HDR photography seems to be polarizing. People either love it, or hate it, including here on MeFi. For those who enjoy exploring the possibilities HDR presents, a good place to start is Stuck In Customs. Trey Ratcliff has the first HDR photo ever to hang in the Smithsonian. He offers a comprehensive, six-step HDR tutorial if you want to try it yourself. A sampling of his HDR travel photography is here, and throughout the site, and he is also experimenting with HDR video technology. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Dec 3, 2009 - 59 comments

The Smithsonian has a Flickr page as part of the Flickr Commons program. So far there are 6 sets, Portraits of Scientists and Inventors, Portraits of Artists, American Celebrations, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, People and the Post and Smithsonian's First Photographer, featuring the work of Thomas William Smillie. [via The New Yorker's Book Bench]
posted by Kattullus on Jun 19, 2008 - 9 comments

Finalists in the 4th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest.
posted by nickyskye on May 21, 2007 - 27 comments

The Smithsonian Photography Initiative provides access to "1,800 digital images, the work of 100 photographers, who used 50 different processes." It's the first online batch of the Smithsonian's 13 million photographs. (More info here and here). The Enter the Frame feature lets you save your own photo sequences.
posted by kirkaracha on Aug 20, 2006 - 4 comments

Chasing Venus Transits of Venus occur every 130 years or so when Venus can be observed passing across the face of the sun. Chasing Venus is an online exhibition by Smithsonian Institution Libraries that tells the story of how the transit has been observed since the 17th century, with early observations in England, illustrated accounts of expeditions by 18th century astronomers to various parts of the world, and early uses of photography to record observations in the 19th century. Includes links to animations of transits reconstructed from Victorian photographs, and details of a lecture series on Thursdays in April and May (first one April 8). The first transit since 1882 is this year.
posted by carter on Apr 4, 2004 - 5 comments

Smithsonian Magazine is holding its first-ever photo contest, open to all adult non-professional photographers to submit entries in five categories. (Professionals may want to see about freelance opportunities here.) I find it particularly nice that there is no entry fee, and no citizenship requirements. For inspiration you may want to browse a gallery of Smithsonian freelance photographers or view the beautiful (and seasonally appropriate) Ghost Towns by Night Light and pick up a few tips on night photography from the photographer.
posted by taz on Oct 10, 2003 - 23 comments

Politics storms the museum Earlier this month, the National Museum of Natural History opened "Seasons of Life and Land," an exhibit of wildlife photographs by artist-naturalist Subhankar Banerjee. If you go to Washington, you'll find the show hung in the museum's Baird Ambulatory Gallery, essentially a basement hallway installed with lights. Just two months ago, however, it was prepared to run in a more complete form in a premiere gallery on the museum's main floor, alongside a major exhibit of botanical paintings. What happened?
posted by bas67 on May 18, 2003 - 15 comments

50 foot long single spar crystals found in a Mexican cave 1,000 feet below the surface! Smithsonian has links to other related sites. This one has pictues. More pictures can be found in the April 2002 print issue of Smithsonian.
posted by onhazier on Mar 26, 2002 - 11 comments

Great Philippe Halsman gallery at the Smithsonian Magazine site, including a couple of those strangely errie jump photographs. Nothing's scarier than a floating Nixon.
posted by skallas on Aug 2, 2000 - 1 comment