Brothers Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas make quite the team. They’re wildlife photographers based in Britain who have devised some clever means to get closer to some of the world’s most dangerous animals. In 2009, they created a remote-controlled camera nicknamed BeetleCam and set out to photograph animals in their natural habitat. Armed with the knowledge they gained from the first trip, they went back a second time, and their results are nothing short of stunning. [more]
By using flour and hot cocoa powder, Photographer Don Horne was able to capture some really stunning images. How did he do it? The idea behind his shoot was to shoot a model while having flour and cocoa powder tossed in her face – thus the explosion effect. Set in a studio, Don had an Alienbee B800 in a medium softbox sitting camera left, a Nikon SB800 shooting into an umbrella acting as a rim light and finally, a large white reflector camera right to fill in the shadows. [more]
This video from Smarter Every Day shows how you can capture any gun’s flame throwing abilities with precise accuracy. Using a Pulse Generator, Destin explains how he rigged his flash setup to fire at the exact moment the gun is fired. By dragging the shutter and combining the exposure with flash, the Alabama native created some pretty interesting photographs. Some even show the bullet leaving the muzzle! [more]
Every photographer needs a few things in their bag of tricks. An easy trick is to add some smoke to your images for effect. You can always create photo smoke on a budget if you want to MacGyver it but there is another solution – two solutions in fact. Click the full post to watch a video on how easily smoke can be created with two liquids.
Maya Rota Klein created this stop-motion Photoshop cooking parody for an Adobe Competition. This clever video shows what it would be like if baking were as simple and error-proof as Photoshop. You might not want to use the burn tool but there’s nothing that the patch tool can’t fix. Click the full post to watch the video.
We’ve featured light-painter extraordinaire Dennis Calvert on Fstoppers before. Many of us were left wondering just how he creates those stunning images. Dennis recently wrote a post on his site detailing his method; be sure to view the full post to read more.
The Fstoppers 2011 BTS Contest is now closed and we are going through every single video 1 by 1 to choose our favorites that will make it to the next round. In the next round our panel of celebrity judges will narrow the lot down to the top 3 winners. At this point we still have not seen every video but if you would like to look through them yourself, you can see them all here on our forum.
I just ran across this really interesting video by Loren Byerstein and Syx Langemann that involved shooting a nude model with a projected pattern. Not only do they show you how they did it but they have actually released the software to make your own patterns easily. If you want to give something like this a try on your own, you can download the software here.
This video is a couple years old now but it’s the first time I’ve seen it. One part Geico caveman, two parts Macgyver, Bryan Peterson shows how easy it can be to create a simple yet eye catching stock photo. Using nothing more than a Nikkor 200mm Macro Lens, some sparkling water, a glass, a lemon, and some old Christmas wrapping paper, Bryan shows you how easy a product shot can be if you just focus on the composition and some easy reflector lighting. What shocked me even more than this DIY photoshoot next to an interstate setup was the realization that someone gave me his super popular book Understanding Exposure as a gift years ago and it’s here on my bookshelf. His tips make photography look so easy, even a caveman can do it!
Jay P Morgan is at it again with a new Christmas themed photoshoot. Almost everytime I watch one of Jay’s photoshoots I learn a clever way to artificially create something that I wouldn’t have thought of before. If you’ve ever wanted to know how to create realistic fake snow on a set, Jay teaches you a simple and easy way to bring the elements into the studio. Granted bringing in artificial snow into the studio will create a huge mess, but it looks like a lot of fun and can allow you to create a winter atmosphere even in the summer. There are a lot of places to buy artificial snow like Amazon or Superior Studios Specialties so stock up now if you ever want to try this yourself. As always, if you enjoy Jay P Morgan’s videos, check out other tips of his in the Fstoppers Archives.
I’m not sure what has gotten into Chase Jarvis lately. First he decided to be a judge for our 2011 Behind The Scenes Contest. Next he flies over to Hong Kong to test a new Lego camera. And now I come to find that he’s running his own “Will It Blend” campaign with the brand new Polaroid Z340 instant digital camera. Whatever the reason is for his latest antics, I’m glad Chase made this video because I’ve been wanting a digital AND film Polaroid camera since I picked up a camera. Sure they would be fun during trips and parties but what if you passed one or two of these out at your next wedding for the guests to have fun with? How big of a hit would that be! If Chase has any pull with the folks over at Polaroid, we’d love to see a version with a simple hotshoe on top so we could use bounce light or a pocket wizard with these things. With paper refills at $17, it wouldn’t be the cheapest thing you could bring to a wedding but I’m sure your clients would be talking about it for years! What do you guys think?
Hey guys, my name is Lauren and I’m the newest addition to the Fstoppers team. Having lived in Charleston for a while, I have many friends who are huge surfers. This campaign video is super creative and it has really sparked my imagination. Even if you’re not the least bit interested in surfing, the use of these portable neon lights can be used for all sorts of photo projects. This glow-in-the-dark surf session was part of the cider company Strongbow’s “Welcome to Summer” campaign. Click the full post to watch a second video explaining how they used Electroluminescent wire (EL Wire) to light up their suits and boards. Maybe this will spark some imagination for those of you who still need to create a video for our Behind the Scenes Contest.
Realm Pictures has been working on “The Underwater Realm” (one of the most ambitious indie film attempts I’ve ever seen) for months now and have been coming out with great BTSVs along the way. The team recently realized that they need to film parts of their movie in an underwater studio and to do this they need to raise more funds. The team has turned to Kickstarter.com to help out but they aren’t just asking for money. If you pledge $50 you will receive a special edition copy of their movie “Zomblies” and 10 in-depth video tutorials on indie film making tips like the one below.
In the video below Dave shows us how to make a safe and explosion on an indie budget. If you feel like helping these guys out head over to Kickstarter and pledge today.
The final day to submit your behind the scenes video for our contest is December 31st. With 30 days left, the videos are starting to pour in and they are getting better and better. I’ve never had any interested in infrared photography until I saw Mark Fore’s contest entry. In the video below Mark shows us how he converted his digital rebel into an infrared camera for $6. He then takes pictures lighting his subjects with the Xbox Kinect. To learn how to turn your camera into an IR system, check out this website.
The videos keep coming in for our 2011 Fstoppers Behind The Scenes Contest as we enter the final month of submissions. Most photographers use either strobe, fluorescent, or incandescent light to mold and sculpt their subjects. German photographer Julius Ise went a completely different route and used UV blacklights along with some gelled lights for separation to produce extremely vivid images. The shoot has an overall tribal theme and I really think the blacklight look brings something to the overall vibe. I’d say this is one of my top 5 submissions so far but Julius will have to impress our judges. What do you guys think? Leave Julius your thoughts below in the comments. Also check out Julius Ise’s full portfolio because it’s pretty awesome as well.
The final day to submit your behind the scenes video for 
