The Future of Photography

TFOP is 1 year old!! Also: 5 years ago, spotting a classic camera was easy - it was film. Ade has a podcast about that and so does Chris. But now, how do we tell? Cameras now 15 years old are digital and digital technology is now mature enough that older cameras are not simply disappointing. Can you spot a future classic? Ade thinks he has one. So what exactly is the future of classic cameras? What will we look for? What will seem laughably lame?

This week we look at an interesting and somewhat concerning trend. Geo-tagged photos are one of the culprits for some amazing landscapes to be literally run over by tourists. Chris talks about his experience at Murderhole Beach, Ireland and on the Lofoten Archipelago in Norway. An article on geotagging photos. Death at Taft Point. Video: Vox on how digital poularity is physically changing landscapes.

Most of our cameras now have microphones. Ade has a travel camera that allows you to add 4 seconds of audio to a photograph. Then of course there is video. Many in camera mics - maybe all of them - are not delivering the audio quality we like but there are some great products that can enhance our camera capabilities with audio. Rode Video Micro | Sennheiser MKE 400 | But what should our cameras really have as functionality? Audio built in perhaps? Or Lightroom built in - actually now really a thing. And then you have to go buy a new bag - tune in to find out why!

Autonomous cars utilize an array of sensors: radar, lidar, ultrasonic and of course cameras. Leica, Light and Tesla are betting on a future where cameras can handle almost all of those sensing tasks. Leica Funds Camera-Guided Automotive System | Fstoppers | Leica Invests in Light as Part of Massive $121M Funding Round | Watch a Tesla drive in Paris through the eyes of Autopilot - Electrek | The Future of Photography episode 043: Cameras and Cars

Do you ever see people walking along and making video calls? Often without headphones so lots of shouting going on. Did you ever see anyone walk straight into a lamp post or fall over a kerb? Is that something you do? But in some situations video calling is a crucial part of communications because it can provide a far more nuanced view of how messages are received - it's a richer picture. Military forces, emergency services and even surgeons depend on these technologies. So as our written language simplifies to a set of small yellow faces on phones - is the future of rich communication based around our cameras? Will the future of photography also be the future of human language? Early Video Phone

Way back in Show 14, Ade talked about how tools, toys and cloud services are integrating our workflow. But where, how, when and why do you want to use these? How do you build the Ultimate TFOP Workspace? How big is your monitor? How many RAID systems? Are you standing, sitting or lounging? How do you compose the score for a 360 spherical movie? Ade is embarking on all this just now and is learning a lot he wants to share... And maybe Adam Savage can help with First-Order-Retrievability.

New manufacturing methods and old ones that are becoming accessible to the masses change how cameras are made. CNC routers, laser cutters and of course 3D printers are a part of this story. Chris picks four large format camera projects to illustrate this: Intrepid, Standard 4x5 (monorail), Chroma, Cameradactyl ("my first 4x5"). Sunny 16 Podcast, ep 111, a discussion with the Intrepid founder

In Show 018, way back in July, we discussed the impact of on-body cameras and their impact on law enforcement. We now return to that with real-world input from listener Jon who is a police officer in the USA. Jon provides a view of the positive and negative impacts of these cameras. They don't make criminals or police officers suddenly behave well but they do provide evidence. In fact, maybe the biggest problem is how to deal with the increasing public expectation that there should be video...

Cameras make sounds. From mechanical shutters to cameras that play those sounds digitally. What are those sounds good for? Chris and Ade discuss how camera sounds give them personality and recognizability and how the shutter sound changes the dynamics in a portrait session. Jacobson Sound Blimps closing after 52 years, Photography Tips from the Top Floor, ep 414: DIY camera blimp (interview starts 10 minutes into the show), YouTube: The iPhone shutter sound is a Canon AE-1. TFOP is in the top 25 photography podcast list!

This week Chris is travelling so Ade has taken over the show and used it to promote The Future of Film Photography (TFOFP). With Sunny16 podcast co-host Graeme and special guest Sandra Coan, Ade discusses the positive impact of using film in a commercial photography business, how to expose and light portraits with film and the role film will play in the future.