Last week Lee, Mike, Lauren, and I headed down to the Bahamas to work out all of the details on the Fstoppers Photography Workshop taking place at the Atlantis Resort from May 28 - June 1st. B&H gave us a ton of gear for our trip and asked us to "test" all of it in as many different ways as possible. I believe we succeeded.
Here at Fstoppers we featured many animal-related GoPro videos in the past [here are a few as a reminder: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5], and all are unique and interesting. Some are visually stunning. But this video taken by a pelican takes home the award for the most beautiful video ever taken by an animal.
Take a few minutes to experience this spectacular piece of 90s gold featuring Jean Claude Van Damme, or should I say JCVD. Before this ultimate film bad-ass was featured doing epic splits on trucks for Volvo, he was showing us what cameras were capable of in the 90s film industry.
Over the last two days, Kiev, Ukraine has seen its worst violence since the Soviet era, with the death toll now at 75. Fighting between police and protesters escalated when protesters used Molotov cocktails and lit several fires in the city square. This video - shot on a drone - shows the epic devastation from above, and I believe this may mark a very significant turning point in photojournalism. Has the public's desire for the theatrical become too large a part of journalism?
The night sky is an astounding phenomenon that fascinates almost every individual. Stars have been around for thousands of years and yet, humankind is still mesmerized by their beauty. Despite the distance, we have such a strong connection and love for these great unknown entities. Capturing the magnificence of the night sky is highly rewarding and can be an exciting process as well.
Working at high altitude is always a challenge, but trying to follow fast moving objects that are actually people defying death is a whole other level of intensity. In this behind the scenes video for a Verizon Fios ad, Director Rob Cohen has wingsuit flyers recorded jumping off of a cliff, but then has to get creative to shoot the not-so-real landing. See how they did it and check out the final ad inside.
A little over a year ago Felix Baumgartner made history with his record breaking “space jump”, the world’s highest skydive from 127,852ft above ground. The jump was incredible but what many of us couldn’t understand is why there seemed to be no POV footage from Felix's perspective. Yesterday, GoPro released an edit of what many of us have been waiting more than a year for. The video, shown here in it's entirety, is stunning.
Will Burrard-Lucas is a professional wildlife photographer who took aerial footage of life in the Serengeti. His BettleCopter drone took to the skies and captured a variety of life that was beautifully captured. From the primal feeding instincts of a hyena to the group of hippos lazily spending their afternoon submerged in water, this video is worth a watch.
What type of photography do you do? Portraits? Still life? Macro? Aerial? Fine art? Fashion? Commercial? Advertising and editorial photographer Joseph Ford does many of these – sometimes simultaneously. His latest project of beautiful diptychs proves unequivocally that your creativity and innovation are what will set you apart and win you top tier commercial clients. Read his exclusive interview to find out how his latest project came about, and what you can learn and apply for you and your business.
As filmmakers, we often find ourselves in less-than-perfect circumstances; we may be losing sunlight at the end of a shoot or trying to capture a fleeting moment before it disappears. Often times you’ll find that you've captured great moments with an undesirable camera shake. I've found myself in this situation countless times and I want to share something that has changed the way I deal with shaky footage.
Strapping a GoPro to a moving object has become 'the thing' over the years. More recently, we've begun to see spectacular aerial footage of GoPro's mounted to small remote control drones, such as this video shot over New York City earlier this year. But every once in a while someone puts a GoPro on something that just makes sit up and you just go "WOW!" If you've ever dreamt of flying or soaring free like a bird through the mountains, this is the video you've been waiting for.
Exactly one week ago we marked the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. As they do every anniversary, The Municipal Art Society of New York created two vertical columns of light ("Tribute In Light") right next to the World Trade Center in remembrance of the Twin Towers using 88 powerful searchlights pointing up to the sky. Every year I photograph the Tribute In Light from a different spot, and this year, for the second time, I decided to photograph it from above. From a helicopter. Here is how and why I did it.
'Whatever it takes to get the shot.' Carlos Ayesta's "whatever" involves rappelling from skyscrapers to get his unusual perspectives of Paris. In this beautifully shot BTS video by Guillaume Bression, we see Ayesta rappelling from various buildings and peeking into peoples living and workspaces.
Photographic educator Dirk Fletcher decided his summer Modern Alternative Photographic Practices class would try and test the Holga camera and boldly send one where no Holga had gone before — space. To get a shot of the earth’s stratosphere, Fletcher and his students created a four Holga box unit to float by balloon into the lower stratosphere and capture an aerial of earth.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 was met with a lot of skepticism, and sparked yet another battle in the megapixel war. But for a cell phone, it's hard to deny that the photos look pretty darn good. Now when you think of National Geographic you think of incredible photographs of rarely seen places and people.
Last week I posted a gorgeous video from Wolfe Air - their promo reel for aviation cinematography, and explained a bit of the process behind it. This week, I've found and put together a few videos which detail how they equip their planes and helicopters with some of the most advanced camera technologies available, and it's pretty mindblowing. In these videos, Wolfe Air loads up a Learjet with
Wolfe Air is a company that specializes in creating air to air footage for airlines, big-budget movie productions, the military, and private commercial clients, and they recently released their updated reel, which is absolutely mindblowing. Not many people think about what might go into these shots, so as the Fstoppers designated aviation photography dork, I've decided to write up a reader's digest version of how they're made.
Shooting aerial video for commercial purposes might be iffy in the United States, but the team at Helicam, based in Finland and Estonia, make some truly epic video using a quadcopter, a RED and a custom stabilizing gimbal. The featured video is a reel showcasing shots from the system, but we also have BTS footage of the team using the copter and a video showing the custom rig being constructed.
Earlier this year we showed you an amazing and advanced 4K aerial gyro system that lifestyle brand Teton Gravity Research (TGR) acquired. The Gyro-Stabilized Systems (GSS) C520 system is considered most advanced five-axis gyro-stabilized camera platform in the world. This week they released a trailer for their production "Way of Life" featuring the platform, and it looks fantastic.
In the past year, we've seen some pretty amazing advancements in camera/drone technology. Quadcopters like the DJI Phantom are incredibly affordable and seem very easy for anyone to master. When shooting a commercial earlier this year, I had a similar mentality. "Why don't I buy a cheap quadcopter and strap a GoPro to it. How hard can it be?"
As it turns out, even small drones can be used with disastrous results.
Despite the information floating around regarding the legality of drones, when you see some beautiful aerial footage taken with them, you can't help but gape in awe. In this video uploaded by Nicolas Doldinger you can watch a GoPro take to the skies. In their own words: "DJI Phantom + Zenmuse H3-SD Gimbal + Gopro Hero 3 = NYC LOVE."
Shallow depth of field is something we can enjoy when shooting portraits, insects, products and other small and/or close subjects. But when shooting wide shots of landscapes and cities, it's technically pretty much impossible to achieve this effect with our normal day to day lenses (assuming most of you don't carry tilt-shift lenses or tilt adapters). Of course some parts of the image will be out of focus, but the general effect wont be as noticeable as when shooting close subjects with open apertures. This is when Photoshop comes into play.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has relayed back images of the Earth and moon from 900 million miles away. The images, taken in a series of photos on July 19th as Saturn was backlit by the sun, portray the blue planet as a diminutive blip in a vast dark solar system.
As most people know, over the last few months and years, a number of laws have been passed that make operating a legitimate drone and aerial photography business a nightmare. Being a huge aviation geek and photographer myself, my jaw about hit the floor when I saw this, and I knew I had to share it with Fstoppers. For those who are serious about aerial photography, this might be a solution that you never thought of.
A few months ago I got a random email that said "Would you like to review our new remote controlled drone that can carry a GoPro?" I love all types of electronics so I said I would be happy to. I assumed I would be receiving a remote controlled toy in the mail but I was very wrong. The DJI Phantom absolutely blew me away. Even after I destroyed it.
Ever wondered how cool could it be to photograph different planets from close by and show how each one of them is different and unique? Well, unless you're an astronaut or a robot named 'Curiosity', you'll have to wait with that dream. But until then, why not making your own planets, all based on planet earth? Check out these awesome examples of mini-worlds (or "mini-planets", "Stereographic panoramas") found on Flickr.
Camp 4 Collective is an adventure film production group with clients like RedBull, The North Face, and National Geographic, so they are often found at the edge of the world, camera equipment in tow. Recently, some of the Camp 4 team traveled to Alaska to shoot some aerial footage. In this video, Anson Fogel explains the Cineflex helicopter camera system, and in the full post he and Tim Kemple answer my questions about its controls, production costs, and what it's like to play in helicopters.
Only 2 years passed since the 2011 Egyptian revolution where president Mubarak was replaced by president Morsi, and this week the people of Egypt decided to make another change and oust the elected president in what is now known as the largest political event in history of mankind. Over 14 million people flooded the streets of Egypt this week to protest against President Morsi, and Tahrir Square came to life once again.
In this short behind the scenes video, photographer Philip Lee Harvey takes to the sky, as well as the earth, for shooting images of Angel Falls in Venezuela. This expedition hits home with Philip, as he looks to follow the same path that an aviator named Jimmie Angel took when he became the first american to discover the area in 1933. With this backstory towing the line, Philip's shoot becomes that much more interesting of an adventure.
The Curiosity rover is one of the coolest machines we ever sent into space. The rover is giving us a glimpse into the never-explored land of Mars by sending us beautiful images taken by its cameras everyday. Curiosity has 17 cameras on deck, which is the most of any NASA planetary missions to date. Take a look at what each camera does, and why some of the cameras shoot just Black and White, and some shoot color. Also, who do you think have more image resolution: the Nikon D800 or Curiosity rover?
Maho Beach is one of the most unique beaches on earth to date. The beach is located on St. Maarten, a tiny island near Puerto Rico. It's so tiny, that the local airport is located only few feet behind the beach where hundreds of people enjoy the sun, the water and the sand. Beach goers + Jumbo planes? big win for us photographers. Check out these crazy images of planes almost touching the tourists on the beach.
A few months ago Lee and I went out to Gulf Photo Plus to see what all the fuss was about and absolutely had one of the greatest trips of our lives. While we were filming our "What makes photographers successful" video, we were hearing rumors that Joe McNally was about to shoot from the top of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. If you've spent any time with Joe, you know he absolutely loves a challenge and lives to create images taken from exotic places (like his shoot on the top of the Empire State Building).
Recently, NPR featured an article about a woman that was kicked off an American Airlines flight for singing a Whitney Houston song, but there was something else that caught the attention of at least one of their writers. During the video, crew members can be repeatedly heard telling people they aren't allowed to film or photograph onboard the plane.
Time and Google have created an astounding, multi-decade animated timelapse of the Earth. It is nothing short of amazing the amount of satellite photographs that has been collected and crunched. Trillions of pixels of satellite data which until now, have not been available to the public. Locations around the Earth can be searched and viewed through the latest project Timelapse: Landsat Satellite Images.
This is one of those projects that is almost beyond words. Astronaut Chris Hadfield shot this music video to express his feelings of leaving the International Space Station, and it's basically the coolest possible way to go out. If you haven't yet seen this (which you probably have but heck, it's so amazing I just had to share), quit reading and hit the play button. Your life needs this music video.
