Adding props is an important and sometimes difficult part of food photography. There are times when an image needs the negative space, while other times, a well-placed prop will take the photo from good to great. When selecting a prop, I have found that menu-based props are the easiest to use correctly. Let me show you how to style a shot with menu-based props.
Bobby Bruderle is an incredibly talented photographer that has turned his love for light and storytelling into film making. Bobby is a friend of mine and that I've seen grow his career in a matter of a few years. His name is one to remember. When he shared his new music video for the popular vocalist G-Eazy, I knew I HAD to interview him about how he came up with the idea and how it all came together.
Adventure Sports Photographer Tim Kemple was one of the only photographers in the world who was lucky enough to try out the new Phase One IQ250 that was just announced earlier today. Check out the behind the scenes video, but also read the full article for my interview with Tim, where he shares his thoughts on the system, as well as what it's like to beta test cameras.
I would have thought the storm trooper armor would have been twerk prohibitive but I was wrong, I was very wrong. Check out the behind the scenes of the making of this video below.
Photographing weddings can be tough for a lot of people, and the area I find most of my assistants struggling is at the reception. Many times throughout a wedding you can rely on natural light, but what is going to make or break your reception images is your ability to master artificial lighting. In this free excerpt from the full Fstoppers wedding tutorial, we share four of our most used lighting setups so you can take the guess work out of properly lighting a wedding venue.
Food, beverage, and product photography is all about sculpting light, your composition, and understanding which modifiers to use in which situations. In this behind the scenes tutorial, PRO EDU takes you in their St. Louis studio for a step by step look at building an image. Join PRO EDU this May in the Bahamas for a 2 day intensive workshop on liquids, glass, beer, and beverage photography. You could even win a free trip.
Wistia is a video player (think Youtube and Vimeo) for businesses who want a high quality player but don't necessarily want the social features you get with the mainstream platforms. In addition to being a quirky and fun culture and offering a sweet product, the Wistia team also provides tutorials and tips on making your own great company videos. This one offers some great info on choosing a microphone.
I recently wrapped up a kickstarter project that was trying to raise $10,000 for the production of a documentary film. During its 30-day run, and weeks of planning that went into it beforehand, I got my own crash course in fundraising and marketing. I’ll share what I learned in this article.
Few months back we featured a great video showing how Joe Fellows creates his stunning parallax videos. After posting the article, many of you had follow-up questions on his techniques and methods, so he decided to release a 'part 2' video explaining some of the cool tricks he uses to transform a 2D photo into a 2.5D video.
Shooting events is like running a marathon, it often feels like it's never ending. At the end of the day you are sore, dirty, and you may have blacked out for a portion of it from dehydration. Using an ergonomic camera sling for one or both cameras is a great solution for saving your neck and back and also keeping your cameras secure on your body. This is a no-brainer investment if you are an event shooter and may change your life if you haven't been using one.
About 9 years ago, I was a tour photographer for the rock band 3 Doors Down and I had the chance to attend my first Nascar race (from the infield no less!) As a car guy, it was a great chance to watch all of the action from the front row. Never did I imagine in my wildest dreams that I would be getting a call from the National Guard nearly 10 years later to do the official 2014 photoshoot of one of my favorite drivers and his new car, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Are you bored of shooting portraits on white, black, or gray? Are you looking to add some color and creativity to your subjects and environments? Are you looking to shoot more composite photography using backplates you've made on location and subjects you've shot in studio? If you've answered yes to any of these questions and aren't already a genuine wiz at using gels, then this post is for you.
I know it's only a week and a half into the new year, but I'm calling it early. Schwartz Flavour Shots has the most beautiful commercial of the year. Created by DJ MJ Cole with filmmaker Chris Cairns and a brilliant assist from the pyrotechnic wizards 'Machine Shop,' this video is a pretty spicy set of slow motion explosions. Schwartz calls it a 'Sonic Flavourscape.'
Follow Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) as they explain how they created the design for the city of San Francisco in the year 2259 for the film Star Trek: Into Darkness. They also go into depth over the creation of the visual effects for the scene where the USS Vengeance crashes into the city and exactly how large some of the files ended up being.
I'm a huge fan of the Profoto gear. When I came across this behind the scenes video on Profoto's blog, I just had to share it with you guys. To kick off the "Year of the Horse" Tokyo-based photographer Irwin Wong came up with a creative shoot in the middle of the forest.
One of the most important things to know as a photographer is how to balance available light with controlled light. Unfortunately, many in the industry lack the knowledge and the techniques of how to do it. Watch this short video to learn the basics on balancing light bulbs (constant light) with strobes (controlled light) - simple and important.
Max Riché is back with an amazing shoot this time for Bicycle Magazine. During this past summer Max received a surprising email from Stacey, Photo Editor at Bicycling magazine wanting him to shoot the magazine cover for the special 100th Tour de France Anniversary issue. With the help of Google Maps and some friends who lived near the Alps Max was able to pinpoint the best location for the shoot.
Featured last year for his "Wedding Day Zombie Apocalypse" composite, Photographer Josiah Moore is up to his old tricks again. This past fall he shot a wedding where both the Bride and Groom were car enthusiasts. He decided to make a fun chase scene out of a photo from the reception, and this video shows his process in Photoshop.
When looking at portraits, we have a tendency to look at the eyes first. We can't help it, it's part of human nature. This is why I personally believe it is extremely important to capture and refine the eyes in your photos to create more engaging portraits. Retoucher Michael Woloszynowicz created an awesome 4 part video series about how to make your eyes look amazing in post production. See the rest of the post below to watch video parts 2 through 4.
I had the opportunity to hear Greg Heisler speak a few months ago about his book 50 Portraits. I hadn't even thought of it at the time but once it finished I immediately regretted not filming it for our readers here. As luck would have it he repeated a similar lecture in NYC Ilford, and they recorded it! Yes, two hours is a decent chunk of time to devote to watching this, but you need to.
When it comes to marketing yourself, there’s no better time than on the job. There’s also no worse time to be slacking off and looking like you’re not working. This tip will kill two birds with one stone, giving a huge benefit to the couple and their guests, as well as bringing in great leads and spreading your name.
The Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L II is presently listed for $1999 (after adding to cart) on B&H, but you can get an addition $300 off by sending in the Canon mail-in-rebate, bringing you down to $1,699. This deal is only good until Saturday January 4 at 11:59 PM EST.
Being a photographer (or videographer) is probably one of the most interesting professions out there. We get to experience so many things no one else can. We get unique access to shoot amazing people, events or places. Personally, I find it hard to remember all these things I do every day and tend to forget some pretty fantastic things. Exactly one year ago I found a great solution for that problem, an app that became the favorite thing on my phone - 1 Second Everyday.
In this behind the scenes video for Malibu Island Spiced Rum, various members of the video crew share nuggets of useful information about the work that went into the commercial. Multiple locations, a huge pirate ship, and fake food are just the start of what it took. The final, edited ad is at the end of the video.
Academy Awards season is swiftly coming and to get the buzz going a little earlier the Oscars have come out with a brand new trailer with talk-show darling Ellen DeGeneres and 250 dancing extras. The trailer was directed by Paul Feig who is best known for "Bridesmaids" and "the Heat". It looks like they used an ARRI Alexa to film the trailer. It's a fun and cute glimpse into what we can look forward to at this coming year's Academy Awards show.
If there’s one thing we know about the Holiday Season, it’s that diamond rings seem to be a popular gift! These few weeks usually end up being the highest proposal time of the year, quickly followed by Valentines day only just over a month away. This means that there are thousands of people around the world, and in your area that are looking for a photographer. How do you make sure they can find you?
Gravity was one of those movies I went to watch by myself this year. I wasn't sure what to expect and none of my family members were interested in seeing it so I grabbed my popcorn, a large orange soda and sat down for a movie experience I won't soon forget. But, watching this recently released BTS of how the movie was put together made the movie even better!
It seems like Stillmotion is never content sitting still for long. These Portland based filmmakers have spent the better part of a decade chasing their dreams and doing so on their own terms. The one consistent thread for Stillmotion has always been executing amazing stories that need to be told.
This year for Christmas I wanted to surprise my father with his dream car, an original Chevrolet Camaro convertible in hugger orange with white rally stripes. Being that I'm a photographer I decided to photograph the car and give my father a framed print of the car before I revealed that I am actually giving him the car.
As most of us are off spending time with our families and loved ones we want to wish all of our readers and fans a Happy Holiday season. Next February (2014) marks Fstoppers' 4th anniversary. It's unbelievable just how much we've grown thus far. With an amazing staff of writers putting out fresh and informative content each and every day, we have grown to over 10 million readers worldwide.
