Weekly News Roundup
A billboard project answers its own hard questions, GoPro's numbers keep sliding, and a rare lynx gets its first confirmed photograph.
This week in photography: VSCO clarifies pay for its billboard project after questions arose, GoPro's latest earnings confirm things are getting worse, the Sony FX5 is delayed, and a trail camera captures the first confirmed photograph of a Eurasian lynx in Sikkim.
VSCO Clarifies Photographer Pay for The Fifty Billboard Project
VSCO announced The Fifty earlier this month, a nationwide open call offering fifty photographers, one from each state, the chance to have their work displayed on a physical billboard in their home state, licensed and compensated by the company. It is a genuinely striking idea, seeing your own photograph blown up to 48 feet wide is not something most working photographers ever experience.
What the initial announcement did not include was any detail on compensation, and that omission drew real, immediate scrutiny. VSCO followed up this week to clarify that it plans to work directly with every selected photographer on a fair individual licensing deal, covering all production, mounting, and leasing costs, with the ad period running two to four weeks depending on the market. Submissions are open through September 10, free to enter, no purchase necessary, and you can apply through VSCO using the hashtag TheFifty along with your state.
Worth watching how this actually plays out once photographers start getting selected and the real dollar figures become public. A company built partly on showcasing creative work being transparent about pay from the outset is a meaningfully better posture than the usual exposure will be your compensation pitch, and it is worth giving credit where it is genuinely earned.
GoPro's Latest Earnings Confirm Things Are Getting Worse
We covered GoPro's disclosure of substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern a few weeks back. The company's second quarter financial results are now in, and the numbers confirm that warning was not an overreaction. GoPro, a brand that once defined an entire category of camera, continues to post the kind of results that raise real questions about its long term viability.
If you own GoPro gear or have been considering it, this is worth watching closely. A company in this kind of sustained financial distress carries real risk around long term software support and warranty service, independent of how good any individual product currently is.
The Sony FX5 Delayed at Least a Month
The highly anticipated Sony FX5, originally slated to begin shipping in mid August, has been delayed by at least a month. No new firm date has been announced. Worth noting if you had pre ordered or were planning your fall shooting schedule around its arrival.
Legendary Surf Photographer Hank Foto Has Died
Hank Foto, one of the most recognizable photographers to work for Surfing Magazine across his career, has died. His work helped define how an entire generation saw and understood surf culture visually. Worth a moment of real recognition for a photographer whose name literally became inseparable from the medium he practiced.
A Trail Camera Captures the First Confirmed Photograph of a Eurasian Lynx in Sikkim
A trail camera operating at high altitude in the Himalayas has captured a striking image of a rare Eurasian lynx, marking the first confirmed photographic record of the species in Sikkim, India. A genuine reminder of what patient, unmanned, long term wildlife documentation can still reveal, an entire species presence in a specific region confirmed by a single camera left in place long enough to catch it.
The James Webb Space Telescope Captures New Images of the Lion Nebula
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured striking new photographs of the Lion Nebula and NGC 2392, once again demonstrating its imaging capability relative to the long serving Hubble Space Telescope. Worth a look purely for the scale and detail on display, a genuine reminder of how far astrophotography has come at every level, from a backyard tripod to a telescope in deep space.
