Our next Big Shot underwater photography competition starts now – send us your best cephalopod pictures by 11 February 2024 for the chance to win an Aggressor Adventures liveaboard trip to the Egyptian Red Sea

Our Big Shot Megafauna and Big Shot Kaleidoscope underwater photography competitions have been a great success, with some amazingly beautiful images published in our two most recent print magazines.

For the Spring 2024 issue of DIVE, we’re asking you to send us your best shots of cephalopods – octopus, cuttlefish, squids and nautilus. The best pictures will be printed in the magazine, with the overall winner rewarded with a seven-night trip on board the Red Sea Aggressor IV (worth US$2,699) courtesy of Aggressor Adventures.

There are many different species of cephalopod, many of which make easy subjects for photography – but cephalopods are also highly intelligent, so capturing the perfect shot means capturing some of the animal’s personality as much as it does its interesting features.

To enter the competition, submit up to ten of your best shots – plus, you also need to make sure that your entries are uploaded to either Instagram, Facebook or X with the tags and hashtags as listed in the ‘How to enter’ box below.

The deadline for entries is midnight (GMT) on Sunday, 11 February 2024.

The overall winner of the competition will win a free place for one person for seven nights diving onboard the Red Sea Aggressor IV (flights not included).

My Nonhuman Friends by artist Nika Sandler incorporates archival family photographs and cats’ POV images to create a tactile, surreal exploration of the mysterious feline world

By Shannon Anastasio

On Saturday, Dec. 2, photographer Tanya Paugh of Chasing Smiles Photography took on the role of Santa’s helper, sharing her talent with the community. In the spirit of giving, Paugh recently embarked on a heartwarming mission to spread joy and capture precious moments for families.

Paugh’s journey began seven years ago when her first grandchild arrived, inspiring her to channel her passion for photography into creating lasting memories for others. Although she currently takes photos for fun, she is hoping to make it her career someday.

Operating under the philosophy of “Chasing Smiles,” Paugh wanted to extend a helping hand to her neighbors, especially during a year that brought unprecedented challenges to many. Being a part of several Facebook groups, she found a platform to connect with her community and offer a unique gift that goes beyond material possessions.

Despite facing financial constraints of her own, Paugh decided to give the gift of photography by providing free photo sessions for families. What started as an intention to assist up to five families quickly grew to include an astounding 19 families. Her generous spirit and love for capturing genuine moments led Paugh to share her talent with a broader audience.

Announcing her initiative on social media, Paugh received an overwhelming response when 20 families eagerly signed up for the opportunity to have their special moments frozen in time by Chasing Smiles Photography. Despite the initial plan of limiting the sessions, she couldn’t turn anyone away, demonstrating her commitment to making a difference in as many lives as possible.

Paugh encouraged families to dress in festive reds and greens, embracing the holiday spirit. She welcomed them to bring their own props and decorations, fostering a personalized and meaningful photo session. With a promise of delivering edited copies through Facebook Messenger, Paugh aimed to provide not just a service but cherished memories that families could hold dear.

“Photography is not just a hobby; it’s a dream career,” Paugh said, adding that she was passionate about capturing the essence of each family’s unique style, whether it’s in parks, beaches or the comfort of their homes.

Paugh emphasized the importance of permission, ensuring that families were comfortable with their photos being shared and requesting them to tag her if they chose to do so.

Acknowledging the collaborative effort that made this initiative possible, Paugh expressed her gratitude to Shani Ramkumar for offering her yard as a picturesque setting. She also thanked Sasha Johnson and her 12-year-old son Jasper, who played an integral role in assisting throughout the day, with Jasper even taking on the role of the Grinch. Their dedication and support, despite the sweltering heat, contributed to the success of the project.

Paugh meticulously planned the day, providing times and names for each family and urging them to be punctual. The result was a seamlessly organized photo shoot, with no issues or delays. Even with the largest family of eight members, Paugh and her team worked efficiently, ensuring that every family left with heartwarming memories captured through her lens.

The overwhelming response and the touching stories shared by the families underscored the impact of this initiative. In a year marked by uncertainties, she succeeded in bringing smiles to faces and spreading the joy of the holiday season — a reminder that even in difficult times, a simple gesture can make a significant difference in someone’s life.

As Paugh navigates her own challenges, her dedication to brightening the lives of others shines through. In the midst of personal struggles, she found solace and fulfillment in the stories she heard and the moments she captured. This holiday season, Tanya Paugh and Chasing Smiles Photography truly embody the spirit of giving, proving that a camera, coupled with a generous heart, has the power to create lasting memories and bring communities together.

For more information about Chasing Smiles Photography, e-mail tpaugh4@gmail.com or call (561) 679-6561 to set up a fun shoot for your family in the future.

vivo X100 and X100 Pro feature an upgraded vivo ZEISS Co-engineered Imaging System for pro-level photography on a smartphone and deliver superior performance with Dimensity 9300, a customized imaging chip and enhanced battery capacity.

SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — vivo today announced the international debut of X100 and X100 Pro, the company’s flagship smartphone lineup built to deliver professional photography capabilities and powerful performance. The new X100 series brings significant upgrades to the vivo ZEISS Co-engineered Imaging System inside and out. vivo X100 Pro introduces the versatile ZEISS APO Floating Telephoto Camera, a ZEISS 1-inch Main Camera, and supports 4K Cinematic Portrait Video for stunning, cinema-like video quality. vivo worked closely with MediaTek to define the flagship SoC experience for X100 series. Both models come with the powerful Dimensity 9300 and a customized imaging chip^[i], paired with enhanced battery capacity for smooth performance.

Continuing the X series legacy with even more powerful camera features 

The new vivo X100 series introduces game-changing innovations in collaboration with ZEISS, equipping users with the hardware and software to capture highly precise photography in all scenarios, specifically targeting challenges in long-range and close-focus shooting.

X100 Pro features a 50MP ZEISS 1-inch Main Camera, a 50MP ZEISS APO Floating Telephoto Camera and a 50MP Super Wide-Angle Camera. The powerful ZEISS APO Floating Telephoto Camera comes with new Vario-Apo-Sonnar standards from ZEISS for excellent close-up and long-distance shots. It also adopts a Floating Elements Design, which sets a new benchmark with an unprecedented f/2.5 aperture to ensure high image quality in various scenarios, even from 6X to 10X. The X100 Pro is the first mobile imaging system in the world to achieve APO certification. The lens significantly reduces chromatic aberration and associated image clarity issues.

Adding to image quality, Optical Precision Calibration ensures the main camera on X100 Pro delivers consistent image sharpness and quality. The experience is rounded out with SLR-level image stabilization on the main camera.

The X100 comes with a 50MP VCS True Color Main Camera, a 64MP ZEISS Telephoto Camera, and a 50MP Super Wide-Angle Camera. Both X100 and X100 Pro have certified compliance with ZEISS T* Coating, an advanced anti-reflective coating technology that significantly increases light transmittance and helps accurately reproduce colors while reducing light reflection, enabling users to capture clear images even in complex light conditions.

The X100 series has also been optimized for industry-leading capabilities in sunset and sunrise photography, supported by the telephoto hardware and upgraded vivo Origin Imaging Engine. Bringing upgrades to image quality, color tone, and computing processes, vivo Origin Imaging Engine aids in sunset or sunrise photography by identifying specific red-sun scenarios and capturing the scene accurately.

Improved portrait and night photography supported by dual flagship chip processing  

The groundbreaking mobile photography features go beyond hardware specs to enable users to capture, create, and edit professional grade images and videos on the go. Upgrades have been made to portrait and night shooting capabilities, alongside new additions to the signature ZEISS bokeh effects.

X100 Pro is supported by the customized vivo V3 Chip, which adopts 6nm process with 30% increase in energy efficiency ratio, leading to advanced upgrades in portrait videography. X100 Pro brings the all-new 4K Cinematic Portrait Video, an X series first, ideal for users who want to capture and edit creative video content effortlessly on their smartphone. With this powerful feature the focus shifts automatically and tracks the subject during filming, creating a more cinematic feel. Users can also take advantage of the new 4K Cinematic Portrait Video feature to apply ZEISS Cinematic Video Bokeh style. Post-editing of 4K Cinematic Portrait videos is also available in the Album, allowing users to easily fine-tune the bokeh effects and styles.

X100 and X100 Pro carry on the X series’ pursuit of making professional-level photography possible on a smartphone, this time bringing a whole new take on portraits. For the first time in the X series, vivo introduces ZEISS Multifocal Professional Photography, allowing users to take professional portraits with focal lengths up to 100mm, perfect for travel photography, artistic photography or simply capturing joyful moments at home. Adding more creative options, X100 series introduces ZEISS B-Speed Style Bokeh, the newest addition to ZEISS Style Portrait package. ZEISS B-Speed Style Bokeh creates a distinctive circular triangular bokeh effect inspired by ZEISS classic high-speed cine lens from the mid-1970s.

Superior experience with powerful performance upgrades and larger battery

X100 and X100 Pro come with a Dual Flagship Chip featuring a vivo customized imaging chip and Dimensity 9300. X100 is engineered with the vivo V2 Chip and X100 Pro with the latest vivo V3 Chip. Dimensity 9300 boasts a flagship octa-core CPU offering a massive leap in performance compared to its predecessor.

X100 and X100 Pro, backed by vivo’s customized imaging chips, offer Game Frame Interpolation for smooth gaming experience. X100 Pro goes a step further with Game Super Resolution offering superior visual experience.

The X100 series successfully balances large capacity battery with fast charging through three key industry breakthroughs: Negative Electrode Graphite Reconstruction technology, Electrode Cold Press Technique, and Micrometer Laser Array Etching Process — ultimately reaching an 8.3% increase in overall energy density compared to previous generations. X100 is equipped with an equivalent 5,000mAh (TYP) large battery and supports up to 120W Dual-Cell FlashCharge; X100 Pro comes with an equivalent 5,400mAh (TYP) large battery and supports wireless FlashCharge^[ii] and up to 100W Dual-Cell FlashCharge.

The X100 series comes with LTPO Eye Protection Display and introduces Dual Engines for Video Enhancement, elevating the viewing experience. Furthermore, a vivo-exclusive V Frame Rate Management System helps dynamically adjust the refresh rate based on the finger sliding speed and renders frame rates per layer, ensuring smooth experience while reducing power consumption. Featuring a larger always-on display area, the display can reach a local peak brightness of up to 3,000 nits, which ensures the content on the screen remains visible even under bright sunlight.

The X100 series comes equipped with the latest Funtouch OS 14, which enhances the user experience further by providing smoother performance, greater personalization, and improved security. The new operating system introduces several features such as the RAM Saver, which optimizes background processes, Mini Window for effortless multitasking and Motion Blur for smoother visual transitions.

Premium design for quiet luxury and durability

The X100 lineup continues the iconic sleek, stylish and lightweight design aesthetics of X series. A ring around the camera module resembling a halo is the key design element reflecting Sun Halo and Moon Halo Design. Made of aerospace-grade stainless steel, the halo adds a touch of minimalist luxury, with sunburst texture resembling high-end mechanical watches. At the same time, the material used ensures durability — it is wear-resistant, high-temperature resistant, and corrosion-resistant. For additional peace of mind, all models in the series are IP68 rated for water and dust resistance. The X100 Series comes in a dreamy Startrail Blue and an Asteroid Black theme^[iii].

About vivo

vivo is a technology company that creates great products based on a design-driven value, with smart devices and intelligent services as its core. The company aims to build a bridge between humans and the digital world. Through unique creativity, vivo provides users with an increasingly convenient mobile and digital life.

While bringing together and developing the best local talents to deliver excellence, vivo is supported by a network of R&D centers including Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Xi’an, focusing on the development of state-of-the-art consumer technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence, industrial design, photography and other up-and-coming technologies. vivo has also set up an intelligent manufacturing network (including those authorized by vivo), with an annual production capacity of nearly 200 million smartphones. As of now, vivo has branched out its sales network across more than 60 countries and regions, and is winning more than 500 million users worldwide with its superior products and services.

Following the company’s core values, which include Benfen*, user-orientation, design-driven value, continuous learning and team spirit. vivo has implemented a sustainable development strategy, with the vision of developing into a healthier, more sustainable world-class corporation.

*”Benfen” is a term describing the attitude on doing the right things and doing things right – which is the ideal description of vivo’s mission to create value for society.

Stay informed of latest vivo news at https://www.vivo.com/en/about-vivo/news   

SOURCE vivo

Splintered sideboards, milky windowpanes and frayed edges poke through the photograph up on the wall of Jim Westphalen’s studio. It’s a good example of the Shelburne artist’s dedication to creating artistic documents that observe history and its bound on permanence.

Westphalen has increasingly become a known name in Vermont, where he makes photographic subjects of moldering rural scenes. This year he released “Vanish: Disappearing Icons of a Rural America,” a film telling the story of his most recent body of work— elegiac photos of decaying barns and buildings across the state and beyond. It showed at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival this past summer and is set to screen at Burlington’s Contois Auditorium on Feb. 21.

“It’s not just documenting what’s there, you know,” he said on a recent snowy morning at his studio in Shelburne. “I see it as art. The beauty in decay.”

A self proclaimed “old soul,” born and raised on Long Island, Westphalen grew up surrounded by suburbia’s uniform and cookie-cutter landscape. He was always looking for something ever so slightly askew, something that snagged his attention. So it made sense that, after picking up a film camera in childhood and carrying it with him throughout his two years in college, he realized imagemaking was his calling. After years in commercial photography and a move to Shelburne in the 1990s, Westphalen became infatuated with the state’s great green landscape.

He cites as inspiration Andrew Wyeth’s muted watercolors, the geometric shapes and shadows in Edward Hopper’s oil paintings and the detailed work of his late friend and American classic realist painter Hale Johnson.

He wields a large-format camera, jury-rigged for digital use, and has for 35 years. His choice of camera plays a role in the sense of depth you see in a Westphalen gallery show. The large format makeup — he shoots a 4 by 5 inch frame — allows him to manipulate his subjects in the field, resulting in less time spent editing when he gets back to the studio.

The work can feel like a race against the inevitable, he said, when his subjects are often buildings that are sinking into their old foundations more and more each day. He’s trying to capture the life of a structure before it becomes obsolete.

In his mind, that decay ties the present to history, and he wants to give the past a future.

Westphalen’s film “Vanish,” explores his decadeslong effort to observe the landscape and document accordingly, before it’s too late.

His work in photography is not limited to rotting rural scenes, though. He has also found something of a spiritual counterpart in the ocean, especially on the coast of Maine. With images that play with exposure and subject matter, Westphalen tries to capture the contrast of rough, rocky shores and gentle, thrumming seas. He makes his images dreamlike through the use of long exposure, allowing the viewer access to the sea salt–soaked atmosphere.

Westphalen sees life through the viewfinder and never puts the camera down. Traveling on backroads, Westphalen became increasingly aware of the disappearing landscape of rural Vermont. What he was seeing reminded him of times at his grandmother’s in the Poconos, when she’d tell him stories about who lived in each rundown farmhouse nearby. Buildings like that came to symbolize the cultural loss on which he’d become fixated.

“In the various states of disrepair that they’re in — the textures and the patinas — there’s just so much beauty,” he said. “When I do my photography, it’s always with the goal and the mission of sort of honoring the buildings as they are today — to make people notice what we’re losing.”

Crafting images that evince for so many people a sense of mourning and reverence is the result of learning what does and doesn’t work, testing prints and exposures and angles.

Decades into his adventure in trial and error, he’s learned how rotten wood and rusted metal can produce an idealized portrait, a history written in walls. To lose those relics, he said, is to lose a connection to who Vermonters once were.

Others are trying to restore and instill resilience in the state’s landscape and culture. Rural Vermont, a farmer-led nonprofit based in Montpelier that advocates for agrarian communities, has partnered with many art organizations to tell stories and raise awareness about agriculture, an industry that has been shunted out from inside barns not unlike the ones photographed by Westphalen.

“I love thinking about facets of our rural landscape from a lens of art and creativity because I think the level of craftsmanship is often just so striking and tells the story of the landscape that Vermont has and how it’s changed,” said Mollie Wills, grassroots organizing director with Rural Vermont.

Just as art can bring light to culture, culture can inspire art. Without the farms that once ran the majority of the state, Westphalen would not have a decaying barn to photograph.

Westphalen does not consider “Vanish” a work of activism itself. To him, it instead functions as a call to action for those who feel their connection to the past slipping away and want to do something about it.

“‘Vanish’ reminds us that we are living in a dynamic landscape,” said Thomas Denenber, the director of the Shelburne Museum, as part of an interview in the film.

Asked what advice he would give an aspiring photographer, Westphalen had a succinct prescription: “Find something you are passionate about, shoot like crazy, create a cohesive body of work … and make it your own.”

The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.

A surrealist with an incisive eye, finding the beauty and absurdity of everyday life. A model who posed for Vogue and sat for Pablo Picasso and Man Ray, but whose fashion career was suddenly cut short. A war photographer who embedded with the US military to chronicle the harrowing events of World War II — and posed defiantly in Hitler’s bathtub on the day of his death.

Lee Miller was an American artist who remade herself many times without straying from the principles that guided her life and career. When she died in 1977, her photographic work had largely been forgotten; her own family was unaware of the scope of her practice, and what she witnessed in the war, until they found her cache of negatives. Now, five decades later, she’s the subject of the Kate Winslet-led biopic “Lee,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, as well as a recent monograph of her work and an ongoing exhibition at mega-gallery Gagosian in New York, where some of her prints are for sale.

Her son, photographer Antony Penrose — whose father was the British surrealist painter Roland Penrose, whom Miller married in 1947 — has made it his life’s work to bring attention to his mother’s legacy. He co-directs her archive with his daughter, Ami Bouhassane, and has authored multiple books about Miller, including the most recent, “Lee Miller: Photographs.” For the past decade, he’s consulted on “Lee” as it came together, and has finally begun its run in both the United Kingdom and Spain. (A US release date has yet to be confirmed.)

“There were movies proposed and very nearly made before,” Pentose said in a video call with CNN. “This is the one that we’ve been waiting for, because I feel it is a brilliant rendition of Lee’s life, values and personality.”

He still recalls how “bewildering” it was when he and his late wife, Suzanna, found some 60,000 of her negatives and prints in their attic shortly after Miller’s death. She had developed a unique surrealist way of looking at the world, capturing everyday eccentricities that play with the viewer’s perception: a scratched-up door at a jewelry store becomes a small explosion of sparks; tar spilled on the street glistens darkly like some deep-sea or cave-bound creature.

But her range was staggering. Here was Elsa Schiaparelli supine among two cheetah sculptures, and Marlene Dietrich posing in dramatic sun in the designer’s ruched house coat. Here was a crowd of people spitting on four women, their heads shaved, as they went to trial for accusations of associating with Nazis. Here were the bodies of concentration camp victims in Dachau, and the liberated prisoners standing over a pile of human bones.

“None of us — and that includes my father — knew the scope of Lee’s work, particularly her war work,” Penrose said of his mother. “She deliberately didn’t tell him what was going on, because she didn’t want him to be worried.”

After the war, Miller struggled with depression and alcohol dependency, decades before post-traumatic stress disorder — and its symptoms — was officially recognized. When the occasional curator or art historian would turn up to better understand the depth of her work, Penrose said Miller would deflect the focus and downplay her career. It’s only been through her archive that he was able to understand the life she lived.

“It was a voyage of discovery,” Penrose added. “It was like finding a person that we had not known before — way beyond our kind of understanding and knowledge.”

Reinventing herself

For many years, Miller was remembered primarily for her modeling work in New York and with the reductive label of “muse” during her time in Paris. She sat for Pablo Picasso as he painted her in lurid yellow and green, illustrating her “extraordinary wit and liveliness… and a very bold, confrontational approach to life,” according to Jason Ysenberg, a director at Gagosian and co-curator of the gallery’s show “Lee Miller and Friends”, in a video call.

She was also often remembered — but not credited — for her portrait collaborations with Man Ray, with whom she was romantically involved and remained friends throughout her life.

“Those images of Lee were as much by Lee as by Man Ray,” added Richard Calvocoressi, the show’s other co-curator, on the call.

Miller has been described by many as a supermodel on the cusp in her early twenties, a period just before she met Man Ray. But she was seemingly blacklisted by fashion clients overnight, after a portrait of her by the photographer Edward Steichen was licensed for a Kotex ad promoting menstrual products.

“She absolutely came to a crash stop. Nobody wanted the Kotex girl modeling their frocks,” Penrose said. “She didn’t even know that the photograph was going to be used for that purpose — it was bought through an agency.”

Though Miller used the setback as a sign to shift her practice, sexist social structures continued to shape her career. Art historians and curators of the 20th century relegated female surrealists — many of whom appear in Miller’s images, like the painter Leonora Carrington and the photographer Dora Maar — to the sidelines of the movement when they were, in actuality, crucial figures; Penrose recalls that his own father referred to them more as “muses” than artists in their own right, despite their prolific outputs.

But despite the imbalances within their group, Miller’s time with her friends ahead of World War II was seemingly idyllic. She’d left Paris in 1932 for New York when her relationship with Man Ray ended, and then unexpectedly married Egyptian businessman Aziz Eloui Bey and moved to Cairo. When she spent the summer of 1937 back in Paris and met Penrose, it sparked a two-year affair (and series of love letters when they were apart), that eventually resulted in the dissolution of her marriage.

Some of Miller’s emblematic images of the period show their vacations across the south of France from beach outings with Penrose, Picasso and Maar and the model Ady Fidelin, to a picnic that has drawn comparisons to Édouard Manet’s famed painting “Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe” as a topless Fidelin is pictured alongside Man Ray, the poet Paul Éluard and artist Nusch Éluard.

But as Ysenberg points out, the tumult of the era had already begun — Nazism brewed in Germany and the Spanish Civil War broke out, prompting Picasso’s monumental and career-defining work “Guernica” which was painted the same year Miller returned to Paris.

“It was a community that in the sense that they were friends and lovers,” Ysenberg explained. “It seemed a very carefree time for them in a very kind of in a in a world that was changing very quickly.”

She saw ‘what we’re missing’

Many artists fled Europe in the 1940s, and Miller could have gone back to New York to safety, Penrose said. But she’d settled down with Roland in London and refused to leave, instead becoming a photojournalist for British Vogue, documenting women who were contributing to the war efforts, and taking both fashion and street images during the Blitz.

Later, she was accredited as an official correspondent with the US armed forces — one of just four such female photographers. During this period, in Normandy and in Munich she worked closely with the Life photojournalist David E. Scherman. Together, they entered Hitler’s apartment with soldiers on April 30, 1945, the same day that Hitler shot himself in his bunker in Berlin. Just that morning, Miller and Scherman had taken photographs in Dachau; Miller tracked mud from the concentration camp all over the apartment’s floor before stripping down to pose in the bathtub. She took the same photo of Scherman, who was Jewish, as well.

“Those boots carried her that that morning around the concentration camp, and now she’s grinding the filth of that place into Hitler’s nice clean bathroom,” Penrose said. “They prove that she’s not there as a guest in his house. She’s a victor.”

Even as Miller faced the harrowing effects of the war across Europe — sights that would take a toll on her in its aftermath — she still maintained her keen artist’s eye. After all, she believed there was nothing “more surrealist, more mad, more nightmarish” than the war, according to Calvocoressi.

“Even in the most dangerous and demanding circumstances, she’s still looking out for weird, quirky images,” Penrose said. “I find that that so endearing — the hallmark of her artistry is just to see what we’re missing.”

Miller took her last assignment for Vogue in the early 1950s, as Penrose notes that she could no longer meet deadlines because of her declining mental health. But she didn’t stop photographing, taking some 1,000 photographs of Picasso as Roland worked on his biography, which published in 1958.

Penrose said that throughout the course of her career, she was always “looking for the metaphor” in her surroundings. Of the many poetic moments she captured, one took place in front of the Vienna Opera House in Austria’s capital in late 1945 amid the lingering destruction of war. Framed by twisted metal support beams and rubble, the soprano Irmgard Seefried is photographed singing an aria from the Italian opera “Madame Butterfly,” in what Penrose believes to be an image set up by Miller — who captured her with arms outstretched, completely in silhouette.

“In a way, it’s a reversal, because you would have expected the singer to be beautifully lit from all kinds of sources.” Penrose explained.

“Gone is the costume. gone is any kind of glamorization… what we have is this absolute passion, about the triumph of art over destruction.”

Videographer and PetaPixel reader Andreas Hofmarcher sent a voice message to the PetaPixel Podcast and Andreas’ story is so incredible that it warranted a dedicated article.

Although his primary focus is videography, Andreas has done some photoshoots for clients before, including for a local businessman he hadn’t heard from in the last three years.

“He organizes specially-themed children’s birthday parties and was closed because of COVID. I did a few photoshoots for him years back — fun shoots but very low budget,” Hofmarcher tells PetaPixel.

“His photographer called in sick, and so he needed someone on very short notice. First, I was thinking of giving this job to someone else but in the end, I had time, a camera, and wanted to help out.”

As it turns out, the child was not the only person who left the party with a gift.

“So I went and had a lot of fun,” Hofmarcher explains. “The theme was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and everyone was dressed up and played games. They had pancakes, make-up stations, a disco, and, of course, presents.”

After a few hours of taking photos of the event and having a good time, the videographer-turned-photographer was ready to pack up and head home.

“But then the grandpa of the birthday child came over and told me he wanted to give me an old camera that has just been lying around for the last ten years that no one is using anymore,” Hofmarcher recalls.

Andreas thought it might be “an old DSLR, film camera, or maybe even a point-and-shoot.” All safe bets. However, his expectations were way off the mark.

“So we went to his office, and I knew that something special might be waiting for me. There was an Atmos watch on the shelf, a tiger-skin carpet on the floor, loads of pictures of him with politicians, and travel photos from around the world in golden frames.”

“He took a huge backpack out of the wardrobe. He opened it, and I took a glance inside. There was a huge camera body with an attached lens, and as I took it out — it weighs about one and a half Nocts [Andreas really is a podcast listener!] — I read the words ‘Phase One.’”

While Andreas mostly does video work, he says it’s about an 80/20 split between video and photo, he has heard of Phase One and knew “something special” was now in his hands.

“I tried to convince him that he still could use, sell, or give the camera to his kids and that I couldn’t possibly take this camera,” Hofmarcher says. The older gentleman insisted, and so Andreas took the camera.

The backpack’s complete contents are as follows: Phase One 645DF camera body, a Mamiya Aptus Leaf II 12 digital back, three Schneider Kreuznach LS lenses, a digital light meter, gray card, four batteries, three CF cards, firewire cables, and instruction manuals.

“It took quite some time for me to figure out how even to start the camera and how to work it. I took it with me to some regular shootings,” Hofmarcher tells PetaPixel. Hofmarcher captured the photos in this article with his new gift.

Given the age of the camera, as evidenced by the inclusion of old-school CompactFlash cards and firewire cables, even opening the files proved a bit challenging. “Lightroom does not recognize the files, so I had to install Capture One. But I also found that I could open the files in Luminar Neo. But man, my computer is working hard to open them!”

The digital back was introduced at Photokina in 2010 and was the world’s first 80-megapixel image sensor. At the time, it cost $32,000. The camera body is even older.

The large sensor’s ISO ranges from 50 to 800, which is very limited by 2023 standards, and it can shoot a photo every 1.5 seconds or so. It also only has a single autofocus point.

The Aptus Leaf II 12 back sports a large 53.7 x 40.3-millimeter image sensor, putting a full-frame camera’s 36 x 24mm sensor to shame. It’s also larger than modern mirrorless medium-format cameras, like the Fujifilm GFX 100 II and Hasselblad X2D 100C, which have roughly 44 x 33mm imagers.

“But on the other hand — I got noticed walking around with such a big camera. I had to stop and think about the pictures. It slowed me down but in a good way. And everybody else took pictures on their phone. I even asked strangers if I could take their pictures, and I wouldn’t do that with my other camera when it’s not an official gig. But somehow, the camera elevated my confidence,” Hofmarcher adds.

It is a far cry from his normal setup of Canon EOS R-series cameras, like the EOS R5, R7, and R10. “My goal is to have a very small footprint and travel very light,” he says. The Phase One and Aptus combo is certainly not small and light.

“I reached out to the PetaPixel Podcast to ask what I should do. Keep the camera and see what I can do with it or sell it and get some upgrades for my paid video work? The consensus has been that I should probably sell it, but I’m still undecided,” Hofmarcher writes. “What would you do? How much is this gear even worth nowadays?”

As for the latter question, and assuming that Hofmarcher’s new-to-him gear is in “good” condition, the camera, digital back, and lenses are worth only $2,650, according to reputable used gear retailer MPB. Changing the condition to “Like new” moves the value to $3,215.

When the gear was brand-new, the story was dramatically different. The lenses are not the latest “Blue Ring” versions, so information is scarce, but it appears that they ranged in price from about $2,000 to $5,000 when new. The Phase One 645DF body was just under $6,000, and as Hofmarcher mentioned, the Mamiya Aptus Leaf II — 12 back was $31,995. Although it is challenging to nail down a precise cost, in 2010, a photographer would’ve shelled out nearly $50,000 for that equipment, not counting memory cards, the light meter, and other accessories.

Frankly, the current used market is underwhelming and reflects a nearly 25 times reduction in value. Although a private sale would likely net Hofmarcher more revenue than a bulk sale to a retailer, that is brutal depreciation.

It is hard to imagine that the gear is worth more now to anyone else than it could be to Hofmarcher. After all, the photographer said the gear has given him more confidence, and putting a price on that is hard. Besides, it’s a fantastic story of generosity and the beautiful surprises sometimes in store for photographers during gigs.

Image credits: Photos courtesy of Andreas Hofmarcher

Shopping for someone whose love of taking pictures is bumping up against the creative constraints of their iPhone’s camera roll? There’s a whole world of photography gifts and gear out there, but you don’t need to spring for an expensive new camera body to get a gift that counts. If you’d like to stay well, well below the $1,000 threshold you’d spend on a new mirrorless digital camera, these fun options prioritize play and can expand anyone’s photography horizons.

As far as hobbies go, photography is extremely personal —  everyone has their own style, preferences and gear setup. Personally, I started shooting around two decades ago with an old 35mm camera passed down from my grandfather (a now-ancient Canon AE-1 — these used to be everywhere!) and still prefer the simplicitly of relatively rustic equipment.

As a hobbyist who mostly shoots adventure and nightsky photos (outside of work-related photojournalism) and occasionally sells my prints, I’ve tested all kinds of camera equipment, including DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, action cameras and many, many lenses. These days I mostly shoot digital, but film and physical prints are making a comeback, a trend our gift guide makes ample note of.

For anyone experimenting with photography and looking to get out of the smartphone shooting mindset, film and instant photography offer an exciting, tactile starting place.

Price: $79 at Amazon

In recent years, social media’s prevailing aesthetic has shifted from perfect and polished to something a lot more casual that hearkens back to the heyday of the Polaroid. After dying an untimely death, Polaroid is back, thankfully, but Fujifilm seems to be having the most fun in instant photography at the moment.

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 is the perfect embodiment of that. The camera isn’t very expensive and doesn’t take itself too seriously, with a toy-like design that would be at home in the back of a Twitch streamer’s pastel dreamscape. The format is a little smaller than a classic Polaroid, but the film is readily available and still captures the fun and serendipity of printing photos on the fly.

Price: $33 at Amazon

If you’ve got an aspiring content creator on your gift list — or anyone who just wants better vacation shots — Joby’s line of tripods will instantly up their game. This GorillaPod, designed for smartphones, lets you safely mount your phone just about anywhere so you can take advantage of its higher-resolution front-facing camera. The flexibility can be useful at home too, say for shooting content for that close-up magic YouTube channel or funky fungi crochet craft TikTok.

Price: $295 at Amazon

Image Credits: GoPro

GoPro is synonymous with action photography for a reason. These cameras are tough, tiny, designed from scratch for extreme environments and fast-paced adventure. If you want to record a surfing session or an epic snowboard line, GoPro is the industry standard for a reason. They take great stills and video considering the circumstances and the little boxy cameras can be bought with a slew of accessories that make them even more indispensable, from mounts and grips to flotation devices. If you’d like to save some cash buying a GoPro, check out a model from a year or two ago (the GoPro Hero 12 Black is the current model) — the best deals in photography are often on cameras from a few years ago that manufacturers keep in stock. This same logic applies to pretty much all cameras and camera bodies, so keep that in mind if you’re after a good deal.

Price: $219

Price: $90

Photography gear is personal, but so are bags (as every TechCrunch bag week makes abundantly clear). Everyone has different preferences for what they want out of a backpack, messenger or sling. On the other hand, no one is ever mad about having too many bags for strategically lugging different combinations of stuff to various far-flung places. Peak Design is well-known in the photography community for painstakingly designed camera bags and accessories, but also check out Wandrd for what we think are cooler-looking packs with plenty of nooks and crannies for gear. Both brands have an array of options across price points, from small hip belt packs for a single extra lens to backpacks that fit a whole suite of gear on the go.

Price: $234 at Amazon

Photo credits: Fujifilm

Okay, we already talked about another of Fujifilm’s instant cameras but this one is in a class of its own. The Instax Mini Evo takes a different approach to instant photography, adding in a ton of filters and relatively sophisticated options without undermining the point and click ease that makes instant photos so fun. The Instax Mini Evo works as a traditional instant camera like its siblings, but it offers one big twist. Instead of shooting and printing immediately, you can shoot and then select which photo you’d like to print out — a huge boon considering how many poorly framed instant photos we’ve printed while trying to get the right shot. You also can use the Mini Evo like a standalone instant photo printer, sending smartphone photos to the device wirelessly to print out your best shots. Sure it’s cheating, but it’s also really flexible and fun — and that’s what photography is all about.

Image Credits: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images

Vintage camera (variable)

If you take the dreamy, grainy photography trend to its logical conclusion, why not just rewind back to film? Like instant photos, film photography is making a comeback — and for good reason. Shooting with film feels nothing like taking a million snaps on an iPhone. The process slows you down, forces you to be deliberate and the shots wind up feeling that much more special. For a really special camera gift for the retro aesthetic appreciator, head to your local vintage camera store and pick up a 35mm camera and some good film. You could shop online, but browsing in person if you’ve got an old-school store nearby parallels the tactile charm of film photography. Either way, you’ll help keep film photography shops in business and wind up with a thoughtful, one of a kind gift.

Check out some of our other 2023 gift guides: