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.
Laptop makers Lenovo have released a new series of laptops that they claim can startup in less than 10 seconds. The new ThinkPad T420s and IdeaPad Y570 are using a new technology called Rapidboot which they claim makes their computers boot up faster than any other computer on the market. Lenovo teamed up with the ad agency McKinney to prove just how fast their Windows 7 computers can start. The idea was to throw a laptop out of a plane at 12,500 feet and see if it could trigger the parachute after loading Windows. Check out the behind the scenes video below and then head over to the full post to watch the final commercial. I’d love to see Apple run a marketing campaign like this!
Happy 4th of July weekend if you are living in the United States. Jeremiah Warren just sent me a pretty remarkable and quite psychedelic video he made using a camera I have never heard of before now. Jeremiah mounted the tiny HD Micro Car Key Camera from ebay to different fireworks for a rather unique perspective. I have to admit this is really cool and I wish I had thought of it first. Click on the full post to see how the camera was mounted as well as a tear down video of the camera used so you can get a better idea of how these were mounted on large bottlerockets.
If you like gadgets as much as me then you will probably find this really interesting, and probably a little scary as well. The guys over at Mikrokopter put a “FollowMe” transmitter on a wakeboarder’s head and the chopper automatically follows and films him around the lake. The chopper was at a very high (and safe) altitude but I can see these getting a lot closer as the technology improves. The concept is really remarkable but I’m not sure I want a flying machine with 6 blades following something attached to my head.
This video is a bit unusual to say the least. When Anita Nowacka was asked to photograph a wedding on top of a remote part of Telluride, she grabbed her gear, suited up, and jumped into a helicopter. Shooting any wedding can be tough work but I can only imagine the issues Anita faced working in such extreme weather. This video is mostly a promotional video for Black Rapid’s camera straps but it’s still a fun video to watch especially if you enjoy shooting destination weddings. Check out the final photos over on Anita’s Blog; I really love the shot of the musicians on skis as the bride makes her decent to the ceremony.
I’m convinced GoPro and Redbull have the best extreme advertising on the planet. In this latest extreme skiing video, Matthias Giraud and Stefan Laude use two GoPro’s each to document their parachute escape from an avalanche in the French Alps. If you don’t already have a GoPro Hero, you need to get one. If you already have one, then we all need to start filming more near death moments by living life on the edge! Click the Full Post for a cliff jump skier equipped with at least 5 GoPros in a single run.
Most skydiving videos are extremely high energy. This video, produced by BettyWantsIn.com, has a totally different vibe though. Instead of the heart pounding “plummeting to your death” feeling, this video creates a calm almost floating sensation by taking advantage of the 60fps that the GoPro can shoot. I thought it was creative so I figured I would share it.
After our half disastrous sailing trip in the Charleston Harbor today, it’s only fitting to feature this really inspirational video on sailboat photography. Tim Wallace is an amazing auto and commercial photographer but today he is taking his Hasselblad out on the water. Shooting large boats like this with just natural light is always a challenge but Tim makes it look like a walk in the park. Equipped with helicopters, chase boats, models, and expensive cameras most people probably can’t afford, Tim creates some spectacular images in Project Genevieve. I love this shoot because it’s both commercial and editorial in nature and features spectacular shots of the sailboat as well as some lifestyle images with models that aren’t hard on the eyes. Be sure to check out Tim’s full portfolio especially if you like automotive photography.
Kate and Nate over at the Beepshow make all kinds of interesting timelapse projects. I first heard about their videos the other day when I came across this timelapse featured on Gizmodo. Using just a Canon 5D and a 16mm-35mm lens (and well an iphone too), they were able to photograph a full 11 hour flight from San Francisco to Paris. Using long exposure images ranging from 2 to 30 seconds long, they captured all sorts of interesting scenes 30,000 feet up including a spectacular view of the Aurora Borealis. Nate really lucked out having Air France and his fellow passengers allow him to film the whole trip without raising too much of a fuss. For more information about how this was created including the original score created on the ipad, head over to the full post here.
This video is a bit unusual to say the least. When 
