Behind the Scenes

Think Tank launched “About A Photograph,” a video series that features stories from photographers about the photographs they have created.

Photoshop is such an elaborate program that it takes years to figure it all out. Then when you finally think you know everything, they add more features or you discover  features that you never knew were there this whole time. This video by Photoshop Product Manager Bryan O'Neil Hughes explores a variation of methods and techniques.  

When you think group shots, what lens immediately comes to your mind? Often, the initial reaction to a "group picture" is to reach for the widest lens in your bag. It's a safe option that makes sure you'll fit everyone in the frame. It could be said group shots are more about accounting for everyone who was present rather than being a work of art.

Aaron Nace at PHLEARN teamed up with professional product photographer Rob Grimm to demonstrate how a super high-end watch shoot would be put together. Check out how Grimm takes numerous shots and combines them into one advertising-quality image.  This is just one small part of the whole tutorial. For the full 2.5 hour video, check out the Pro Tutorial.

This is one of the most interesting, and almost bizarre behind the scenes video I've seen. Musical artist Jack Conte came up with an idea for a video to go along with a music track he created called "Pedals", and through building his own spaceship set, using real working robots, and even getting Jeff Orlowski to shoot it, everything came together for an inventive final product. 

Olaf Heine is one of the world's most acclaimed music photographers and has photographed music icons such as Iggy Pop, Sting and Jon Bon Jovi. In this interview from H&M Life, Olaf talks about what it's like to work with these musicians and how best to convey your portrait ideas so they are well received.

Canon has recently come out with their short film, "Rhythm of Life' showcasing their new line of cine lenses. Shot with the Canon C500 director, Dean Hargrove and cinematographer, Steven Poster ASC, explain how the different cine lenses affect the footage and change the color and feel of your shots. The BTS video was shot with the Canon C300. 

Plus three gorgeous Brazilian triplets. But that's not the point here.

Have you ever wondered how different diffusing fabrics affect the quality of light that you shoot with? Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens walks you through the different diffusion materials by Rosco. He explains how the different fabrics can lessen the stops of light and how it can affect your color temperatures and look of your shoot.  

Benjamin Von Wong has finally wrapped up his long and productive European tour, Von Wong Does Europe. The very first shoot that he was able to do was also ironically the last to be published and for good reason. It will blow you away. Taking over 60 hours to retouch Ben collaborated with talented retouching guru, Chester van Bommel.  

Behind the scenes videos are some of the best ways to learn our craft, especially when it comes to setting up lighting. It takes quite a bit of courage though to put yourself out there online and share a video with our industry. Arizona based photographer, Lear Miller, took the leap and put together his first BTS video of a fitness shoot that I thought deserved a shout out here on Fstoppers.

The US Government has recently been caught unlawfully monitoring the Associated Press. From what I can gather, the government was looking for the contact that leaked some information regarding a cyber-attack. Read more about that political stuff here. So what can you do to prevent this from happening to you as a photo journalist?

Anyone who has tried can tell you that lighting cars well is a difficult thing to do. The size of them, the lack of flat surfaces, how reflective they are, and the variety of different materials all make for one of the most trying photographic challenges out there.

This might be an extreme take on the all-too-common client request of "get it done quickly," but it serves as an excellent benchmark of what can be done in a short amount of time.

Food styling can take place in the production kitchen and in front of the camera. How do you know when and where to style your food? The answer will depend on what food you are shooting. For food with long shelf lives, like cupcakes, the dish will generally be camera ready when it leaves the kitchen.

I find athletic themed shoots to be especially interesting considering the amount of effort and expertise that goes pulling off that one perfect shot. Follow James Quantz Jr in this behind the scenes video as he takes on the challenge of shooting the South Carolina Gamecocks.  

Bulb ramping is a technique used by time lapse photographers to adjust the shutter speed throughout the time lapse to compensate for natural changes in exposure. If you're looking to shoot timelapses of sunrises, sunsets or any change from day to night, this technique is critical.

Over time, you'll likely see your lens develop a couple specks of dust inside the lens. This isn't uncommon, and 99% of the time, won’t affect your image quality at all. However, for the neat freaks out there, it'll become a big issue for you, and you'll want to send your lens in for cleaning. Lens Rentals shows us how they do it. 

You may recognize the singer for Exitmusic, Aleksa Palladino, from her role as Angela Darmody in Boardwalk Empire. Well, she formed a band with husband Devon Church, and together released one of the higher rated albums of 2012. I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with them before their show in Columbus, Ohio last July. Here is what we came up with. 

Pro commercial and celebrity photographer Michael Grecco takes us on the set of his 2-day shoot for Men's Health and Procter & Gamble in this high end behind the scenes video.  The parts of the video you want to watch move pretty quickly so there will be a lot of pausing if you want to see the lighting setups in any sort of detail. The consistent theme with light here is balance.

Recently, I was hired by a corporate client to take the portrait of Rod Stewart here in New York City before a concert. After a day of pre-planning logistics, 4 cancellations/reschedules (same day), and 3 location changes, the shoot finally happened... and it took place in two shutter clicks. Now, this is not a complaint post or to prove what an intense shoot this was.

Do you remember 14 years ago when the Matrix came out and blew some of our minds with filming techniques? One of the most ingenious scenes at the time was the wrap around bullet shot where the camera spun around the actors on a large dolly while they were suspended in mid air.

Of course many of us want to always nail a shot in camera, but sometimes things happen. Maybe it looked great on your camera's LCD, but entirely different once you got it on your computer. Maybe your sensor is too small and shallow DOF is hard to nail. It's for these cases that Aaron Nace at PHLEARN does tutorials like this one, where he shows how to adjust depth of field in post.  

This new video from the Life In Focus series from F-Stop Gear tells the story of Brian Matiash, an urban and landscape photographer from Portland, Oregon. A departure from the usual mountain or expedition setting, it's cool to see a photographer who is working on the streets of a city and how he makes use of the rugged F-stop bags.

Maybe it is because I live in the dust bowl of Phoenix AZ, but seeing the ever-growing empire of buildings in Hong Kong strikes me as quite a remarkable sight. Photographer Romain Jacquet-Lagreze visited Hong Kong in 2009 and became obsessed with its marvel. As he began to explore the unique city, he realized each part he visited had an atmosphere individually unique.

About a month ago we featured a video from the guys over at Neko Neko Films. In this video, they cover a mix of tips that while some may be no-brainers, you might find some very helpful if you having a tough time figuring out where to begin. We interview people all the time and I can't emphasize enough just how important the little things are to create an engaging, yet informative video.

Ridley Scott is arguably one of the greatest movie directors of his time. Blade Runner, Legend, Alien, Black Hawk Down are just a sampling of his masterful works.

The follow-up to 2009's re-imagined (alternate universe) Star Trek film is probably one of the biggest blockbuster sequels of the 2013 film year. Follow J. J. Abrams as he directs the crew of the USS Enterprise as they fight off a new threat, John Harrison played by Star Trek newcomer, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Red Bull just put out this BTS video of Mike Whiddett drifting the Crown Range in Queenstown, New Zealand. The Crown Range is the highest paved roadway in NZ and has some amazing views. A ton of Go Pros, slow motion cameras, and some unreal helicopter video were used to make this final production. Check the rest of the post to see the final video and link to Mike's interview.  

The photography for Apple's products have become an iconic style that virtually every other technology company has tried to emulate. In a recent interview with The Verge, Apple's product photographer Peter Belanger takes us through the steps to make such an simplistic photograph come to life, using some of the most complex lighting setups imaginable. 

Baz Luhrmann the master of dazzling audiences with his self-coined style of filmmaking known as the 'Red Curtain' style is back. This week's new addition to his small filmography, 'The Great Gatsby' looks to fall under the same flourish and design as previous Luhrmann films, and certainly doesn't look disappointing.

When I hear the words V Magazine and Mario Testino in the same sentence, I immediately think of high gloss, sexy editorials. I think of vibrant colors and in-your-face fashion. I think of… Miley Cyrus? The latest issue of V Magazine sees the megastar taking one more step away from her Hannah Montana past. The results? She pulls it off (pun kind of intended).  

Guest Writer and photographer Phillip Schmidli wanted to harken back to memories of the movie ET with this stellar shot of the moon. To do so, he placed a model in front of the full moon and shot with a telephoto to recreate that famous scene from the classic film.  

Last week I did a photo shoot for Leo's Wisdom, which is a company that makes handmade, high end jewelry. The purpose of the shoot was to provide the client with product shots and lifestyle images for their promotional needs. Their mood board for the shoot was filled with images depicting lush locations and high society. But we were shooting on a rainy day in Columbus, Ohio.

WDP 2012: Photographer of the Year Lauri Laukkanen guides us step by step through two images from his World War II inspired photo shoot explaining in detail what he used and why. The entire video is done using a stand-in model so we don't get to see much of the actual production but Lauri's explanation of his thought process is really what matters here.

Sometimes you want a portrait that just screams drama and emotion. Sometimes that emotion might be joy, other times you may want to portray a sort of dark, brooding atmosphere. In this tutorial by PHLEARN, Aaron Nace walks you through a method he chose to turn a daytime portrait into something much darker.  

Below, see what Aaron started with...

When I imagine the president of the United States, what comes to mind first is the campaign trail and all the national decisions he's involved with. It's hard to picture what the day to day of the presidential life brings. This collection of pictures of former president George W. Bush does a fantastic job of capturing the in between moments that show how normal presidents are.

For a couple of years now, I have been shooting a personal series about movie and tv cars, and the people that either own the original vehicles or build replicas for themselves. I call it the Unicorn Project (see more from the series here). Recently, I had the chance to photograph one of the screen-used Black Beauties from the 2011 film, The Green Hornet.

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.

The average tilt shift lens is will set you back nearly 2 thousand dollars so the option to have a tilt shift lens for under $1000 from Rokinon and Samyang definitely makes me take notice. B&H now has these two lenses in stock, along with the Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 for Sony cameras! Check out the links below!

Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Di USD for Sony - $1,299.00

Seven months ago I shared the trailer for a documentary about French Landscape Photographer Alexandre Deschaumes, as he creates stunning landscape images all over the world. His travels have taken him to Patagonia, Iceland, Austria, and more, while the time he spends in nature is the time where he seems to get the most creative.

Have you ever been assigned to take pictures of a chef's creations in a restaurant? Photographing food on location at a restaurant is a very common assignment for a food photographer. I have an editorial client that sends me to 4 or 5 restaurants every month to take pictures of the dishes.

With the new Iron Man movie out this week it's only natural that companies would cash in on the film trilogy. Verizon Wireless have released a new commercial for their new internet service, FiOS Quantum. VFX house, The Embassy, who created the special effects also worked on the first Iron Man film.

I feel the need to preface this post by saying "don't try this at home." Sure, crazier things have been done to get a shot and this is relatively tame by comparison but that doesn't change the fact that a pothole could seriously ruin your day. That said, I love this video from Korean photographer Manchul Kim.

Jeff Bridges has been nominated for six Academy Awards and has won once (for 'Crazy Heart'). He can now add another honor to his list of awards. This week at the 29th annual Infinity Awards, he is being nominated for his photography. 'The Dude' has been shooting on-set images of the films he has worked on since 1984, and his work gives us a peek at a world most people never get to see.

All of us have that favorite food that no matter what time of the day it is, we crave it. Well being a celebrity means you can have access to these foods at any time. Henry Hargreave thought is would make for a fascinating series to photograph these riders.

Posing multiple people can be a difficult task as it is, but throw in parkour performers into the mix and the shoot can quickly become tedious, but if done correctly the results can turn out nothing short of amazing. In this video Benjamin Von Wong walks you through the lighting set up he used to bring a three dimensional feel to the photographs.

Plus, he's giving away an excellent Tamron 24-70mm SP f/2.8!

Recently I have been on the watch for a good web based accounting and invoicing program. There are numerous services out there that are top notch but they all have the dreaded monthly payment. The most common web based software runs around $30 a month, that is a total of $360 for the year. For some semi professionals this is a little steep.

I'm sure most of us have had an awkward photobomb and were not to happy about it, but how would you react if the hilarious Ken Jeong decided to ambush your set with the lovely Kate Upton? Well during GQ's slim corduroy pants fashion shoot he did just that.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hOv95_MxD2Q