Here is another video that shows the HDSLR capabilities of Nikon’s recently announced D800. Although the plot may be quite corny, this short film shows some incredible examples of the D800′s HD image quality. Need more D800 info? Then click here for everything else D800 on Fstoppers. Enjoy!
Today at iWorld/MacWorld, a tradeshow in San Francisco, CA, Schneider Lenses debuted their new iPhone series lenses. We’ve seen third party adapters for Nikon and Canon lenses, but Schneider is taking a leap and developing the glass specifically for the popular mobile. Click the full post to read 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.
31 megapixel? with a wireless interchangeable lens (yes, a wireless lens!)? and all of that inside a phone? at least that’s what the guys from WVIL claim. Watch this video from CES 2012 (world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow in Las Vegas) and tell us – is it real or is it fake?
Product photography can get pretty tedious at times, but this shoot for the new Volvo FH 540 is on another level. Tim Bjorn shows us how to shoot a massive, shiny vehicle all while having an incredible workflow and paying much attention to detail. Check out the full post and see how you can incorporate these techniques into your shots where you’re model is larger than your lights can cover.
The new Nikon D4 has some amazing capabilities on paper, and by now most people have seen the amazing video by Corey Rich. The video below demonstrates many of the D4′s new video features, including using an iPhone or iPad to control the camera, clean HDMI out onto an external recorder, and selecting the crop modes. Nikon really did this one right, but it looks to me as though that the focus tracking makes the aperture breathe, which would make it unusable during recording. See if you can spot where he knocks the camera over by mistake!
Update: Also, check out the full post for a demo of the D4 working with the new WT-5 wireless transmitter and the iPad.
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!
It’s pretty amazing what you can create by folding a piece of paper in a million different ways. I’m not talking about Origami – but a carefully orchestrated image of Absolut’s limited edition “Absolut Purete” Vodka. Artist Simon Schubert used nothing but light and shadows by making over 1,000 different folds into the paper, each fold capturing a different shadow to illustrate depth and dimension. Click the full post to watch the full behind the scenes making of this ad.
Yesterday we got an interesting email from our friend Pye Jirsa over at SLRLounge.com. Pye recently helped film a video campaign for a friend’s Kickstarter product launch called One and he decided to film a quick behind the scenes video on how he lit and filmed the different scenes. Pye is a big DIY guy and many of the lights he used on this production can be found for super cheap. We don’t usually post a lot of Kickstarter proposals but the lighting tips from this one were simply too good to pass up. Watch the BTS video below and then click the full post to view the final video.
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.
Nick Fancher is the lifestyle photographer for the website JackThreads.com. JackThreads is constantly receiving large shipments of totally different types of apparel that need to be shot as quickly as possible. Nick takes us through a normal day of shooting that may involve multiple, totally different looking photoshoots. This is a fantastic example of how a poorly filmed video can still become a killer BTSV with some simple voice over information. The bottom line is that Nick uses the absolute smallest amount of gear to come up with fantastic images in an extremely short amount of time. I’m hoping that Nick has something big planned for our Behind The Scenes Contest.
Following the aftermath of the tremendously successful Flash Bus Tour with Joe McNally and David Hobby last year, I can only assume that we will now be seeing many of our other favorite photogs going out on tour in the near future. First on the list is Jeremy Cowart. Jeremy has announced a 3 week, 7 stop tour that INCLUDES a copy of his L I F E F I N D E R DVD and a ticket for a friend that needs it most. All this for $179 … are you hearing this? The workshop is 8 hours long and you get a copy of his DVD too, insane! I just bought my ticket for December 5th in NYC, so all my NYC photog friends out there better start washing my car and buying me lunch, cuz I have a free ticket to give away ;) Check out the full details and buy your ticket at the tour’s website.
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)
This video was featured on the Fstoppers Forum and it had me laughing from the beginning. Luckily there is also a behind the scenes video that explains how in the world they created all of this “HD Porn”. I would have never thought in a million years you could mix Iron Maiden, the most ridiculous looking poodle, the largest bubble machine I’ve ever seen, and flashing neon lights to produce an entertaining commercial for Sony high definition products. Then again I’m not paid the big bucks to think this outside the box either. Enjoy the final commercial below and then head over to full post to see how everything was put together.
In this weeks episode of The Slanted Lens, Jay P. Morgan shows us how to light and photograph a glass bottle. This video is also about superimposing products into real scenes so that the product looks it’s best. Tutorials like this are priceless for anyone who is interested in product photography. Glass can be extremely tricky but Jay makes things super simple for us.
