1. On December 8, 1980, Annie Leibovitz had a photo shoot with John Lennon for Rolling Stone, promising him that he would make the cover. She had initially tried to get a picture with just Lennon alone, which is what Rolling Stone wanted, but Lennon insisted that both he and Yoko Ono be on the cover. Leibovitz had John remove his clothes and curl up next to Yoko. She recalls,

    “What is interesting is she said she’d take her top off and I said, ‘Leave everything on’ — not really preconceiving the picture at all. Then he curled up next to her and it was very, very strong. You couldn’t help but feel that he was cold and he looked like he was clinging on to her. I think it was amazing to look at the first Polaroid and they were both very excited. John said, ‘You’ve captured our relationship exactly. Promise me it’ll be on the cover.’ I looked him in the eye and we shook on it.”

    Leibovitz was the last person to professionally photograph Lennon — he was shot and killed five hours after this photograph was taken.

    (Source: dispirits, via nturlbruntt)

     

  2. Cameron Davidson Captures Our World from Above

    Cameron Davidson is an aerial photographer who also shoots location portraits. Based in Washington D.C., Davidson has been enthralled with photography since he took his first pictures as a young boy. Inspired by his great-grandfather, he gained a healthy respect for nature, then learning from his mother, a helicopter pilot, he infused flight into his photography. Having found his calling he has been most recognized for his works photographing Chesapeake Bay and Haiti.

    (Continue Reading)

    (Source: bobbycaputo)

     

  3. Focus-Stacked Macro Photos of Bugs by Photographer Nicolas Reusens

    Photographer Nicolas Reusens has always been interested in insects, so when he purchased his first DSLR three years ago, he immediately dove into the art of macro photography. By using the technique known as focus stacking — combining several images taken at different depths of field — he’s generated some truly eye-popping photos of creepy crawlies from all over the world.

    When we say all over the world, we’re not exaggerating. Reusens is half Swedish by birth and lives in Spain, but over the past three years, he has travelled to Costa Rica three times, Malaysia twice, South Africa twice, the Peruvian Amazon, Ecuador, Mexico and more to find and photograph his subjects.

    His choice to user focus stacking arose from a need to increase his depth of field without stopping down his aperture. Stopping down the aperture requires longer exposure times, and in some cases leads to diffraction and reduced sharpness.

    By combining anywhere from 2 to 200 exposures (no, we didn’t add an extra zero, Reusens actually uses that many exposures for some of his more extreme macro shots) using Zerene Stacker, he creates images that he tells us would be “physically impossible with normal imaging equipment”.

    (Continue Reading)

    (via bobbycaputo)

     

  4. Time-Lapse Photos of Embryos May Lead to Heathier In-Vitro Babies

    An interesting new imaging technique in use by fertility experts at the CARE fertility clinic in the United Kingdom may be the key to increasing the likelihood of a successful a IVF therapy. The process involves snapping thousands of images of embryos in development in order to help doctors better select which embryos to implant successfully.

    “With time-lapse we have the ability to view more than 5,000 images over the same time period to observe and measure more closely each stage of division and growth. As a result of continuous monitoring we have demonstrated that delays at defined points indicate abnormal development,” said embryology director Alison Campbell at CARE.

    (Continue Reading)

    (via bobbycaputo)

     

  5. Scientist Creates and Snaps Photographs of Microscopic Crystal Flowers

    Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences postdoctoral fellow Wim L. Noorduin, along with his colleagues, have discovered an interesting way to make pictures of flowers from microscopic crystals, as seen under an electron microscope.

    The process calls for dissolving barium chloride and sodium silicate in a container of water. A chemical reaction then forms barium carbonate crystals (thanks to carbon dioxide in the air). From there, the shape of these crystals can be manipulated with small pH changes to the solution.

    One formed, they’re placed under an electron microscope and the final product resembles a field of flowers on a flat surface – which are actually glass plates, razor blades, and even pennies.


    (Continue Reading)

    (via bobbycaputo)

     

  6. Thailand’s Magical Tattoos

    Cedric Arnold was on assignment in Thailand when he first saw a shipyard worker covered head-to-toe in tattoos. This was Arnold’s entry point into the yantra tattoo tradition, one that goes back hundreds of years and spans several countries in Southeast Asia.

    Arnold’s project, “Sacred Ink,” consumed four and a half years of his life and took him all over Thailand to cover this tradition in its entirety, from the giant ceremonies for devotees to the rare tattoos that are only found in certain parts of the country.

    Incorporating elements of Buddhism, Animism, Brahmanism, and Hinduism, the tradition is believed to go back as far as the ninth century, and there’s even historical evidence of soldiers wearing the tattoos for protection in battle during the 16th and 17th centuries.

    (Source: bobbycaputo)

     

  7. Multiple Exposures

    “Multiple Exposures” showcases work by members of a critique group hosted by Chicago fine art photographer Jane Fulton Alt. The exhibition ranges from dramatic studies of nature to scenes of contemporary urban life. Curated by Alt and Lelde Kalmite, artists include Jane Fulton Alt, Susan Annable, Ilze Arajs, Nelson Armour, Art Fox, Mary Rafferty, Alan Leder, Janet Mesic-Mackie, Yvette Meltzer, Neil Spinner and Jessica Tampas.

    “Multiple Exposures” opens today, Friday, May 17th with an opening reception from 7-10PM at the Bridgeport Art Center (BAC) in Chicago and runs through June 14, 2013.

    (via bobbycaputo)

     

  8. New Yorkers Upset Over Photographer’s Secret Snaps Through Their Windows

    Photographer Arne Svenson lives on the second floor of an apartment building in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City. For his project “The Neighbors,” he pointed his camera at a luxury apartment building across the street and secretly photographed its inhabitants through open windows.

    Those photographs are now being sold for thousands of dollars at a gallery in NYC, but it turns out the subjects aren’t very happy with having their images stealthily snapped and sold.

    The New York Post reports that a number of the residents are “furious” over Svenson’s new photo exhibit at the Julie Saul Gallery, and the fact that the images show private moments that include cleaning (while bent over), taking naps, and kids resting with teddy bears.

    Clifford Finn, one of the residents of the luxury apartment (where penthouses cost upwards of $6 million), is quoted by the paper as saying, “A grown man should not be able to photograph kids in their rooms with a telephoto lens. You can argue artistic license all you want, but that’s really the issue here. I’m sorry, but I’m really bothered by this.”

    Other residents in the building are considering legal action against the photographer.

    In a statement for the project, the 60-year-old Svenson says his work is similar to birdwatching:

    For my subjects there is no question of privacy; they are performing behind a transparent scrim on a stage of their own creation with the curtain raised high. The Neighbors don’t know they are being photographed; I carefully shoot from the shadows of my home into theirs. I am not unlike the birder, quietly waiting for hours, watching for the flutter of a hand or the movement of a curtain as an indication that there is life within.

    According to experts contacted by the NYPost, there is likely no misdemeanor criminal case against Svenson due to the fact that faces in his photos “aren’t fully visible”.

    (via bobbycaputo)

     

  9. picturedept:

    Everyday there are lives at home and on the other side of the world that go unnoticed; lives that may matter little to the personal hustle of trying to pay rent, get children to do their homework or figure out how late to leave the couch and still make it to work on time; but everyday photojournalists celebrate these lives.

    From children playing while 1,034-plus bodies are pulled from the rubble of a clothing factory in Lahore where shirts are sewn for wealthy westerners, to the tattered remains of an American flag on a still ravaged New Jersey coast line on the six month anniversary of Hurricane Sandy; these documentary images take us beyond a scrolling news flash on the bottom of a cable news show and ask us to look. To look and if we stop long enough to force us to stare for a moment; to question why.

    Click though to The Daily Beast to see all the images for the week in pictures.

    (via icphoto)

     

  10. ‘Aspekt’ modular SLR camera system

    Considering the fact that digital cameras still constrain the user to only use accessories from the same brand, a team from the university of applied science in schwäbisch gmünd, germany have come up with a solution to adapting to the needs and demands of professional photography equipment. ‘aspekt’, the mirrorless digital camera system is divided into specific functional elements and redesigned as a modular setup. the specially designed units enable users to attach older lenses which are not supported by SLR devices. 

    Separate modules house a series of different components including  a 24 megapixel full frame CMOS sensor - which can be rotated from landscape to portrait without having to operate the device in an uncomfortable position - computing processor, battery with ergonomic grip and high quality OLED monitor in the viewfinder. the ‘aspekt’ also includes thunderbolt extensions for connectivity, alongside slots for conventional memory cards, a hard drive or flash memory. 

    (via bobbycaputo)