In the fight against online image theft there is a new player and they are coming into the arena with a bang! Pixsy is a new copyright infingement software that looks to help photographers around the globe tackle an issue that plagues the industry and for the most part goes unresolved. Fighting copyright infringement can be a long and costly ordeal and Pixsy hopes to be your one stop solution for fair compensation.
Back in December of 2009, photographer turned film maker Vincent Laforet teamed up with Canon and Vimeo to start a social experiment in story telling. The idea was to create an short 3 or 4 minute video that would end on a single still frame. Then by taking that final frame as a starting point of reference, other film makers could continue the story and add their own twists and turns into the developing scripts. Each segment would be judged by industry heavy weights like Philip Bloom, Shane Hurlbut, Russel Carpenter, among others, and a new chapter would begin. Over the next year, hundreds of chapters were written with 6 lucky directors winning spots in the final video that is currently being shown at Sundance. Below is a summary of the final project and the final video in its entirety is included in the full post. Hopefully this contest not only inspires you in your own photography but also encourages you to test the waters in film making.
Last year Mercedes-Benz USA (@MBUSA) ran a very successful social media campaign using Instagram and some of its top influencers to spread the word about the new CLA which you can read about here. Now, they are at it again with a new approach on the much anticipated Mercedes GLA. What better way to advertise than to hit social media with some absolutely stunning adventure photos?
Fashion photographer Melissa Rodwell has become a good friend of ours over the years. The New York based photographer lives and breathes fashion photography, and as you can see with her images it really shows. The self proclaimed "photographer who does not own a digital camera" teamed up with Kurv magazine to produce some very exotic fashion images. As with most fashion images, the retouching is pretty important with interesting
Well, It seems like the video doesn't allow embedding so everybody check it out HERE
This is a great behind the scenes video from Timothy White as he does the promotional photography for Cowboys and Aliens. I'll warn you, there's not much about the technical side of photography, a lot of these shots are done with natural light, but you can see most of his lighting set ups when he does use lights, and he talks at length about environmental portraiture and creating a dramatic image.
As a music video filmmaker, the juggling of tight budgets is a regular occurrence. Emerging artists often survive on a shoestring, so commissioning a music video director for their latest release is often their largest cost in their marketing campaign. Once a concept is decided, it then becomes my job to provide high production value for my client. Using one of my latest projects, "Youth Club - Sorry," as an example, here are the four secrets that will help create compelling music videos.
Very often it’s not the actual skill as a photographer that’s lacking, but rather the ability to ask and help someone solve a problem they have. In this video, Chris Do of Futur shares how you might be able to change your approach and thinking.
It’s likely that if you're reading this, you are interested in some aspect of photography. If you are interested in making an income from your photography, something you may be struggling with is marketing yourself and your work. This video from Don Giannatti will give you the kick in the pants you need to get yourself out there and get paying clients.
These days it's not surprising to find out that most of what you see in a movie or commercial is completely green screened or created with CGI. So I was pleasantly shocked when I saw the behind the scenes video for the outdoor clothing company Quechua's latest advertisement. The slow motion footage of wild animals interacting with hikers and campers is nothing sort of amazing. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this video as much as I did. Click the full post to watch the final video. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
The past summer we were hired by the ad agency Tier 10 Marketing (same one as my Honda Accord campaign), under the creative direction of Scott Rodgers, to produce and film a new tv ad for Acura via the New York Acura Dealers Association. I've been an advertising photographer for years, but I co-founded a video production company, 8112 Studios, a few years back along with my friend Nicholas Cambata. We have been very busy with a variety of crazy challenging and fun projects this past year and this ad job was no exception.
Yuri Arcurs is perhaps the most well known photographer shooting microstock images in the world. His images are clean, inviting, crisp, and natural looking which are all important qualities needed to sell images in bulk. This video by Fototv might be the best video you watch all week because Yuri's tips are not only related to stock photographs but also hold true with almost any photograph requiring a model or human emotion. If you've never signed up to a stock website like Istockphoto, Fotolia, or Shutterstock, I'd recommend you at least try to get approved and test the waters for a few months. Nothing in my opinion strengthens your eye and photographic skills more than producing images that can sell in a highly competitive market like the stock agencies.
Who else is sick of hearing the same five Premium Beat songs in what seems like every advertisement on TV right now? Well, fear not, a new site is in town to help you with your short film or commercial projects, and there is plenty of variety. For $199 a year, Art-list gives you access to universal licenses and unlimited downloads for all of your music needs. Yes, you read that right, unlimited downloads.
In Part One of this series, we began writing our business plan by focusing on the nuts and bolts of our business. In this section, we will start to expand on those roots and add to the "what" by knowing our "why".
Fstoppers has worked hard to bring you valuable educational content from incredible photographers like Peter Hurley, Mike Kelley, Dylan Patrick, Elia Locardi, and Joey Wright. Now we're asking for your help! We at Fstoppers are preparing to create our next premium photography tutorial which will probably cost around $300. We would like to know from the Fstoppers community which genres we should focus on and who it should be with. Would you take a quick one minute survey to help us out?
Besides getting a great glimpse into the filming of a well put together sunscreen commercial, Gary Lankford offers some great perspective on the usefulness of DSLR's as opposed to using some of the bigger and more expensive rigs that might be out there. The versatility of having several cameras and being able to take them anywhere can outweigh some of the higher quality option cameras. Check out the final commercial below.
These days, creating a portrait that grabs the average pedestrian's attention isn't an easy task. So what did local New York City comedian Colin Kane do to spice it up a little? He added a raging mob of crazy people behind him in this awesome portrait by photographer Monte Isom. It looks like Monte used a large 7' Octabank to light the crowd and then a beauty dish with a little fill from a smaller softbox to give Colin a harsh key light look without losing the shadows. I love the overall idea and I've personally always wanted to work with a big group of people like in this video. If you are in NYC, check out Colin's stand up act and definitely head over to Monte's site to see some mind blowing advertising images as well as the largest group photo ever! Click the full post to see the high res final image.
Comedian Colin Kane angry mob photo shoot with Photographer Monte Isom from monte isom on Vimeo.
Meeting face-to-face with a potential client is the best way to introduce them to your work. Here are just a few helpful tips to help you turn that handshake into a profitable relationship.
Bruce Dale is a veteran commercial and advertising photographer who has also taken some amazing nature and photo journalistic images over the years too. He's worked for National Geographic as well as the White House and companies like Nikon, Southwest Airlines, Caterpillar, and Acura. Finding success in so many fields of photography is not an easy task and that's why I love this career recap video that shows over 30 years of BAD photos. It moves pretty quick, but Bruce does take some time to explain a few of his most memorable images. I always enjoy watching videos from true professionals like Bruce since they really have 'been there, done that' which is not always true of the younger breed of photographers we have today. I hope you enjoy this weekend video and be sure to check out Bruce Dale's website too.
30 Years of BAD Pictures from Bruce Dale on Vimeo.
You might have missed it, but last night, the earth cracked and shifted a little in the world of the photo community. The “Stand Out! Photographic Forums” launched and details the first of a series of events that promise to offer up some of the most exciting photographic speakers I’ve seen in a long time. Not only that, but the price is ridiculously low to hear them talk. Something special is afoot, read on to get the full scoop.
As advanced technology becomes more affordable, we seem to be seeing more and more photographers and videographers using robots to help them create jaw-dropping work, which requires precise movements. These machines are no longer only in the domain of the likes of NASA, Google, or Hollywood — and that's really exciting.
Annie Leibovitz is perhaps the most well known photographer in the world and her work always stands out from the crowded world of photography. While her Louis Vuitton campaign with Sean Connery is a few years old now, there is still a lot of great information to be gained from the beach shoot. Using nothing more than a Photek Softlighter, Annie balances her ambient light well with her soft broad lighting to create a really awesome series of images. ><
If you were an Fstoppers reader back when we launched then you probably saw Lee Morris's humble attempt at how to photograph a Rolex watch. It wasn't perfect but I think it was helpful in shedding some light on how meticulous product photography can be. Well now Alex Koloskov has made an extremely detailed video on how he created his latest hero shot of a men's Marine Star Bulova watch. The video is very long and it might take you a second to cut through his Ukrainian accent but this video is well worth it. The quick(er) post production video is shown below so you can see how much time and effort goes into touching up a macro shot like this but you can also find the full length lighting video in the full post. Also be sure to head over to Alex's blog post if you have further questions about his workflow. Take your time on this and enjoy!
We have all seen it before, you may have just not known what it was called. I think the first time I saw this was years ago in a Gatorade commercial and it really stood out to me. Today, 2.5D animations or "animated photos" are starting to pop up all over the place. Check out a cool example of 2.5D in action mixed with moving time-lapse by Ryan Flett below and then head over to Creative Cow to watch a fantastic tutorial that shows you how to create this effect in After Effects. FYI, simpler versions of this can also be created in programs like Premiere and Final Cut.
Backyard Booty Segment: Natural Progressions from Ryan Flett on Vimeo.
Everyone claims that they know how to shoot subjects on pure white but many of them still struggle with the background light washing out their subject. In the video below, Olivia Speranza shows us how she created the look for a video but the same techniques apply to flash as well. The key is to light the background as evenly as possible and expose it so that it is just barely pure white. If your background is a few stops past pure white, the light will begin to eat into your subject.
Some musicians release a new album with a mediocre cd booklet or no booklet at all. But when country star Taylor Swift releases an album she sets out to create photographs that depict her songs in cinematic fashion. Taylor and Nashville musician photographer Joseph Anthony Baker work together to create very stylized sets which are often as tongue-in-cheek as some of the lyrical content in her songs. Shooting these sort of fantasy images requires a lot of art direction and a mastery of set design and elaborate lighting but the results are truly amazing! Click the full post for part 2 of the series (part 3 requires a comcast login) and head over to Taylor's website to see the final images.
We are heading into the final stretch for our 2011 Behind The Scenes Contest and someone is about to win a truckload of gear! The latest video that caught my attention was from LA photographer Mike Kelley. Mike has been featured on our site before but in case you missed that post, his portfolio is full of some pretty kick ass commercial images of buildings and outdoor environments. So it was only fitting for his contest entry to showcase how he approaches an outdoor commercial architectural shoot. Mike uses a lot of exposures and some well thought out accent lighting to create a composite image that looks really nice. As much as I love this video, Mike won't win this competition by impressing anyone here at Fstoppers. Instead his video has to make a lasting impression among our celebrity panel of judges. If you have any questions for Mike, leave them in the comments below.
Weetabix Food Company recently produced a new commercial to advertise their Weetabix Chocolate Spoonsize Cereal. The young hiphop dancer in the video is talented, Arizona Snow, and the Teddy Bears - well, they're actually giant life-size costumes. Weetabix brought in professional hiphop dancers to dance inside of the costumes in front of a green screen. The concept behind the commercial is the cereal sparks kids imaginations. Regardless, it's pretty awesome to watch this little girl tear it up. Click the full post to see the behind the scenes footage.