There’s one simple fact about hard drives. They’re going to die. It’s not a question of if, but when. And when it does happen, because it will, there’s two things you can do. The first is that you could panic, research data recovery services and spend a small fortune trying to get the data back. Or, you can simply replace the dead drive and restore from backup. Personally I prefer the latter option, which means having a good backup workflow in place....

An update to Instagram in August allowed users to create their own “virtual effects”, like animations and custom filters that could be applied to their images and videos. Some popular filters simulated the effects of plastic surgery. Effects such as lip injections, facelifts and complete facial structural changes. Research has shown that such effects make people feel worse about the way they look. The company that creates the filters, Spark AR Creators, released a statement saying that they are “removing all effects associated with plastic surgery from the Instagram Effect Gallery“....

After gathering more than one billion users on the platform, Instagram has finally decided check their age. Therefore, all new users who sign up will be required to enter their birth date. The social media giant claims that this will “prevent underage people from joining Instagram” and help to “build a safer experience for the youngest members.” According to Instagram’s Terms of Use, you must be at least 13 years old to have an account in most countries....

Instagram is reportedly testing a feature that will allow you to send direct messages through its desktop version, and not just via the mobile app. It was recently spotted by one of the users and it can be great news for all of you who find it annoying and limiting to send DMs only through the mobile app. You may have heard that Facebook intends to unify all its messaging apps....

Instagram recently began testing a “Mute” button, and now it’s been rolled out. From now on, you can mute anyone you don’t really wanna follow without having to go through the whole “why did you unfollow me?” conversation. While this can certainly be a useful feature, it is potentially a double-edged sword if you use Instagram to promote your work. Muting an account is easy and there are a few ways to do it....

Last year Instagram announced the Reels Play Bonus Program, a program that allows creators to earn money from their Reels. Some serious sums were mentioned back then, but it appears that not everything is going as planned. According to some reports, Instagram has slashed the payouts in the last couple of weeks. Some creators are seeing as much as a 70% cut, and to top it off, they reportedly need millions more views to get paid at all....

It was only a couple of months that Instagram seemed to be playing around with the idea of sharing posts from other peoples feeds onto your own. And, of course, the opposite, to allow others to share your work on their feeds. That doesn’t seem to have come to the masses yet, and it may never. What seems more likely and what they’re testing now, according to TechCrunch, is sharing posts to stories....

Back in January current year, a picture agency used a helicopter to fly over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s home and take photos. This invaded the couple’s privacy and safety so much, that they reportedly had to move out after the images were published in multiple outlets. According to the CNN, Splash News flew the helicopter at a low altitude above the couple’s home. This allowed the Splash’s photographer to take photos of their living room, dining area, and bedroom, CNN writes....

The official announcement of iPhone 8 is about a month away. What we are most interested in are, of course, the cameras, and it seems there could be some interesting novelties in the latest model of iPhone. Judging from the report on Brazilian website iHelp BR, the latest Apple’s phone could shoot 4K video on both rear and front camera. And what’s more, both cameras will shoot 4K at 60fps....

I want to take you back in time. To a brighter, happier time. It’s September 2016, the largest swinging bell in the world sits silently in Cologne Cathedral as Photokina is as noisy as ever in the Koelnmesse just down the road. Irix is showing off a prototype for a new 45mm f/1.4 lens. It was a very sexy looking lens, although here we are, three years later, still no closer to an actual announcement for its availability....

It looks like Swiss lens manufacturer, Irix is getting into the world of cinema lenses. A new teaser posted to the Irix Facebook page shows a 150mm T3.0 lens in a cinema housing. Obviously, this is just a rehoused version of the Irix 150mm f/2.8 Macro, but with the features we expect from cinema lenses. Features like a clickless aperture and a very long focus throw with a geared ring for follow focus units....

I believe most of us snap selfies from time to time. And we mainly forget about them as soon as we post them on Instagram (and so do others). Some of us take self-portraits as well, to express an opinion, depict our emotions, or because we simply lack another model at the moment. Johnny Tang, a Brooklyn-based fine art photographer, brings self-portraiture to a new level. He creates self-portraits you are not likely to forget any time soon....

While the Kodak name doesn’t have the same impact it once did, Kodak is still out there and they’ve kicked off CES 2019 with several new gear announcements. There are two new models of Kodak Smile instant camera. There’s the Kodak Smile Classic and the regular Kodak Smile. There’s a Kodak Smile Instant Digital Printer, too, compatible with iOS and Android devices and can be sent photos via Bluetooth for printing from your Smartphone....

The Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is a really good camera with some amazing features. But one of the challenges that the camera presents is, it’s physical size and weight. In order to really get the best out of it, you really do need to put it in a cage. Lanparte kindly sent me their cage for the BMPCC 4K to try out. Here are some observations. Fit The cage fits nicely around the camera and doesn’t add that much bulk....

I consider traveling for my work both as a curse and a blessing; damned be the hours spent away from my family and cozy little home but such a blessing to see the world and meet so many friends, new and old, during my travels. Often my trips have been a source of inspiration for my work, bringing to me visual images, techniques and traditions of a different world....

To me, creativity is all about cross-pollination of ideas in novel ways.Advertisements Idea sex I don’t believe that there are any truly “original” ideas anymore. Rather, we take different ideas and let them have “idea sex”— which leads to a totally new idea. This idea is a hybrid between the two ideas prior. I’ve been really into this “lean” concept that runs pervasive in technology circles here in the Bay Area....

Flags, nets, and silks can help you control lighting in a variety of ways. You can shape, cut and diffuse light, and get much more control over your images. In this great video tutorial, Jay P Morgan shows you all the tricks you can do with different flags in order to shape light in your photos. Sizes Flags come in different sizes, so they can cover all your shooting needs....

Telling a story with our work can often be one of the most challenging things we face as creatives. But it’s also one of the most important. Whether it’s a drawing, a photograph or a film, having your work tell a story gives it meaning. It speaks to the viewer in a way that they can relate to it. According to Pixar, we are all story tellers. Every single one of us....

Earlier this year, Leica launched the Leica Women Foto Project, a contest dedicated to the expansion of diversity and inclusion in photography. And now, the winners have been announced, chosen from over 600 submissions across the United States. Photographers Debi Cornwall, Yana Paskova and Eva Woolridge were selected as the winners of Leica’s first contest of this type. Five influential women in the photography, art and entertainment industries formed the judging panel, and they were:...

Here is one thing you don’t want happening to you if you are covering the Hockey Stanley Cup Finals. One of the journalists covering the event dropped his lens onto the ice in the early stage of the game. I mean, forget the fact that this lens can easily cost a grand or two (anyone identifies the lens? hit us in the comments.); forget the fact that you are now one lens short for shooting the game; forget the fact that you placed a foreign object on the ice....