Month: October 2015

NASA Releases Images of Halloween Comet in an Incredible Example of Cosmic Coincidence.

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Three years after Stars Episode IV: A New Hope was released one of the most remarkable cosmic coincidences with regards to popular culture on Earth and imagery of Space would occur. The first fully resolved images of Saturn’s moon Mimas would be released by NASA and its similarity to the Empire’s Death Star would take everyone by surprise.

Until last night there was no better example of cosmic coincidence in our universe. Then NASA released imagery of the so called ‘Halloween comet’ due to zip by Earth on the evening of 31st October 2015.

Take. a. look.  Continue reading →

We Awkwardly Asked The Oatmeal for Permission to Republish their Latest Comic.

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On Friday morning I found myself entering into a paradoxical situation with Matthew Inman, owner and creator of The Oatmeal comic. His latest publication expressed a feeling felt more and more by content creators, especially photographers that we had to share it here – so I asked him for permission directly.

Would it be OK if I shared your ‘exposure’ comic on Phogotraphy as I feel it will resonate well with our followers. I cannot offer payment, but I promise to link back to your original content and credit where necessary.

I essentially offered The Oatmeal payment in exposure for a comic which discussed that exact issue.

I’m a douche. Here it is.

exposure-Oatmeal

Matthew didn’t reply directly to my request, he did however (I naively believe the public comment was directed straight towards buffoons such as myself) create a later post with a ‘shareable’ image. He also promised in the comment section to send everyone an invoice and do unthinkable things to our Facebook pages – It’s not something we’ll be repeating here.

Via The Oatmeal… of course.

At 46 Billion Pixels, this is the Largest Astronomical Image to Date

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Astronomers at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum (RUB) have incredibly busy these last five years photographing the sky night after night in order to search for objects with variable brightness and in doing so they have compiled this amazing 46 billion pixel photo of the Milky Way making it the largest astronomical image of all time:

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Milky Way viewed at 5 kpx

The Milky Way is so large the astronomers had to subdivide it into 268 sections, photographing each Continue reading →

Doc’s Camera in Back to the Future 2 is Absurd.

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We’ve no shame in jumping on the Back to the Future Day train even if it is nearly over. However during our research we hadn’t found any other sources reporting on the cameras used in the epic trilogy – and we’re not talking about the JVC camcorder. Those of you who remember the iconic sequel will recall a certain device the Doc is seen with early on. It’s known as the Binocular Card.

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There’s been plenty of efforts to analyse what the film got right and wrong, and despite every adolescent growing up with this imagination of the future in Continue reading →

What would a Picture Book look like without any Pictures?

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One of Phogotraphy’s favourite artists Jasper Elings, has created an insightful picture book without pictures.

Picturebook without pictures, Jasper Elings.
Picturebook without pictures, Jasper Elings.

As the Internet age brought forth picture sharing, it was inevitable that some pages didn’t load smoothly and when pictures don’t load properly a placeholder is used instead. Elings has cleverly taken these images and subverted our idea of what a picture book should look like, instead creating a conceptual photographic art book full of imagination and wit. This is what the empty internet looks like, and it is actually surprisingly colourful. Continue reading →

Instant, Unrestricted Access to Current Photos of Earth from 1 Million Miles Away.

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Do not underestimate how important this resource is.

Only 24 humans have seen the entirety of Earth from Space with their own eyes and that’s not changing any time soon. However thanks to a joint effort by NASA, NOAA and USAF we are a step closer to having unrestricted access to instant and current imagery of our blue marble via a brand new website.

Once a day, every day from here on NASA will upload a minimum of a dozen images as taken by a camera called EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera) with complete access revealing the entire globe.
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Safely in orbit a million miles out at the L1 Lagrange point between the Earth and the Sun, Continue reading →

Stunning Fata Morgana Appears over the City of Foshan in China

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Here’s an interesting atmospheric phenomenon most of us probably won’t have seen before. Described as a mirage on steroids, a Fata Morgana is an optical illusion seen only in incredibly rare circumstances usually at the Polar regions. So when one decided to show up in the densely populated city of Foshan on October 7th 2015 the residents were understandably alarmed.

Fata morgana

The image above is a several layer composite composed by Phogotraphy taken Continue reading →

Inspired: The Photographer’s Playbook

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Winter is coming, inspiration is waining, cameras are getting used less, photographers are losing their way. At Phogotraphy we’ve discovered a wonderful little book by Jason Fulford and Gregory Halpern that aims to combat that lack of confidence by tasking readers with small non-laborious tasks, often whimsical in nature. The Photographer’s Playbook.

The pair courted 307 people who’d touched their lives in some way and had in turn dedicated much of their own to photography. Anna Fox, Continue reading →

The Faces Behind the Camera: Tin-type Photographers from the Great Depression Era

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We spent some time today browsing the fabulous archives of the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information (FSA-OWI) and, as we have a love of all things photography, decided to share some images of tin-type street photographers as we’ve often see their results but rarely seen the faces behind their cameras.

Tin-type photographer at Morrisville, Vermont fair. Carl Mydans, August 1936.
Tin-type photographer at Morrisville, Vermont fair. Carl Mydans, August 1936.

It’s a fascinating insight into how the photographers Continue reading →

Model makes an Incredible 11 Minute Pose for Pinhole Photography Video

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You know in the debate of analogue vs digital, analogue photographers are always saying the whole process behind film photography slows them down and makes them think more? We found this wonderful pinhole photography video that perfectly represents this point:

Veneno Dulce (Sweet Poison) by Israel Caballero shows a model making an incredible 11 minute pose for his pinhole images and Continue reading →