4 Tips for the Experienced Macro Photographer

In a world where we're always told to hurry up and get something quickly, macro photography is a meditative process that makes us slow down. Not everything needs to be shot at 120 frames a second -- especially when you put a lot of work into a single excellent photograph. And mo…

Cher’s New Memoir

Cher has a book coming out, Cher, The Memoir, Part One, and Vulture has an excerpt about meeting Sonny Bono. In my mind I was thinking, Yeah, OK, this old line. But I must have had a look on my face because he shook his head and laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ve got twin beds…

A report from the European championship of tram drivers. This was one...

A report from the European championship of tram drivers. This was one of the tests: “Drivers had to come to a stop so gently that water did not slosh out of a bowl that was filled to the brim.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Photos by Noah Kalina of the oldest forest in the world (a...

Photos by Noah Kalina of the oldest forest in the world (a 385-million-year-old forest in Cairo, New York) and the paleobotanist who discovered it. “Holy cats! These were roots and that’s where a tree stood 385 million years ago.” 💬 Join the discussion on…

Nikon is Winning Where Canon Failed

Map Times, a Japanese camera store, has unveiled its latest ranking. It now seems that the photography market is catering to various segments, with full-frame cameras taking the lead and other sensors following right behind, too. The camera sales ranking sees all the companies t…

Earth’s First Interstellar Transmission Is 50 Years Old

Oh wow, this is cool: an article in Scientific American about the Arecibo message, the first message purposely sent by humanity out into interstellar space. The piece is written by science writer Nadia Drake — the daughter of Frank Drake, who designed the message — and it di…

“Dental care supplier Henry Schein advanced in Monday trading as investors bet...

“Dental care supplier Henry Schein advanced in Monday trading as investors bet that RFK, Jr., Trump’s pick for HHS secretary, could recommend removing fluoride from the U.S. water system, a move that would lead to a boom in dental visits.”

Arizona Chess

Today’s Work Music: A Groovy Autumn Mix

A few months ago, I posted about Lane 8’s seasonal mixes and I’m happy to report that the Fall 2024 Mixtape is now out. You can find it on Soundcloud, YouTube, and Apple Music. I’ve been listening for the past few days and it’s 🔥🔥. Tags: Lane 8 · mu…

Google & the US Forest Service are partnering to use machine learning...

Google & the US Forest Service are partnering to use machine learning to detect forest fires. “[FireSat] will provide global high resolution imagery that is updated every 20 minutes, enabling the detection of wildfires roughly the size of a classroom.” 💬 Jo…

Rafael Nadal has officially retired from professional tennis. One of the greatest...

Rafael Nadal has officially retired from professional tennis. One of the greatest to ever do it. “I’m not tired of playing tennis but my body doesn’t want to play anymore and you have to accept that.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

This Rare Leica M Series Camera Could Fetch Millions at Auction

The Leica M (“Messsucher”) series is one of the most iconic cameras in the history of photography. They were not only the companions of the renowned photographers who walked the Earth but also helped to influence Japanese camera makers to follow in their footsteps. And now,…

Panasonic 28-200mm f4-7.1 Macro OIS Review: The Lens That Never Gets In the Way

I finished reviewing the Panasonic 28-200mm f4-7.1 Macro OIS back in June; but I purposely let my thoughts and experiences marinate. And in October, when I'm writing this review, I'm reconnecting with a side of myself that's intent on telling stories. This lens lets you do every…

Leica Breaks Historic Sales Record, Proving the Growth of the Luxury Camera Market

The past year has been quite an interesting and successful time for Leica. Not only have they launched exciting products and celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Leica M series, but they also now report a substantial profit for their fiscal year 2023-2024. This comes at a time…

The Magical Winners of the 2024 International Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards Are Here

The 11th edition of the International Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards has finally unveiled its winners. Anyone who has been in the genre knows landscape photography is a mix of several things: timing, talent, challenges, and decent gear. And if even one is missing, th…

For the love of god, quit calling your newsletter “my Substack”. “You...

For the love of god, quit calling your newsletter “my Substack”. “You can talk about your work as *your work*. It’s your newsletter, or your email, or your blog. Or just your writing. But it sure as hell isn’t ‘your Substack.’” 💬 Join the discus…

Doomsday Fish

The oarfish is a very long fish people don’t normally see on account of it living deep, deep in the deep water, though three have washed up on the shores of Southern California in the last 3 months. The oarfish is referred to as the Doomsday Fish (a very cool name for a fish…

25 years after the much maligned DK Rap premiered to scorn in...

25 years after the much maligned DK Rap premiered to scorn in Nintendo’s Donkey Kong 64, the composer, Grant Kirkhope, has released a remix with the rapper Substantial that whips. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Every day, people go out and do the kind of stuff you’ve...

Every day, people go out and do the kind of stuff you’ve never imagined being possible, but they imagined it, and that’s what’s important. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

You still have a couple of days left to back Kelli Anderson’s...

You still have a couple of days left to back Kelli Anderson’s pop-up book about typography on Kickstarter. It looks incredible. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Purple Isn’t Real

So we all know the color purple has always been associated with royalty because the dye used to make it was extremely limited because you could only get it from the Phoenician city of Tyre where a tiny snail lived. Dye makers had to “crack open the snail’s shell, extract a p…

Is the New Yongnuo 35mm ‘Art’ Series Lens a Replica of Sigma?

Yongnuo is a Chinese third-party photography accessory brand that tries to do things differently. They created a camera, which didn't work well, but you have to give them a pat on the back for trying. The innovation was very different for its time (2019) but had many caveats. We…

Asheville, NC has lifted it’s boil water notice after 53 days. Hurricane...

Asheville, NC has lifted it’s boil water notice after 53 days. Hurricane Helene left high sediment levels contaminating 80% of the city’s drinking water. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Emoji Rain is a visualization of emoji use on Bluesky. “Emojis from...

Emoji Rain is a visualization of emoji use on Bluesky. “Emojis from longer messages fall more slowly!” 🦋 💧 🌧️ ☔️ 🌈 🦄 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

How to Survive Our Authoritarian Post-Truth Era

For The Observer, Carole Cadwalladr published a list of pointers on how to survive in Trumpist America, inspired by Timothy Snyder’s Fighting Authoritarianism: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century that was published in the wake of the 2016 election. Some of these are excellent:…

Sony 28-70mm f2 Review: A Lens I’d Carry Around All Day

During the presentation that Sony gave us, the company seemed pretty adamant that they were going after Canon with their new 28-70mm f2 G Master lens. And with the exception of the way that Sony makes everything so clinical, they're doing a fantastic job. At least, that's in com…

Sony a1 II Review: Sony Finally Fixed Their Biggest Problem

When we were first briefed on the Sony a1 II back in October, I hyperfocused a bit on a key detail. Sony said that the autofocus on people is now 30% better. This, in truth, is probably the biggest thing for working photographers -- not content creators. You can get those update…

Weight of the World

Premiering this Friday (Nov 22) on FX is a short documentary from The New York Times called Weight of the World about GLP-1 drugs. Here’s the synopsis: As GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic soar in popularity for weight loss, this film follows three people on their own GLP-1 journeys…

“On Saturday, more than 50 Jeremy Allen White lookalikes descended on the...

“On Saturday, more than 50 Jeremy Allen White lookalikes descended on the sledding hill at Humboldt Park to compete for $50 and a pack of Marlboro Red cigarettes.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Is The Sony A1 II Worth The $6000 Upgrade?

The year was 2021 when Sony launched the a1, a successor to an already potent lineup, the Sony a9. The new device not only boasts a staggering 50.1-MP 35 mm full-frame stacked CMOS sensor with integral memory but also 9.44 million dot EVF with a refresh rate of 240 fps and a mec…

Tokina Unveils a New Polarizing Filter That Can Help Portrait Photographers, Too

Polarizing filters allow you to capture some stunning images in the camera. They make the sky stand out and appear more saturated while removing any flare or glare on reflective surfaces such as water, glass, and foliage. They are useful not only for landscape photography but al…