When it comes to interior and architectural photography, there is often much more involved than what meets the eye at first glance. In order to create a photograph that is realistic and enticing, careful planning, staging, lighting and a healthy dose of patience is imperative. In this Fstoppers Original, we dive into a luxury interior shot and see what it takes to construct a mouth-watering interior photo from the ground up. [more]
Here’s a fun Saturday morning activity for you – try your hand at lighting a virtual model in this Virtual Lighting Studio. It’s pretty simple, and very addicting. For each light, you’ll choose the source – a bare strobe, softbox, or ringlight. Then just decide the power, gel colors, placement and distance. [more]
Our good friend Blair Bunting is at it again. This time Blair was hired to shoot the ad campaign for The Discovery Channels hit show River Monsters. The concept was relatively simple; to have the show’s host Jeremy Wade wrestling a giant fish in the shallow waters near South Beach, Florida. To do this Blair’s team used a fake fish that was then replaced in post. To freeze the water with a quick flash duration and stay portable Blair used the new Photoflex Tritons. [more]
Most of you know Mark Wallace as the face behind Adorama TV. He’s a very accomplished photographer based out of Phoenix, Arizona and we recently were able to share some drinks with him when we filmed Blair Bunting’s Aventador video. Mark gave us a little glimpse about his 2012 Workshop Tour and now the details are finally able to be revealed. If you are a fan of Mark, which we hope you are, click the full post to hear about his new 7 city tour! [more]
National Geographic recently released this video of the creation of one of their cover shots. While there is no exact date on it, I’d bet that it was shot sometime in the early 2000s or late 1990s guessing from technology being used. Some real ingenuity was at work here, as evidenced by the custom-built pneumatic jaw, the hand-cast Tyrannosaurus skull, and not to mention what appears to be at least ten cameras all triggered at the same time via laser in an effort to capture the decisive moment. [more]
For the photographer who likes to travel light, it has always been a challenge to find flash modifiers that are both effective and easy to use on the go. ExpoImaging has long been making accessories, but their recently released Rogue diffusion panels for their popular FlashBenders will be a welcome addition to any strobist’s kit. [more]
As photographers, we are always in search of that new unique lighting modifier to add to our bag of tricks. I recently saw this video on Strobist where Amber Gray claims her Broncolor Para FB could actually reduce the amount of post production on her models. That statement seemed a bit bold when I first heard it; usually I credit a great makeup artist for awesome skin texture rather than a specific light. I’ve never used a ring flash [more]
The Canon 5D MkIII and the Nikon D800 are two of the hottest cameras on the market right now. In this video commercial photographer Nathan Elson joins up with The Camera Store’s Chris Niccolls to see how these two cameras stack up in the image quality department. Enjoy!
Photographer Dave Hamilton takes us behind the scenes on his latest shoot with hockey legend, Trevor Linden. This video is very informative and well produced – including a lighting diagram for each of the different setups. Aiming to get that perfect cover shot for Vancouver View Magazine’s April 2012 issue, Dave was able to get some nice shots using his Canon 5D Mark II.
Martin Schoeller‘s work is always so impressive. We shared some of his celebrity portraiture with you a couple of weeks ago. Now take a look at these close-up portraits of twins, taken at the “Twins Days Festival” in Twinsburg, Ohio. Is anyone else instantly reminded of Diane Arbus’ Identical Twins? The longer you look at these, the more different they appear to be. Fascinating!
If you enjoy looking at fashion images, then the photography duo Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello should be on your radar. They are ranked as among the top fashion photographers on Model.com and it’s easy to see how their work stands out within one of the most saturated fields of photography. In their latest campaign shoot for clothing designer Anna Sui, Sanchez and Mongiello have one of the simplest lighting setups ever: just a single gridded Profoto head. [more]
In this behind the scenes video, Jay P Morgan shows us how he combined natural light and strobes to get that perfect shot while on location. First, he starts by determining where the sun is going to set on the horizon by using the very handy iPhone app, Sunseeker. For this project, he was shooting stills as well as video, which can get a bit tricky. Using a Kessler Crane he was able to get the video shots just before sunset. After the sun started setting he pulled out the strobe lighting; two Hensel Porty L 1200 kits. If you enjoy this video be sure to check out some of his other videos here.
If you are a beginner in terms of lighting, or looking for some quick and simple light setups, then Don Giannatti has you covered. Don (a.k.a. Wizwow), recently posted some videos on his website showing 8 different light setups, as well as the differences between certain light modifiers. [more]
Fstoppers.com has featured some great behind the scenes videos over the years and showcased amazingly talented professional photographers in our Fstoppers Originals series. Recently Patrick and I were invited to Scottsdale, Arizona to expose the secrets of commercial photographer Blair Bunting. When Blair invited us down to Loft 19 Studios, his idea was to shoot something big, expensive, and one of a kind. [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]
