Friday Happy Hour: Crazy Shots From Google’s Street View Camera & More

There was a lot of great imagery that caught out eye this week! One artist is curating images from Google’s street view camera; another just finished a story on an undercover agent working with Neo-Nazis in Florida; and a longtime National Geographic photographer is working to bring art to hospitals nationwide. Ready for some inspiration? Read on.

Crazy shots from Google’s street view camera

In 2007, Google starting sending out cars fixated with 9 lenses on top the roof to capture all possible locations accessible to vehicles. While you might most often see mundane photos of buildings and people crossing the street, there’s a whole lot more out there that we don’t see – but the Google camera does. Thanks to Montreal-based artist Jon Rafman’s 9-Eyes project, those odd, disturbing, strange, and humorous moments aren’t lost.

Since 2008, Rafman has been collecting crazy, unexpected shots from Google’s street view. There are no captions, so we can only guess the location and the circumstance, making them that much more engrossing. (via PSFK)

PhotoShelter introduces support for 6 new Graph Paper Press themes

We’re thrilled to introduce support for 6 new (highly requested!) Graph Paper Press themes! If you’re not familiar with GPP, they make it easy to seamlessly match the look and feel of your PhotoShelter site with your WordPress blog – an integration giving you the best of both worlds, no coding required. Check out all the new themes and consider giving your website a facelift.

Facebook Timeline of a photograph

Have you ever wondered if the photograph itself had a Facebook Timeline page, what would it look like? Photo sharing site and app Pixable has your answer, with an awesomelydetailed Timeline of a Photograph. It includes everything from “birth” in 1000 A.D. with the first pinhole camera to becoming employed at Facebook Photos. (via PetaPixel)

Space for Jim Jordan’s LA workshop is running low!

Celebrity and fashion photographer Jim Jordan is hosting a premier workshop at his studio in Calabasas, California on how to approach major aspects of professional photography – including how to pose and direct your model, how to communicate and evoke emotion in your subjects, how to pitch potential clients, brand yourself as a photographer, and more. Jim is offering an exclusive 50% discount for the PhotoShelter community, so now’s the time to register! Simply go this special discount code registration page and enter “PhotoShelter”.

Did we also mention that Leica and Sony will be providing cameras for attendees to shoot top professional models? Jim will also be raffling off a free PhotoShelter account. What more do you need to know? Sign up here and remember to enter “PhotoShelter” as the special discount code.

Ken Kaminesky & Colby Brown to host special workshop in Jordan

Photographers are racing to claim a spot at Ken Kaminesky and Colby Brown‘s very special photography workshop this November in Jordan. This trip of a lifetime gives photographers the opportunity to capture such monumental sites as the Dead Sea, the lost city of Petra, and the ruins of Jerash.

Ken and Colby are teaming up with The Giving Lens, an organization that focuses on blending photography education with giving back to local communities. Workshop participants will work alongside the Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Cooperative Society, which provides special training projects for women in Jordan’s capital city of Amman. This is a unique opportunity to explore and photograph an awe-inspiring part of the world while also giving back to the local community. Find out more details and register for your spot here.

How to photograph thunder & lighting by Adam Schallau

Travel, adventure, and landscape photographer Adam Schallau was recently interviewed by the B&H Insights Blog on how he captured this image of thunder and lighting over the confluence. “My vision for this image was to capture the drama of the monsoon season and its impact on the Grand Canyon landscape, including the Colorado River. Including the river in the photo can be difficult, as it is only visible from a handful of locations on the canyon’s rim,” says Adam. “I had high hopes of capturing lightning striking somewhere within my frame, and hopefully in a location that would complement the overall image.”

The post details everything from the gear Adam used, to his technique, to his post-production strategies. Check it out for some tips on correct exposure time and corrections in Lightroom.

Undercover portraiture of Neo-Nazis by Octavian Cantilli

In one of the most interesting and unusual assignments of his career, advertising and editorial photographer Octavian Cantilli was asked to shoot a man named “Bob” who’s spent seven years working undercover to help expose the criminal activities of the Outlaws motorcycle club and Aryan Nation group in Florida.

“His work caused the divorce to his last wife of over 5 years in December 2008,” says Octavian. “He said he is concerned for the possibility of the bad guys coming after him, but he takes many precautions to protect himself. Over 25 arrests were made in two waves starting in March 2012 due in large part to his work.” See a few intense images from the shoot and magazine spread below, and a handful more on Octavian’s blog.

Photographers collaborate to bring art to hospitals

Esteemed photographer Dewitt Jones – who spent 20 years photographing for National Geographic, and has published several books and directed two Academy Award-nominated films – is now working to bring uplifting photos to walls of hospitals nationwide. “Art can be a vital part of the healing process,” says Jones. “Financial  constraints, however, often put it at the bottom of institutional budgets. By making high quality art truly affordable, we hope to change that.”

Now with over 500 images in their gallery, HealingImages.org is providing high quality printed art for hospitals, clinics, hospice units, and nursing facilities. The organization simply chooses their images and covers only the printing and shipping costs. If you’re interested in helping, please feel free to contact Healing Images.