FEW YEARS AGO

Thursday, February 21, 2013

What If I Told You These Weren’t Photographs? (20 Photos)

That’s right, these are all amazing

 hyperreal paintings

 by various artists.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Israeli Sniper’s Instagram Photo of a Child in His Crosshairs Sparks Outrage



A young Israeli soldier sparked outrage around the world and Web this past week after uploading an ill-advised photo on Instagram. The photo, pictured above, shows the back of a young Palestinian boy’s head in the crosshairs of 20-year-old Israeli sniper Mor Ostrovski’s rifle.
According to Al Jazeera, the photo was discovered Friday by blogger Ali Abunimah onOstrovski’s Instagram account. Abunimah immediately spread the photo, calling it “simply tasteless and dehumanizing,” and explaining that it “embodies the idea that Palestinian children are targets.”

Israeli Snipers Instagram Photo of a Child in His Crosshairs Sparks Outrage sniper2

Ostrovski has since deactivated both his Instagram and Facebook accounts, but not before this and other photos of his went viral on social networks the world over. The photo above, for example, was published by the New York Times before his Facebook account was taken down.
The Israeli Defense Forces have since issued a statement to the press, speaking out against the photo and making it clear that they do not approve of such actions:
The picture in question does not coincide with I.D.F.’s values or code of ethics. The soldier’s commanders have been notified. The issue will be investigated and dealt with accordingly.
Israeli Snipers Instagram Photo of a Child in His Crosshairs Sparks Outrage sniper3

However, this doesn’t seem to be the only controversial photo taken by an Israeli soldier, or even the only one of a Palestinian in their crosshairs: The New York Times explained that several of the photos on Ostrovski’s Facebook showed him using his rifle as “a comic prop.” And shortly after the photo went viral, Israeli veterans group Breaking the Silence shared it side-by-side with the eerily similar photo above, taken in 2003 by another Israeli soldier.

Maybe this is Better?

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Don’t Zoom, Move: Treating Your Zoom Lens as a Series of Primes




We’ve shared some funny pictures in the past that illustrate how distance, not focal length, changes perspective — but nothing beats a video walk through. So, in this short video, photographer Mike Browne explains why you should treat your zoom lens as a series of prime lenses, and not the equivalent of getting physically closer to your subject.
Here are the final shots, one focal length at a time:

Dont Zoom, Move: Treating Your Zoom Lens as a Series of Primes zoom1
Dont Zoom, Move: Treating Your Zoom Lens as a Series of Primes zoom2


Each shot is framed identically using the lens’ focal length, but because the photographer had to move away to properly frame the shot at any given focal length, the perspective still changed. It’s a simple concept, but even if you’ve heard it explained a million times, you should really give it a try yourself.


Dont Zoom, Move: Treating Your Zoom Lens as a Series of Primes zoom3


So, if the video, the pictures, and the fat cat don’t offer sufficient explanation — or even if they do — grab your camera and a willing subject (we find inanimate subjects rarely object to being photographed) and give this experiment a shot.
(via Reddit)