Recent BTS Articles

DIY Your Way Into Product Photography

While most of us are sitting at home as non-essential personnel, many have come up with ways to keep the creativity flowing. Some are learning how to photograph wildlife, some leaning on their new love for macro, and some even testing out product photography for the first time. One photographer decided to test out some DIY options for products saving herself some money while she had the time on her hands.

Photography Tips: How to Use Color Effect Gels

Telling a story doesn’t stop at your subject in photography; everything in an image gives the viewer context clues to build a narrative around. One of my favorite ways to facilitate interest and story in photography is incorporating color effect gels into the scene, but what are the best ways to use them and why?

Behind the Scenes of David Guetta's "Titanium"

My main man in Montreal, photographer Benjamin Von Wong, sent me two videos last week. The first is this great peek bts of David Guetta's "Titanium" video. And the second is of Ben kicking, burning and drenching the Silicon Power Rugged Armor A80 to see if it really is as indestructible as it claims. It's worth noting that this is a product Ben found and wanted to have fun with and that he is not sponsored by the product's company. You can see his torture test here. Thanks for these Ben.

A Look Into 'Photobooth', An Open Tintype Photography Studio In San Francisco

Within the Mission District in San Francisco lies an amazing tintype photography studio called Photobooth. The best part is that you can just walk in and get a tintype portrait for yourself. Co-founder, Michael Shindler, not only talks about how it all got started but gives us a look into the process from start to finish. Check it out the next time you're in San Francisco!

1SE, Because We Are Too Damn Busy To Remember The Things We Did

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.

Personal Project to POYi: Bob Croslin's "Grounded"

You submit your assignment images each year as a staff photojournalist at a major newspaper and never place in the prestigious Picture of the Year International competition. Then, years later as a freelance photographer, you win first place for a body of work that was undertaken solely as a personal venture. This is the story of Bob Croslin's self-assigned "Grounded," a portrait project of injured birds undergoing rehabilitation at a sanctuary in western Florida.

Behind the Scenes: Celebrity Portrait Shoot With Grammy Award-Winner Fatman Scoop

A little over a year ago I had the opportunity to do my very first celebrity photo shoot with Grammy Award-winner Fatman Scoop at my studio in New Jersey. He had posted on Instagram that he was looking for photographers and videographers to collaborate with. Thinking I had nothing to lose I submitted a brief email expressing my interest and directing him to my website to review my work and to reply back if he liked my work. To my surprise, I received a response a couple of days later asking to schedule a date to shoot!

Selling Oxygen: How Politics Inspires Photography

Imagine if we started selling oxygen as a commodity, as a medicine for a sick and polluted planet. What would that fantasy look like? Benjamin Von Wong explores this in his latest series, and is bringing to light the very real market for oxygen in China.

BTS Videos Of Annie Leibovitz's Disney Dream Portraits

Last week Lee Morris posted a few behind the scenes images of Annie Leibovitz's latest Disney Campaign featuring Russell Brand as the villainous Captain Hook and funnymen Jack Black, Will Ferrell and Jason Segel as the hitchhiking ghosts from 'The Haunted Mansion' ride. Here are two behind the scenes videos of each photoshoot respectively.

How Douglas Sonders Processes His "Beard Series"

Douglas Sonders has been features a few times on this site with some incredible images and this series doesn't depart from that sentiment. This video walks you through the post production of his "Beard Series" and gives you some great insights into how to use some excellent Nik Software to create a beautiful high contract black and white image.

Quick Steps for Shooting a 360-Degree Aerial Panorama Photo With a Drone

One of my favorite things to do is fly my drone around Indonesia and share photos and videos of my country's natural beauty. When I flew my first DJI Phantom back in 2013, I realized the incredible opportunity drones gave to capture that beauty from a unique perspective. Since then, I've upgraded to the DJI Phantom 3 and DJI Inspire 1 for all my aerial work; specifically, I focus on creating aerial panoramas and 360-degree panoramas. Today, I want to share some tips on how you can create your own 360-degree aerial photo and upload it to SkyPixel for their Aerial Panorama Contest for your chance to win a DJI Phantom 4.

How to Light the Face for Video

In this short video from Crimson Engine, cinematographer and director Rubidium Wu takes you step by step through how he lights his closeups for video.

Behind the Scenes: Garry Winogrand at Work on the Street

Garry Winogrand is considered by some to be one of the top American photographers of his, or any generation. His books "The Animals" and "Public Relations" are classics, and the number of rolls of film he took over his short life are staggering. When he died he left behind 9,000 rolls of developed and undeveloped film. I can't even imagine the costs involved in processing and scanning those negatives.

BTS of Carnivora Gardinum by Chris Field

Chris Field shot this amazing time-lapse video, but that’s not all he did; he also generously shared with us the BTS video, which is a dream come true for anyone who wants to see how others do it. Chris spent three months of shooting and over 80GB of images and video. As you may realize, putting all that footage together is a process on its own. On his website, Chris shares with readers all of the ups & downs of such an elaborate time-lapse shoot. It is absolutely mind boggling all that went into creating this video. Chris spoke to Fstoppers about the process in great detail.

A 20 Second Behind-the-Scenes Video Detailing Erik Johansson's Soundscapes

Berlin-based photographer/retoucher Erik Johansson creates wildly imaginative and often surreal images that has us posting on his work time and time again. Erik's images have been defined as a complex combination of his own photographs that captures ideas rather than moments. As impressive as his finals are, it was this simple 20 second video that caught my attention this time. You get a pretty good idea of Erik's technical process and if you're anything like me, you'll be motivated to create an Erik Johansson inspired piece of your own.

How to Light Overhead Portraits

Adorama TV is always bringing easy-to-understand tips and tricks to photographers with a plethora of education and tutorials. In the video, Gavin Hoey shows us how to adjust our lighting to where we are shooting our subject.

Behind the Scenes of a Spectacular Time-Lapse Film in the Canadian Wilderness

Traveling 5,500 kilometers in six weeks, Filmmaker Florian Nick explored the wilds of British Columbia and Alberta in search of beautiful scenery, capturing 54,000 photos along the way. The result is a gorgeous time-lapse film showcasing the best of the region in stunning detail and sweeping scale. Nick discussed the making of the film with Fstoppers.

Freddie Wong Puts on an Epic Car Chase

A good car chase has heroes, villians, jumps, crashes, helicopters and more. Youtube master Freddie Wong manages to capture the best elements of an epic car chase but does it on a small scale. By using RC cars, Freddie and his crew are able to set up the scene and retake as many times as they want. Check out the final video below.

It’s Engagement Season, How Are You Engaging?

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?

Gear and Tips for Lighting a Table Scene or Roundtable Discussion

In this video from Aputure, Director of Photography Julia Swain is invited to share her techniques for lighting a dinner table scene, which are common to film productions, but also have applications in the corporate and documentary video world. After the video, check out some of my own personal examples from lighting a similar setup, but instead for a corporate roundtable with an all black background.

How to Use Speedlights for Music Photography

Photographing live music is a difficult but rewarding genre and can require a masterful understanding of settings to get the best images. If you can use speedlights, however, you not only gain more control over the results, but it allows for greater creativity too.

Lee Cohen: Ski Photography Master

Lee Cohen is currently one of the best ski photographers, and his images just might be some of the most iconic of all time. Watch this video to get a glimpse of his daily ski photography routine and to hear of his motivations.