Articles written by Lee Morris

10-15 years ago, if you were a talented creative person, there was a very good chance that you would never be discovered. Without the push from a big record label very few people would every be able to hear your music. Unless you could sign with a producer you would never be able to raise the millions necessary to make a movie. The internet has changed all of that; and you no longer have an excuse.

Mike Schreiber is not your average photographer. The renowned hip hop photog shoots natural light, has never assisted, and doesn't give a crap about your fancy digital camera. This badass photographer has shot for Vibe, Spin, Atlantic Records, The Source, XXL, and URB, and his portfolio is filled with incredible images of Erkyah Badu, John Legend, Mos Def, Diddy, MIA, and Nas. Not enough? Schreiber recently released his first book, True Hip Hop. I knew it was going to be a good interview when hip hop photographer Mike Schreiber’s e-mail signed off with the words “Find food. Mate. Don’t get eaten.” Check out our interview, where Schreiber talks about getting the shot, getting to the top, and keeping it real in the digital age.

We are still making our way through all 179 contest entries and posting our favorites as we come to them. I'm a big fan of the BYU Photo Team's shoot below which involved shooting the girls with splashing water. By soaking the gymnasts right before they jump, they are able to capture the motion of their moves with the water by lighting from behind the subject on either side.

I've seen a lot of macro shots of eyes before but nothing with the detail of these shots by Suren Manvelyan. I had always heard that like a fingerprint, each human eye is totally unique and I finally understand that after seeing these images.

If you are like me, and constantly paranoid that your monitor color isn’t quite right, then today is a good day for you. The folks at Datacolor, who have previously brought us products such as the Spyder2 and Spyder3 screen calibration devices, have just released a new colorimeter. As you might have guessed, it’s named the Sypder4. Once again, there are three unique versions from which to choose, with three equally unique colors to distinguish them: red, blue and green, or RGB for short. Coincidence? I think not! There is an Express, Pro and Elite version of the Sypder4. Click on through to the full post to see more info and pretty pictures.

The Fstoppers 2011 BTS Contest is now closed and we are going through every single video 1 by 1 to choose our favorites that will make it to the next round. In the next round our panel of celebrity judges will narrow the lot down to the top 3 winners. At this point we still have not seen every video but if you would like to look through them yourself, you can see them all here on our forum. I just ran across this really interesting video by Loren Byerstein and Syx Langemann that involved shooting a nude model with a projected pattern. Not only do they show you how they did it but they have actually released the software to make your own patterns easily. If you want to give something like this a try on your own, you can download the software here.

Warning! You now have 3 days to submit your behind the scenes video for our big 2011 contest. I've been a professional wedding photographer for 7 years now and I've seen tons of absurd wedding advice online. Anytime I see a wedding related video submission I think "oh boy, here we go again." I just stumbled upon a video from 375 Photography on our forum that broke the mold. Not only is this video good, it may be one of the best wedding related videos I've seen online. It's informative, entertaining, and the images speak for themselves. No matter how long you have been shooting weddings, you will learn something from Justin and his team.

Just a few years ago each region would have to have its own 2011 recap. Today, with the power of the internet, world issues become common knowledge and the human race as a whole can look back on the biggest moments of the year. With the help of Google and Youtube, check out the most memorable moments of the year. I don't own a TV but I still knew every single image and video.