Since the inception of DSLRs, RODE Microphones have never been far behind when it comes to making accessories to capture better audio for our filmmaking projects. Their iXY Mic for the iPhone came out recently and was well received, but this new product is quite a step forward. The i16 Mic from RODE captures a staggering sixteen tracks simultaneously at 24-bit/96kHz. [more]
Award-winning action sports production company and lifestyle brand Teton Gravity Research (TGR) has become the first to acquire the new Gyro-Stabilized Systems (GSS) C520 system, the most advanced five-axis gyro-stabilized camera platform in the world. Mounted on the underside of a helicopter, the 4K bird’s-eye-view footage is remarkably stable. [more]
The “Sun & Cloud” from Superheadz Japan, looks to be the the world’s first solar powered digital camera.
This digital camera boasts the ability to shoot stills (3 megapixel) and video (640 x 480) within a 6x6x8 inch box.
If you happen to run out of juice and don’t have access to the sun, flip out the handle and start winding the camera by hand. The unit can also be charged via USB 3.0. [more]
Los Angeles based filmmaker, John Irwin, customized a DSLR intervalometer and hacked his Canon’s firmware to allow him the advantage of shooting long exposures in video mode during the day. The device uses a remote trigger to allow a controlled burst of exposure that is carefully calibrated beforehand depending on the available light. The key to his method was his ability to ramp the camera’s shutter to blazing fast speeds (upwards of 1/93000) each time the remote trigger is clicked. [more]
Nick Saglimbeni is back with an all new episode and photo set of his imaginative series, SlickForceGirl. This time Nick shoots model Nazanin Mandi in a espionage-themed role in which apparently Nick kept secret even from her until it was time to start shooting. What’s wonderful about this series is that a portion of all of the proceeds go to The Breast Cancer Charities of America (BCCA) for their iGoPink campaign. Way to use creativity to help spread good works. [more]
After Bar Refaeli took over the Superbowl with her controversial commercial, Bar found time to do something she never did before: pose nude for a magazine shoot. The magazine that paid her to do that is currently unknown, but somehow the photos leaked earlier today. Check out the BTS and the final results in the post. [more]
It’s time… YouTube wants to thank you for all your great entries. YouTube finally has enough videos to begin selecting a winner after years of collecting videos at the rate of 70 hours per minute, it’s finally over. “We’ve been thrilled with all of the diverse, creative entries we’ve seen so far, and we can’t wait to begin the process of selecting the best video. We’ll be announcing the winner in 10 years.” [more]
What do you picture when you hear the words “Chocolate Chip Cookies?” Is it a soft, round, light brown cookie with loads of chocolate chips? Or is it a crunchier darker brown cookie perfect for dipping in milk? Above are all examples of chocolate chip cookies. Is one of them a better picture that the other? That depends on the purpose of your image. If your client is expecting the cookies to look like the image splashing in the milk, then they won’t be happy with the other two images.
From sultry ballads to uplifting melodies, Michael Bublé can definitely bust out a few tunes. In his most recent music video ‘It’s a Beautiful Day’, famed music video director, Marc Klasfeld, talks about the long steadicam shots used in the longer sequences of the video. The video was shot using an ARRI Alexa. I always find it interesting to see how they go about filming music videos especially those with larger production values. [more]
Video portraits, or long portraits, are just what they sound like- a subject sitting in front of a camera for several minutes. I first came across video portraits about 3-4 years ago when I saw Clayton Cubitt‘s long portrait of photographer Noah Kalina. Cubitt is best known for his NSFW, in-your-face fashion photography. And while lot of the work in his portfolio has an immediacy and titillating flashiness, what caught my attention in his video portraits is the extreme patience and restraint they possess. [more]
Fabian Oefner’s latest series entitled Black Hole shows us a world of paint, drills, and motion, all within 1/40,000th of a second. While high speed photography is nothing new, the art of it is still underground, as its still incredibly expensive. Oefner’s newest work uses high speed photography to show us a world of color that our eyes normally could not process. [more]
Commercial photographer Alex Koloskov takes us through his setup for this relatively simple (although it uses five lights) product shot. While not an incredibly in depth video, there are definitely some often overlooked things it shows that should be committed to memory. The first is that in several cases a basin of dry ice in water can make a much more versatile fog than your standard Halloween store fog machine. [more]
National Geographic has been the pinnacle of photography for 125 years now. They have continued to set the standard for inspiring the world with their photographs. For the longest time Nat Geo was one of the only ways the world was able to visually share each others cultures. Its fascinating to see how society has changed over the century. Here we look back these beautiful shots from the past 125 years. Thank you Nat Geo for revolutionizing photography. [more]
Some of you may have heard of David Douglas Duncan – famous for his war images, portraits and being a close friend of Pablo Picasso. His Leica M3 was sold for $2.19 million – the highest price ever paid for a commercially manufactured camera. Although the camera’s price has to do mainly with the images that came from it, it was also one of only four Leica M3Ds ever created – the “D” stands for Duncan. The cameras were ‘battle hardened’ to withstand some pretty tough situations. [more]
Samuel Orr is a film maker from Bloomington, IN. He created this beautiful 4 minute long timelapse of NYC titled ‘A New York Day’ from over 100,000 photos and from dozens of locations. This video is just a fraction of a much longer timelapse film, which he hopes will be around 25 minutes once it is finished. He has created a Kickstarter for ‘New York Year’ which explains more about the film and shows other work that he has done. Enjoy!
