Wi-Fi, and 5.6 fps burst mode. Click through to see what it (might) look like.

Olympus will be prosecuted by the UK Serious Fraud Office over charges that it provided 'misleading, false or deceptive' material in accounts submitted by its medical supplies subsidiary Gyrus Group Limited. Earlier this year three former senior executives of the company were handed suspended jail sentences for their part in a massive accounting scandal which hid huge investment losses dating back to the 1990s, and was uncovered by former CEO Michael Woodford. A statement issued by Olympus states that the potential impact on the Group's business is unclear, as it's difficult to estimate the level of any fines which may be imposed if the prosecution is successful.

Our friends and collaborators over at DxOMark have been looking at the Canon EOS 70D, and testing out how its innovative 20.2MP 'Dual Pixel AF' image sensor measures up in terms of RAW image quality. They've also looked at how Canon's three currently-available STM lenses score on this latest mid-range SLR, as the start of a larger multi-part lens recommendation article for the camera. Click through for links to these and DxOMark's other recent reviews, including tests of the Sony Cyber-shot RX1R. 

While digital has truly swamped film for most common purposes, demand for black and white film development and printing is sufficient that ILFORD has expanded its processing and printing service to include a mail-order lab in San Clemente, California. Unlike most local labs, ILFORD's service offers black and white printing on silver gelatin photo paper.

If you have a digital SLR and don't want to blow two grand on an underwater housing, check out the alternative the folks at Digital Camera World came up with. Just put your camera into a clean fish tank, attach a remote shutter release cable, lower the tank into the water, and fire away. Naturally, this only works in calm water, so don't take it into the ocean unless you fancy buying a new camera. Details and a photo after the link.

Summer in North America means severe weather for much of the continent. Powerful storms are accompanied by unusual cloud formations, signs of the violent atmospheric conditions that spawn turbulent weather. Photographer Mitch Dobrowner and guide Roger Hill have spent the past few summers traveling the US chasing storms, and creating stunning black-and-white images in the process. Click through to see some of these gorgeous photos of some ugly weather.

With worsening air quality spoiling the view, authorities in Hong Kong have come up with a novel solution for snap-happy tourists - giant panoramic billboards showing what the city would look like if there weren't so much pollution, for them to take pictures of. The initiative follows what has been dubbed China's 'Airpocalypse', earlier this year where pollution hit levels 25 times those considered safe in the USA.

Back in July we highlighted some of the finalists in the 2013 Red Bull Illume action and adventure sports photo competition, and now the winners have been announced in each of the contest's 10 categories. This year's overall winner was Lorenz Holder who also triumphed in the Playground and Experimental categories. Click through to see his winning shot as well as the work of this year's other winners. 

We've been fans of Aaron Johnson's comic strip 'What the Duck' for years. 'WTD' is one of the best satirical comic strips in the world, and it's published here every week, as well as being included in our weekly newsletter. Barbed, topical and always amusing, we hope you enjoy WTD as much as we do. 

Mumbai-based photo journalist and camera collector Dilish Parekh has been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for the second time. The previous record holder? Parekh himself. His collection has now grown to 4,425 antique cameras, ranging from Leica to Voigtlander. Learn more about his stockpile of cameras after the link.

From the air, the landscape of Texas' vast feedlots and oil fields is by turns bleak and surreal. Photographer Mishka Henner aimed to capture the contrasts and intense colors of these landscapes in a collection of work titled 'Feedlots.' By stitching together hundreds of satellite images, he created large, detailed prints documenting the dynamism of these locations - earth tones clashing with the violent greens and reds of feedlot waste. Click through to see more of his stirring work.

Mat Honan of Wired.com thinks the time has come to banish comments sections from web pages. Writing in Wired.com's Gadget Lab blog, Honan describes the 'collective delusion' among online publishers that comments are a necessary component of web content and characterizes active comments moderation as 'a messy, frustrating and typically thankless affair that involves more time than most people have'. In this short editorial, editor Barnaby Britton explains why we do allow comments, despite the downsides. 

At first glance, Michael Wolf's photos look like they could be a tapestry or abstract art. Look closer and you'll see that they're actually cleverly composed photos of Hong Kong's ubiquitous high-rises. Wolf would head to one of the many hills in the city - or sometimes just go upstairs in an adjacent building - and set up his camera. The results are spectacular, as you'll see after the link.

During a holiday party at the Everglades Alligator Farm last year, employee and budding wildlife photographer Mario Aldecoa was setting up his camera to capture the glowing eyes of the local residents. It wasn't long after he mounted his Canon DSLR to a tripod when, in a flash, one of the gators grabbed the whole thing as if it was lunch. After a fruitless search the next morning, Aldecoa had all but given up on finding his camera. Eight months later, he was in for a surprise.

Summer's fast on its way out, something we're acutely aware of in the Pacific Northwest. We're trying to make the most of our sunny days before the clouds and drizzle set in. For a healthy dose of Vitamin D any time of year, take a look at photographer Isac Goulart's sun-soaked images. The Brazilian photographer's colorful beach photos aim to capture the very essence of long summer days. Check them out - and maybe take a few of your own before the weather's gone.

We've been fans of Aaron Johnson's comic strip 'What the Duck' for years. 'WTD' is one of the best satirical comic strips in the world, and it's published here every week, as well as being included in our weekly newsletter. Barbed, topical and always amusing, we hope you enjoy WTD as much as we do. 

Our friends and collaborators over at DxOMark have been investigating lenses for the Pentax K-50, and have just published an article assessing which score best on this well-featured little SLR. They've looked at 28 different models, from both Pentax itself and third-party makes like Sigma and Tamron, and given recommendations for the best lens to buy in various categories. This week they've also tested the Sigma APO 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM super-telephoto zoom, and compared it to the rather more expensive Nikon AF-S Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR. Click through for the links.