Here on PetaPixel, the focus is often how people use cameras to create beautiful art, capture incredible moments, and document important events. However, sometimes there's an intersection between camera technology and ethics that is just as important, if less visually interesting.
I remember when I first became a professional photographer and I was devouring advice from those further along in the path than me. People talked about personal photography projects and how important they were. They were important for developing your skills and getting noticed and setting yourself apart, but in my experience, there’s something more important.
When I made images documenting the mourning period after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II there was a complexity to the situation that I wanted to convey. I wrote about navigating different manifestations of grief, as well as that grief in the context of the wider political relationship between the deceased and the citizens of the UK.
After wondering why the Imaging Resource (IR) was seeing so few updates recently, a number of people noticed that it seemed to have vanished from the internet as of sometime last Friday, May 5. Had another "OG" photo review website bitten the dust?
The Nikon Z8 is exciting, not only because it’s a very capable camera, but also because it represents a major paradigm shift in the camera industry.
If you are not responsible for the meaning behind your photographs then who is?
Long-time Sony executive Shigeki Ishizuka recently gave an interview in which he candidly spoke about early developments in the imaging division and how the flip to mirrorless was part of a longer-term plan to unsettle the camera market. Was this really a clever strategy or a re-writing of history to fit the narrative?
When Nikon announced the new Z 400mm f/2.8 TC lens, lots of people asked if I was going to buy one. My answer? “No way, I’d be crazy to spend $14,000 on one lens.” So I guess I’m crazy, because now I have one. Here’s what happened that changed my mind.
Yesterday, ethicist Kwame Anthony Appiah published his response to a parent of the bride's question: would it be ethical to digitally alter the hair color of a guest at the wedding? Appiah argues yes, but I think that answer misses the mark.
When it rains, it pours. Recent controversies have shown that photography competitions, even large, prestigious ones, are woefully unprepared for the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
Artificial intelligence images have the potential to misinform the future. For the first time in the technological present, we are on the cusp of a life-and-art-altering explosion of intentionally created dis-informational imagery.
The alarm on my phone sounds at 4 am. For a few bleary seconds I think, this can’t be right…but then it hits me: I have a plane to catch. Not only me, but my wife, our four kids, and my mother-in-law need to cram ourselves and all our bags into the minivan and be on the road by 4:45 am. We are headed to St. Louis for my last photography conference of the year: Shutterfest.
Video editors are flocking to DaVinci Resolve in droves, marking a major paradigm shift in the editing landscape that we haven't seen since the dreadful launch of Final Cut Pro X drove users to Adobe Premiere Pro.
Last week, a Twitter user took to the social media platform to share something they learned about the speed camera sign, saying that it isn't a bellows camera, as they had thought "for years," but rather that the symbol depicts a "boring CCTV camera pointing towards the viewer."
We've all seen the images surfacing online of portraits with seven fingers on one hand and two left feet. Recently, the internet has been inundated by imagery coming from prompted artificial intelligence programs such as Midjourney, Jasper, and DALL-E. The world has been captivated by the potential these new neural networks bring to the creative space.
Innovation from Canon got me into photography, but sadly Canon and its competitors lost their way.
I, like so many others, have spent years of my life attempting to make it easier to be informed about cameras and imaging technology. But despite this, I and those like me have failed in our goal to educate Gen Z.
I recently wrote about the importance of discourse on the ethics around photography, where I offered my perspective on why rules and doctrines around decision making can diminish your ability to stand behind your work, justify your decisions, and really take responsibility and ownership over your vision.
Last week, Levi Strauss was heavily criticized for its decision to start using digital models generated by artificial intelligence (AI) instead of using that investment to hire more real people, especially since it was done under the guise of "diversity."
Last week, Adobe made waves by announcing the beta release of its new text-to-image generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, Firefly. Adobe says its new platform wasn't built using stolen images, but rather, as Adobe boasts, Firefly has been trained using Adobe Stock images, openly licensed content, and public domain content.
Some years ago I wrote about the (now fairly obvious seeming) perspective of photography as a process of grounded, present awareness in order to achieve a result.
How I feel about losing DPReview is difficult to put to words. The brand has been a mainstay since I took up a camera and the space that they leave now is one that I don't think will ever be properly filled again.
For some reason wedding photography isn’t a well-respected genre in the photography industry. I have no idea why that is when it’s so physically, creatively, and technically demanding. But I do have a lot of ideas about why wedding photography should garner more respect.
Photography is a visual art, and as with most art forms, there are no rigid rules or formulas that guarantee a captivating image. However, there are certain key elements that often contribute to an image's impact and appeal.
Seeing is believing. This concise rhetoric goes a long way to explain the power of photography. Where a statistic can reduce an entire country to a few numbers a photograph can bypass the mind and head directly to the heart via the eyes. Emotional, heartbreaking eyewitness testimony is just another block of text compared to the medium which makes the viewer themselves an eyewitness to whatever the photographer wanted to show them.
Why pay for something outright when you can borrow it? Renting is an obvious solution - particularly when the item is potentially very expensive - to be able to use something you can't afford. Someone else makes the outright purchase and you pay them a small fee to have exclusive use.
I’d like to start by saying that I feel the word ‘criticism’ is interpreted by some as inherently negative, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Throughout this article, I’ve used the words ‘critique’, ‘criticism', and ‘feedback’, interchangeably, because I consider them to be more or less the same in this particular context.
I love street photography, I teach street photography, I promote street photography, I defend street photography, and want everyone to experience the fun of doing street photography!
Canon has an image problem and I'm not talking about photos. The company currently has a battle on three fronts when it comes to the perception of its brand: no third-party lens options, the actions of its printer division, and the company's stance on climate change.
It seems like a small request to a simple need... you shoot an event using your main standalone camera and want to upload a few choice shots to social media or send to a client to give them something to post straightaway. Or - as I've done - undertake some quick processing on your phone before sending it to an Instax printer and giving your customer an instant print.