Learning how to control depth of field with your camera isn’t too difficult, but do you know the science behind how it works? This uber-educational 20-minute video lesson gives a thorough explanation of depth of field and the different factors that affect it. It was made by artist Justin Snodgrass, and is also available for download (and in parts) over on his website.
(via Petrucci Francesco)
If you had a camera the size of a grain of rice, that would be considered extremely small, but researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have created a camera the size of a grain of salt. The world’s smallest camera measures 1x1x1 millimeters, shoots 0.1 megapixel photographs (250×250 pixels), and is so inexpensive to make that they’re disposable. Potential uses for the camera include photographing the inside of human bodies (AKA endoscopy) and being used as rearview cameras on cars.
Wow. People are taking chicken head camera stabilization pretty seriously after the fact that chickens have image stabilized heads went viral recently. Research is ongoing, and people are reporting their interesting experimental findings on YouTube.
Read the rest of this entry »
When a NASA Space Shuttle lifts off, there’s always high definition cameras carefully placed around the launch site, documenting the launch in high-definition photographs and slow motion videos. Back in April we featured a slow motion video of the Apollo 11 launch in 1969, and now here’s another neat super slow-mo documentary of more recent launches (i.e. 2005). If you have 45 minutes to spare, this video is sure to amaze and educate you.
By the way… during the launch, the shuttle burns 1,000 gallons of liquid propellants and 20,000 pounds of solid fuel every second.
(via Engadget)
Update: Ben tells us that every single image in the video above was shot on film, not HD cameras.
Last week we shared the awesome fact that chickens have image stabilized heads. If you’ve been wondering about it, it’s actually called the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Naturally (and… nerdily?) people started suggesting that someone should try making a steadicam using a chicken. Well, YouTube user Destin actually went ahead and did it… The results can be seen in the video above.
Future generations of photographers may one day look back and wonder why we often blinded each other with painfully bright flashes of light for the sake of proper exposure.
NYU researchers Dilip Krishnan and Rob Fergus are working on a dark flash that eliminates the “dazzle” effect of regular flashes in a low-light room. They’ve created this camera rig that combines common infrared photography techniques with an ultraviolet flash that produces a dim purple glow instead.
The team placed an infrared filter on the lens of the Fujifilm S5 Pro, which is has a modified CCD sensor that specializes in IR and UV photography. To supplement existing UV light, the team created a modified filter on an external flash to emit only UV and IR wavelengths. Read the rest of this entry »
Typical sized white balance cards may be of (literally) little assistance in color calibrating global imaging satellites, but scientists have figured a clever workaround. Lake Tuz, Turkey’s third largest lake, dries out annually and turns into a giant salt bed. Because of its vast size and unique salty white color, scientists worldwide can use the lake to standardize their satellite measurements.
From August 14-25, scientists will be comparing ground-based measurements and comparing them with satellite results.
Apparently satellites don’t come with preset white balance for “sunny.”
(via PopSci)
Image credit: Satellite image via Google Maps
In January 2010, NASA and the University of Arizona launched HiWish, a way for the public to become involved in the effort to photograph the surface of Mars. The website allows anyone to suggest locations on Mars to photograph next, and the winning entries are photographed using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, also known as “the people’s camera”, aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Since the program began, over 1,000 suggestions have been received, and NASA has just released the first 8 images selected through the program.
Now eight ordinary people can tell their grandchildren, “I helped photograph Mars.”
Image credit: Photograph by NASA
Ever wonder what a vinyl record looks like under an electron microscope? Okay, probably not. Luckily, there’s people who do, including Chris Supranowitz, who created a number of electron microscope images for a course at the University of Rochester.
Here’s a photograph of the record grooves captured by Supranowitz at 500x magnification. Those dark chunks you see are dust particles.
This one was shot at 1000x magnification. The record begins to look like the Grand Canyon.
These images were created in the Spring of 2005 for the course Opt 307/407: Practical Electron Microscopy and Advanced Topics. Other projects used the electron microscope to examine such things as snowflakes and bird feathers.
To see more of the amazing images captured by Supranowitz, check out the final project page.
(via Reckon)
This amazing video clip shows the amazing collision of two vortex rings. Imagine the kind of smoke photographs you could make if you had this setup!
Anyone know how to reproduce this? Tell us in the comments!
(via Boing Boing)
On an unrelated note, did you know that the vortex ring gun is currently being developed?
