If you use a Mac, you’re likely familiar with the Image Capture application, which lets your computer know what to do when a camera is plugged in to your computer; open it with iPhoto or open it with Lightroom. That’s great, but what if you have a few different cameras? What if you have an iPhone (which has a camera that you may not regularly use) and every time you plug it in, Lightroom opens up? Cameras is a free application from Flexibits that installs a preference pane and lets your Mac distinguish between cameras to perform different actions for each of them.

It’s a brilliant little solution, especially if you shoot with a few bodies or hook up a variety of mass storage devices to your computer. And it’s free!

I don’t imagine Kodak had the foresight in 1935 to understand the massive appeal and impact their new film stock was going to have, but when it hit the market that year, it changed the world of photography forever. This week, Kodak announced it was halting the production of Kodachrome.

The stock was revered for it’s color accuracy and archival properties, but it was a difficult stock to develop, so it wasn’t used widely be amateur photographers. Still, if you ever got to shoot with film and had a chance to use Kodachrome stock (in one of it’s many forms) you will undoubtedly appreciate it.

Kodachrome had a good long life. It (and Nikon) were even popularized by Paul Simon in his song “Kodachrome” from his 1973 album There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. However, with the meteoric rise of digital imaging technology, it’s not surprising to see it finally retired. It’s a sad day.

Photographers Matt Kloskowski and Scott Kelby have a new website which will air a weekly show about Nikon gear and Nikon related photography tips. This is a little strange, if only because it seems like one big advertisement for Nikon… and basically, that’s what it is – because the site is in fact sponsored by Nikon. Still, all information is good information, and these guys are giving it away. So what if they make me want to buy that D700 in the process? » MORE

A great picture is a record of light. Whether the picture is black and white or color, it’s the light in the picture that gets put to film (or memory card). A camera is generally pretty dumb when it comes to light. It relies on some automated sensors to tell it how much light and the quality of that light, but those sensors are part of a fluid system that can be easily fooled.

We can use that system to our advantage, however, if we take the time to really scrutinize the lighting in our picture. That means looking at shadows, evaluating hotspots, determining the best direction and measure of light, and checking for color casts in the light.

One of the easiest ways to improve the color in your picture is to understand White Balance. Let’s revisit the subject now, and I’ll explain why tinkering with your White Balance is good both in and out of the camera, and why ultimately, you may not want to settle on a “proper” white balance setting. » MORE

I know, you (like most of us) think we’re beyond being told how to hold an SLR camera when taking a picture. You grab it by the grip, you cradle the lens, you hold still – and you snap the shot. Nothing could be easier. In my time around photographers (and around non-photographers who happened to be holding a camera) I’ve seen a wide array of variations on the theme. Some are just minor manipulations of a popular and sound method for taking photographs, and some are just downright strange (though not always wrong).

Joe McNally is one of my favorite photographers of all time, and he has a slightly different twist to gripping the camera, which is especially useful when taking pictures using a slow shutter speed – allowing you to regain one or possible two stops when shooting.

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Well, maybe we all jumped the gun a little with that last post, as it seems like the community surrounding JPG isn’t quite prepared to let it go that easily. As we mentioned in yesterday’s post, JPG has been having financial difficulty and was/is unable to sustain their business model as it’s currently laid out, which isn’t surprising for any dead-tree publishing operation in these harsh economic times — when everyone is staying home and reading the internet. I suspect that even a dead-tree publishing operation as clever as JPG, who takes great advantage of the internet, needs equally as clever a plan to help keep them afloat.

We do really appreciate the suggestions and offers we’ve received via email, JPG messages, Facebook messages, Twitters, blog posts, and savejpg.com– you guys are awesome. If we had known the support would be so strong, we would have reached out earlier. The good news is that this interest has bought us a little more time, so we are now looking to keep the site open at least through next week. We’ll keep you updated when we know more. – Devin Poolman

So they have a little more time to scrape something together, and possibly some prospects as the last two blog posts seem relatively hopeful.

It’s a sad day here at Fotohacker. We’ve come to really love and appreciate the JPG Magazine website (and their beautiful publication) so much that we regularly reminded readers to submit and vote for photographs before their monthly deadline. Seems like the business model just wasn’t happening though, and JPG has made the somber decision to close their doors effective Monday, January 5th, 2009.

Initially I really enjoyed sitting at my computer clicking through photographs and judging them with a harsh YEA! or NAY! vote… and the inspiration of the JPG photo contest themes was like a school project, taunting you to get involved with the community. For many people it was a reason to get out there and take pictures, in the hopes that it would be chosen for print.

Unfortunately, a few issues dogged JPG from the beginning, not least of which was their website which made it difficult to browse photos and built a community of like-minded photographers. Having said all that, it was still hugely fun.

You will be missed, JPG. The official word is posted for prosperity after the jump.

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Hello and happy 2009! We at Fotohacker have been decidedly slack lately when it comes to posting new articles… and I have to apologize. Personal life has picked up it’s pace and left me with only a slice of time with which to do other things, like blog. My New Years resolution, however, is to improve the quality and quantity of posts that appear on Fotohacker, effective immediately.

I hope everyone else had a great time over the holiday and took some beautiful shots. Let’s get hacking.