The DRONE Didn't Crash But I Did: RAWtalk 177

Don’t you hate it when you fall of a RAZOR scooter designed for kids while testing out the DJI Phantom 4? Let me tell you, I did not plan on taking a dive during this review but I must say I converted the perfect tuck and roll. We would love to see your meme’s of me falling. They can be photos, videos, whatever you want to come up with.

We take a quick look at the Phantom 4’s tracking capability, we discuss Todd’s early morning encounter all before getting into this weeks Photo News.

This weeks show is brought to you by VideoBlocks, AudioBlocks and GraphicStock. VideoBlocks is celebrating Appreciation Month which is always a WIN for customers. To check out the service please go to VideoBlocks.com/go/fro

Jesus stopped by the show and so did the Easter bunny right before Photo News which was packed full of solid info.

We got to see Noah’s fail memes and introduced a new contest to work on my fail memes.

Thank you guys for your continued support and please enjoy the show.

00:00:16 – Show Start
00:00:58 – Stephen’s Sunburn
00:01:30 – DJI Phantom 4 Preview
00:03:42 – DJI Phantom 4 ActiveTrack Preview
00:04:26 – Jared’s Epic Scooter Fall
00:06:32 – Todd’s Fan Encounter
00:09:20 – This Week’s Plug: Videoblocks
00:12:07 – Easter Recap
00:16:24 – Photo News
00:37:20 – Gear(s) of the Week
00:39:06 – Nikon D5 Rant
00:46:38 – Flying Solo
00:46:45 – Where’s Noah?
01:12:07 – Wheel of Fro
01:14:49 : Lexar Rant
01:20:07 – Noah’s Fall Meme/GIF/Video Submissions
01:30:46 – Submit Your Jared Falling Memes

Download my Scooter Fail video right here to turn into a meme.

Photographer Turns Old NYPD Van Into a Mobile Editing Station & Home

A photographer named Adam Nawrot turned an old NYPD police van into a mobile editing station and home. He says, “I’m an adventure and outdoor filmmaker and photographer who moved into a van to chase light and infinite stoke full time. The van serves as my mobile home and editing studio so that I can stay on the road and keep up with the athletes and subjects of my work.” Nawrot bought the van for just $2500 too, which is an old ’97 Ford E-350 with just 65,000 miles on it (however it does only get 10 MPG). He then basically stripped the inside and remodeled the entire thing, from the floor up. The full remodel cost around $6,000 which included custom plywood paneling, hardwood laminate flooring, general insulation, outlets and lighting, solar panels for power, storage furniture, a full desk with dual monitor setup, a bed, and much more—not bad for just $6K. He says he made the decision early to just avoid plumbing all together, so that’s the only thing he has to worry about—going to the bathroom: “I decided that all I really needed was a bed, a good amount of storage and a place to work.” Nawrot ends with, “I love waking up in a new place every morning and the storytelling opportunities the van life is opening doors to!” Get a virtual walk through of his van here. (via LS / PP)

How I turned an old NYPD Surveillance van into a home.

An Editor Ruined Thousands of Great Depression-Era Photos with his Hole Punch

This one’s more of a history lesson, but made its rounds in the news world this week: many Great Depression-era photographs were essentially destroyed by an editor’s hole punch. During the Great Depression, the U.S. government had photographers document life around the country. Well, Roy Stryker, the director of the FSA (Farm Security Administration) documentary program, was one of the editors in charge of culling through the massive amount of photos. If he didn’t like the image, he would make sure no one could ever use it but punching a hole in the negative on the main subject with a hole punch; ouch. Mashable reports that “Stryker did not have any explicit criteria to determine which photos were killed. Perhaps an image was redundant or poorly made. Perhaps it failed to convey a socioeconomic truth. Perhaps Stryker wanted to push his shooters to work more thoughtfully. Or perhaps he was in a bad mood.” The photographers that were part of the program weren’t happy about how he handled the non-keepers either: photographer Edwin Rosskam says, “[The] punching of holes through negatives was barbaric to me. I’m sure that some very significant pictures have in that way been killed off, because there is no way of telling, no way, what photograph would come alive when.” In 1939, Stryker finally stopped punching holes in negatives, and simply passed on the “bad” photos. Luckily, many of those “outtake” photos still ended up in the Library of Congress, just with a nice hole punch through it. Check them all out here; there are definitely a few that can be salvaged in Photoshop… (via Mashable)

Sony Announces the RX10 III: a Megazoom Slow-Motion Monster

Sony has announced the next version of the RX10 with the RX10 III. The new compact camera sports a 24-600 35mm equivalent f2.4-4 25x zoom lens, a big step up from the 24-200 lens found on its predecessor. Other specs include a 1-inch 20.1 CMOS sensor and Bionz X processor, an OLED EVF, 3-inch tilting LCD, ISO range of 64-12800, 40x slow motion video at up to 960 fps, 4K video and more. Head here for the full list of specs. It’ll arrive in May for about $1500, will you be upgrading?

Photojournalist Caught Posing Girl at Brussels Memorial Site

A photojournalist was caught cheating the system on live television after the terrorist attacks in Brussels. Fox News was doing a live broadcast at one of the memorial sites where the photojournalist is seen posing a little girl, having her add a teddy bear to the memorial, over and over again, until he perfects the shot. The photographer in question is photojournalist Khaled Al Sabbah. His Instagram account also denoted that he is a “photojournalist.” He quickly posted the image to his IG account that day with the caption “Brussels today.” He has since deleted the image and changed his bio to simply read that he “tells stories” instead of being a “photojournalist,” and says that this photo was simply a personal work rather than a journalistic one. Check out video of him repeatedly posing the girl below. He has since apologized and posted a statement on his IG. (via PP)

Is Flickr For Sale?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Flickr will be going up for sale in the next few weeks. Parent company Yahoo sent out a letter to potential buyers last week, asking that they submit their bids to buy up some of Yahoo’s sub-businesses. The letters asked the companies to name what they wished to buy and at what price. April 11 is reportedly the deadline by which the offers must be submitted. WSJ notes that there are roughly 40 companies interested in buying up Flickr too which include Verizon, Time, Microsoft and more. Yahoo initially acquired the photo sharing website in 2005 for $25 million. no word on what the bids are going for today. (via WSJ)

Google Makes $150 Nik Collection Available for FREE

Huge news this week: Google has officially made its entire Nik Collection of desktop software available for free download. The once $500 suite of editing apps was acquired by Google back in 2012, which they then lowered to $150, and now, have made it completely free. Google says, “As we continue to focus our long-term investments in building incredible photo editing tools for mobile, including Google Photos and Snapseed, we’ve decided to make the Nik Collection desktop suite available for free, so that now anyone can use it. We’re excited to bring the powerful photo editing tools once only used by professionals to even more people now.” The full suite includes 7 desktop plugins including Silver, Analog, Color and HDR Efex Pro, Viveza, Sharpener Pro and Dfine. Also, if you spent money buying the collection anytime this year, you’ll get a full refund of your purchase price. Head over to Google to snag up the awesome offer!

Instagram Expands Video Clip Length to 60 Seconds

Instagram has expanded their video clip length from 15 seconds to now 60 seconds. Prior to this update, only advertisers were able to upload 60 second clips, now the entire public has that ability. Instagram says there has been a 40 percent increase in people watching video: “We want to bring you fun, flexible, and creative ways to create and watch video on Instagram. As part of our continued commitment, you’ll soon have the flexibility to tell your story in up to 60 seconds of video. This is one step of many you’ll see this year.” The change is slowly rolling out to creators, has it hit your feed yet? (via FS)

This Exhibition Highlights the Soldiers that Photographed the Vietnam War

CBS This Morning did a news piece on the soldiers who photographed the Vietnam War. The enlisted solders were part of the Department of the Army’s Special Photographic Office (DASPO), which sent members to the war with cameras to provide the world with visuals of the war. The news piece showcases some of their photos, which are now on display at an exhibition entitled “Faces of War” at the Pritzker Military Museum in Chicago. The 3-minute segment covers how over 200 soldier photographers were sent out to capture the war, with two of them being killed in action. Since the helmets often blocked the ability to easily look through a viewfinder, many photo soldiers opted out, and didn’t wear their helmets. Meanwhile, many of their assignments were classified. The segment showcases the images taken, cameras used, and films that were recorded. The photographers shown say how they were sent in based on how “hot” the situation was: if there was more enemy fire, more photographers would go in for coverage. The exhibition will continue through May, with admission costing $5, or if you’re a veteran or active military, you can get in for free. (via CBS)

New Photo Series Showcases the Power of Going Against the Flow

A new excellent photo series called “Counterflow” by Photographer Mauro Martins showcases people going against the current. Featuring only eight B&W images and filled with negative space, the photos each show how a crowd of people are all in a general populated area or moving in one direction, while one lone individual is standing or walking by themselves in the opposite direction. He says it was “made to remind us that even if your own path feels against the flow sometimes, you should keep going if you want to. You don’t have to change your course just because everybody else is doing something usual and you’re not.” To capture the images, Martins says he visited 50 different locations but not every location worked: “Sometimes, the place was perfect. Sometimes, the place was great, but I didn’t find a good person to be on the opposite side.” Check out the series here: simple, but powerful. (via FS)

Photo by Mauro Martins

“Camera Graveyard” Discovered in Newspaper Company’s Basement

A “camera graveyard” was discovered in an old Texas building that houses a newspaper company. The man who found the cameras, who goes by Dewey S; works for the paper now, and says the cameras must have been used by the original photojournalists for the paper back in the day. Found in the basement of the building in old storage cabinets, the cameras were forgotten about until the recent discovery. The camera brands found include old Rolleiflex, Minolta, Mamiyaleaf, Nikon, and Pentax cameras. There’s even some huge old telephoto lenses that we found. Dewey says the cameras and lenses were marked too, with some saying “Excellent condition” where others are not repairable, noted with “junk don’t fix.” Dewey says many people want to buy the cameras but he doubts the company will sell any of them. The newspaper company has since moved all of the gear into a secure area, with plans on making a display cabinet in the paper’s lobby. What’s one man’s trash is another’s treasure… (via PP)