Humor

I know, I know. My post last Sunday also featured Zack but when you put yourself out there as much as he does, you're going to get noticed (a lesson for us all). Besides, this isn't really about him. This is about one of the greatest challenges ever conceived in the photography industry. That's right kids. It's the 2014 Gulf Photo Plus ShootOut, pitting Sara Lando against Zack Arias with cameos by some of the best shooters in the industry.

James is not one of the ordinary kids in town. James is a superhero shooting lasers from his eyes and flying around. These super powers are all possible thanks to his dad, Daniel Hashimoto, who is a DreamWorks animator and a visual effects specialist based in LA. Daniel decided to use his visual effects skills and upgrade his own home-videos of his young son James, who is now also known as "The Action Kid".

Creative writer Kendra Eash wrote a painfully accurate article for Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendencies that put into perspective what most brand and corporation videos look and sound like. Taking it to the next level, stock clip site Dissolve realized it was indeed generic, and pulled together their own stock clips cut to Kendra's writing, resulting in a hilarious edit.

Good friend (and even better photographer) Zack Arias over at DEDPXL.com just kicked out a little Q&A video on how to get your foot in advertising agencies' doors. As usual Zack delivers solid, straight forward, no-nonsense advice and as a bonus you get to meet Carl (the laconic squirrel). There's even a shout out to John Keatley from the Fstoppers' Bahamas Workshop coming up in May.

What happens when you combine a GoPro Hero +3, a DJI Phantom II, an actor dressed as Superman, and some clever video editing? How about one awesome simulation of what it must be like to be Superman as he flies through Los Angeles. If you were upset with our recent Phantom 2 Gopro height test last week, you are definitely not going to want to watch this video. Be sure to check out Sam and Niko's behind the scenes video

I've read plenty of articles online about the sharing of user information, privacy settings on facebook, and the creepy things that someone could do with malicious intentions. In this video, Sam Pepper uses Instagram location tagging to find girls in the area, and makes them believe they know each other by sharing information they posted online.

Ok, sure it's advertising but it's creative, entertaining advertising by global ad agency Saarchi & Saatchi and executive creative director Jason Mendes. Imagine going to your favorite local theater, plopping your butt down with your popped corn in one hand and coke in the other. And just as you settle in look up to find that you have become an advertising superstar.

Most photobombs we know are the ones of our drunk friend who walks in behind a group shot at a party, or of a random old lady who eats while walking when you take a selfie outside with your best friend. But what if Jimmy Fallon and Jon Hamm were the ones photobombing your shots? In one word - Awesomeness.

Remember when Jean-Clade Van Damme released his awesome Volvo Trucks commercial? Then, it was followed by an even more awesome Chuck Norris doing the splits between two planes video response? Yah, we do. Turns out Chuck Norris truly can be beat though!

A few weeks back, I posted a full behind the scenes blog about my Robocop photoshoot. I had such a fun time with the shoot and final images that I figured others may enjoy playing with my Phase One MF raw files as well. I posted a contest on my personal photography blog that challenged people to re-interpret Robocop using up to 8 of my supplied Phase One RAW files. There was hundreds of entries from across the globe a handful of star-studded judges to review the entries.

They are out there. Lurking in the shadows and deep recesses of the internet where common sense is not welcome and logic has yet to be invented. I am speaking of course about every small business owner’s worst nightmare. The potential client that has no potential. Nothing I had encountered before could prepare me for the hilarious email I received one fine Monday morning.

Fashion icon, model, plaything. No matter how you see her Barbara Millicent Roberts (a.k.a. Barbie) proves that she's still got it at the age of 55 by landing the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition (technically a promotional cover-wrap for the American International Toy Fair). Even though this tongue-in-cheek video was primarily created for humorous reasons you still get a good glimpse behind the scenes with legendary photographer Walter Iooss.

Kai of DigitalRev is known for his Cheap Camera Challenges where he gives successful photographers a cheap camera and asks them to create awesome images with it. Photo mogul Chase Jarvis decided recently to turn the tables and give his own challenge to Kai himself, and see how he can handle it. The challenge was to create one of Chase's most iconic images (originally shot with Hasselblad) with a GoPro Hero3+.

This morning as I was perusing through the front page of the internet, a.k.a. Reddit, I came across this 2-minute wedding video that had me laughing till my chest hurt. I couldn't help but watch it three times. The friends and family that helped plan this gypsy wedding sure know how to throw a fantastic dangerous party.

Lately we've been seeing a lot about the Nikon Df. Everything from Lee Morris' Nikon Df Hipster Review to Chase Jarvis' First Impressions, and it seems like the early popular opinion has judged the Df as lacking. Adding to the growing list of underwhelmed reviews is this video from DigitalRevTV as they compare how the D4 sensor performs in both the Df and D4 models.

I would have thought the storm trooper armor would have been twerk prohibitive but I was wrong, I was very wrong. Check out the behind the scenes of the making of this video below.

About two months ago, I posted a highly controversial post called The Nikon Df Represents Everything Wrong With Photography. Even though I completely stand behind my original article, I began to wonder if I had not given Nikon's newest DSLR offering a fair chance. Today I decided to take the Nikon Df out into the real world and not only test it's photographic capabilities, but also hear what normal people had to say about it.

Academy Awards season is swiftly coming and to get the buzz going a little earlier the Oscars have come out with a brand new trailer with talk-show darling Ellen DeGeneres and 250 dancing extras. The trailer was directed by Paul Feig who is best known for "Bridesmaids" and "the Heat". It looks like they used an ARRI Alexa to film the trailer. It's a fun and cute glimpse into what we can look forward to at this coming year's Academy Awards show.

Long gone are the days of being pro- or anti-Photoshop. Today, it's use is ubiquitous in advertising and fashion. Rather, the discussion is now centered around how much Photoshop is appropriate, and at what point is it that something becomes "over 'shop'ed". Ad agency Victors and Spoils aptly demonstrates in this video how marketeers will stop at nothing to get the perfect message across when using Photoshop.

I always felt that Kai and the rest of the Digital Rev crew had a sadistic, if not humorous, streak in them and now I have proof. Their latest Cheap Camera Challenge gives filmmaker Philip Bloom till days end to producing a short film with nothing but a 240p resolution Barbie Video Girl doll.

Orlando-based Filmmaker Luke Aker recently decided to sell his old and (very) used 1996 Nissan Maxima. He knew it won't be easy to find a buyer for the car, so he used his talent and skills and created a video commercial for it. To be honest? It's way better than most car commercials on TV. "Luxury Defined".

South Park is a show that comes off as harsh. With their crude and direct sense of humor, it was just a matter of time before they attacked the world of retouching and post production. In a recent episode, they decided to poke fun at the concept of Photoshop and manipulation.

Soccer superstar Lionel Messi and Basketball All-Star Kobe Bryant joined forces once again, and with the help of Turkish Airlines they went on a quest of awesome selfies around the world. When the biggest sports stars in the world compete - it doesn't matter if they compete in soccer, basketball, chess, air hockey or photography - they will give all they have to win. The real winner? Probably Turkish Airlines.

The majority of successful filmmakers tend to have very similar stories about their humble beginnings. Cheap cameras were often strapped to skateboards or car hoods to emulate the high budget movies or commercials. Professional jibs or sliders were considered a waste of money when there was a perfectly good painter's pole in the garage.

Recently, I started working with a new steadicam operator for my video productions in the New York City area, Kyle. Aside from his upbeat positive demeanor, I noticed that every piece of equipment seemed to be customized with velcro for maximized efficiency. Little did I know, he had started a youtube series called "The Efficiency Machine" showcasing his different velcro-inspired inventions such as his "Super Desk." See below for more examples of his velcro madness/genius.

To promote C.U.N.T. (aka C U Next Tuesday) Sarah Elizabeth Meyler videos Dublin hipsters under the premise that she was taking a photo. The resulting montage of poses is a good chuckle for all of you who have had a long work week followed by a short weekend of more work. Enjoy.

The Canon 5D Mark II opened a lot of doors to aspiring video shooters like myself. Suddenly filmmakers had access to amazing video quality inside a small DSLR body. Although the compact size of DSLRs is a huge strength it can also be the camera’s biggest obstacle. Often times while shooting with a DSLR, I’ll come across what I lovingly call “Deer In The Headlight Syndrome”.

I thought this was a cool retrospective video that DigitalRev put together using clips from their old episodes of Cheap Camera Challenge. This piece essentially shows how some veteran shooters keep composed when faced with on-set challenges. Everything from face-planting onto concrete while trying to take a photo to dealing with deadly snakes just inches away

NYC Photographer Richard Renaldi recently embarked upon one of the most original photo projects I've ever seen. In the series Touching Strangers, Renaldi finds two strangers, whether on the street, in a restaurant, at work - and tells them to get together and pose as if they have known each other for years.