Friday Happy Hour: Photoshop Fail Gives Girl an Extra Eye & More

If you ever needed a reason to double check your work before delivering to a client, take note of this Swedish photography company’s Photoshop mishap, which left one girl with an extra eye in her school’s class picture. We also came across some interesting information about hard drives, the quality of cellphone cameras, Joe McNally’s advice on being patient, and how one police department is saying no to crappy websites and yes to kickass design.

Photoshop fail leaves girl with an extra eye

As if middle school isn’t scarring enough, one Swedish photography company mistakenly released a class portrait featuring one student with an extra eye.

The photo company says that sometimes in “emergency” situations where students have their eyes closed, they will retouch the images by digitally cutting and pasting an eye from another student into the picture. The company has since offered the victimized student about $225 for the mistake. (via PetaPixel)

Why your hard drive claims to have 1TB but displays 902GB

In the ongoing “Ask Lifehacker” series, one submitter dubbed Greedy for Gigabytes wrote in, “I just bought a new 1TB external drive, but my computer is only showing that it has 902GB on it! What’s the deal?” 

“That number is completely normal,” responded Lifehacker, for two potential reasons:

1. Many external hard drives come with software already installed by the manufacturer – for example, backup software.
2. Computers are based on binary math, which means storage is counted using base 2 not base 10, as we see advertised.

In short, you’re not getting robbed of gigabytes. For a more in depth explanation, check out Lifehacker’s full response.

Cellphone cameras’ quality is now better than that of compact cameras 5 years ago

DxOMark, the self-proclaimed “website of reference for camera and lens image quality management,” will publish its first report on image quality for cellphones, smartphones, and digital tablets in the coming weeks. Their aim is to help consumers compare quality performance across a wide variety of cameras. The company hinted at an interesting finding in their press release:

“Mobile image quality is now superior to that of 5-year-old compact cameras.”

Guess that means if you’re still shooting with a Canon Powershoot S100, it’s time to bite the bullet and get a 2012 camera phone. (via Photo Rumors)

Joe McNally’s advises on workarounds and patience

Every photographer experiences those moments of utter frustration where something  just isn’t coming into place, and hinder him/her from getting the best shot. Some of the photographers with bigger egos might yell, scream, punch a wall, demand ridiculous tasks from others – but Joe McNally advises that photographers calmly contemplating the best workaround. “The bigger the problem, the calmer I get,” he says in his blog post from late last month. “Little stuff still can make me nuts. Big stuff, well, figuring that out gets too interesting to get mad about.”

Joe takes us through a shoot he did in Montana – he was already re-shooting his friend for the second time (after the first image wasn’t exactly what he was looking for) when he realized that he was missing one piece of necessary equipment. Instead of panic, Joe and his assistant put together a makeshift lighting source and rejiggered the ratios of ambient to flash lighting.

“Misses don’t have to be forever,” writes Joe. “They inform your conduct in the field, always. And sometimes, you can go back and fix ‘em, even just a little. And try to think, not scream.” Check out the full story over on Joe’s blog.

Police department’s re-branding project starts with a kickass website

Most government websites are like a black hole of frustration that leave you clicking for days, never to find whatever it is you’re actually looking for. Plus, most look like they haven’t been updated in the past decade. But the Milwaukee Police Department is now saying no to a crappy website and yes to a sleek, new kickass design.

The re-branding project started about a year ago and was spearheaded by Police Chief Edward Flynn. “If this site can eventually become not just informative but an actionable tool to help the police do their work, that’s huge,” Flynn told Co.Design. Good photography also plays an important role, with full screen images that show the faces of real officers against impressive stats like the above “1,969 guns confiscated.” Design firm Cramer-Krasselt took on the project pro-bono, so citizens don’t have to worry that their tax dollars might be going towards aesthetics.

“At a time when police departments across the nation are suffering from budget cuts and struggling to recruit qualified new officers, a stronger visual brand, online or otherwise, will only help amplify their presence in their communities,” writes Kyle Vanhemert from Co-Design. Check out other images from the website and a full review here.

HD timelapse story of clouds in the Himalayas

Independent production house Filmkaar –  which creates socially viable films on topics ranging from environmental concerns to women’s rights – recently released Valley of Clouds, an HD timelapse taken from a valley in the Himalaya Mountains. Very beautiful and very zen.

Nikon D800 review for editorial photography

Documentary and commercial photography Justin Mott switched from Canon to Nikon a few months ago, and recently purchased the D800. Soon after he received an assignment from The New York Times to cover stories in Myanmar and Bangladesh. With the new body and a 24-70mm 2.8 lens, Justin had to quickly get to know its ins and outs. Here’s his conclusion:

“A cover story is a lot of pressure and being sent to another country to shoot adds to that pressure. The D800 performed flawlessly in the field and relieved that pressure, but it was after the shoot where I was disappointed. If it wasn’t for the giant files slowing down my workflow I’d highly recommend this camera, but time is money.”

Check out his full Nikon D800 review and a preview of his images on the cover of The New York Times.

Landon Nordeman Instagrams Euro dogs

The New Yorker has made it a habit to pass off their Instagram account to individual photographers to shoot and post to the @newyorkermag account. Recently PhotoShelter member and dog show veteran/enthusiast Landon Nordeman got a hold of the account, and jetted off to Romania for the 2012 Euro Dog Show. “When I told them, ‘I don’t have a dog, I’m a photographer,’ they looked surprised,” Landon told The New Yorker. “Then they said, ‘Wait, you came all the way over here just to take pictures? You must be really crazy.’” Check out the magazine’s favorites here.