Continuing down this path we’re on, looking into the inner workings of our photographic equipment, here is yet another fabulous video from the folks at Camera Technica showing you what the Canon 18-55mm aperture looks like when it opens and closes in slow motion. Well, somewhat slow motion. The aperture actually opens and closes so quickly that even in this high-speed video it’s still a very brief movement.

Check out Camera Technica for more about photographic technology.

That’s “image stabilization” for those of you not paying attention. Or “VR” for the Nikon folks out there. I believe Canon and Nikon use very similar electronic systems. Either way, this is fascinating. This is what the inside of a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens looks like when the image stabilization is operating.

Image Stabilization Revealed from Camera Technica on Vimeo.

I’ve written articles in the past about color management–you know, ICC profiles, calibration, metamerism, blah blah blah–but the world keeps changing around us. In general, things change for the better, which is great, but as a photographer looking to display images on the web, there are always things to watch out for.

I found a great article on the burgeoning “Gear Oracle” site about web browser color management, which breaks down the effects of displaying images with different color spaces in different browsers.

The goal of photography is to capture a moment, an idea, a thought, or an event and suspend it in time. Whether it is journalistic, editorial, representational, abstract, or artistic is not important in reaching that goal. Occasionally, as a photographer is striving toward their singular goal, they unwittingly meet another one.

Such is the case with these amazing depression-era color photographs published by the International Business Times; though they were taken at the time as recordings of events (though demonstrating the aesthetic sense of the accomplished photographer), the social and cultural distance between the depression and today has vaulted these images into pure artistry. They are truly breathtaking; scenes from a past world, a past America.

I’m sitting on a bunch of material that I will eventually develop into full articles, but in the meantime, feast your eyes on this exquisitely detailed cross-section of a Leica lens. Just in case you were curious why these things are so expensive…

After careful inspection, I can confidently say that these are two photos of the same half of the lens from either side. I have no idea why someone would have one half of a lens and not the other half, perhaps it was just a demonstration piece. I count seven elements, but I’m really not an expert. It looks like the lens has a maximum focal length of 22mm.