NASA astronauts regularly share beautiful images of Earth captured from space. However, a recent batch of photos captured from an even higher orbit than the International Space Station (ISS) provides an even more astonishing view of planet Earth.
As spotted by Digital Trends, the images shared from the world’s first entirely civilian space mission aboard SpaceX’s Inspiration4 earlier this month are nothing short of spectacular.
“When you look up at the sky, you dream about being among the stars. When you’re with the stars and look down, you dream about being back on the earth” said crew member Chris Sembroski
“When you look up at the sky, you dream about being among the stars. When you’re with the stars and look down, you dream about being back on the earth.” — @ChrisSembroski
The team aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft have already shared a plethora of images from their time in orbit, however, this new batch of images is the first to be released that were taken with a professional camera system, allowing for a whole new level of detail and clarity to be seen. The images were captured through the new all-glass dome on the spacecraft while the Inspiration4 orbited the Earth at a height of 357 miles (575 kilometers), which places it about 100 miles farther from our planet than the ISS.
The glass dome provided the crew with a panoramic view of the planet, allowing for some rather incredible images to be captured during the time in orbit. SpaceX even posted a photo of Sembroski shooting some of the images through the dome.
SpaceX
According to Jared Isaacman, the commander of the mission, the team has approximately 700 images captured with the crew’s Nikon DSLR system that will be shared over the coming weeks on the Inspiration4 Twitter account and Flickr.
For those interested in learning more about what it’s like to shoot photos from space, be sure to read a previous story with Chris Hadfield that features an inside look at the task.
Image credits: Photos by Inspiration4 crew via Creative Commons.
National Geographic has published a photo from photographer Stephen Wilkes that captures the human toll of COVID-19 in one photo. The more than 670,000 white flags represent the American lives lost to the virus.
This latest photo is of the In America: Remember exhibition and captures fleeting moments of the public interacting with, observing, and passing through the installation.
As detailed in a story on National Geographic, Wilkes explains that he took the photo on September 18 and 19, starting before sunrise and finishing after sunset. Overall, the finished image is made up of 4,882 photographs captured over the course of 30 hours.
“One of the things I tried to capture was the epic scale of this,” says Wilkes. “It’s almost impossible to take it all in.”
Over the 13 years that @swilkesphoto has embarked on his Day to Night project, he’s photographed many significant events. This one was different, he says, “because this was about a loss of life that’s unprecedented in American history.” https://t.co/8zUcGNVS3m
Wilkes spent those 30 hours suspended 45 feet above the ground in a lift, which was high enough for him to get the angle of view seen in his finished photo. He says he positioned the lift with intention beyond the high angle, as he wanted the National Museum of African American History and Culture to be the focal point because, as he says, “so many people of color were dramatically impacted by this virus.”
The photo shows more than 670,000 (now over 690,000) white flags that stand for the number of deaths in the United States due to the virus. Wilkes says that the photo truly showcases the power of beauty — while the scene is grand and visually stunning, in spite of the beauty the subtext is still the loss of life and sorrow that so many have experienced.
Further details on the photo and how Wilkes executed it can be read on National Geographic. More information on Wilkes can be read on his website.
Image credits: Photo by Stephen Wilkes and used within publication guidelines.
Five years after the success of the first throwable camera device, the team is back with a new take on the original design that works specifically with smartphones. Called the AER TYP — which stands for “throw your phone” — the team says it knows the idea sounds crazy, but promises that it “actually makes a lot of sense.”
“We all have capable cameras in our pockets – So we can simply throw them to get unforeseen, engaging, and immersive perspectives,” the company says.
If the idea of throwing your camera sounds like a quick way to destroy it, the team assures that it built the AER TYP to protect the device first and foremost. AER touts its years of experience building devices that make it safe to throw cameras and has thoroughly tested the AER TYP through what it calls the harshest conditions.
“We tested the farthest throws, the highest drops, and the roughest surfaces countless times — the AER TYP can take it all!” the company claims. “We’ve even thrown our own phones off buildings several stories high, right onto concrete. Not once, but countless times. You can trust that your phone and the AER TYP are safe under absolutely any circumstance.”
The design of the TYP is extremely straightforward. The device is formed out of mostly foam, and the smartphone is held ensconced in the protective enclosure by a Velcro strap. That enclosure is then attached to a pair of stabilization fins and the whole thing can be thrown to capture aerial footage with a smartphone on the cheap.
In addition to the new TYP, AER is also releasing an updated version of the original AER for GoPros. Called the AER 2.0, the team chose to use a new material that it says is even more suitable for the wings that it deems “unbreakable.” Existing AER heads can be attached to the new wings via the AER 2.0 wing adapter. The AER 2.0 is compatible with the Hero 4 through Hero 10 cameras.
The AER TYP is available for as low as $68 and the AER 2.0 for as low as $34 depending on which backing option is chosen on the company’s Kickstarter. AER expects to deliver the AER 2.0 by April of 2022 and the TYP by May of 2022.
Disclaimer: Make sure you do your own research into any crowdfunding project you’re considering backing. While we aim to only share legitimate and trustworthy campaigns, there’s always a real chance that you can lose your money when backing any crowdfunded project.
Capture one has announced update 14.4 which it says brings new capabilities, updates, and camera and lens support. More than that though, it updates the exporter workflow experience that is based on user feedback.
On July 22, Capture One released an update that made a fundamental change to how some users were working with the application. Digital techs, in particular, were affected and reported that the changes “broke” their workflow. Specifically, the “output” tab as well as “batch output” were replaced by the exporter, and the tokens “job name” and “sub name” were removed, making it so that final file naming would have to be process specific.
Capture One admits that during the last release (14.3.0) in July, the Capture One team changed the Exporter, and redesigned the experience to “increase functionality and reduce complexity across varied workflows.”
“This adjustment required alterations to the workflows of certain users who preferred and relied upon the original formula,” Capture One says in an emailed statement. “As Capture One stands committed to ensuring our software develops in a way that includes the functionality critical to the workflow of many professional photographers, we are pleased to restore that functionality that many asked to return.”
The company says that user feedback is important to it, and as a result has brought all the tools from the Exporter to the main window of Capture One.
“They can be added as a pre-made Export Tool Tab by right-clicking the Tool Tab bar and selecting Add Tool Tab and then Export,” Capture One says. “All Export tools can also be individually added to any Tool Tab or dragged out as floating tools, allowing a fully flexible workspace. Further details on the Exporter changes can be found in the attached document below. Please note that the Export Tool Tab is not default and must be added manually.”
A full description of the changes can be read in the PDF below:
In addition to this change, Capture One now supports the Fujifilm GFX 50S II, Nikon Z fc, Olympus Pen E-P7, and curiously the Pentax 645Z, a camera that was originally released in 2014. The application also supports three new Sigma lenses and the new Canon 70-200mm f/2.8.
There are also a host of bug fixes and workflow enhancements that have been made, the full details of which can be read in the Capture One 14.4 release notes.
In 2018, Turkish photojournalist Uygar Önder Şimşek says he entered the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards under a pseudonym in order to protect his identity. His work was shortlisted, but the Awards mistakenly sent his real name to the media, forcing him to flee his homeland. He currently lives in exile.
Editor’s note: Sony is just a sponsor of the Awards and is not associated with its operation nor judging, both of which are handled by the World Photography Organization.
Şimşek, who has been living in exile in Germany since 2018, tells PetaPixel that while he was angry at the time, he decided not to reach out to any organization to tell his story as he had lost faith in the media due to his experience. However, after he saw that a photojournalist in Myanmar was able to win an award for their work anonymously, his faith in some aspects of the media was renewed and he decided to come forward.
In short, Şimşek wants to highlight the importance of anonymity for photojournalists working in certain countries. Because many competitions are marketing opportunities for companies and organizations as well as photographers, he thinks it is especially important to hold brands to particular standards so that members of the press can continue to do their work safely — work that he argues is necessary for the freedom of information around the world.
Why He Needed a Pseudonym
According to Cultural Survival, efforts to suppress Kurdish culture in Turkey have been widespread, long-lasting, and significant. The Turkish government — widely regarded as a dictatorial regime — has actively oppressed journalists and photographers who report stories that highlight the achievements of any Kurdish people.
The photo series Şimşek entered into the Sony World Photography Awards was titled “Retaking Raqqa” and depicted the Kurdish Syrian YPG (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, which is also known as the People’s Protection Units) taking the ISIS capital city of Raqqa. The YPG is seen as a terrorist organization in Turkey.
In this case, a Turkish photographer showing Kurdish soldiers succeeding in a military endeavor would be seen as a violation of policy for the Turkish government. Nonetheless, Şimşek — as a photojournalist — believed that it was his duty to show these events to as many people as possible, and using competitions to do so is not an uncommon approach.
Entering the Competition
Şimşek entered the Sony World Photography competition in 2018 under a pseudonym (which he has asked not to be disclosed). It is a name he had used in the past and had been using for some time to protect his identity. He would later be notified that he had been shortlisted in the competition, normally cause for excitement and celebration. To make sure his identity was protected, Şimşek emailed the organizers that it was crucial that the images only be published under his assumed name.
To this point, the Sony World Photography Awards and Şimşek are in agreement: Şimşek entered the competition and was shortlisted. But the Awards and Şimşek then diverge in the retelling of what happened next.
According to the World Photography Awards, Şimşek entered the competition using his real name, and only after being told that he had been selected for the shortlist did he ask to have the images attributed to an assumed name.
“In regards to Uygar Önder Şimşek, having reviewed all the correspondence and spoken to the team here I can confirm that in 2018 Mr. Şimşek entered the competition under his real name and only after he was notified he had been shortlisted, asked us to use a pseudonym,” a Sony World Photography Awards representative tells PetaPixel.
“Although this isn’t something we’ve been previously asked to do, we did accommodate his request and attempted to override our system’s automated processes manually. Despite manually working through this, his name on his original entry was used for the shortlist announcement at the time. To note, we have since updated our backend systems to allow for automated changes to an individual’s name.”
A picture of a resident of a destroyed house is seen on the floor in Al Karim neighborhood on 25-7-17 in western raqqa frontline, raqqa, syria.
Şimşek denies that this was how events transpired and says that he did in fact register under a pseudonym but used his real email and ID in contact details, which he admits was a mistake. He says that even in the metadata of the photos, his pseudonym was used.
Still, he says that even if what the Awards claimed was true, he was contacted a full month before the competition results were publicized. Throughout that time, Şimşek was in regular contact with the Awards team and constantly reminded them that they could not publish the photos under his real name because of the damage it would do to him personally.
PetaPixel has received copies of these emails and verifies these claims.
Şimşek was told not to worry and that as long as he filled out specific paperwork, it would be okay and the Awards would not publish his real name.
“There were two places for the name in that form, one for real name, one for the name you publish,” Şimşek says.
Unfortunately, not all went as he was assured, and the Sony World Photography Awards released his real name as part of a press package that went to a large list of international media organizations. Proof that his real name was associated with those photos can still be found online.
The Fallout
“Right away, I emailed them and told them that they messed up and they should remove everything immediately,” Şimşek recalls. “First, a kind woman called me and we decided that they should publish something to fix it.”
Şimşek says that through this fallout, Turkish Nationalinalists started the hashtag #boycotsony on Twitter, which he says was a trending topic in his region.
Roughly translated, the tweet above reads: “Boycott, Big scandal from Sony: the award was given to YPG! Organized by Sony every year and now for the 11th time, the 2018 World Photography Awards competition shows the funeral of a terrorist, the photo made it to the final!”
Soon after, the CEO of the Awards — Scott Gray, who had not been in contact before this point — emailed Şimşek to tell him that they would be forced to take his photos out of the competition because he used a “fake name.” This was in contrast to the previous emails the organization had sent assuring Şimşek that using a pseudonym was not only allowed but would be respected.
PetaPixel reviewed copies of the emails that verify this story.
As a bit of background, one month prior to the public release of Şimşek’s name by the Photo Awards, he was arrested by Turkish officials for photos he captured between 2015 and 2016. During that trial, Şimşek defended himself by saying he had stopped working on Kurdish-related issues in 2016, an argument that appeared to be working.
But after his name was associated with the World Photography Awards, multipleTurkishpro-statemedia organizations targetted Şimşek, and he says that the court atmosphere immediately changed. Şimşek says he was already on thin ice with the Turkish government, but the gaff by the World Photography awards gave the government more reason to tie him to “terror propaganda” charges.
Şimşek was tried in late June of 2018 and found guilty of the terrorism charges and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. However, Şimşek’s lawyers appealed the decision to be reviewed by the upper courts, which bought him time. He says he knew the upper court would agree with the decision, and used the period of three months between hearings to look for a way out of the country in violation of a travel ban issued to him by the court.
In late September of 2018, he managed to escape. Some weeks later, the ruling was — as expected — upheld by the upper courts. Should Şimşek ever return to Turkey, he would be immediately arrested and sent to prison.
The Aftermath
The Sony World Photography Awards, which has a different set of contact personnel in 2021 than it did in 2018, argues that, based on the records they could find from its interaction with Şimşek, it did the best that it could. The organization says that as soon as it learned of the mistake that caused Şimşek’s real name to get published, it began working very closely with him to fix the issue.
“At his request, [the Sony World Photography Awards] retracted his real name from the competition and issued statements in English and Turkish,” a representative tells PetaPixel. “During these conversations, Mr. Şimşek made it clear that his safety and security would be compromised should he not be shortlisted anonymously as he was already under scrutiny by the relevant authorities and an investigation into him had started in 2017.”
The organization then defends the actions that it took afterward.
“As these events continued to unfold it became clear that maintaining his position in the competition will only serve to compromise him and exacerbate his situation further and out of genuine concerns for this safety a decision was made to withdraw his images,” the representative concludes.
The World Photography Awards then provided a link to a 2016 story that features Şimşek’s name and work with the YPG, in what appears to be an attempt to show that he has used his real name in association with Kurdish photos in the past.
While Şimşek says he had used his real name in interviews and in photo bylines with related events in the past, it was before the attempted military coup in 2016 that he says changed everything.
“In late 2016, there was a military coup attempt in Turkey but also the peace deal between Kurdish PKK and Turkish state was broken,” he explains. “So the atmosphere changed for journalists on the ground. Day by day, some colleagues were getting arrested and we were all getting worried about ourselves too. Some friends stopped working on some issues, some even quit journalism as the number of journalists in jail got around 150 for a while.
“So I decided to use a pseudonym on my Kurdish-related journalistic work for my personal security, like many other journalists in history. At the same time, I was making commercial pictures and videos in turkey with my real name. So I separated the ‘work’.”
Şimşek says he only did a few projects under the pseudonym starting in 2017. Later that year, he went to Syria to cover the battle of the Kurdish YPG-led Syrian democratic forces retaking the ISIS capital of Raqqa with the support of the United States and continued to use the pseudonym.
“For four months in Syria, I worked regularly for Deutsche Presse-Agentur under that pseudonym and did assignments for Der Spiegel and some other magazines,” he says.
Şimşek admits it is possible that even if he did not have those photos published under his real name, it is entirely possible that at some point the state would have found him guilty anyway. Still, he maintains that the publication of the images only gave the Turkish government more to hold against him, specifically “evidence of terror propaganda.”
He says that all he really wanted out of this was an apology, something he never received. Instead of receiving that apology, Şimşek says he feels blamed for what happened and believes that the World Photography Awards did its best to cover up its mistake.
“They told me that they had to take my story out because they cannot promote false information,” he reiterates, in contrast to the original communication he had with the organization. “This is what happens when journalism turns into a big company’s public relations and marking space.”
Since his exile, Şimşek says he has received a lot of financial support from NGOs and the German state in the form of fellowship scholarships that help cover his needs and ongoing projects. Şimşek wants to make it clear that he isn’t in any current danger, and while his life is not easy, there is hope for a better life for him going forward.
However, he does want to take this time to highlight how important it is for photojournalists to have the ability to not only share their images but also stay anonymous when they need to.
“My story also tells a lot about the conditions of freelancers when they are in trouble,” he says. “Not many people seem to care.”
Image credits: All photos by Uygar Önder Şimşek as part of his series “Retaking Raqqa” and used with permission.
Long-time motocross and Red Bull photographer Chris Tedesco received exclusive access to shoot the biggest freeride course in the world, packed with unique features and designed by freeride motocross icon Tyler Bereman.
Although the first iteration of this project titled “Red Bull Imagination” took place last year, it was this year’s event that allowed sports and photography talents to come together for a spectacular finish.
Red Bull gave athlete and freeride motocross star Bereman free reign to “create the biggest, most ridiculous freeride course in the middle of nowhere Kansas.” The course was designed on land owned by former professional baseball first baseman Adam LaRoche.
Bereman invited his friends — some of whom are the best riders in the world — to come and enjoy all the unique course features alongside Bereman himself, while Tedesco, an experienced action and motorsports photographer, captured it.
Tyler Bereman, Josh Hill, Christian Dresser, Ryan Sipes, Tom Parsons prepare to perform at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 14 September 2021
With over 20 years of experience under his belt, Tedesco had kick-started his career at a local dirt bike track and has since been recognized by Red Bull. This has opened up a whole new world of motorsport photography and allowed him to work with Red Bull’s F1 Cars, Air Race Planes, Rally Cars, and more, Tedesco tells PetaPixel.
Tedesco’s motto is “if it’s fast and dangerous, count me in,” so it’s unsurprising that he was invited to take part in this unique sporting event. However, even with Tedesco’s extensive experience and the opportunity to photograph the event last year, he found it to be one of the most challenging events he has ever captured.
Tyler Bereman performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 14 September 2021Cole Seely performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 16 September 2021Ryan Sipes performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 14 September 2021Ryan Sipes performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 15 September 2021
“Aside from the Red Bull Imagination freeride course being the biggest ever built, this year it had more jumps and the riders could ride any line they wanted,” says Tedesco. “Knowing where a rider would be and when was a new challenge since they could go anywhere at any time.”
Jimmy Hill performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 14 September 2021Josh Hill performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 17 September 2021Colby Raha performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 17 September 2021Tyler Bereman performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 17 September 2021Jimmy Hill performs at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 15 September 2021Colby Raha, Ryan Sipes, Cole Seely, and Tyler Bereman perform at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 15 September 2021
To help Tedesco keep up with such a fast-paced sporting event, he recently switched to the Canon EOS R5 from his trusted Canon EOS-1D X that he had shot with for almost a decade.
Tedesco tells PetaPixel that his “bag is a bit like a golfer’s, there’s a lens for every type of shot.”
However, when working in the field, it’s important for Tedesco to be able to cover the most range with the least amount of equipment to carry because “less is more in the fast-paced action world where you typically don’t get a second chance”.
Colby Raha, Axell Hodges, Tyler Bereman celebrate at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 17 September 2021Colby Raha, Axell Hodges, Tyler Bereman celebrate at Imagination 2 in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA on 17 September 2021
After five days of shooting, Tedesco was thrilled to see the final image selection, which wouldn’t have been possible without the countless hours put in by the crew and the talent and dedication from the riders.
More of Tedesco’s work can be found on his website and Instagram page, with more information about the Red Bull event available on the company’s website.
Image credits: All images by Chris Tedesco via Red Bull Content Pool, and used with permission.
TTArtisan has released the TTAritsan 40mm Macro f/2.8 APS-C lens which is compatible with Fujifilm X, Sony E, and Micro Four Thirds cameras. It costs just $100.
TTArtisan’s latest lens is billed as a fast prime with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 and a 1:1 magnification which gives life-size reproduction, and a filter size of 52mm.
The lens has a durable metal body and weighs between 371 to 403 grams depending on the lens mount version. This makes it a lightweight lens option for comfortable handheld shooting as well as an affordable one. The front inner barrel can also be disassembled when shooting if required.
TTArtisan 40mm Macro f/2.8 is constructed of eight elements in seven groups, including two low-dispersion elements. It is built with eleven aperture blades for what TTArtisan says will be smooth and round bokeh. The lens is manual focus only and has a clickable aperture ring that can close down as far as f/16.
TTArtisan says the lens is particularly suited for shooting close-ups, still life, and portraiture with a minimum focusing distance of 6.7-inches and an equivalent full-frame focal length of 60mm. It should be noted that in order to use the lens, users have to set the in-camera settings to “shoot without lens” or “release without lens” otherwise the lens will not be recognized by the camera.
Earlier this month, the company released a trailer for its upcoming lens which demonstrates the various ways the lens could be used. The final price wasn’t announced at the time and most guessed that the lens would cost well above its eventual launch price of $100.
Below are a set of example images provided by TTArtisan:
