The guys over PHLEARN have a lot of cool content, and this is their most recent. The original idea for this photo shoot was inspired by childhood, drawing on references from stories such as “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak and the classic comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes." The result is a playful look at the imagination of a child.
The incredibly young and talented, Joey L. has released a new documentary that was shot while shooting his intimate series of photos, 'Holy Men'. Set in the breathtaking backdrop of India, the documentary filmed by Cale Glendening shows Joey while at work with his assistant Ryan, but more importantly proves that capturing an amazing portrait isn't just about the latest gear or technique, but truly the subject.
French photog, Philippe Echaroux, has really gone above and beyond with his guerrilla style street portraits. In this video he hits the streets with 4 crew members and made this short video of how he approaches strangers, gives them a quick description of what he's doing. If they want to take part, Philippe then signals his crew and they very quickly style the subject, light them and even throw up a nice background on a stick. The images turn out really nice, and I would love to see more people thinking bigger and more outside the box like, Mr. Echaroux, when it comes to street shots. Enjoy!
We featured Elena Jasic on here last month, and this month she is back with this awesome tutorial on how to add freckles in post to your photos. Elena is a young and upcoming fashion and beauty photographer from Philadelphia. The photo in this tutorial is from Chris Zupo. You can also find the brush used in this tutorial here. If you guys try this technique out, share a link to it with us in the comments on this post!
How many times have you seen an amazing timelapse project, and wondered where exactly the photographer was when they recorded their exposures? Or maybe you wondered what they had to do to get to such an amazing vantage point? Sean Goebel created his timelapse film "Epochs" and documented the location and equipment details for most scenes. Sean told me some about his background, and links to his work and shot setups are also inside.
I was recently hired by the team over at TheRealMach5.com to shoot new marketing images of the "the only officially licensed Mach 5 in the world that was built to the Speed Racer cartoon Mach 5 specifications". As you can see from the video, it was a hot hot day. I was probably suffering from heat stroke and a wicked farmer's tan by the end of the day, but I got to tear around in the Mach 5 on Florida back roads after the shoot (thankfully she's street legal if you don't drive with the spinning saw blades on it haha), so it was completely worth it.
ReutersTV put together this video of interviews with their photographers as they describe what happened to them during and after the destruction left by Hurricane Sandy, and how they worked to capture compelling images. The interviews are balanced by the powerful imagery that these shooters captured of the hardships people faced, many of them left with destroyed homes.
Have you wondered how the landscapes in advertising photographs always seem to be perfect? How on can they possibly get the perfect shot on every assignment with the weather being as unpredictable as it is? Well, while this isn't true for every photographer, most have quite a lot of photoshop trickery at their disposal which allows them to shoot components of a final shot at different times and then assemble them later in post. This post is going to give you a complete walk through of how I shot and combined two elements to create the shot you see here.
In this video from The Slanted Lens, Jay P Morgan shows us a behind the scenes look at how you can achieve that colorful, rich-looking sunset. This is a technique that is a must if you do any type of portraiture or wedding photography. Your clients will be really happy with the results, not to mention it will look great in your portfolio. This photo shoot is for writer, Robert L. Harding's novel titled, Death of the Wayang.
The Slanted Lens recently posted a new behind the scenes video, explaining the process for a project that involves shooting photos of a warrior princess out by Vasquez Rocks. This video really dives in to considerations you have to make as a photographer when shooting on a remote location like this. From location scouting, to running power for lights, and even considering bathrooms for the crew, this insightful BTS video shows us how Jay P. Morgan approached this challenge.
CBS's Jeff Glor recently interviewed Pete Mortimer, known mostly for his work on this Citibank Commercial and the 60 Minutes special on free solo climber Alex Honnold. In this interview, Pete discusses the mental attitude needed for his line of work, and emphasizes how crucial safety is while dangling off of a rock. During the interview, a rock actually breaks loose in a brief moment of danger, which illustrates just how dangerous things can become. Embedded video in the full post.
Since it's launch in 1964 the Pirelli calendar is one of the most desired items of the new year. Each year a celebrated photographer is hired to shoot the world's most beautiful bodies stripped naked in some of the world's most gorgeous locations. This year famed photographer Steve McCurry earned the honor of the shoot, Rio the exotic location, but as Refinery29.com put it "the only kind of melons you can expect are the fruit ones." Read on to learn about their big change, see some of the images and watch a detailed behind the scenes video.
Architectural photography is something I can never seem to get down. I love shooting people much more than buildings, but when it is executed correctly I love it, even though it is not my favorite thing to shoot. I could look at good architectural photography all day. What's interesting is how architectural photographers use light to sculpt, add contrast, and bring out details in their work. Check out this really in depth tutorial from Vancouver architectural photographer Roger Brooks on how he lights and retouches an architectural interior.
I've been a fan of all of the Lord of the Rings movies and am very much looking forward to the release of The Hobbit this December. I always knew that a lot of work went into the film industry beyond the actors and cameras, but after seeing this behind the scenes of the upcoming Hobbit movie, it makes me realize how extensive the work is after all the filming is said and done.
Ever been curious about what goes into making the pictures for fashion ads like Forever 21? Check out these behind the scenes videos from Chris Hunt. There definitely is a lot that goes into these photographs, from set builders to make up artists and stylists. For the first video the light set up seem relatively simple, with what appears to be a 3 alien bees( two large umbrellas and a grided beauty dish). For the second video it appears they are using natural light with some big reflectors.
Known best for her dazzling performances that have mixed a dubstep beat with violin playing, Lindsey Stirling has gathered quite a following with her fantastic music videos. In her latest video, "Elements", Lindsey shot footage behind the scenes that shows her picking up supplies, working with Director Devin Graham, and then talking about how she event does the editing herself as a self-proclaimed video nerd.
A few weeks ago I posted an interesting behind the scenes video of cheetahs running at full speed while being filmed with the 1200 fps Phantom camera. The camera setup is pretty crazy if you haven't watched the BTS video already. Here is the final slow motion footage of five different cheetahs running along side the dollied camera. If you skip to the 5:40 mark, you can see even more behind the scenes footage from the shoot.
Kevin Margo, a VFX/CG Supervisor at Blur Studios recently released his directoral debut with his short science fiction film titled 'Grounded'. The film, while the general audience may not fully appreciate it, will entice cinephiles with its stunning graphics and read between the lines themes. In the following video he breaks down the CGI that was used in the film. The film was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and post processed using 3DS Max and Fume FX.
There's nothing more beautiful than ... a video of the destruction of an egg? Well, if you shoot said destruction video at 3,200 fps in a plethora of angles and situations it can be gorgeous. The guys at OverKranked have done just that. They're specialty is showing the shredding, crushing, squashing, cracking, obliterating and deathing of every day items in slooow mooo. Also, check out the BTS video to the main slow motion mini-feature above. Enjoy!
I had the pleasure to be hired to shoot an amazing car collection last year, which included 2 ultra-rare special Bugatti Veyrons. For example, the silver Bugatti, as you will watch, is a one-of-a-kind 100th anniversary Bugatti called the Sang Bleu… literally 1 of 1. We also had a decent-sized portion of a private airport at our disposal to use for the shoot. Pretty incredible experience. Read on to learn more about the shoot itself and my lighting.
Air New Zealand has been known for their original, themed and very well made safety videos. Just recently they released their newest safety video featuring a plane full of Tolkien fans called, 'An Unexpected Briefing'. Air New Zealand partnered up with the people over at Weta Workshop to create the amusing safety briefing. The video made in anticipation of 'The Hobbit' features a few actors from the movie, real Tolkien fans, J.R.R. Tolkien's great-grandsons, actual working Air New Zealand employees and even has a cameo from the man, Peter Jackson, himself.
Fashion Photographer Lindsay Adler has put together a new behind the scenes video that shows you how she is able to capture images of a model that look like silhouettes, but still have glare and depth as if they were wearing latex. This video shows us the lighting setup in her studio for capturing these unique images.
Earlier this year Stoli rolled out their most recent advertising campaign that revolved around three 'original' nights with their product. The first night, a lavish paint party (Dayglow anyone?). Second night, a club party in a power plant in West Berlin. The third, in an abandoned amusement park in East Berlin. They recently released three short, but interesting behind the scenes videos that accompany the commercials, showing how they set up the scenes and even showing a glimpse of the ARRI that they used to shoot with.
DesignWorks Media Group is made up of Mike Stog and Lee Barwick. The USA Olympic Boblsed/Skeleton team commissioned them to do a campaign which includes bobsledding fused with everyday activites, i.e. grocery shopping. Mike and Lee kept things pretty easy and minimal as far as lighting goes. They used a lot of the ambient, then supplemented for an extra kick where needed. Lighting diagram and final photo ad included after the jump. Enjoy!
Jeff Cremer recently traveled to Machu Picchu with the goal of creating the highest resolution image ever taken of one of the most incredible places on Earth. Using a Gigapan robotic head, Jeff swept a Canon 100-400mm lens back and forth over the scene, taking hundreds of photos, which resulted in one incredible image. He even had a close call with the law,
Von Wong is at it again in this super slow motion (700fps) video that has adds a certain 'epic' quality to a funny story about -- you guessed it -- his hair. Featured is a quick BTSV talking about the gear he used, but we have the full slow-mo tilt-shift video.
One of the most anticipated movies this year has got to be the new James Bond flick, "Skyfall", directed by Sam Mendes. A series of behind the scenes videos have been posted online, and they really do offer a great look at just a few of the many things that go into such a vast production. Well worth a watch. 12 more videos are inside!
If you were asked to film the world's fastest animal running in slow motion, what would you do? Director Hans Weise and cinematographer Greg Wilson teamed up with National Geographic to produce some stunning footage of a cheetah running at full speed. After meticulously building a 410 foot dolly to die for, the team propelled a few Canon 1D X cameras and a high speed Phantom along side the cheetah. I can't wait to see the final footage but after watching the behind the scenes video I'm sure it's going to be breathtaking.
UPDATE: Here is the final slow motion footage...
Astronaut Donald Pettit has spent more than a year of his life in space. Between two long-term stays on the ISS and a six-week Space Shuttle trip, he's racked up an incredible 370 days living, working, and photographing in the most hostile environment known to man. In this video, Donald shows us the techniques he's developed to create some of the jaw-dropping images and timelapses that he's created
I teamed up with Luquire George Andrews, an ad agency in Charlotte, NC, to create four images for a corporate brochure for Lincoln Harris, a commercial real estate company with properties in 26 states. LGA wanted to feature b/w photographs of executives in Lincoln Harris' properties.
