German scientists have been awarded a Guinness World Record for “fastest movie” after successfully capturing two images of an X-ray laser beam 50 femtoseconds apart. One femtosecond is equal to one quadrillionth (or one millionth of one billionth) of a second. Here’s some science talk explaining it:
[...] the scientists split the X-ray laser beam into two flashes and sent one of them via a detour of only 0.015 millimetres, making it arrive 50 femtoseconds later than the first one. Since no detector can be read out so fast, the scientists stored both images as superimposed holograms, allowing the subsequent reconstruction of the single images.
With these experiments, the scientists showed that this record slow motion is achievable. However, they did not only take the world’s fastest but probably also the shortest film – with just two images. Thus, additional development work is necessary for the use of this method in practice. [#]
PressPausePlay is an award-winning documentary film that poses questions on what the digital revolution has done to various creative industries:
The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent in an unprecedented way, with unlimited opportunities.
But does democratized culture mean better art or is true talent instead drowned out? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era.
Although the topic of photography isn’t addressed directly, the film is very relevant to photographers, since the imaging industry has definitely been transitioning from old school (film and traditional distribution methods) to new school (digital and Web-based distribution methods).
Bloomberg writes that Kodak’s bankruptcy announcement yesterday was simply another step in CEO Antonio Perez’s grand plan to sell off the company’s photography divisions and patents in order to focus on selling digital printers and ink. At the same time, the company has been quick to reaffirm its dedication to producing film. Kodak marketing director Audrey Jonckheer was quoted by BJP today as saying,
Film (still and cinema) remains a profitable business for Kodak, and we have the broadest and most respected portfolio of films in both segments. We have taken steps to sustain the business as it has declined, and we know that there are hundreds of passionate fans of film for the artistic and quality reasons they cite. We remain committed to make film as long as there is profitable demand for it. And as I noted, it is still profitable.
That’s definitely good news for film photography lovers. Want film to survive? Just keep buying it, and hope other shooters do the same!
Star Wars Uncut is a remake of the original Star Wars movie created with the power of crowdsourcing. The project started back in 2009 after creator Casey Pugh sliced the original movie into 15 second segments and asked volunteers to use their creativity to recreate the scenes at home. The best clips were combined into a feature length film, which went on to win an Emmy Award in 2010 for “Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media”. Above is the recently-released director’s cut of the film.
A UK photographer who goes by the moniker Hamstify was documenting his town Scunthorpe late last year when he was confronted by security personel outside a Golden Wonder plant and ordered to stop photographing. He was shooting from a public location, so he decided to stand up for his rights and film the argument that transpired. On VisitScunthorpe.com, he writes,
What also aggrieves me is that someone in a uniform representing a company in an apparent position of authority can try and intimidate members of the public by making up laws that don’t exist. This seemed to be an attempt to subjugate a member of the public into accepting what was being told was to be true. Further more hurling offensive insults and puerile slander, like seen at the end of the video, surely isn’t something that someone in that position should resort to.
In general, for UK residents, photography from public places is perfectly legal. There are some exceptions (e.g. buildings critical to national security), but the general rule of thumb is that if you’re shooting from public property police and security guards don’t have the power to stop you.
The final nail in the Kodachrome coffin came at the end of 2010 when the last lab that processed the film, Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, ceased its support. In Kodachrome’s final years, every roll sent to Kodak for processing from around the world was sent to Dwayne’s. This mini-documentary created by Xander Robin offers an interesting glimpse into Kodakchrome processing at Dwayne’s Photo before it came to an end.
Flickr user Chris captured this remarkable photograph of the Eiffel Tower at night by panning his medium format film Hasselblad 500CM while snapping a long exposure photograph.
Kodak is burning through $70 million every month and desperately trying to stay alive by selling off divisions that other companies are willing to buy. After selling off its sensor business last month, the company announced yesterday that it has agreed to sell off its gelatin business (called) Eastman Gelatine) to Rousselot, the world’s leader gelatin producer. Gelatin is one of the main components used in photographic film and paper, so this certainly can’t be good news for Kodak’s future in film photography. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Slide Light is a wall light designed by SUCK UK that provides low level background room lighting that’s customized using slide film. Adding different photographs to the light provides different moods. Read the rest of this entry »
Photographer Tome Lowe has spent the past two years working on TimeScapes, his debut feature film that presents a breathtaking time-lapse portrait of the American Southwest. Just to give you an idea of how epic the film will be: every time he releases a sneak peek of the film, the video goes viral and receives hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of views. This trailer is no different.
