The calendar just turned its pages to 2015. We have tiny and versatile cameras like the GoPro Hero 4 filming 4K video, camera companies making 50-megapixels DSLRs, and artists making mind-blowing stop-motion/hyper-lapse/time-lapse films. So why is it still so hard for artists and big brands to easily connect to collaborate on photo and video projects?
Benjamin Von Wong has done many crazy photo shoots in his career, but you would be hard pressed to find one that invokes a primal fear that is buried inside all of us as well as inspiration as perfectly as his latest series, "Superheroes on Skyscrapers."
Belgian photographer and filmmaker Matthew Vandeputte has taken his obsession of the sky Down Under and created a time-lapse film that was over a year in the making. From sunrises and stormy skies over the metropolis of Sydney, to the Milky Way dancing over the sleepy town of Mudgee, Vandeputte has traveled far and wide across his new home to capture Australian skies at their most vibrant and dramatic.
As photographers and filmmakers, sometimes the most incredible scenes we capture happen when we least expect them. Such was the case for 19-year-old talent Andrew Studer, when he ventured to downtown Portland, Oregon to shoot a sunset. The beautiful fog that engulfed the city after the sun went down convinced Studer to stick around, and the resulting time-lapse film is an incredible display of weather in the Northwest’s second most populated city.
At only 24 years old, photographer and filmmaker Toby Harriman already has an impressive resume. From his vertigo inducing aerial photography to his "Modern Surf" series, Harriman has made quite a name for himself in his very short career. His latest time-lapse film not only adds to his impressive accomplishments, but may be his most impressive project yet.
From its pulse pounding opening scene of a photographer seemingly cheating death as a massive wave breaks on the rocks in front of him, Ben Canales and his partner, John Waller at Uncage The Soul Productions, have created a film that beautifully shows the unique and rugged Oregon Coast like you have never seen it before.
It's that time of year again! You know, that time when you frantically type "How to photograph fireworks" into Google before heading out of your house into the cold December night to line up next to hundreds of other photographers, all with the end goal of being the first to post an epic fireworks photo on social media. Well, fear not! We are here to help you not only nail those firework exposures, but also show you how to blend them seamlessly in Photoshop.
The calendar is about to turn over to 2015, and in my feeble mind I just assumed we were so advanced, that all of those new high-budget animation films were created by using elaborate CGI. I envisioned a team of computer animators sitting in a dark basement with endless empty cans of Red Bull strewn about, working around the clock to animate the scenes on screen in their elaborate and complex computer programs. Little did I know, old school manual, and tireless physical techniques are still used to this day.
Benjamin Von Wong has always been known for his elaborate, fantasy-like photo shoots. However, recreating the fairy tales that he had grown up watching took time, patience, luck, and most of all, a lot of help. These jaw-dropping photographs are bound to generate the customary "Is this Photoshopped?" question. Yet as usual, Von Wong's incredible scenes are all created in-camera, and he goes on to tell us how he pulled off a photo shoot 20 years in the making.
Benjamin Von Wong is known for his daring, and sometimes dangerous, photo shoots. Whether it be chaining a model to a shipwreck or lighting massive amounts of fire next to 3 million dollars worth of sports cars, no idea is too crazy. In fact, the more crazy, the more creative Von Wong can be. But not every photo shoot that Von Wong creates is dangerous... to the people at least. Even in relatively mellow settings, Von Wong has to do something to make it more interesting. As he details in his latest blog post, sometimes you even have to have a $38,000 Mamiya Leaf Credo 80 just inches over the water to get "the shot."
SmugMug Filmmaker Anton Lorimer has an incredible way of telling us stories about photographers. He blew us away with Arctic Swell, his dramatic film that followed surf photographer Chris Burkard to the ends of the earth in search of the perfect wave. But in the latest film of this exceptional series, the ends of the earth wasn't quite far enough. Space seemed like a more fitting backyard.
It seems you can’t go a day or two without seeing a new time-lapse film of the Northern Lights. And while beautiful, it has become incredibly difficult for photographers and filmmakers to raise the bar on this much captured phenomenon. That was until Ole C. Salomonsen threw his hat in the ring.
Being a native of the Pacific Northwest, photographer and filmmaker Ben Canales of Uncage The Soul was deeply concerned about the rapid melting of the Sandy Glacier Ice Cave. Wanting to create widespread awareness for this issue, Ben and his team spent over a year filming in the cave system. The resulting film is both visually beautiful as well as eye opening.
I have been a fan and a friend of Benjamin Von Wong for years. I have seen him turn tech employees into athletic gods and seen him schmooze with the police while on a 13 hour photoshoot deep in a foggy forest. In my eyes, the genius that is buried in Von Wong's creative mind can do anything, and he always knows it. Well, little did I know, the man who once chained a model to a shipwreck to get the perfect shot, often doubts himself, much like all of us.
Photographer Gary Fraley recently recovered his stolen gear via 500px thanks to Lenstag. Fraley, who runs a nonprofit which aims to use art to help end hunger, had his house broken into late last year and his camera equipment stolen.
Outdoor enthusiasts and landscape photographers have been beside themselves with anger and bewilderment this week after Modern Hiker told the story of a 20 something New York woman who was painting "art" in National Parks all along the western United States. What gave her away? She was brazen enough to document it on her Instagram account.
Benjamin Von Wong is at it again. He teamed up with the team at SmugMug on yet another collaborative masterpiece. This time, he left the cold, foggy San Francisco forest, and retreated to the warm, sunny outdoor confines of the SmugMug campus in Mountain View, California. With only $20, a couple lights, and a lot of creativity, he turned everyday tech employees into athletic specimens.
When my friend and filmmaker Marc Donahue of Permagrin Films told me about the idea behind his "GoPro Array", I was speechless. Place 20 GoPro Cameras side by side in a slightly curved custom holder, set them all to film in super slow motion, and then use the footage to create a "bullet-time" look at break dancers performing some super cool moves. The results are a unique and exciting look at one of America's coolest dance forms.
Being a photographer in the Bay Area, it was hard to not hear the news about the sophisticated break in last week at Mac House Productions. Not once, but twice in the same night, two buglers broke into the Mac House warehouse building, making off with over $150,000 worth of equipment. Now, as the dust begins to settle, it turns out Mac House wasn't the only local business targeted. And a haul worth ten times as much was just around the corner.
Eric Cheng of DJI recently took his Phantom 2 to Iceland, hoping to get close enough to fly over the erupting Bardabunga volcano. The footage he brought back is spectacular.
