News

International Supplies has announced that Japanese lens maker Yasuhara just released a Nanoha Macro Extension Tube Set for Micro 4/3rds and Sony E mount cameras. These tubes allow users to increase the distance between the lens and the sensor, thus enabling the lens to focus much closer than its minimum focusing distance. The set includes both a 10mm and a 16mm hollow extension tube that can be used either individually or in combination to achieve optimal magnification. Simply mount one or both of the tubes between the camera and the lens. The two tubes, when used together, can provide a combined length of 26mm. The greater the distance, the closer the lens will be able to focus. For macro photography, the focal distance of the lens must be larger than the extension length of the Nanoha tube(s) used.

Ever since NASA launched the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) back in 2005, the spacecraft has been photographing the red planet and sending breathtaking images back to Earth. The latest images of the surface of Mars display some unexpectedly vivid colors and have to be seen to be believed.

Selfies tend to get a bum rap from serious photographers these days, but you really have to love the latest self-portraits beamed back to Earth by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover with Mount Sharp in the background. 

When 14^th century poet Piers Plowman said “Patience is a virtue” he could have been channeling the future work of National Geographic Photographer Charlie Hamilton James who captured this amazing image after making over 200,000 photographs with a motion–activated camera in Grand Teton National Park. James was intent on getting images of bears and wolves with the Teton Mountains in the background, and he sure came up with a winner!

On of the pitfalls in our digital age is the potential for publishing digitally manipulated images that defy authenticity and convey an unrealistic or inaccurate portrayal of the scene at hand. Perhaps motivated by the recent controversy over some heavily edited and staged images by famed photographer Steve McCurry, Editor-in-Chief Susan Goldberg addressed the topic head-on in the July issue of the magazine.

Last week the National Park Service (NPS) celebrated its 100^th Anniversary, and to commemorate the event the agency has created an online portal where you can download over 100,000 historical images that tell the story of the NPS and chronicle the beginnings of the American conservation movement.