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Photo FOMO: Sad camera stats, a free studio, and a splash photography tool

VSCO Open Studio, Oakland, Calif. VSCO

Afraid of missing out on the latest photo industry news while you’re out, well, actually taking pictures? Photo FOMO is all the news you might have missed this week, published on the weekends. Alongside the biggest stories of the week, like the Olympus PEN E-PL9, Apple ProRes Raw, Premiere Pro’s A.I.-powered color matching, Lightroom’s new camera profiles and Gnarbox 2.0, find briefs on the latest in accessories and photo industry news from this week with Photo FOMO.

VSCO’s new open studio in Oakland is totally free to use

Real estate in the Oakland, California area is expensive — but mobile photo editing company VSCO is launching a space that photographers can use for free. The VSCO Open Studio is available for non-commercial projects, allowing photographers to reserve a four-hour slot in the space. The space, located inside VSCO headquarters, has a mounted seamless background and also includes gear to borrow. VSCO says the studio helps support the company’s mission to equip creators with the tools they need.

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VSCO had a similar studio in New York but closed the space when the New York offices closed last year. At the time, the company said it was planning to reopen the studio at the company headquarters — and now that day is here.

Camera sales are dropping — again

Camera sales finally showed signs of stabilizing in 2017 after years of decline but the latest Camera and Imaging Products Association numbers show early 2018 sales aren’t as promising. Sales for all cameras in January were about 70 percent of the sales during the same time last year, with February slightly better at about 73 percent of last year’s numbers. Eliminate the compact point and shoots and those numbers are less depressing — with 80 percent in January and 94 percent of the 2017 sales for the first two months of the year in interchangeable lens cameras only. In February, camera sales for fixed lens cameras were nearly half of the number sold the previous year at 55 percent.

MIOPS latest trigger is just for splash photography

MIOPS

A single drop of water can create a visual photo subject — and camera remote company MIOPS is making it easier to control everything from the size of that water droplet to when it falls. The MIOPS Splash is a water drop kit photographers can control with a smartphone. The Splash controls the water droplet while also triggering the camera or a flash. Using the app, photographers can control the size and timing of a single drop or two subsequent drops of water. The MIOPS Splash retails for $79, with the mount adding another $20.

Google’s computer vision is probably better than you are at classifying bowls of ramen

Computer vision can recognize faces and label objects but one researcher recently created a program that can tell just from a photo which restaurant a dish of ramen came from. Using Googles AutoML Vision, Kenji Doi, a data scientist, decided to see how well the artificial intelligence could recognize different bowls of ramen. After just a day of training, the computer was able to guess correctly 95 percent of the time which location of a Tokoyo-based chain ramen restaurant came from. Doi suggests the software distinguishes on the chains different locations by looking at topping placement and the meat on top.

Free stock photo platform Unsplash now has an iOS app

Unspalsh is known for its selection of free stock images and now those images are easier to browse from an iPhone or iPad. This week, Unsplash launched an iOS app. Unlike the platform’s earlier apps for wallpapers and for Apple TV, the new iOS Unsplash app allows users to browse and download stock images from the platform, including a drag-and-drop download option.

Photographers could win a free photo trip with the #CaptureDedication contest

Capture One competition - logo

Photo software Capture One is hosting a free photo contest on Instagram and the grand prize winner gains a photo workshop trip. The grand prize in the #CaptureDedication contest is a trip to either Shanghai or California with photographer Paul Reiffer. During the trip, the photographer will also have access both Reiffer’s expertise and Phase One XF gear. The winner will also get a Capture One Pro license. The second place prize is a Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16 and Capture One Pro software, while the third prize is a Wacom Intuos Pro and the software.

To enter, photographers simply need to share an image on Instagram with the hashtag #CaptureDedication with an explanation of why the image is special and how it shows your dedication. Winners will also need to follow @Captureonepro on Instagram. The contest closes at the end of the day April 23.

Spark now supports square videos

Resize Your Videos in One Tap – Square Comes to Adobe Spark Video | Adobe Creative Cloud

Square aspect ratios just fit better inside that social media scroll, so Adobe Spark Video is enabling the 1:1 aspect ratio. Adobe cited a recent study suggesting square videos see around 30 percent more views and between an 80 and 100 percent increase in engagement. The new aspect ratio is under the resize option inside Spark Video.

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
An ace photographer is about to leave the ISS. Here are his best shots
The moon and Earth as seen from the ISS.

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick is preparing to return to Earth after spending seven months living and working aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

After arriving at the orbital outpost, Dominick -- who is on his first mission to space -- quickly earned a reputation for being an ace photographer. He's been using the facility’s plethora of high-end cameras and lenses to capture amazing shots from his unique vantage point some 250 miles above Earth. Sharing his content on social media, the American astronaut has always been happy to reveal how he captured the imagery and offer extra insight for folks interested to know more.

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Filter-free and fun, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 Instant Camera is on sale Right Now for Prime Day
fujifilm instax mini 11 camera prime big deal days

It's 2024, and you’re considering a point-and-shoot camera. Zero judgment here. I miss the good ol’ days of flipping through actual photo albums instead of doom-scrolling on Instagram. You can get back to those days by snagging a (in the ice white color), and it’s the perfect time because it’s on sale. Get it for 24% off during Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, but hurry while inventory is going strong.
There’s something magical about having a physical photo right in your hand seconds after snapping the shot, and it adds a fun, retro vibe to moments you want to capture and keep. Plus, having an actual picture to hold and display can be so much more satisfying than just another digital file on your phone. I picked one up two years ago for my eight-year-old daughter, and it’s been an instant hit in our household. And now, at its $59 sale price, I'm definitely going to be stocking up on a few to gift ahead of the holiday season.

How the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 works
The delightful throwback comes with a FUJINON 60mm lens and an automatic exposure feature that adjusts the shutter speed for the best shot, even in low light. While the picture quality won’t be as crisp as what your smartphone can capture, it’ll still produce a quality image worthy of slapping on a refrigerator.
If selfies are your thing, this camera has a dedicated Selfie Mode (with a mirror). We set up a DIY photo booth for my daughter's birthday party with sticker frames so each kid could go home with a photo souvenir, and it was a total hit.
You can opt to make it a set with a range of accessories to buy separately, like a carrying case, a handy strap, those sticker borders I mentioned, and photo albums to hold the memories.

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The Canon EOS R100 mirrorless is ideal for beginners — $170 off today
Canon EOS R100 mirrorless camera with lens attached

If you don't want to spend the money on a high-end DSLR camera, mirrorless cameras are an excellent alternative. But they, too, can be expensive, at least normally. Right now, thanks to a bevy of Prime Big Deal Days discounts, the best camera deals, in general, and super great Prime Day camera deals there are a ton of offers available. So, it's a great time to shop if you've been on the fence. However, we wanted to call out a great deal for novice photographers on the Canon EOS R100 mirrorless camera. Normally $600, it's just $429 right now as part of the event, saving you over $170. The bundle includes the RF-S18-45mm lens. Again, a great starting point for casual or novice photographers.

 
Why shop this Canon EOS R100 mirrorless camera deal for Prime Big Deal Days?

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