Instead of hiring a photographer to shoot original images, Samsung has recently been caught in the act of "artfully" (read: shamelessly) replacing an iPhone with a Galaxy S4 in an advertising campaign. It's not that they can't do this kind of thing as it's not illegal, but more the fact that they did it at all, and that it was over an original image featuring their main competitor. Really Samsung?
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.
The hot topic of the week around here has been the new Creative Cloud model from Adobe. We recently posted this video discussion about what some of us thought of it along with this article on why it may not be a good idea. There were great points made on both ends. However, like all popular things, humor follows shortly on the Internet.
Photoshop is a powerful tool. In the hands of a skillful editor, they can do a great deal of good, like remove scarring acne from an otherwise beautiful teenager. They can also do bad, such as transforming an anatomically correct model into something that isn't humanly possible. But sometimes, skillful editing can create a great deal of lolz.
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.
Released on May 21, 1980, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back has become over the years one of the most epic space films ever. The Star Wars series has resulted in a cultural phenomenon and made a tremendous effect on the film industry. Photos have surfaced showing the behind the scenes action including old tricks used to pull of some of the "mind-blowing" effects we watched as kids. You have got to see these.
While shooting a rare Kakapo parrot in New Zealand, Mark Carwardine got more participation from the bird than he expected. In this 2-minute video that is sure to make you smile Carwardine is apparently mistaken for an attractive mate. So what do you think, should photographers play in active role in the conservation and breeding of rare animals in the wild?
Noam Galai recently wrote an article showing us how to use reverse image searching like Google Images and TinEye to see where your images are being used online. Today I used reverse image searching to prove that my ex-girlfriend is a liar.
Phase One asked me to go on a speaking tour through China (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing) to share about my photo career, creative inspiration, and being a Phase One shooter myself, to demo their innovative new IQ2 digital medium format camera back system. After flying in to Hong Kong from Washington DC just hours before, I had the great honor and pleasure to be a part of Digital Rev's Cheap Camera Challenge. A broken Holga + jet lag + beer + a goof like myself = What could go wrong?
All day I have been hunkered down in my office chair pounding through emails, album designs, and editing. My camera zipped away in my bag, my equipment strewn across my office floor. While the perception of being a full time photographer is one of double rainbows the reality is there is so much more to what we do. The following infographic should be a required reading for anyone ready to give up their day job to live the "rock style life" of a photographer.
Everyone knows the Internet was invented so people could look at photos of cats.
In the latest interwebs chuckle, Sports Balls Replaced With Cats just upped that ante by swapping out sporting equipment with furry felines.
To see more photoshopped hilarity head over to the Facebook page right meow.
When it comes to compositing, the most tedious part of the Photoshop workflow to me has to be the extracting of objects from the background. With so many different ways to extract a subject: the pen tool, the lasso tool, refine edge, or Fluid Mask, it can be hard to find the technique that best suits your workflow. Commercial and editorial photographer Michael Herb has recently released an amusing quick mask tutorial that might just be the thing to get you out of your compositing rut.
I know I know, memes on Fstoppers? YES! Memes on Fstoppers. I am rarely a fan of these corny internet trends, but this 'Vadering' craze is pretty dang creative. Also note that I am not a Star Wars fan, and I still find these things to be incredibly entertaining. I have said it a million times, it isn't always how a shot is executed or how technically sound or high quality an image is, sometimes it's all about the concept. Enjoy!
Since the inception of DSLRs, RODE Microphones have never been far behind when it comes to making accessories to capture better audio for our filmmaking projects. Their iXY Mic for the iPhone came out recently and was well received, but this new product is quite a step forward. The i16 Mic from RODE captures a staggering sixteen tracks simultaneously at 24-bit/96kHz.
It's time... YouTube wants to thank you for all your great entries. YouTube finally has enough videos to begin selecting a winner after years of collecting videos at the rate of 70 hours per minute, it's finally over. "We've been thrilled with all of the diverse, creative entries we've seen so far, and we can't wait to begin the process of selecting the best video. We'll be announcing the winner in 10 years."
From sultry ballads to uplifting melodies, Michael Bublé can definitely bust out a few tunes. In his most recent music video 'It's a Beautiful Day', famed music video director, Marc Klasfeld, talks about the long steadicam shots used in the longer sequences of the video. The video was shot using an ARRI Alexa. I always find it interesting to see how they go about filming music videos especially those with larger production values.
Through the years of excitement, down turns, and overall joy of our beautiful love for photography, we share a lot of experiences as we progress in the industry. No matter how divided we are in opinions, one thing we share is our love for photography. We may bicker over camera brands and techniques but you're reading this because like me, you love this industry.
A Polish man proposed to his girlfriend by creating a fake horror movie trailer. Not just fake, but actually pretty good. The video was made by combining snippets of scenes from "The Grey," "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Essential Killing" and dramatic music to give that finish touch. His unsuspecting girlfriend went to the movie theatre with 2 of her friends, not knowing that night will change her life. Seeing her face when she realizes what's going on is priceless.
This isn't the first time Air New Zealand has made waves across the internet. While their previous safety video featured hobbits, elves, and wizards in a Lord of the Rings inspired piece, this new video features wilderness survival talent Bear Grylls. In this behind the scenes video, you can get a closer look at the conditions and locations the crew had to work around, while having a fun time even while trying to keep warm on the mountaintop. Check the BTS, then click on for the final video!
Not only is this video hilarious, NSFW, cute, and lovable, but we also get an awesome look behind the scenes at the cameras and filmmaking techniques used to create it. Matt & Kim, you've knocked it out of the park on this one. Check out the video by clicking to the left, then check out the BTS video inside the post. Oh yeah, the song is super catchy too!
Guest Writer's and Dale and Jill Lempa of Lempa Creative are a husband and wife team of photographers from Cary, NC who specialize in wedding and engagement photography. If you're a wedding photographer, then you can understand how stressful or hectic weddings are. Sometimes it might not occur that the bride is just as, if not more stressed out than we are. Dale and Jill have taken the time to share these helpful insights in just what the bride is thinking and how you as the photographer can help!
Introducing the latest and not so greatest product from PhotoJojo, the Look Lock. The Look Lock allows you to attach your smartphone to your hotshoe mount using a large and out of place aluminium arm, proving once again, that the camera accessory market is completely out of ideas.
Here's a little cinematography humor to brighten up your lazy Sunday. From the people over at Autodesk and filmmaker Jeremy Hunt comes a coming of age story of a dude. A dude who just wants to go about his business and a visual effects editor who ruins said dude's day. We all know the importance of 'getting it right in camera', but this is what happens when post-processing runs amok.
The general idea of Photoshop is to help make someone look flawless, while still maintaining their unique and human qualities. It's a tactful technique that requires a keen eye and a good understanding of the human face’s shape. This basic concept was completely destroyed for the cover of Harper’s Bazaar China cover featuring actress Sarah Jessica Parker.
Greek law enforcement officials are facing investigation after ‘allegedly’ airbrushing out a black eye and face lacerations that the police may or may not have given to a young man and his three other bank robber friends.
Greek government officials have admitted to some photo alterations, but they would really insist you believe that it was done only to make the robbers more noticeable in public. It has nothing to do with making them look like half a Japanese Anime character.
Iran recently released information and a photo regarding a new stealth fighter jet that left the US foreign policy makers nervous and concerned for the impending future. The problem with this news? It’s a pretty obvious Photoshop composite, and a pretty terrible one at that.
Rob Dunlop, creative director and brains behind PrettyInWhite.com, just posted an interesting and also somewhat humorous account of his purchase of a Canon 5d Mark III through DigitalRev.com. Rob, spurred on by a series of bizarre coincidences, ended up doing some research on his new camera, only to find that it had not only been used, but used somewhat extensively by DigitalRev to create a review.
PocketWizard is to radio transceivers what Kleenex is to tissues. PW's have become the industry standard and the benchmark which all other radio transceivers/transmitter & receiver combos are measured. This week PocketWizard introduced the G-Wiz Vault Storage Solution... What is it? To me it would appear to be the fancy name for a lunch box...
Reality is sometimes funnier than fiction when it relates to something we all do. In this situation, I asked my network of colleagues to fill in the blank, “You know you're a photographer when, ____.” The responses were better than I was expecting! Here are some of the best answers given by other photographers in the industry. Be sure to post your own answers in the comments as well!
Camera Sutra is a tale of love between a photographer and his camera. This witty shirt was designed by Trey Ratcliff, HDR phenom of the site StuckInCustoms.com, and is being sold on his site store. About the shirt Ratcliff said, "We don't take ourselves too seriously around here... occasionally we seem to find ourselves in embarrassing positions with our tripods, so we thought it best to consult the hallowed ancient tome of the Camera Sutra and make a t-shirt out of it." Read on to see all the named positions.
Here at Fstoppers we love sharing behind the scenes photo shoots with our readers so we can all learn and grow together. Every so often we come across one that while it could have been executed better is still worth sharing. Such is the case with the recent commercial shoot for the McPhee Inflatable Unicorn Horn for cats. I can gather from the video that it is best to shoot unicorn'ed cats against a white seamless, using Pocket Wizards to fire your lights and a number of cat petting assistants. Big props go out to the audio mixer on the video as well. Enjoy!
While digging through hundreds of RSS feeds that jam pack my reader each week, I ran across an impressive camera tattoo on the arm of Lotte van den Acker of an Asahi Pentax 35mm SLR. Normally I would see a camera tattoo and think big whoop but this was one different and I thought it should be shared. I reached out to Lotte and asked a few questions about the camera tattoo and found out a little more about the meaning.
So I have seen quite a bit of caricature portraits and fell in love with them. I decided to try my hand at doing a few and kind of fell into a new little series with them. Everyone who has seen them has asked if I could shoot them or their families in this style. This little tutorial will show you how I go about doing these shots.
Being a member of a lot of online photography communities, I see stuff like this all the time. A photographer just took a shot that I can tell they are really excited about, and want some feedback on it. They'll post it to a forum or a Facebook page with the typical "C&C please." line. And it drives me up a wall.
For the past few years DigitalRev has done the "Cheap Camera Challenge" with a professional photographer and a crappy little toy camera. This year's challenge consisted of Strobist's David Hobby, a 2MP Buzz Lightyear toy camera and 3 of the best named speedlights of all time, the Family Jewels FUQ 690.
I'm originally a marketing/advertising dude, so I'm always looking at ads. I actually watch commercials intentionally to see what brands are doing to promote their product. I just stumbled across this banner, and it's baffling to me how this got past the creative director's desk. I mean, really?
Do you really, REALLY love Pantone? Did you forget to send your all important retoucher a gift this holiday? Do you have some Christmas money left over that you want to blow on your beloved Pantone? Check out the new Perfect Matching Scarf. This collection of 6 scarves will leave you set for life to match any outfit you could ever wear. Also, you will look like a moron. Enjoy!
After all these years, Victoria's secret has just been revealed. She can't sing, not a lick. A recent VS Christmas commercial features their Angels getting ready for the holiday and singing carols while placing presents under the tree and waiting for Santa to show. The girls mess up lyrics, sing horrible notes, drop props ... and look fantastic the entire time. MERRY CHRISTMAS from me.
Sometimes if opportunity doesn't come knocking you just have to build the door yourself, or in Judson Collier's case an epic website as an intern proposal letter. The website/fancy letter was written to famed photographer Jeremy Cowart. I was blown away at the sheer creativity, not to mention ballsy approach to asking someone for a job. Judson goes into great detail on why he would like to intern, his strengths and why he believes he would be great at the job, including making a mean cup of coffee.
Google's predictive text can be a funny thing, especially with some of the suggestions it gives you. It seems to be partly based upon what other people may search for in relation to the specific keywords that you enter. I decided to see what would come up if we entered a few phrases regarding photographers such as 'Why do photographers...'. The results were hilarious and kind of sad!
For one of the most epic trailer sequences of the year, youtuber Genrocks compiled over 100 films into one sequence. Although the movies range into every genre, the sequence flows amazingly well from one scene to the next. For a list of all the movies and music used in the compilation, click here.
Youtube put together a tribute video where the biggest viral sensations of 2012 were invited to star in a mash-up of culturally defining moments from the year, directed by Peter Furia. Can you spot all the references? We've also got the BTS, so check that out once you've had a good laugh.
Ever have a filter get stuck on the front of your lens? I personally have not, but I can imagine how irritating it can be. Travel photographer (and friend of mine) Craig Pulsifer posted the method he was instructed to use by Canon Professional Services to his blog. His warning: this is not for the faint of heart.
Quebec photographer, Patrice Laroche, took an interesting approach to his personal maternity photos. He took several self-portraits of himself with the mother of his child, Sandra Denis at a convenience store air pump machine. The series of photos were taken a different times within the nine months of waiting for their daughter, Justine, to make an appearance into the world. A very unique and humorous way of documenting the whole length of the pregnancy, that I hope becomes a trend.
UPDATE: Apparently video was removed from Youtube. Link to original CollegeHumor video is here. Taking a break from any serious discussion about whether or not Instagram is a good thing, let's all take a moment to appreciate the hilarity that is this video, which pokes fun at Instagram to the tune of Nickelback. I remember when I actually liked this song... a lot.
The Saddest Boy In The World is a short film by Vancouver filmmaker, Jamie Travis of Modern Family Productions. "Saddest Boy" is a perfect double rainbow of dark humor and a vintage nabes-esque aesthetic. On Modern Family Production's site, there is a Q&A section with the director that gives some insite to how they made the movie. Here is a selection from the Q&A ...
Ed Hetherington was photographing animal life in Kenya from a remote on-the-ground setup when a lion approached and found it rather odd...and oddly tasty. The series of images that followed show the lion sniffing, carrying, and enjoying the camera for a while. The lens survived despite getting a little dirty, but the body wasn't so lucky...
Gearing up for the holiday season Canon released a funny new commercial advertising their T4i camera. I really enjoy how companies these days are focusing on videos that gain viewers through creativity and humor rather than pop down millions on a celebrity or buying a prime television commercial ad.
Everyone knows "that" guy or girl who should have stuck with a point and shoot when picking out their camera. From the gear head to the overly enthusiastic "artist," Youtubers DSLRnoidea have a little fun with the type of people who really weren't meant to own a dslr.
Air New Zealand has been known for their original, themed and very well made safety videos. Just recently they released their newest safety video featuring a plane full of Tolkien fans called, 'An Unexpected Briefing'. Air New Zealand partnered up with the people over at Weta Workshop to create the amusing safety briefing. The video made in anticipation of 'The Hobbit' features a few actors from the movie, real Tolkien fans, J.R.R. Tolkien's great-grandsons, actual working Air New Zealand employees and even has a cameo from the man, Peter Jackson, himself.