photography

Snapseed (free) Snapseed is not your typical one-dimensional, tap-to-apply photo-editing app. No, this Google-made download is aimed at more-discerning photographers who need to get granular in their adjustments. You can use Snapseed to adjust photographic attributes like color levels, saturation, brightness, white balance, contrast, and more. Plus, the app lets you perform basics like straightening, cropping, and adding filters to photos. What's more, Snapseed employs a unique gesture-based interface that makes photo editing not only easy, but enjoyable. It might take a while to learn how to use the app, but trust me, it will be well worth it. … Read more

Split Pic is a photo app that is fun to tinker with, and it also makes a good tool to see if your Instagram followers are paying attention. This free iPhone app lets you split the frame into two or three sections so you can add a bit of trickery to your shot. For example, you can clone yourself or an object (say, your kid's meerkat stuffed animal) in the frame or add your dog's head atop your shoulders.

The first step is to choose a layout, either two or three sections arranged either horizontally or vertically. If … Read more

Camera+ (99 cents) Camera+ is a solid image-editing tool that makes creating cool-looking shots easy, and all the upgrades since its release mean it has tons of useful tweaks. You can use digital-camera-like scenes to apply common camera effects in specific situations like simulated flash, sunset, backlit images, and portraits. You also can crop your images to your specs or select from several standard sizes.

When you want to add filters and effects, Camera+ makes it easy with a gridlike layout you can touch to see nuanced or drastic changes to your original image. The filters are organized by category … Read more

Nikon hasn't lacked for full-frame wide-angle zoom lenses -- the 14-24mm f.8 is a yumburger -- but with the shipping of the D600 new Nikon adopters faced a rather limited choice of lenses that didn't cost as much as the camera. Nikon rectifies that with a new AF-S 18-35mm f3.5-4.5 FX lens which is better-priced to go with that camera at $749.95.

The lens is ostensibly designed to be compact and lightweight (about 13.6 ounces) to match the lighter D600 body as well. Other specs include a minimum focus distance of about 11 … Read more

Have Instagram's filters begun to feel stale? If so, then give Wood Camera a go and add some freshness to your filtered-photo-sharing ways. This iPhone app (currently selling for 99 cents) lets you select from numerous filters and apply other effects before sharing on Instagram or the other usual social-media suspects.

When you first launch the app, you are greeted with a black canvas and a tutorial. Like most apps, you can snap a photo with the app or import a photo from your Camera Roll, albums, or Photo Stream. Unlike most apps, you can import multiple photos so … Read more

An array of companies have finished work on video compression technology called HEVC or H.265 that promises better video to start with and that paves the way for higher-end extensions next year, they announced today.

The High Efficiency Video Codec supports 4K "UltraHD" video -- and perhaps 8K as well if the video industry can convince buyers that so many pixels are worthwhile. Perhaps more important, given how many people watch video online these days, it doubles video quality for a given network data capacity.

HEVC has the potential to spread very widely indeed. It's the … Read more

Welcome to today's show, where we're finally analyzing the food photography trend for what it is, with the help of this article in the New York Times that profiles restaurateur David Bouley and the creative tactics he's come up with to stop the dining room distractions.

The way we see it, the problem with food photography is that we've collectively lost our shame and sense of subtlety when it comes time to dine. Instead of snapping a quick 3-second iPhone pic, we've seen folks stand on chairs, use tripods with a giant dSLR, and even ask the restaurant to adjust the ceiling lights to suit the mood of the picture.

The fact is that there's really no better way to prove you're eating above your budget than to take a picture of it. Argue all you want, it's just a tacky move and plenty of restaurants agree. Check out today's show to hear some places are doing to avoid the awkwardness.… Read more

Sony adds to its E-mount lens line for the Alpha NEX series of cameras with a 20mm f2.8 pancake (30mm equivalent) that will ship in April for $349.99. Sony currently only offers one other pancake lens, a 16mm f2.8 (24mm equivalent). From a size standpoint, the pancakes are a nice complement to the skinny NEX bodies, but you'll usually get better image quality --and faster apertures -- out of their not-so-slim counterparts.

Sony also took the opportunity to announce standalone pricing and availability for the 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 power zoom E-mount lens that it unveiled … Read more

The good: Your iPhone has a pretty decent camera. Better than decent, in fact, if it's an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5.

The bad: Not everybody likes using the iPhone's screen to frame their shots, especially outdoors, where the ambient light can wash out the display. What's more, anyone accustomed to old-school, SLR-style photography no doubt misses their old-school, SLR-style viewfinder.

To the rescue comes the Photojojo iPhone Viewfinder, which combines hardware and software to give you a more traditional camera experience.

The kit consists of a round, black eyepiece that uses a suction cup to affix … Read more