Is Sports Illustrated’s latest cover sexist?

Sports Illustrated has long been known as one of the premiere magazines for sports photography, but its latest cover has landed the weekly in hot water. The cover photo for the February 8th issue, showing Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn in her racing suit, bent over with ski poles in her hand, has drawn outrage for what many people believe is a sexist portrayal of women.

Critics are claiming the stylized photo (seen above) actually objectifies Vonn sexually rather than focusing on her athletic talents. They claim she has been put into a sexually suggestive pose, and that this is one of the only ways women ever get onto covers.

Many believe the photo just shows Vonn in her regular skiing position, but others think the image is laced with sexual suggestion. “For those of you who follow SI Covers,” say the folks at womentalksports.com, “know that female athletes are rarely featured on the cover. Over the last 60 years researchers have shown that about four-percent of all SI covers have portrayed women.

“When females are featured on the cover of SI, they are more likely than not to be in sexualized poses and not in action, and the most recent Vonn cover is no exception.”

Regardless of your opinion on the SI cover photo of Vonn, it may be easier to agree that photography of women in sports walks a fine line. As athletes and figures in the public spotlight, their bodies are on display just as much as men. However, when sexuality and beauty are portrayed as their defining characteristics (as is arguably the case with Vonn), what was at first just photography threatens to slip into exploitation.

Elvis Costello on tour in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1977. Photo by Anton Corbijn.

The only way to know what images are the most indicative of life in the world of rock ‘n’ roll is to be a part of that world yourself. In his new book, “Taking Aim,” photographer and singer-songwriter Graham Nash (of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) has hand-picked the best photographs to take us into that world.

Collecting images from such luminaries in the photography world as Daniel Kramer, Charles Peterson, Annie Leibovitz and others, the book manages to give fans a glimpse behind the curtain of some of the most iconic singers and musicians. Included in the book are photos of everyone from Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin, to Kurt Cobain, Sting and REM’s Michael Stipe.

A veteran photographer himself, Graham Nash has been collecting photographs for almost four decades now. He has shown his own work in numerous exhibitions over the years, and is currently touring his “Taking Aim” exhibit around the country and talking about style, technique and what it takes to create a great rock ‘n’ roll photograph.

“I wanted energy,” he said in a recent interview about choosing which works to include in the exhibit. “I wanted to be able to show the energy of rock and roll in all its forms, be it very still or incredibly chaotic.”

To see Nash’s collection of images from music history, check out his book, “Taking Aim,” or try to catch him at one of his exhibits. Stay up to date on where his shows will be over at GrahamNash.com.

Photograph © Michael Zagaris 2010. All Rights Reserved

In the latest episode of “Advancing Your Photography,” Marc Silber sits down for an interview with acclaimed rock ‘n’ roll photographer Michael Zagaris. As one of the most notable names in both the music and photography worlds, Michael has been the band photographer for acts like The Who, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, and is currently the team photographer for both the San Francisco Forty-Niners and the Oakland A’s.

In a career that most artists can only dream of, Michael has picked up countless stories of his days on the road with some of the world’s most famous musicians and athletes. His ideas on style, technique and composition are a unique combination of experience and talent, and his take on the art of photography is unlike any other.

Watch the video and you’ll learn all about:

1.  What it means to be called an “Inside-Out Shooter” — Michael has gained attention over the years for his unique ability to gain insight into his subjects and capture their most intimate moments. Find out how he does it.

2.  What is it like to photograph rock royalty? –  Many of this year’s Grammy nominees appear in Michael’s images: from Carlos Santana, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, to Madonna, Bono and Bruce Springsteen (who recently won the award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance).

3.  How do you “become what you shoot?” — Though it may sound like a puzzling phrase at first, Michael’s mantra of becoming what you shoot is central to his photography. Listen in on our interview to find out what he means and how you can use it to help strengthen your craft.

To see more of Michael Zagaris’ unique advice on how to improve your photography, be sure to watch the latest episode of “Advancing Your Photography” with Marc Silber. Also, check out some of Michael’s amazing shots over at www.WolfgangsVault.com.

Robert Redford. Photo by Ron Galella

Ron Galella is a controversial man. As one of the most famous celebrity photographers of the last half-century, he’s been called everything from a parasite and a vulture, to the “Godfather of the U.S. paparazzi culture.” And in the new documentary Smash His Camera, we’re given a whirlwind tour through the career of Hollywood’s most-hated man.

In his review of the film, Roger Ebert quotes Andy Warhol: “A great photograph,” the artist said, “shows the famous doing something unfamous. Ron Galella is my favorite photographer.” Galella spent nearly fifty years hiding out in search of famous faces, and he collected over three million of images of celebrities like Elvis Presley, Robert Redford, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando (who punched him, causing him to lose four teeth and break his jaw), and his favorite, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Still, Galella sees his work as more than just fodder for gossip magazines. “I look for the glamor,” he says. “I’m interested in portraiture. I’m not like these other guys who take celebrity pictures now. There’s an art to what I do and it’s all about the expression. It’s not just about taking a picture of someone famous; anyone can do that.”

The documentary, which premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival, showcases this tension between the two Galellas - the monster who hid in bushes and stalked movie stars, and the artist who captured some genuinely beautiful photographs. For Roger Ebert, this contradiction is why he is so fascinating. “He is a viper, a parasite, a stalker, a vermin. He is also, I have decided, a national treasure.”

To see a collection of Galella’s work, visit his website at RonGalella.com. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for Smash His Camera when it hits wide release.

The postcard is losing its luster. As a medium of communication, and as a picture-letter showcasing one’s home or travels abroad, it has fallen victim to the advancements in technology that allow us to send photos instantly. But at the turn of the 20th century, postcards were one of the most popular (and cheapest) ways to document and share the life of your community.

In the new book “Folk Photography: The American Real-Photo Postcard, 1905–1930,” photography historian Luc Sante has collected some of the most haunting, moving images from this period. These 122 postcards, also known as “real-photos” because they were created in actual darkrooms and not printing presses, show a side of small-town American communities rarely seen by outsiders. That’s because they were created by and for small-town America.

Millions were made in the brief 25 year period. Their subject matter ranges from candid shots of community picnics by the river, to somber portraits of a family posing stiff and awkwardly in front of their barn. The postcards, at one moment chilling and the next sentimental, are exactly the sort of images that will leave you pondering our nation’s endless history of  anonymous artists.

And as the erudite Sante writes in his introduction to the book, they end up giving us a “self-portrait of the American nation.”

The photo postcard is a vast, teeming, borderless body of work that might as well have a single, hydra-headed author, a sort of Homer of the small towns and the prairies. Self-taught and happily ignorant of the history of the medium, this author was free of the sort of second-guessing that cripples artists. He or she was out to do a job, to please a public, to turn a dollar, but also to record things faithfully, to include as many details of a scene as the frame could contain, to hold up a mirror to that bit of the world shared with the clientele, maybe to make the familiar strange, simply by noticing things.

To see more real-photos from the “Folk Photography” collection, and to purchase Sante’s captivating new book, head over to the publisher’s website, YetiPublishing.com.

Photograph © Chris Burkard 2009. All Rights Reserved

The latest episode of Advancing Your Photography (AYP) finds the Silber Studios team interviewing surf photography phenom Chris Burkard. At just 23, Burkard has had more success than many photographers twice his age. He has worked for over 35 national and international magazines, is the winner of the first annual Follow The Light Foundation grant, and has been the senior staff photographer for Water Magazine and Surfline.com. He also recently published his first book, The California Surf Project.

With little formal training, Chris brings a raw, youthful enthusiasm to his photography. His shots, whether they’re of surfers jetting through the curl of a wave or the sun rising behind a field of grass, show a unique ability to capture light and composition. In our interview, you’ll learn about Chris’s tips on how to elevate you photography to the next level.

1. Inspiration — The key to taking great photos, says Chris, is finding out what inspires people. Photographers are blessed to able to travel the world and bring little pieces of it back with them through their art, and your goal should be to inspire others to travel in your footsteps.

2. It’s all about the simple moments — Chris finds inspiration in simplicity. As a surf photographer, he prefers to use natural light and document surf culture with native scenes. One key piece of advice he offers is to shoot things and locations that are attainable so people can actually see themselves going there.

3. “The insect perspective” — In trying to get those unique angles, Chris sometimes uses what he calls “the insect perspective.” Get down beneath eye-level and try for a bug’s-eye view of your subjects. You’ll be surprised at the unique shots.

4. Think about what is really significant — Most photographers tend to believe what really matters is their own perspective of what they’re shooting. But as Chris says, many times it’s not what you the photographer are seeing, but rather what your subject is seeing, thinking or feeling. Considering this perspective reversal will increase your awareness and add a whole new layer of depth to your shots.

To learn more about Chris Burkard’s indispensable advice on how to advance your photography, watch the latest episode of AYP. Also, make sure to check out Chris’ site over at burkardphoto.com.

 Photograph © Teru Kuwayama 2009. All Rights Reserved.

In the latest episode of Advancing Your Photography (AYP), I interview photographer Teru Kuwayama, a veteran, well-traveled photographer who has made a name for himself as one of the leading documentary photojournalists in the industry. His work has been featured in magazines such as Outside, Fortune, Newsweek and National Geographic, and he has received numerous awards and accolades, including grants from the Alexia Foundation for World Peace and the New Fork Foundation for the Arts. He is currently on a John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University.

Teru’s passion for photography arises out of a need for exploration. He frequently finds himself on assignment in countries throughout Asia and the Middle East, always striving to dig deeper and ask questions. His travels in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan have brought him to the forefront of conflict, and still his curiosity pushes him further. In our interview, you’ll learn about what motivates Teru as a photographer, as well as his advice for  improving your own photography.

1. Curiosity – A desire to travel, to go deeper and to really connect with people plays a key role in Teru’s passionate photography. At the core of his work is sheer curiosity in the way things work, as well as how they don’t, and that should be your first step.

2. Be a contrarian – When Teru is handed an assignment and told to look for a specific shot, he tends to pursue the opposite. He looks for the “counter-narrative” in the story he is being told, and this allows him to be more aware of what’s really happening.

3. Compassion – The only way a viewer will be truly impacted by your work is if there is a palpable feeling between the photographer and subject. Photograph what you are passionate about.

4. Don’t think too much – Photographers, by nature, can be an obsessive breed. Even the best can lose themselves in the minutiae of their work. Ultimately, however, cameras and equipment are just a series of tools  at your disposal, and it is important not to get too distracted by anything more complicated than the act of looking at something beautiful and deciding to record it.

To hear more of Teru’s  advice on how to advance your photography, watch the latest episode of AYP. Also, be sure to check out Teru’s work over at TeruKuwayama.com.

Hey, like everything in life, if you don’t set your photography goals, they’re not likely to just happen on by and knock on your door.

Let me ask you, when was the last time you thought about your goals as a photographer? Lots of us keep going out and shooting the same pictures over and over—you know the ones I’m talking about.  Nice image the first few times you got it, but after a few hundred, even you’re tired of seeing it!  How does that happen? You get good at a certain type of photography and keep on going out and finding that image again.

This is a signal that it’s time to tune up your skills, or turn your photography on its head and do something totally different. An assignment I give students at my workshops is to “go out and get images that you normally wouldn’t—get out of your comfort zone.”

This takes us back to the subject of your goals. Ask yourself these questions about your photography:

1. What areas would you like to improve?

2. Are there types of images you’d like to get (nudes, black and white, artificial light, etc?)

3.   What are your plans to study other’s work? (getting out often to museums, exhibitions, books, etc.) Though this might be poor form to mention, subscribe to our show Advancing Your photography.  My purpose with the show is to bring you an inside look into many photographers’ worlds, to inspire and educate.

Then just put this all together and set yourself a goal. Oh, one more thing I bet each of us needs to do: Take more photographs. Unless you’re out there shooting daily, you’re probably not photographing enough, even if it’s with your iPhone as our friend Chase Jarvis recommends.

BTW, my goals? To return to my roots as a pure black and white photographer. In addition to shooting more digital B&W, I’ll be rescanning some old negatives to get full-frame images, and dusting off my Rolleiflex and old 4×5. Also to keep advancing with filmmaking and video.

Do me a favor, after you’ve done the exercise above, leave me a note and let me know what you come up with.

Photograph above © Camille Seaman 2009. All Rights Reserved.

In the latest episode of Advancing Your Photography (AYP), I had the chance to interview artist and photographer Camille Seaman. Aside from having her work featured in magazines like Newsweek, Outside, Men’s Journal, Camera Arts, Issues, PDN and American Photo, Camille has also self-published several books, like Melting Away: Polar Images and My China. On top of that she has won numerous awards, including a National Geographic Award in 2006 and the Critical Mass Top Monograph Award in 2007.

The daughter of a Native American father and an African American mother, Camille offers a unique perspective on the art of photography that is at once an artistic inspiration as well as a practical set of suggestions. Watch the interview and you’ll learn all about:

1. Having a connection to your work – Raised as a part of a small Native American fishing tribe, Camille grew up knowing that she was a part of everything around her. The goal of her photography is to help people feel this connection to their planet.

2. Capturing natural light – Be sensitive to the quality of light wherever you go. Look at old paintings from the masters — Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Caravaggio — and pay attention to how they sculpt light. After sharpening her awareness to the qualities of light, Camille finds she can photograph inanimate object (like the gorgeous iceberg above) with the same intimacy she would use to shoot portraits of people.

3. The importance of your card – Camille offers an amusing if slightly scary story about a trip to Antarctica, where it was so wet that her camera strap began to unharness without her knowing. Just as she was stepping off the ship, the camera fell into a pool and was ruined by saltwater. Amazingly, her Sandisk card remained in perfect shape.

4. Composition — According to Camille, the important thing to remember when considering composition is that, as a photographer, you are trying to arrange objects in order to activate space. To do this, don’t think of the shot as three-dimensional. Think of it as a dance, where objects can interact and draw the eye, and you are the choreographer.

To see more of Camille’s indispensable advice on the art of photography, watch the newest episode of AYP. Also, be sure to check out a collection of Camille’s work over at CamilleSeaman.com.

In the latest episode of Marc Silber’s Photography Show, I interview accomplished dance and commercial photographer RJ Muna, who has made a career out of crafting innovative art. Aside from being a regular in such magazines as Commercial Arts and American Photography, RJ has won over 150 national awards, including the International Center of Photography’s Infinity Award for Applied Photography and the Lucie Award for Best Commercial Photographer.

In our interview, RJ fills us in on his preferred style, offers some helpful tips on getting the right lighting for your shoot and tells us what it’s like to photograph professional dancers. Here’s some more advice from the interview:

1. Develop a concept — Having a well-thought out concept is RJ’s essential ingredient for developing a great photo shoot. For him, the conceptual underpinning is the most important aspect. Once that is in place, all else follows.

2. How to get the right lighting — Try to start with one light, and determine where that will come from (whether it’s above, to the side, etc.). Then from there you can start to fill in the edges with key or edge lights.

3. Dance photography — When dancers come into RJ’s studio, he allows them to move freely before shooting, and then picks up on each dancer’s unique personality. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to be passionate about what you are shooting — “there is nothing more exciting than watching a human body in motion,” he says.

4. The magical element — To capture that elusive bit of magic in your work, RJ offers some great advice:  try to do something off balance from what you would expect. Put a new spin or angle on the standard, and that little bit extra will make it unique.

To see more insights into perfecting the art of photography, check out my interview with RJ Muna. Also, be sure to check out more of RJ’s work at his website, RJMuna.com.

Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. Photograph © Baldomero Fernandez 2009. All Rights Reserved.

In the latest episode of Marc Silber’s Photography Show, I interview famed fashion and portrait photographer Baldomero Fernandez. Baldomero’s work has been featured in numerous magazines and trade journals, including The New Yorker and on the cover of Life Magazine. He’s also appeared in American Photography Annuals for the last decade, and has won numerous awards, including one from MTV for his work on a PSA.

In the interview, Baldomero offers some revealing insights into his personal motivations as well as tips on advancing your own photography. Here’s a taste of what you’ll learn:

1. Tell a story — Baldomero’s biggest passion in photography comes from his ability to tell a story. Creating a narrative, whether it’s preplanned or it just comes to you on the spot, is essential to great photography.

2. Be deliberate — The secret to creating good portraiture is being deliberate. A set that looks natural and effortless only achieves this because it has been thoroughly planned. Staging and presentation are everything.

3. Keep it simple — Even though you may have a dozen of lights up, the importance of simple lighting can’t be overstated. Baldomero also tries not to give his models a lot of direction, but rather lets the environment bring out the shot.

4. Stay focused — Most artists have interests in numerous places, as well as photography, so staying on point can be difficult. Baldomero overcomes this by diving back into his images and editing out the things he gets sidetracked on.

To hear more insights from Baldomero Fernandez, check out the latest interview from The Marc Silber Show. Also, make sure to visit more of Baldomero’s work at www.baldomero.com.

Submitted for the definition of ‘Ascent.’ Photo by Josh Murfitt

If you could use images to define words, how would you communicate their meanings? That’s the question behind a fascinating new experiment called The Photographic Dictionary, a community-sourced website that asks you to create visual definitions.

Each accepted photograph attempts, either literally or figuratively, to offer a meaning to its accompanying word. For example, “tentacle” is represented by a picture of a tree’s sprawling roots, while “doze” shows us a candid image of a man asleep in an empty park. Under each image is also a standard definition of the word and its many uses. From “bamboo” and “buffalo” to “xenophilia” and “zapatista,” the dictionary currently has hundreds of words, and it’s only getting bigger.

Most of the images are somber and melancholy in tone, but browsing the site’s alphabet is at times moving, even enlightening. Words that we take for granted, like “red,” “away” or “home,” are given unique portraits that force a viewer to reexamine definitions and connotations, and to think about the meanings others place in words that we might not consider otherwise. So make sure to check out one of the coolest online community art project arounds by visiting thephotographicdictionary.org. Just make sure you have plenty of time — the site is highly addictive.

To submit your own words and photographic definitions, send an email with the chosen word and your photo (resized to 600px wide), plus a link to your work, to thephotographicdictionary@gmail.com.

Erin Fong’s Nova DSLR

Left-handed folks have long been passed-over when it comes to converting everyday devices to suit their needs, especially when it comes to cameras. But with photographer Erin Fong’s new concept camera, the Nova DSLR, lefties and righties alike can snap great photos with ease.

Along with its creative design (it looks like some sort of TIE Fighter from Star Wars), the Nova may actually give photographers a unique angle when shooting. Fong, an Industrial Design student in California, came up with the design while contemplating the lack of versatility and flexibility in the current DSLR market.

Indeed, the camera itself has ergonomics in mind. With a Canon digital SLR as base, the camera’s arms are able to swing around to provide adjustable handles for users and giving the device what looks to be a periscope-feel. Also, the operation buttons are located on one of these arms, at the fingertips, allowing a photographer to easily locate the desired features.

Again, this is just a concept camera, so you probably won’t be seeing these manufactured anytime soon. Still, these are the sort of innovations that keep the world of photography and cameras constantly evolving and allowing you, the photographer, to capture those unique images. To see more pictures of Fong’s creation, check out his portfolio page.

An elephant driver goes for a swim. Photo courtesy of Cesare Naldi/National Geographic

The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s leading non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world, whose general purpose is to get people to care more about their planet. And in its annual International Photography Contest, the NGS gathers some of the most stunning portraits from all over the world.

The National Geographic Magazine has been home to some of the most outstanding photojournalism in the world for almost a century, and in its open photography contest, amateur and professional photographers alike have a chance to show their own images. This year’s round is a collection of thousands of images from all over the world, with the winners earning a chance to have a spread in the magazine, along with a brand new LEICA D-LUX 4 camera kit.

This year’s competition is already closed, but you can see a slideshow of the best entries and vote for your favorites, as well as view past winners, play puzzles or download wallpapers, all at the NGS website.

As we’re getting very near the close of this year and our first decade of the new millennium, I’m looking ahead to our goals for the next one.  But really more to the point, I’ve been looking over how much I’ve had the good fortune to learn as the host of my show now named Advancing Your Photography.

As a side note, you have no idea how hard it is to edit some of our interviews down to the short segments that we publish. I’m there with each guest, soaking in perhaps an hour or two of data and need to whittle it down to about 10 minutes or less. In addition, I’ve had several conversations with each guest, often a tour of their studio and their work and come away with a healthy plate of material to noodle on.

I keep pondering how to bring more of this information to you, and even more importantly, ways we can leverage what we already have out there. This has brought me to the realization that we need to start a new photography school for Advancing Your Photography— from whatever level, onto the next and the next…

From my own experience at the San Francisco Art Institute (BTW, never did graduate from) and my talk with Annie Leibovitz about this last year, I’d say offhand that these are the essential ingredients of a photography school:

1.    Instructors who know their business and can speak from experience and who can pass along, technical, compositional and even philosophical information that opens students’ eyes and help them to advance.
2.    Being exposed to the work of other students—as with sports, you learn by watching how others do it, along with a healthy competition built into the process. Annie talked about her experiences in the darkroom where her photos were in the wash along with other students, for everyone to see, and you naturally wanted them to be good.
3.    Being critiqued. This is can be a sweet and sour proposition as not all critiquing is positive (meaning effective in helping one advance) by a long shot.  I believe that opinions should be left out of it—including “nice shot” “wow” or “that’s just terrible” and my favorite “WHY did you take that photograph?” (with a condescending tone flavored into it.)  Critiques that cause you to look at your process and how you might improve your images are valuable.
4.   Along with 1. above, constantly being exposed to other accomplished artists and learning from them.
5.   Add to that the somewhat intangible quality of gaining a professional attitude, which hopefully is nurtured in the process of the above.

And of course, added to all the above, taking a boatload of photographs to develop your own style and voice.

I’m sure I left out many other factors, but the above boils down to:
1.    Learning from other accomplished photographers (instructors, guests and students alike.)
2.    Effective critiquing.
3.    Easy access to the knowledge-base of the school as well as to its members.
4.    An environment that both educates and inspires and opens up communication.
5.    Mix in some healthy competition in the form of contests.

This is the direction we’ll be going with in the new year and the new decade with ADVANCING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY. I’ll roll out the specifics of how we will accomplish these points, but for now our general plan is to create an online learning center (as well as real world seminars, photowalks, etc) that incorporates the above.

I would love to hear from you how this strikes you, if you’d like to participate and how you would like to advance your photography.  And may I say happy Thanksgiving to you and yours…

At left is the witness’s drawing; Bolivian law prohibits revealing the identity of the suspect, so media outlets covered his face with the sketch, right.

Reason #381 why you should always have your camera with you: earlier this year Bolivian police issued a statement asking people to come forward who might have seen a murder suspect. Soon a woman emerged saying she had an image of the man they were looking for. Of course, that image was all in her head.

Rafael Vargas, a Bolivian taxi driver, was killed in an apparent drug-related hit in March, leaving police officials baffled. So they asked locals to step forward with any information. One neighbor bravely answered the call and supplied police with her own rendering of what the suspect looked like.

The witness’s hand-drawn memory of the man (above left) is being called the worst photo-fit/suspect sketch to ever actually be used in a criminal man-hunt. People say the drawing looks like the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz, and more like a child’s doodle than an important piece of forensic evidence. The video of a newsman presenting the image on television, complete with intense music and close-ups, has even become a hit on YouTube.

Still, despite all the laughter the drawing has elicited, it actually ended up being helpful and led to the suspect’s capture. And the drawing has lived on in media broadcasts, because Bolivian laws restrict news organizations from revealing the identity of the suspect. Instead of his real face they use the sketch (above right).

So while the artist-witness should be commended for stepping forward and helping solve a crime, those without her uncanny photographic memory would be better off using an actual camera.

Up close and personal with a playful Leopard Seal in Antarctica. Photo by Paul Nicklen.

Paul Nicklen is used to getting the tough shots. Born and raised in one of the only non-Inuit families in a small Arctic village in Northern Canada, he cut his teeth amid frozen tundras and slippery ice floes, and now he’s one of the most daring members of National Geographic’s team of photographers.

In his latest book, Polar Obsession, Nicklen details his journeys among the wildlife of the poles, which includes stunning shots of walruses, whales, polar bears, narwhals and leopard seals. In a recently released video accompanying his amazing photograph above, Nicklen describes an incredible four-day encounter with a 13-foot long leopard seal.

When first spotted, this particular seal was one of the biggest Nicklen had ever seen. Leopard seals are very playful creatures but are commonly perceived as aggressive and ferocious, a view Nicklen wants to change. So he decided to jump into the frigid water to get a closer look, only to have the giant ocean predator swim up to him, drop a penguin from her mouth and grab his head and camera in her jaws. Luckily, she released him and swam off to get him a present: food.

“I think she realised I was a useless predator in her ocean, probably going to starve to death,” says Paul in the video. “I think she became quite panicked and started trying to feed me weak penguins, then dead penguins, then she started showing me how to eat the penguins and pushed them into my camera which I think she thought was my mouth.”

In the end, Nicklen found the encounter to be an eye-opening experience. “I had a top predator take care of me and nurture me,” he said. “It’s the most amazing experience as a National Geographic photographer I’ve ever had.”

To see Nicklen tell his own story, check out this video from National Geographic.

Christensen hopes to show the effects of climate change through photos like the one above.

As a veteran supermodel, Helena Christensen knows she doesn’t have to do much more than just sit back and look pretty. Still, she wants to make a difference. The celebrity model traveled to Peru recently, armed with a camera and a team of volunteers from Oxfam, to document the particularly devastating effects of climate change upon the country’s people.

When Oxfam International, an organization dedicated to finding lasting solutions to poverty and injustice, announced its project, Christensen, whose mother is Peruvian, was happy to jump aboard. She traveled to the South American country to see the effects of global warming first hand, and she came back with a series of photographs documenting lives on the verge of drought and famine.

“Whole communities are losing their main source of income,” she said, referring to a severe lack of water which would force people to move into big cities. “These cultures will disappear,” she said. “And it’s really sad, because it’s such a special part of South America.”

An exhibition of Christensen’s work is currently on display at London’s Proud Gallery, just days before an important series of climate talks in Copenhagen. Christensen hopes her photos of impoverished rural farmers, children and Quechua people of the Peruvian hillsides will encourage politicians to take a tougher stance against greenhouse gas emissions.

To read more about Christensen’s trek through Peru, and to see a collection of images she captured of the people there, check out this cool slideshow.

Alex Rodriguez in the dugout. Photo courtesy of Jamie Cohen.

Watch the video

In the latest episode of Marc Silber’s Photography Show, I travel to the Big Apple to interview famed sports photographer Jamie Cohen. Her work in the world of athletics includes calendars for NYC sports teams like the New York Rangers, the New York Knicks and a number of drivers for NASCAR. Most notably she has worked for Fox Sports over the last seven years, photographing some of the world’s biggest stars like Alex Rodriguez (above).

During the interview, Jamie offers some essential tips for those of us just beginning portrait photography as well as those who are seasoned veterans. For example, to capture unique images of iconic faces, Jamie has developed a number of tricks and techniques. One thing she likes to do is shoot her subjects “in between poses.” She’ll ask them to fix their shirt or adjust their hair, and as they break from a pose she manages to capture a more intimate, candid expression.

To see the entire interview, including some cool stories and behind-the-scenes footage of sports stars, as well as Jamie’s indispensable advice on capturing incredible portraits, check out the latest photography show episode.

X-ray and infrared light peer through celestial dust to reveal the core of our galaxy.

A new image pulled from three high-powered telescopes offers a never-before-seen view of the insides of our Milky Way Galaxy.

The Hubble and Spitzer telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have joined forces to bring us an incredible image that reaches way beyond the capabilities of the human eye. The image was unveiled by NASA yesterday to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy, marking 400 years after Galileo first looked towards the stars with his telescope.

All three observatories had a hand in the image by looking at different parts of the light spectrum: the Chandra X-Ray Observatory satellite focused on the x-ray light (the blue and purple aspects in the final photo), the Spitzer telescope looked at the infrared light (the redness) and the Hubble telescope looked at near infrared light, which is closest to the visible part of the color spectrum (yellow). All three part were combined in the final, multi-wavelength image seen above.

As you can see, the final image is an astounding panorama of the center of our universe, and is one of the most detailed pictures of the Milky Way Galaxy ever produced. To get the full effect of the photograph, select schools and planetariums around the country will display giant six-foot-by-three-foot prints of the image.

To see more amazing images of space, check out this montage of shots captured from the Hubble telescope.