News / Other News

The World Photography Organisation has announced the winners for the Open, Youth and 3D categories of the 2013 Sony-sponsored World Photography Awards. The organization announced a shortlist for all the categories last month, and will be announcing the professional category winners at Somerset House in London on April 25th. Click through to read more about the winners and see their winning images.

A service center in Taiwan has repaired a seawater-damaged Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED lens by boiling it. According to a post by Nikon Rumors, after investigating the damage, staff established that the AF motor of the lens needed to be replaced and some internal parts were 'rusted' due to salt water damage. To remove this 'rust', they boiled them in water. The lens was apparently fixed in three days. (via Nikon Rumors)

In a 'Master Series' video posted by lighting maker Profoto USA, celebrated photographer Greg Heisler shares a behind the scenes tale of how he created a unique on-location portrait of then-NBA star Alonzo Mourning. In explaining a lighting setup that even most other pros would struggle to pull off, Heisler breaks down his lighting diagram for a shot that he conceived, 'just because I think it looks cool'. (via Strobist)

Amateur filmmaker Marc Donahue of Permagrin Films recently shot a video with an array of fifteen GoPro action cameras to achieve Matrix-like bullet time special effects. The arc-shaped rig allowed him to shoot simultaneously from all cameras. In post, Donahue added the freeze frame and slow motion effects. Click through to watch the video. (via Mashable)

Arizona-based wedding photographer, Trevor Dayley, is taking a unique approach to his portraiture by using a perspective control lens, the Canon TS-E 90mm F2.8. In an article he wrote for FStoppers, he explains why it has become his favorite lens and discusses the challenges and rewards of adding a tilt-shift lens to his arsenal. (via FStoppers)

What is an ideal camera for today's smartphone generation? Designers Vincent Sall, Dae jin Ahn and Chun hyun Park have created designs to explore the question. Inspired by the Leica X2, Vincent Sall envisions a Leica X3 that is an extremely mobile version of the high-end compact that folds up and communicates with a smartphone to share its images. Korean designers Dae jin Ahn and Chun hyun Park have put together a modular camera design calling it the Equinox. Click through for pictures and more information about the concepts. 

Google has announced it will no longer sell the desktop version of its Snapseed image editing application for both Windows and Mac. Existing customers will continue receive support and updates. The company will continue to offer the Snapseed mobile app on iOS and Android. In a blog post, the company has announced, as a part of its 'spring cleaning' it has decided to shut down Snapseed and Google Reader, among other products. Click through for Google's full statement and a link to our review of Snapseed for Mac, published last year. 

Founders of the GPS-equipped Memoto wearable camera, Martin Kallstrom and Oskar Kalmaru captured around 10,000 photographs at the SXSW music and film festival in Austin, Texas. This wearable square device made headlines when it surpassed its initial Kickstarter funding goal in just 5 hours. The Memoto camera automatically captures two 5MP geotagged photos every minute (one every 30 seconds) and the built-in accelerometer ensures pictures are turned to the correct orientation. All Things Digital has posted an article about the Memoto and its creators - click through for more details and a link to the original feature. 

Austrian photography enthusiast Christopher Malin has produced a short film featuring time-lapse photography taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Captured with several Nikon D3S cameras, these sequences make for a unique and compelling view of the Earth and its surrounding environment. The film also includes a first hand account of the considerable challenges of photographing from space. 

Last October, Portuguese freelance photojournalist Daniel Rodrigues was forced to sell off all his camera gear to pay the bills. Only a few months later, however, one of his images took first prize in the Daily Life category from the prestigious World Press Photo foundation. As a result of the ensuing attention, Rodrigues has been able to acquire new gear and resume his career in photojournalism. (via New York Times Lens blog)

Small, rugged, go-anywhere action cams have become increasingly popular. Both BBC news and Forbes magazine have taken a look at the booming action camera business over the last week. The BBC's Ian Hardy covered the overall market and the varied applications of action cams, while Forbes posted an interesting story about GoPro's Founder and CEO Nick Woodman with details on the company's success. Click through to read more and for links to the posts.

Fujifilm is looking to bring down the cost of touch-screen technology by harnessing materials and manufacturing expertise used in creating film emulsions. Touch-screens are quickly becoming the standard interface of nearly every piece of mobile technology. Currently these screens utilize the fairly rare metal, indium. Due to its rarity, indium is responsible for a significant portion in the cost of current touch-screen displays. Fujifilm hopes to use its long history with silver to bring down the cost of these displays and grab a piece of the ever expanding touch-screen market.(via Bloomberg)

British newspaper The Guardian is known for its editorial photography, but like all working pros, the staff photographers sometimes only get a few minutes to capture their subjects. In an article posted on the Guardian's Photo Blog, several of the paper's photographers share their tips for getting portraits in a hurry. Click through for some pictures, and a link to the article at guardian.co.uk.

The National Geographic Society continues to celebrate its 125th anniversary, and has launched a Tumblr blog called 'Found', which hosts a curated collection of photos from the National Geographic archives. The curation is done by Nat Geo's William Bonner who has been scanning through the company's extensive photography archive in the basement of its Washington, D.C. headquarters. Click through for more information and some fascinating photos.

Photo District News (PDN) recently released its annual list of 30, 'new and emerging photographers to watch'. The portfolios of these commercial, fashion and editorial photographers from around the world were selected from more than 300 submissions made by industry professionals. Their work will be published in the magazine's April issue, providing valuable exposure in the US for these photographers as they seek to establish careers in print and online media.

Facebook has announced an upcoming update to the way photos are presented in user News Feeds. More space will be devoted to images, displaying them more prominently on the page. This is the second redesign that focuses on bigger pictures since July last year. The result of the redesign is not too dissimilar to Google+. In addition, the News Feed can be filtered to view only photo-based updates. The company says it is rolling the changes out in the coming weeks to both desktop and mobile version.

A dispute between Canadian pro photographer, Barbara Ann and Ottawa radio station HOT 89.9 illustrates the problematic climate in which companies often turn to the Internet for free photographic images. Someone at the radio station found, via a Google search, a wedding photo that was then used as part of a Keynote slide presentation made to potential advertisers. When contacted by the photographer, the station removed the image but the two parties remain far apart on an agreement over compensation. (via PetaPixel)

Canon has developed a 35mm full-frame CMOS image sensor designed for low-light video capture. The 16:9 sensor features a 1920x1080 pixel array, meaning each pixel measures a huge 19 microns along each edge - 7.5 times larger than the ones in the EOS-1D X. The large pixels and low readout-noise circuitry allow the sensor to capture light around 10 times less bright than current CCDs used for astronomy. The sensor will first be shown in public at a security show in Japan.

Graphics tablet maker Wacom has announced on Facebook it will launch a mobile multi-touch tablet this summer. While it has not posted any details about this device, Wacom's social media post says it will include a pressure-sensitive pen, multi-touch options, an HD display and 'other valuable features that you haven’t seen in other tablets'.

Freelance photojournalist Sara Naomi Lewkowicz recently recounted the events that led to her presence during an incident of domestic violence. The harrowing images that she captured illustrate, among other things, the extent to which this photographer was able to 'blend' into the lives of her subjects, capturing a scene in which you'd imagine an outsider would be prohibited from documenting. Yet Lewkowicz's account has drawn online detractors who question whether intervention, not documentation was the appropriate response. Read on for more details.