Behind The Scenes

With a concept of traveling back through your childhood and experiencing that care-free, fantasy world of "pure imagination," Permagrin Films has put together an incredible time-lapse music video. In the article below, there's a full behind-the-scenes video and the producers of the film answer a few of my questions in a brief interview.

Oftentimes, while tending to mundane household or business-related tasks, I glance out the window and say to myself, "It is way too beautiful a day out today for you to not go out and photograph something!" It's a wonderful sentiment that many shooters have, I'm certain. I wish I could say that it is with regularity that I throw my camera bag into the backseat and make some dust. I usually don't.

A while back I shared an amazing clip that showed what it would be like for mountain bikers if dirt could fall from the sky like snow. In the winter months, snowboarders and skiers get to experience those rare days where the weather conditions are perfect, leaving the mountain covered in a fresh blanket of snow. Because these conditions don’t happen every day, there is always a sense of urgency to get onto the mountain to be one of the first to hit a fresh run. The idea of the video was to show that same sense of urgency in the world of mountain biking. What would it be like if a dirt blizzard covered the runs with a blanket of dirt? Now we get a behind-the-scenes look into what it took to create this unreal scene as well as the tools they used to capture it.

Fan of the TV show “Doctor Who” and the Beatles? Well then, last week was your week indeed. The cast and crew decided to recreate the legendary 1969 “Abbey Road” album cover along with two prop Dalek cyborg aliens (always thought they were robots, but upon further fact-checking, they are in fact cyborg aliens). The actual road itself is in a busy portion of London, so you will feel completely under the gun if you attempt to do any shoot there while completely blocking it, which is why they took less than a minute to do it. Read below to see the lightning fast behind-the-scenes video.

Creating promotional video content for industrial and corporate clients is an often overlooked, yet very large, part of the market when it comes to the amount of work they can generate for production companies. A few years ago my business was hired to produce such a video, and I (finally) have the behind-the-scenes video completed to show how we put everything together.

Recently, PRO EDU posted video reviews of the new iPhone 6s, which is getting major attention for its new video capabilities, namely its ability to record 4K video. In these two video reviews, PRO EDU takes a look at the dynamic range and stabilization ability of the new phone, as well as its overall video quality. PRO EDU, known for their video tutorials on photography topics, uses the iPhone on productions regularly, as I experienced firsthand, during the filming of the Dani Diamond Portrait Tutorial in my hometown of New Orleans.

As we all know, the human experience is unique. Your life and your opinions will never be the same as any other persons. This is why there is a subjectivity to art. When viewing and creating art, there will not be two artists who imagine the same piece. Since photography and retouching are both art forms, it would be plausible that the same applies.

John Free, for those that don't know, is considered one of the great street photographers of our time. His ability to capture the human spirit in a split second is uncanny. Here is a 10 minute video of a private lesson that was given to Ted Forbes of The Art Of Photography. It is full of helpful advice and inspirational lines for photographers of any genre.

It's a photo so ubiquitous that if you type "iceberg photo" into Google, it's the first two image results. And the sixth. And the tenth. Ralph Clevenger's iconic photo of an iceberg's tip peeking out from the water while the substantial body of it remains below has graced countless publications, from full-page magazine advertisements commissioned by major corporations to the ever-famous "Imagination" motivational poster. It's a photo that is so famous that it's been copied, stolen, manipulated, parodied, and imitated an innumerable number of times over its nearly twenty-year existence. It's even made rounds on the internet as a hoax that Snopes picked up.

This is it... I've come across the mother lode of photography personal projects that will just blow you away. Czech photographer Jan Rambousek and Creative Director Tomas Kopecny were inspired to visually recreate some of the most noteworthy scenes from Grand Prix racing during the 1930s. The series is entitled "Silver Arrows" due to the fact that Mercedes race cars were dominating the race series during that time period. The final images are incredible and gorgeous, but what's even more amazing is the research, detail, and overall production that went into creating these images. Prepare to be inspired and amazed.

Jay P. Morgan and the Slanted Lens have a new video out, this time showing how they are combining a video clip with a motion time-lapse for a music video project. It's a great watch if you've ever wondered how to approach getting this effect, or are still learning the craft of time-lapse shooting.

The Emmys are one of the largest award ceremonies in the world and the logistics behind its production and broadcast are vast. USA Today has put together a wonderful video showing us what goes into photographing at the Emmys. This is a great behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to shoot with such an exclusive and fast paced event.

If you Google the solar system, you will be shown images of all the planets in our solar system laid out in the order they rotate around the sun. The problem with these images is that each planet's respective distance to the sun is not shown to true scale. This leaves the viewer without a true understanding of just how far away each planet is from another. That’s why Alex Gorosh and Wylie Overstreet set out to make a true-to-scale representation of the solar system.

The new Canon 5DsR is already known for its crazy large megapixel count. At just over 50 megapixel, it is currently the highest megapixel full-frame DSLR on the market. The file size of each detail packed raw file is around 60mb. That’s about 16 images per gigabyte of card space. Now imagine 825 images being combined into one super sized panorama. That’s what David Bergman did when he created a 20,000 megapixel image of Yankee stadium.

Los Angeles Angels team photographer Matt Brown gives us not one, but two behind-the-scenes videos that give the smallest of glimpses at what is involved in being the photographer for a Major League Baseball team.

Over the last two months we have been releasing one episode a week of our Behind the Scenes series of our world tour with Elia Locardi. In this first season (Season 2 is currently being edited), we visit both Iceland and New Zealand to film our latest tutorial on all things landscape photography.

When getting started on a conceptual image, it can be hard to figure out where to even begin. For conceptual photographer Thomas Brown’s new image entitled “Tunnel Vision,” it all began with an idea from his imagination and a rough sketch on notebook paper. Check out this cool behind-the-scenes video showing how his concept was creatively shot and developed into the final image.

In the last few weeks I interviewed both the Wickstrom’s and the Hage’s, creative couples who make their living while traveling full time. In this article, I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned from spending two months on the road with my partner, while trying to stay on top of projects and work on new ones. Come to find out, it is not as fun and dreamy as it sounds.

The darkroom has been replaced with Lightroom these days and many of today's photographers do not have the experience of processing their own prints the old fashioned way, much less anything larger than a common size. Here is a video from Norwegian photo assistant Oystein Gronvold which shows the process of producing a large 4x5 foot print in the darkroom.

I happened across this serene video of a tiny kitten befriending Japanese wildlife photographer Mitsuaki Iwago as he was filming for his NHK TV series, "Wildlife Photographer Mitsuaki Iwago's World Cats Travelogue". While being lulled by the tranquility of the scene I couldn't help but think how amazing our craft is, that we can make a living doing something so incredibly delightful. Iwago-san is fortunate enough to travel the world filming and photographing cats in the streets.

Salt Lake City-based photographer Jonathan Diaz gifts young fighters of cancer with the experience of living their dreams. Through his, Anything Can Be Project, and with help from public donations/corporate sponsorship Jonathan is able to create elaborate sets and costumes to actualize the fantasies of kids that, more than anyone, deserve one magical day to forget their troubles.

Platon has photographed many of the world's most powerful leaders and biggest celebrities and often shoots covers for magazines such as Wired, Esquire, Newsweek, Rolling Stone and New York Times Magazine. Most recently, he captured comedian and TV show personality Stephen Colbert for the cover of Time, which you can see in the video posted above. His style of shooting proves that you can take some of the most legendary portraits of our most powerful people with nothing but a light or two and a real connection between subject and photographer. In fact, I learned that from him directly when he came to teach a couple of classes to some of us lucky photo majors back at Rochester Institute of Technology over 10 years ago. It was those classes that changed my view on portrait photography forever.

The final episode of this season of Photographing The World Behind The Scenes is finally here. In episode eight, we finally wrap up three months of filming and to celebrate, I go bungee jumping and Patrick takes a ride on the worlds tallest swing.

I’ve been a user of the original One Man Crew for many different videos. It’s ability to get elegant motion video clips have made it a go-to piece of gear for when I need my interviews to have an interesting look to them. When I heard that an updated version was being released, I was excited to see if a few issues were fixed. In this gear review, I'll break down what is fixed, and what left me wanting more.

Since the advent of photography, the craft has completely changed the world — from its profound effects on communication and documentation in practical applications, to being a powerful form of personal expression and a visual art. Now, photography is being used to look into the past and discover significant historical information thought to be lost forever.

In my recent Natural Light Tutorial with RGGEDU, I went through every aspect of natural light photography and retouching... Or so I thought. During a shoot this week, I realized I missed one thing: enhancing freckles with Photoshop. In this article I will show a simple method to making those freckles pop.

Early in the month we brought you a video that showed how Gonzaga Manso had created an in-studio pond to get the exact shot he wanted. This week we came across "The Unseen" series where photographer Lara Zankoul creates a water-tight room to capture beautiful and surreal images in-camera. A lot of work goes into a shoot like this but this behind-the-scenes teaser video makes it look fun and well worth the effort.

Last week I shared the story of Andy and Jess Wickstrom and the DesignEgg. Continuing with the theme of creatives who travel full-time for their work, brings me to the husband and wife photography team of HagePhoto.

Getting human subjects to feel comfortable and to emote in front of the camera is always a challenge. We deal with a variety of personalties which can prove hard to manage when you have all the other things such as lighting, camera settings, and composition to think about. Lindsay Adler has put together a list of 5 crucial steps to help get your subject relaxed from her years of experience.

Hyperlapse has been around for a while now, and you can even film some pretty sweet stuff on your smartphone, but you have got to check this beautiful video out. Using a simple camera setup, Vadim Tereshchenko wants everyone to know if you want to do hyperlapse, you can!

If you're into video effects (and are half the Calvin and Hobbes fan that I am) then you're really going to dig this fun, lighthearted, imagination fueled video created by Dreamworks animator Daniel Hashimoto. As part of Daniel's absolutely amazing personal project, "Action Movie Kid", son James repels the vicious advances of a great white shark, in an effort to save younger sister Sophia. Daniel promises us a proper behind-the-scenes video in the future but in the mean time offers up a great side-by-side video showing the before-and-after.

Many of us dream about the idea of traveling, and using our skills as photographers, filmmakers, or designers to sustain a lifestyle that allows us to travel and work at the same time. Guys like Elia Locardi come to mind, but his methods are just one of many different ways to make a nomadic working lifestyle a sustainable one, and in this article I’ll tell you the story behind Wickstrom Design.

The Feiyu 3-Axis Wearable Gimbal is a miniaturized version of Feiyu's handheld gimbals, offering motorized 3-axis stabilization in a compact, wearable form factor for the latest GoPro and similar action cameras. Designed with flexibility in mind, the FY-WG features 1/4"-20 threaded holes for horizontal, vertical, or inverted mounting onto a variety of support devices. It can also be used with any accessory that uses the standard GoPro three-prong mount, letting you capture all of the immersive action camera shots that you're accustomed to, but with full motorized 3-axis stabilization.

We all know Red Bull photographers capture some amazing extreme sports photos, and Dan Vojtech is no exception. He recently photographed Extreme Pilot Martin Sonka, using a set up of 30 Fomei S600 DC strobe flashes. Watch the video for a quick behind the scenes look at how he got some amazing shots.

In this article we will take a closer look at the Mola Setti Soft Light reflector and compare it to a few images taken with a Silver Deep Parabolic Reflector. The goal of this article isn’t to choose a winner, it is more of a comparison of different types of light modifiers that are available to you. I will leave it up to you to decide which one of these light modifiers best fits your style of photography.

Check out this video by ​Monica Herndon which features Florida-based, Tampa Bay Times, photojournalist Dirk Shadd as he sets up to shoot a hockey game. When talking about the his use of remotes Dirks says, "… they’re kind of two purposes. One is that it’s a really graphic really clean angle and that’s what I like most about it but it also kind of a back up. If I get blocked on a shot or if I miss a shot or I don’t have a shot there is a chance I will have it from the remote. So you kind of do it a little bit out of creative artistic excitement and a little bit out of photos self defense".

New York City-based portrait photographer Drew Gurian primarily focuses on the intersection of photography and music culture. But most recently he had the opportunity to team up with Mic.com to photograph President Barack Obama during his speech on the Iran deal at American University, and during a video interview in the White House library. This brief behind-the-scenes video gives you a really great sense for what it must me like to be privileged enough to get this kind of access.

Camp 4 Collective, known for their high-end commercial and adventure productions, recently got to work with a pre-production ALTA Drone, made by the guys at Freefly (best known for making the MoVi.) Here is the behind-the-scenes video, with the final video inside the full post, and some more background information from Director Renan Ozturk.

Amongst this years Broncolor Gen NEXT line up (a pioneering group of young professional photographers lighting up the future of photography) Gonzaga Manso throws in with his beautiful concept shoot, "The Pond". This photograph is meant to express the calm, sincere and deep love that comes from getting old alongside the person you love. But what maybe more interesting, for us inquisitive shooters, is the release of this behind-the-scenes video which details Gonzaga's elaborate and meticulous set-up.

Anglo Klaxon Pictures is a film and video production company that was established in 2009. They specialize in practical effects, specialist photography and set productions. With a resume of short films including The Trial, Apartment Eleven and a wide variety of film festival selections under their belt, they are preparing for the release of Ignition. A short film where a man wakes in a concrete chamber and is forced to play an intense game of survival. While the film hasn’t been released yet, they did release this behind the scenes video of a practical effects shoot for the film, involving the shooting of a fireball as it blazes through a scaled miniature corridor set.

Nikon's newest AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR isn't any ordinary lens. Aside from the obvious addition of VR, the lens features a number of other features, including a new 82mm filter size and increased weight. While it's hard to consider those last two qualities "features," if you thought it was a bit odd, you were right. There's a reason behind everything -- and the reasons behind the design changes prove this might be a lens to think on more than you otherwise would. It also starts making that hefty price tag feel a whole lot cheaper.

As a Photographer you will often find yourself in a situation where your color palette is less than ideal. For example, you show up on location for a Portrait shoot and your subject is wearing dull, dark clothing on a dark background. What do you do? If you happen to find yourself in this kind of situation, here’s what you can do to add a little life to your images and broaden your color palette.

Everything in life comes and goes. Sadly, photographers using Facebook to promote their work is coming to an end. It wasn’t that long ago when newsfeeds were sorted by the things most recently posted and not by what Facebook thought we’d be interested in. There was a time when followers of any given Facebook Page would scroll through their newsfeed and they saw every photo or status posted. The good old days are behind us. Facebook’s algorithm is a bottomless, money hungry pit. After making some huge mistakes on Facebook, I now realize that Instagram is the only platform that provides photographers with the greatest reach.

I knew when I saw this image up in the photo section of our Fstoppers website, I had to inquire about how it was created. It is clearly a thoughtful re-imagining of the iconic painting "Liberty Leading The People", but I had no idea how much effort Anthony Kurtz went into creating this photo. Little did I know that it took three weeks of preparation, two days of set building, one day of photographing, and 50+ hours of retouching and it was all done on a shoe string budget with borrowed props and location. What he created with very little money and a lot of brilliant strategy and vision is inspiring. Read below to learn how Anthony did it.

LA-based cinematographer Brandon Lippard gives us a behind the scenes look at photographer Dave Hill's 2015 Toyota Camry, Parade and Night Market, print ad shoot. I really dig these kinds of behind-the-scenes videos. They are so insightful and educational when kept clean, simple and unfiltered. These kinds of genuine glimpses from behind the lens offer a lot, to the keen observer, as opposed to the oh-so-common, self-promoting, trendy music video type clips we are often fed. Thanks for sharing Brandon.

Berlin-based photographer/retoucher Erik Johansson creates wildly imaginative and often surreal images that has us posting on his work time and time again. Erik's images have been defined as a complex combination of his own photographs that captures ideas rather than moments. As impressive as his finals are, it was this simple 20 second video that caught my attention this time. You get a pretty good idea of Erik's technical process and if you're anything like me, you'll be motivated to create an Erik Johansson inspired piece of your own.