Novak Djokovic is currently ranked alongside the top tennis pros in the world. Only a crazy person would put his life and talent in jeopardy…but that is exactly what Head Tennis Racquets have done for their Untek IG Speed MP racquet commercial. The full commercial is really awesome with mysterious briefcases, seductive women, vintage prop planes, and music straight out of a Tarantino film. As far as I can tell there are no special effects here just lots of conjones by Novak and his tennis trainer.
I have to admit, I really enjoy the bands, artists, photographers and other creative professionals I discover watching Carson Daly’s show Last Call. One such artist is Los Angeles based photographer Alex Prager. If I had to describe her work, it would be very editorial in nature with a lot of retro clothing, fashion wigs, and classic Americana references. What I find most inspiring about her work is that she holds nothing back when creating the bright and simple world found in her photographs. Almost every one of her images looks as if it was actually created in 1967 whether it be the hair style, the makeup, the clothing, the cultural references, or even the lighting and film grain. What’s even more remarkable is her humble story on how she became a photographer with no formal training at all. If you enjoy this interview from MOMA then click the full post to watch more candid video of Alex talking about her work.
I can’t remember the first time I saw this video by Gregory Crewdson but I’m glad it came across our desk again. Gregory is more or less a conceptual photographer who uses both sound stages and real locations to create images that make you stop and question what is going on in the shot. His lighting is very similar to what you would see on a big budget movie, and the amount of resources required for these sorts of productions is probably beyond what most photographers would even consider.
We’ve featured Patryk Kizny a few times here on Fstoppers and his content is always mind blowing. Recently he decided to test a new portable and modular slide rail for the DitoGear PortaSlider. This time lapse video uses 14 one-meter long track units connected to make one single long track. Everything was shot on a few Canon DSLR Cameras and mainly wide angle Samyang 14mm and 8mm lenses. The location, Ogrodzieniec Castle, is one of the largest ruined castles in Poland and Eastern Europe and a pretty remarkable place to film. Check out more about the PortaSlider at http://ditogear.com/featured/porta-slider-prototype/
When Denis Smith found himself faced with a dark depression in his life, he found motivation and purpose through his newly found photography hobby. After moving to South Australia, Denis picked up a camera and began to explore the serendipitous world of night photography. After playing around with long exposures he realized he could bring his own creativity to his images in the form of light painting. Denis’s images are really interesting because he mixes strong technical long exposure landscapes with his unique “ball of light” light painting technique. Skip to 5:20 on this video to see how he came up with the idea and check out many examples of his work over at Ball of Light.
This month NASA’s space shuttle program turned 30. To commemorate the occasion they decided to take a single image that included every single employee standing together in the shape of a shuttle.
I’m a pretty big fan of Hip Hop music and I have seen every one of the pictures in these two videos. What I didn’t know was that they were all taken by a single person. Jonathan Mannion is extremely talented but he also seemed to be around in exactly the right time to shoot the faces of this growing genre of music. Check out the full post for the second video.
I remember seeing this video a long time ago and really enjoyed it. Maybe we thought it was not educational enough to post it but after watching it again I think it’s worth sharing. For those of you who have not already seen this short story, the Dark Side Of The Lens is a poetic journey into mind of surf photographer Mickey Smith. The cinematography is outstanding and the locations are breathtaking. It’s this sort of presentation that truly makes me appreciate what we all do as artists.
Lately there has been a trend of showing super slow motion videos slowed beyond the native frames per second the original footage was shot on. We love the results of Twixter but nothing can compare to seeing the real thing especially when combined with an extreme sport. The BBC has a great DVD on the South Pacific which features some amazing underwater slomo camera work of waves crashin, and this short surfing clip was the highlight for me. Rudi Diesel shot this on a Typhoon HD4 which at the time could do 500fps at 7 seconds or 1000fps at 3.5 seconds. If you enjoy this segment, check out a longer clip from the documentary in the second clip below.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with Help-Portrait, an organization of photographers who shoot free portraits to share their art and enrich others lives. Most photographers shoot free portraits around their communities but Sasha Leahovcenco wanted to shoot people that may never get the opportunity to have their picture taken at all. Sasha and his crew traveled to Chukotka, Russia and produced an amazing video of their experience.
When I tell people that I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, everyone always asks me what it’s like to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). I always try to explain how it looks by relating it to a laser show or smoke streams but I’ve never found a way to describe it to someone who hasn’t seen it for themselves. Two days ago Terje Sorgjerd created the best visual representation of the Aurora Borealis I have ever seen from Pas National Park near the Russian border. Using a timelapse dolly from Dynamic Perceptions, a Canon 5D Mark II, and a few wide angle lenses, Terje was able to take long exposure iamges and size them down to create an 4K video masterpiece. Check out the Geophysical Institute if you live near the North Pole and want to monitor the activity of the Aurora.
The other day I came across a popular video on Vimeo right now that featured an amazing new projection technique hitting large buildings across the world. The art is called 3D Projection Mapping and the effect is really cool. By creating 3D graphic models and merging it with video and stills shot on green screen, these artists are able to project dynamic sequences onto buildings in a way that makes them come to life. Everyone from Samsung, Adidas, and Toyota have used 3D projection mapping for advertising, and the results are spectacular. Ralph Lauren recently created a 3D Projection Map sequence for their 10 years of digital innovation runway show in NYC and they filmed a great behind the scenes video. Click the full post to see the final video and several other amazing videos.
Yesterday I got an email from one of the Red Bull brand managers inviting me out to 2010 Illume Photo Exhibit here in Charleston, South Carolina. Illume is a traveling exhibit where dozens of images from the world’s best action and extreme sports photographers are displayed on huge 6′x6′ backlit panels. I have to say it was one of the most interesting photo displays I have ever seen, and the winning photos are nothing short of spectacular. The next stop on the tour is Miami, Florida but you can check out the images and future tour dates at Red Bull Illume Online. Also, check out this BTS video we posted last year of one of the winning images.
In this video from AdoramaTv, Mark Wallace sits down with Mark Peterman to discuss camera gear, location scouting, lighting, and overall creative drive. Mark Peterman is an editorial and commercial photographer from Arizona who has a portfolio that is a bit tough to describe. What really draws me to Mark’s work is his really simple and clean lighting, often natural, along with his use of very muted and subdued colors. I’m sure Mark’s background in graphic design also plays a part in his simple and clean style.
Over the last year, Douglas Sonders has created some excellent behind the scenes videos showing off many of his photo shoots. In this video he takes us onto the tarmac at the Lemoore Naval Air Station in California where Douglas creates some excellent portraits. I wish there was a little more explanation of how he approached some of these images but fortunately there is some written material over on the Douglas Sonders Blog. My initial question is how in the world did he get clearance for this considering the US military is often pretty strict with photography.
