Recent Slow Motion Articles

Infinite Waves: a Photography Concept Turned to Video

Living by the beach for the past five years or so, I have become more and more intrigued by the ocean and waves. I find myself by the beach a lot, either shooting or flying my drone and paying attention to waves. I'm always interested in bigger waves, cleaner waves, ones with some good color and all. A few months back, I stumbled upon the work of Ray Collins, and oceanscape photographer out in Australia. His photos are stunning and the waves he photographs look so wild compared to the waves out by me in New Jersey.

Creating Painterly Surfer Photographs With a Slow Shutter

Recently, I've gotten into surfing. I'm quite possibly the worst surfer in the world, but through surfing, I met some great, artistic friends. I acted as the DP on a super fun all-women's surf film this summer. I had no idea how to shoot surfers, so it was a huge learning experience. Now that I know a little bit more about it (and I stress the "little bit more"), I thought I would try and shoot a personal project just for fun to test out an artsy-fartsy idea.

Wedding Photographer Falls - How Often Does It Happen?

Snapping away at the bride and groom as they pose, walk, dance, or whatever, and the wedding photographer falls into... you can finish the sentence any way imaginable and then some. This latest example from Estes Park, Colorado saw photographer Nathan Welton fall through the ice at Bear Lake. A fresh layer of snow apparently hid the edge of the lake and Welton got, well, too close. Nevertheless, he's recounted his story several times and says he just kept shooting and got some interesting angles.

Comparing the Sony a7S III to the Canon R5 for 4K 120 Fps Slow-Motion Video

Shooting 4K at 120 fps is kind of a niche feature and something many may not even think about, but having it available when you need it is pretty great. Now that 4K has become more standard in the DSLR and mirrorless market, we are starting to see more cameras capable of shooting 4K at 120fps.

Pure Garbage: Analyzing a 'Fastmo & Slowmo' Cinematography Technique

The rock band Garbage is out with the first single off their forthcoming album "Strange Little Birds," and while the track is undeniably awesome rock fare, the visual geek in me cannot get past this extremely cool camera effect that invokes "bullet time" from The Matrix. I have a hunch as to how it was done.

The Remarkable Way a Film Camera Works as Shown by Slow Motion

Modern digital cameras can shoot remarkably quickly, but as impressive as they are, they have less machinery to move around than film cameras. This fun video shows the incredible mechanics behind an old 16mm film camera at 1,000 fps, allowing you to see how it all came together to produce watchable footage.

The Fastest Camera Ever

If we could slow light down and see what it does in those trillionths of a second, we could answer more questions with regards to our existence itself. What exactly happens with photosynthesis and how do lasers go through glass? This video shows the answers.

A Beginners Guide to Speed Ramping

A few weeks back I spoke about one of the advantages of mobile videographer. One of the key features I highlighted was the ability to shoot in slo-motion in 720p on most mobile devices. Let's not forget other DSLR's and video cameras that are able to shoot slo-mo in even higher resolutions.

The biggest question now is how do you go about utilizing the footage you've shot for yourself or a client? There are a variety of techniques we as filmmakers and videographers can use. One of the being speed ramping, which is when you use varying frame rates in a video to bring...

Super Slo-Mo Photo Booth Fun by Bruton Stroube

Throw a party, toss in 11 kegs of beer and a photo booth with a Phantom Miro shooting at 1500fps and what do you get? The guys over at Bruton Stroube found out and I have got to say I can't wait to be part of one of these events. I could not stop smiling while watching the video and all the fun setups they put together. I imagine being there must have been an unforgettable night. Then again with 11 kegs of beer maybe no one actually would have remembered what happened if it were not for the video evidence.

40,000 Frames per Second for Just $3,500? Check Out the Chronos 1.4

Not too long ago, shooting at a thousand frames per second meant a huge rig and a massive bill. Now you can buy a camera that shoots 1,057 fps at around 720p, going up to an insane 38,565 fps albeit at a resolution of 335 x 96. All of this now arrives in a package that costs a mere $3,500.

This Bogner "Ski Surfing" Ad Seems Impossible

When it comes to creating great advertising campaigns, photographers should take a page out of the sports apparel company Bogner's book: capture something never seen before in the most beautiful way possible. Bogner teamed up with elite downhill snow skier Chuck Patterson for an idea that simply seems impossible yet breathtaking.

Five Essential Time and Speed Effects in Adobe Premiere Pro CC

The internet is a vast and seemingly endless collection of information as we all know. If you need to learn something new, we can simply Google the question and with almost 100% certainty you will be able to find an accurate answer.

Filming an Entire Music Video in One Moment With OK Go

For those of you familiar with the band OK Go, in addition to their catchy songs, they've also made a name for themselves with their intricately planned out and executed music videos. With their newest video "The One Moment," they sought to literally film the entire video in just one moment.

Behind The Scenes of "Home," How Filmmakers Created A Story In A Foreign Country

What happens when two filmmakers get together, fill a suitcase with camera gear and hop on a plane? In the case of Preston Kanak and Brent Foster, a great work of digital cinema. With only a rough idea of what they wanted, much was left to chance as these two spent 8 days in Havana, Cuba. Read on for the final film and some insight from the creators.

A Time-Lapse Adventure Of Norway

If you haven't been to Norway this video by Rustad Media will have you booking your plane tickets. This video is the work of a 5 month adventure, shot from a 15,000 km (almost 10,000 miles) long road trip. In addition to video, tens of thousands of images were taken along the way. This journey covered all of Norway’s 19 counties, from the far south to the Russian border in the Northeast.

Capturing Dubai With Timelapses And Wingsuits, Plus Behind The Scenes

Several years ago Richard Schneider of PictureCorrect.com decided his new years resolution would be to begin training to be able to fly a wingsuit. This dream along with his passion for photography eventually led him to Dubai, where he captured the footage you'll see in this video. Learn more about Richard and the work it took to get to this point in the full post.

Ten Tips for Recording Slow Motion Video

DSLR Guide, created by Simon Cade, is one of my go-to resources for all things film and cinema. With almost a half-million subscribers and over 21 million views, his channel is an awesome resource for anyone interested in becoming a film maker, particularly those who are DIY-savvy or on a budget.

Photographer Steven Sebring's 360 Video 'Liminal' Will Have Your Head Spinning

Ok, the last time I truly attempted skateboarding, I was 14 years old, and I dislocated my right shoulder (still have a beautiful, giant scar). Regardless of my lack of knowledge of the sport, or anyone's for that matter, I think we can all agree that this video of Skater Rodney Mullen shot by photographer extraordinaire Steven Sebring is just cool as hell.

Planetary Motion: Photographer Creates 3D Motion From NASA's New Moon Photos

Canadian Designer, Photographer, and Cinematographer Tom Kucy doesn't sleep. Less than two days after we reported on NASA's huge release of over 10,000 never-before-seen photos from the Apollo space missions, Kucy decided to work them into a project that involves taking these almost half-century old two-dimensional film images and converting them into moving, stereoscopic 3D photographs.

Pyromania Meets Paint at 15,000 FPS!

The 'Slow Mo Guys' are no strangers to Fstoppers. Anyone that uses a Phantom at extremely high FPS and breaks stuff or blows stuff up in HD has a pretty good shot of me posting their videos. I love being able to see things happen in such a different way than what we are used to, and this video is no exception. Low production value, messy backdrop, terrible lighting ... still awesome! Enjoy!

Behind the Scenes: Clark Little Shoots Big Waves with Nikon

Nikon takes us behind the scenes of their recent "I Am Different" documentary series with Clark Little, a professional shorebreak photographer. Clark gives a little insight on how he uses his Nikon gear in what could be arguably be the most challenging and dangerous environments. Outfitted with Aquatech housing, Clark uses his Nikon D4S for its lightning-fast focusing and high frame rate to capture that perfect moment each time a wave breaks.

Tyler Stableford Beautifully Captures The American Outdoors For Cabela's

In this behind the scenes video, you can get a glimpse into the production of a short film and a series of spots for Cabela's new outfitter line. Tyler Stableford directed this project, and Anson Fogel was one of the Directors of Photography. The work done by their team resulted in some spectacular images that portray the connection that outdoor enthusiasts feel with their natural world. Click on for the final short and links to the interview series.

Interview with Hookgrip and How They Used Slow Motion Video to Build a Following

Building a business is a tedious thing as most of us know. Everyone uses a different approach and some of us fail and some of us succeed, it's the nature of the beast. In my free time I do some Olympic lifting and I found myself searching for new and better techniques online. What I ended up with is not only finding some great videos for my Olympic lifting, but also a different way of building a business.

Sony and Tony Hawk Create a Zero Gravity Skateboarding Shoot

There are few shoots where everyone involved gets to have a great time, but this is one of them. Sony Electronics teamed up with Tony Hawk and Aaron "Jaws" Homoki to conduct a photo shoot of skateboarding in zero gravity. I had to take a moment when I first read the video's description to quash my simmering jealousy at how unthinkably enjoyable some people's lives are. The official press release doesn't hold back on inciting jealousy of both the content of the shoot and the tools at hand (for both Sony shooters and camera nerds with less allegiance).

The Super Slowmotion 3D Of 'Dredd' Explained By Prime Focus World

The people over ar Prime Focus World who are responsible for the special effects and/or 3D conversion of films like 'Total Recall', 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', 'Wrath of the Titans' and 'Tron', have made four videos in which Jon Thum, visual effect supervisor, sits and explains the filming process and post for the slow-motion sequences for the movie, 'Dredd 3D'.

Behind The Scenes Of One Of The Most Popular Street-Ski Films

Sherpas Cinema, who have been featured before on Fstoppers, produced a ski film called All.I.Can, and in that film was a segment directed by JP Auclair that shows a skier doing runs through a town in British Columbia. They threw it online and after getting millions of views, decided to post the making of video, which is posted here. It shows how they planned shots (and got lucky on some others) while running around Canada for two weeks with a RED camera.

Neutral Density Filter Drop Test: Can Breakthrough Filters Survive?

On the surface, this may seem crazy, performing a drop test on a glass ND filter, but, hear me out. I've been speaking with Breakthrough Photography about their filters and one of the things that came up was the fact that their filters are made of tempered glass. They seemed really confident about how strong their filters were so I, of course, wanted to know how strong. After a few initial, probing questions, I asked them if I could do a drop test on their filters to demonstrate their durability. To my surprise, they not only agreed but, they sent me an extra filter specifically for the test.

The Beautiful Results of an Underwater Photographer and MIT Physicist Working Together

Keith Ellenbogen is an underwater photographer whose work centers on marine conservation, while Allan Adams is a theoretical physicist whose work revolves around fluid dynamics inside black holes. When they met at a party in 2013, they realized they could combine their talents to produce gorgeous video of some of nature's most interesting marine life.

Smarter Every Day Explains Rolling Shutter and Uses After Effects to Recreate It

Everybody's favorite rocket engineer and slow-motion video enthusiast, Destin Sandlin, is back with a pair of videos that you'll find interesting if you've ever noticed the effects of a rolling shutter while filming video. Like many of us, Sandlin noticed the weird effect that happens when trying to film engine propellers with his iPhone. He decided to use a high-speed camera and science to figure out exactly what was happening. Then for fun, he worked with a friend and figured out a way to use After Effects to create a simulation of the rolling shutter effect.

BTS: How This Beautiful Slow-Mo Film of a House Set on Fire Was Made

Slow motion is, certainly, one of the most beautiful cinematic inventions of all time. It can show us so many things that are not normally visible and can make any "normal" scene look magical and unique. For the past few years the slow motion technologies have continued to improve, and just last year the Phantom Flex4K Digital Cinema Camera was announced introducing some groundbreaking slow motion abilities like shooting at 1,000fps at at 4K resolution. Shortly after its release, Director Brendan Bellomo and cinematographer Greg Wilson got their hands on the camera and took it for a test and created this beautiful video called "Let Me Know When You See Fire."

Crash Test Photography: Capturing the Impact in Slow Motion

A freshly released video from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is giving insight into how the organization photographs its respected crash tests, which it conducts on behalf of car insurance companies.

Popping Balloons for Some Creative Photography

Crazy high shutter speeds can lead to some pretty awesome photos as you capture things that simply happen too fast for our eyes and brains. This video brings some simple, easy, and fun shots your way using those super quick shutter speeds.

Slowly Moly! Egg Destruction Including BTS Video

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!

A to Z of Photography: Hyper-lapse and Horst P. Horst

From contemporary to classic in one breath, in this installment of the A to Z of Photography I outline the current, and oh so trendy, hyper-lapse technique before showcasing the work of the classic, and brilliant, photography of Horst P. Horst, including his signature work the "Mainbocher Corset". Read on for more!

Newest Installment of 'Joyride' Video Series - What's Next?

If you ask many filmmakers, or any video production companies, coming up with video ideas and concepts is not always the easiest thing to do. Especially when you're trying to make a series. However, through abstract story telling, Penzoil has successfully made a video series that so far, has kept viewers coming back for more with each iteration of the series. The first, a powerful trip through a city, the second a high speed trist around a race track before breaking back onto the streets, and with this last one, a high velocity excursion through the desert.

'The Pavement' - an Interview with Director Taylor Engel

South Carolina-based Taylor Engel's short, "The Pavement" — which got him into the top 10 for HBO's Project Greenlight — had me enthralled the moment it began. Through its rhythmic delivery, simple visual nature, and dark aesthetic, it pulls us through a sinister human story that gets at our primal nature. Its simplicity is partly attributed to the needs of the story, and partly to the time frame in which it was created. Engel and his team planned and finished the film in just one month, all while working around their day jobs.

The Pioneering Photography of Harold 'Doc' Edgerton

With all of our fussing over codecs and bitrates, and demanding 4K 120 fps at every latest camera release, it can be good practice to look back at where some of this technology started in order to get a bit of perspective. This beautifully edited video illustrates perfectly how the likes of Canon and Sony are most certainly standing on the shoulders of giants.