Aerial

The BBC has produced some of my favorite shows of all time. Their newest program called Earthflight captures amazing HD video from the skies as they put you literally on the wings of wild birds. I really can’t imagine how they got these shots of eagles stalking unsuspecting flamingos but it’s definitely not filmed on a Gopro Hero. Click the full post to check out the amazing view in full HD glory!

Have you ever wondered just how many photographs are taken each day? Maybe you’ve wondered where the most photos are taken throughout the world. Well the GPS data tracking company Triposo has released a timelapse video that shows exactly where most of the world’s photographs are taken. With the help from sites like Flickr, Dmoz, TouristEye, Open Street Maps, and dozens others, Triposo was able to plot popular areas for photography using GPS data embedded into the photographs themselves. Not only did they capture the location of the photos but also the day it was taken. Click the full post to see still shots of the most popular days people are using their cameras.

If you’ve watched an american football game, you’ve seen those cool shots from high up in the air. They come from a camera called the Skycam which was actually invented by the same people who designed the Steadicam used in movie productions. It’s basically a remote camera controlled by four computer driven suspension cables. But what happens when everything goes wrong and the camera comes crashing to the ground? Well that’s exactly what happened during the 2011 Insight College Bowl Game featuring Iowa and Oklahoma. Luckily the camera missed landing on any of the players but it sure did come close. Check out the full post to see a behind the scenes video on how the Skycam works.

Have you ever wondered what happens to your checked luggage after you check into your flight and leave it to be loaded on the conveyor belt? Well this video will show you just what happens to your prized belongings when they enter the hands of the airlines and the TSA. Six cameras were mounted in what looks like a pelican case so every angle could be documented. Obviously all of the bag handlers were aware they were being filmed (so who knows how authentic this ‘experiment’ actually is) but it’s still pretty interesting to see how your bag gets from the Delta Terminal to your final luggage terminal in another city. Am I the only one who thinks if I did this the TSA inspectors would have turned my cameras off or changed their position? They never seem to leave my carry on lenses alone yet these video cameras go untouched. Nevertheless, thumps up to Delta for a creative advertising campaign.

The ISO sensitivity on today’s flagship DSLR cameras is pretty amazing. They are so amazing in fact that for the first time, NASA is able to use Nikon D3 cameras to create night time timelapse videos as the earth sleeps. You’ve probably seen a bunch of these stunning videos here but now we are able to see who is responsible for capturing the raw images from orbit. Mike Massimino takes you behind the scenes with astronaut/photographer Mike Fossum as he talks about his passion for long exposure photography from space. The audio is pretty rough so use headphones if you have trouble hearing.

Inspired by Google’s street view, Honda Civic is launching their 2012 campaign by creating an interactive 360 degree online experience that will let viewers explore unique environments that have never been seen before. This behind the scenes video is just a peek at what is to come and so far it is pretty awesome. They have filmed areas like the previously unexplored Alaskan ice caves and an underwater art museum in Cancun, and the Boneyard at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Watch the preview and making of Honda’s upcoming campaign below.

I am shocked that I’ve never seen this amazing commercial before. I actually overlooked it a few times because I thought it was fake. It wasn’t until I saw this BTSV that I found out that this really did happen. The camera had to endure temperatures down to 90 degrees below 0 and a massive fall once the balloon finally popped. Luckily the gear survived with the help of a parachute and they were able to create this amazing commercial. Check out the finished commercial in the full post.

We just received a very interesting contest entry from Viet Q. Mac, a recent graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz. His buddy from Film Matters contacted him about an upcoming video production involving the 311RS and a couple Red Epics. Viet decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to create something for our BTS Contest. Although this video leaves many questions unanswered it is a beautiful look at a production of this size. To check out all of the contest entries as they come in you can keep an eye on our forum.

So I am going through some of the slow-mo HD camera options that are on the market right now for an adventure I will be taking soon, and I stumbled upon the new GoPro HD Hero2. On their site they have one of the illest trailers I have ever seen for a camera, and I had to watch it several times. This isn’t an ad for the camera and I am not saying that this is the one I will buy, but man what else compares? With that said, watch this trailer, it really is rad to see what kind of punch that tiny package can deliver! (that’s what she said)

Awhile back we shared a few videos of photographers intentionally throwing their cameras in the air. Well now the Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera actually makes that feat much easier. The new camera allows photographers to create 360 degree images with 36 individual cameras arranged in a buckeyball shape (any organic chemists out there?). Using an accelerometer, the spherical camera takes a photo at the apogee when there is the least amount of movement for surprisingly sharp images. It’s also made of soft collision material which just begs you to throw it at someone’s face or fling it with a water balloon launcher. The whole project is pretty interesting, and you can read more about it on Jonas Pfeil’s website.

Using drone octocopters to take breathtaking aerial footage is nothing new. But what would the results look like if you could combine a stabilized drone with ultra high def 5K footage from the Red Epic? That’s exactly what OMstudios did with their self proclaimed “OM-copter”. By using the drone, directors can now produce stunning high def and slow mo aerial shots without the high cost of renting an actual helicopter. Of course you have to be able and willing to secure a $58,000 video camera to a remote controlled octocopter in the first place! Check out the OMstudio Vimeo Channel for some great commercials and other video projects.

It seems every day someone is creating an interesting timelapse that shows something we’ve never seen before. This one comes from the International Space Station as it orbits around the earth at night. The video was made from using data from the Gateway To Astronaut Photography Of Earth and stitched together with the open software Virtual Dub. It’s pretty amazing how much light pollution makes it to each exposure and look carefully for bursts of lightning over the Pacific Ocean. Props to the person who spots the satellite that makes the frame as well!

It seems like there are at least a dozen “photo trends” going on right now but this one has to be the most abstract and definitely the most risky. Steven Leckart of Wired Magazine explains how you too can bring out the artist inside of you by throwing and twirling your point and shoot camera into the air with a long exposure. While Steven explains that you need a few constant lights, I’m willing to bet that you can come up with some interesting results with just natural light too. If you really want to up the ante, throw your DSLR camera with fish eye lens up in the sky ala Mike Larson. I can’t find his wedding video at the moment but he demonstrates his unique portrait toss in the full post.

Hurricane Irene is battering the East Coast of the US right now which has left many stuck in their homes browsing the internet for storm updates. One particular story that has filled my facebook news feed and was tweeted by CNN involves a shark swimming in the streets of Puerto Rico. Apparently the shark was swept up by Hurricane Irene and trapped inland on flooded streets of the Caribbean island. But something about the photo seems very suspecious. A few weeks ago Fstoppers correspondent Reese Moore interviewed photographer Thomas Peschak and one of his most famous images features the same shark making headlines today. Coincidence or is this shark just hungry for more media attention? Click the full post to see the two photos and you be the judge.

Now I’m not exactly sure what the “largest stop motion animation” actually means but there is no doubt this video is pretty spectacular. You may remember Aardman Productions from our post on the world’s smallest stop motion video which is equally as mind blowing. This time they decided to use the beach as their canvas and film the entire animation on a Nokia N8 cell phone.. It’s pretty amazing to think how much work went into changing each frame on a set this large especially with tourists and tides. Check out the video below and then jump to the full post to watch how they created this clever cell phone commercial.