Yesterday we got an interesting email from our friend Pye Jirsa over at SLRLounge.com. Pye recently helped film a video campaign for a friend's Kickstarter product launch called One and he decided to film a quick behind the scenes video on how he lit and filmed the different scenes. Pye is a big DIY guy and many of the lights he used on this production can be found for super cheap.
Now despite the way this apparatus looks, it's actually something that has been discussed by major photo industry companies. Event photographers continually struggle with needing to have their lighting equipment in just the right spot while simultaneously needing to be somewhere else to get the shot. Even if they do get everything in place, seconds later they will need to somewhere else.
So I am going through some of the slow-mo HD camera options that are on the market right now for an adventure I will be taking soon, and I stumbled upon the new GoPro HD Hero2. On their site they have one of the illest trailers I have ever seen for a camera, and I had to watch it several times.
For some people, Halloween can be a stressful time as you panic to come up with that perfect costume that will impress all your friends and help you score big with the opposite sex. Photographer Tyler Card decide to one up everyone by creating his own lifesize working Nikon D3 which can capture all of his trick or treating fun.
Just ran across and really interesting video that explains how to create a "wooden print". Basically you want to use a standard laser print on standard paper. Glue the paper face down onto the wood and then wash/wipe the paper away. The toner will then stick to the wood and give a really unique look.
As a photographer with a new DSLR, you might be trying your hand at video production. Most people completely overlook audio and they shouldn't. If a video sounds cheap then in most people's minds, it is cheap. If you don't have enough money to afford fancy lav mics, don't worry, you can record clean audio with a number of devices that you may already own.
Last year I released a video explaining how to wirelessly tether your camera to an iPad by jailbreaking the iPad. Since then Eye-Fi has released a firmware update that makes wireless tethering possible without the need for jailbreaking.
If you have seen Peter Lik's work in person then you understand that it's impossible to put into words the look and quality of his prints. Peter's photography (and his post production) is fantastic, but what really makes his work stand out is his printing and presentation. If his images were printed on standard photo paper at a standard size, his work would not have the same "wow" factor.
If you are planning a behind the scenes video for our 2011 photo contest, you probably also need to setup an interesting interview segment to explain the details of your photoshoot. Most photographers spend a lot of money on their flash equipment but often don't have much in the way of constant lights.
Photographer Scott Bourke gives us a complete overview of how he took a fantastic product shot of a few bottles of beer. Scott uses a single flash and 4 reflectors to create a very professional looking image that any photographer (no matter how little gear they have) is capable of creating.
Capturing images of high speed events can be done in many different ways. In this video, flickr member Jon Rutlen went with a more explosive approach. Using a sound capturing device to trigger his camera, Jon shattered a bunch of different glasses in front of his DSLR camera and recorded the unique moment easily, reliably, and ultimately in a pretty safe environment.
So your band is about to go on tour and the obvious question is "what are we going to use for our backdrop?" Most bands would normally use a projector, an LED panel, or just some plain old stage lights. What the Japan based band Androp decided to do was much more interesting.
If you have a large studio or perhaps even a small studio space in your home, chances are you have asked the question, "how in the world am I going to build a cyclorama wall?" Last year we shared with you a video on how to make a cyclorama wall done by Sam Robles. Well it seems Sam isn't the only photographer handy with a few carpentry tools.
This video has come across my desk several times the last few days but I never really bothered to click play until Ben Andino shared it on my facebook page. Not only did I have to hit pause and rewind it a half dozen times or so but I found myself laughing out loud during some of the segments.
The guys over at Stillmotion video have come up with a rather interesting way to film point of view video. Instead of mounting something small like a GoPro to a helmet, Stillmotion decided to use a Canon T2i. The camera was upside down directly in front of several football players' eyes as they trained in the 2011 NFL combine.
Happy 4th of July weekend if you are living in the United States. Jeremiah Warren just sent me a pretty remarkable and quite psychedelic video he made using a camera I have never heard of before now. Jeremiah mounted the tiny HD Micro Car Key Camera from ebay to different fireworks for a rather unique perspective. I have to admit this is really cool and I wish I had thought of it first.
Maybe I'm behind the times but when I came across this video sponsored by Red Bull Illume, I had no idea what I was about to watch. Photographer Dan Vojtěch teaches you how you too can make a moving lenticular image while he photographs professional wakeboarder Sasha Christian. The software he uses is the 3D Masterkit by Triaxes if you want to try to create one of these yourself.
Have you ever wondered how to make your own breakaway glass? It's surprisingly simple and in the video below Jay P Morgan walks us through the process step by step. Jay is also currently giving away 2 bottles from Alfonso's to one of his Twitter followers so make sure you are in the running!
Every now and then I toy around with the idea of calibrating my monitor. I know how important color is for a photographer, but as a Jpeg shooter I've always felt that if I can capture an image to my liking in camera then I should be good to go. In the past I have tried a few products to calibrate my monitors and the results have never been very pleasing to my eye.
Darren Samuelson created a "great big camera." Although it isn't quite as big as another camera we have featured on FS, it is still just as interesting. Darren's camera shoots on 14x36inch X-Ray negative film.
Darren's Great Big Camera from SULTAN on Vimeo.
Our email has been flooded the last couple of days with this neat little flash program. At some point in your photographic journey, you've probably wondered how different shutter speeds and focal lengths affect your images.
Don't you dread viewing your friend's and family's vacation pictures and videos? Even when I go on vacation I take so many bad pictures and videos that I don't even want to go back and view them again. What if we spent a little more time on our next vacation and shot pictures and stills with a particular project in mind?
Lighting with a ring flash is a common technique among fashion and beauty photographers, yet it is often one of the most misunderstood and abused lighting setups among novice photographers. Simply using a single on axis light is hardly ever appealing but when coupled with other lights the ringflash look can become very flashy and dynamic.
Yes, it has been done to death but everyone loves to see it so we will keep posting it. Digital Rev TV has been doing a series called the "Cheap Camera Challenge" and so far they have created 3 videos with 3 different photographers shooting on 3 different cheap cameras.
Here is an example of the complete opposite; amateur photographer with a pro camera.
I released The iPhone Fashion Shoot back in July of 2010 thinking that it would be a fun way to prove a simple point (that people can create compelling images with any camera). I never thought 1, that the video would become so huge and 2, that 50% of everyone who saw it would totally miss the point.
This video has been hitting the blogs recently, but I didn't really watch it until it wound up in our inbox a half a dozen times. I guess I should say that this is probably the absolute textbook way to clean a lens but does anyone actually own all these rocket blowers, cleaning brushes, and cleaning supplies?
This is by no means the most thrilling video but it is really interesting. I've always wondered what was officially the "first" digital camera, and I guess I now know. Steven Sasson claims that he invented digital photography when he created this strange looking camera. The camera could shoot stills and record up to 30 of them on a digital tape.
We have posted about Twixtor before but today I was sent 2 great examples of it being put to use. Instead of simply slowing frames down, Twixtor actually can create as many frames as you like for super smooth ultra slo mo. Obviously nothing beats actually shooting at 1000fps but this program is quite good in most cases. We used it on every frame for the intro of The Wakeboard Studio Shoot.
Howdy, and welcome to the Wednesday Rundown. How many of us really take advantage of the video function of our camera? I have been able to see Lee and Patrick transform from strickly photography to a being able to knock out some great videos.
We have all seen stuff like this done before but it's usually some sort of huge production team. All of my friends seem to own at least 2 cameras each so I could easily pull this off if I could get 12 of them together :).
I just saw this and it made me smile so I thought I would share it with all of you. Keep in mind that you still have a few days left to help Noam with our Photoshop contest.
If you have no idea what is going on in this video then you need to watch this.
I created the iPhone Fashion Shoot to attempt to prove this point. 50% of the people who saw it "got" it and the other 50% claimed that it only looked good because I used $10,000 worth of light. Well I've always said "light is light" and all those expensive light modifiers do is make the light source bigger or smaller. Don't believe me?
Just ran across this quick BTS of a commercial Lucas Zanotto made. Check out the 40 second BTS below and then view the amazing finished product below that.
Benjamin Von Wong finished an informative BTSV of his last dancer photoshoot. This video was filmed by Eva Jinn Productions. Ben gives some great reasons to use flour instead of smoke to accent light in your photos. Check out the high res shots and more info here.
Jay P. Morgan is at it again with his super informative, large production, BTSVs. Check out the video below where Jay shows us how to make a rain machine for a photo or video shoot. I never thought I would ever make one of these but after seeing this video it actually doesn't seem that hard.
If you've ever played with an effects lens like the Lens Baby Composer then you are probably aware that you can actually create out of focus areas that have specific shapes by using specially designed apertures. Well Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher took this one step further and actually made his out of focus bokeh spell out words during a recent video shoot.
Usually our videos are directed towards advanced amateurs and professionals but if you are new to DSLR video, these videos will help out. Philip Bloom teamed up with Vimeo.com to create 8 great tutorials.
Intro To DSLR
Setting Up Your DSLR For Video
DSLR Lenses
Shooting Video With Your DSLR
DSLR Video Accessories
Dave Dugdale has been an Fstoppers reader for a while now but I had not come across his own useful site Learning DSLR Video until yesterday. He left a comment on one of our videos and I clicked on his site to check it out (yes we actually check out our reader's sites). When I saw one of his videos I immediately emailed him and asked if he would teach me how to colorkey footage in Premiere.
Are you planning to build your own studio one day? If not, this video probably won't interested you. But, if you do dream of having a studio (like most photographers do) then this video will get you one step closer. The incredibly talented Sam Robles takes you through the step by step process of building a cyc wall from scratch.
I wish I had more info on this but all I know is that a guy named "Ben" made this electric dolly. With an automated dolly, you can create moving time lapse footage. You can view more pictures of his creation here.
DIY Dolly from Ben on Vimeo.
For all you DIY hipster photographers out there who always wanted to shoot pictures with a Pumpkin...
How To Turn A Pumpkin Into A Camera from NPR on Vimeo.
If you like building stuff then you may want to view the video below. If you are like me, and you would rather just buy something that works perfectly out of the box, then I would highly suggest buying the IndiSlider. Its only $99 and it works great!
DIY Inexpensive Camera Slider from J.G. Pasterjak on Vimeo.
Martin needed a light weight camera crane that could fit in a backpack, setup in under two minutes, and hold a DSLR. This sounds too good to be true right? Well it was, so I built one by hand.
Light Camera Crane - Build from Martin Roberts on Vimeo.
Dave, Jono, and Braden are some fun lads from Australia who like to sling around burning metal during their photoshoots. Luckily for our readers they decided to participate in the behind the scenes video contest and show everyone how they too can get this wild effect. Check out this interesting video and feel free to leave comments for the guys below!
A few days ago I posted a video this duo created to help all the haters understand that expensive gear does not equal quality pictures. Well Zach And Corinne are back at it again with their contest entry. I was hoping for something a bit more in depth from these guys but they packed some quality into 3 minutes.
BTS Photoshoot from Zach Andrews on Vimeo.
This is going to be a busy week for FS. The contest submissions are starting to pour in because the deadline is only 6 days away. We are going to try to bring you at least one professional BTSV and one contest submission every day.
One of our readers Rhett Bingham just sent this over to us. I really do not see the point in this at all but it is so well shot that I have got to promote it. Even though I would never ever do this for any reason, it blew my mind that someone would.
If you didn't know, the GoPro HD is a cheap video camera that shoots stunning HD footage. These guys attach it to a weather balloon and then let it fly (what appears to be) into space and then they use GPS to retrieve it. Is this for real!?!
Balloon flight, shot with an HD HERO camera from GoPro. from Francois Brahic on Vimeo.
Normally I would not be too interested in this sort of thing. Honestly I don't really get the hype with these shoulder mounts. However, this is so well made and the follow focus he added is genius. Check it out.
DIY DSLR Wooden Shoulder Rig from Jonathan Clifford Bergqvist on Vimeo.
I actually made a video about this over a year ago when I had no clue how to use Premiere. I also didn't have and wireless mics so I edited the whole video in movie maker and everyone who saw it said they couldn't hear me over the music. So we decided to reshoot it with our fancy D300s cameras, Sennheiser Mics, and Adobe Premiere.