Benjamin "Von Wong" just submitted his BTS contest entry that was shot by Eric Bindman. This is our first large production entry and is defiantly an inspiring watch. The pictures can be seen here and I must say, they are quite stunning. I think Benjamin may have easily won this contest if he had given more technical detail about the shoot itself but hey, I am not going to be the judge.
Nathan Smith and Chris David had a shoot lined up with the Rydell Belles, a local roller Derby team. Nathan didn't have a video camera or professional editing software but he managed to create a BTS video anyway. The final images may not blow your mind but the video should be a huge inspiration because Nathan created this with his iPhone 3gs and iMovie.
Mike Sisk of FX Studios just sent this video over to us. He used falling paper to make his background a bit more interesting and appeared to tether his camera to his iPad to review his shots. Cool idea!
Flying Papers - BTS from Fx Studios on Vimeo.
It's rare that I watch a BTS video that gets me all excited but Cole Barash has done it. This video reminds me of what Fstoppers is all about because I am once again inspired. When you think that it has all been done before it's nice to be reminded how wrong you are. Check out the final shots from this fantastic shoot here. Please remember to comment below and give this photographer some love.
Love her or hate her, you have to admit Lada Gaga is a breath of fresh air when it comes to being creative with her music videos and photoshoots. When it comes to going all out in both production and creative thinking, Lada Gaga is always an inspiration. In this video you can see just how many looks she goes through to find a compelling image for the cover.
Our website is finally working again as the traffic from the iPhone video slows down. We are going to get back to releasing 1 BTS video every day. Friday night we had an Fstoppers get together in NYC and it was a big hit. About 22 photographers showed up including Tkae Mendez. Tkae just sent this great BTS video over to me. Enjoy...
A few weeks ago I did a full fashion photo shoot with my iPhone 3gs. I posted a few of the images and asked people to critique them (never exposing that they were shot on my cell phone). I couldn't help but laugh when a few of our readers claimed that these were "the best images I had ever taken." Nobody ever claimed that they were too grainy, too soft, or lacked detail.
George Chatzakis is an advertising and fashion photographer based out of Greece. For the last Porcelana ad campaign, George used a bunch of small point and shoot cameras to get that "matrix" style effect where multiple camera angles are capturing in the exact same moment in time. It's a really cool, and expensive, trick you have probably seen on MTV or on the big screen.
Tobi, one of our readers, just pointed me to this video. This is a fantastic example of a great concept for a photo shoot. After you check out the video you can see Scott's website here.
Joseph just sent this BTS video over to me. The video is lacking but the images are so good that I wanted to post this anyway. It is pretty amazing what you can do with a small softbox on a stick. You can view more details about this shoot and the final images here.
I'm a big fan of Annie Leibovitz's photography (who isn't), and a few weeks ago I was admiring this photograph she did of Keith Richards for Louis Vuitton. I was really happy when I found a short behind the scenes video of it via Strobist even though the quality is really poor.
Back when Lee and I started the idea of Fstoppers, we contacted a few friend photographers of ours to see if they would allow us to film some of their shoots for our Behind the Scenes website idea. We first featured Eric Bradshaw's beach shoot at launch but I figured I'd post the second video as well.
Zak Shelhamer has just submitted his contest entry; a behind the scenes video of him shooting his buddy on a motorcycle. The shoot isn't complicated at all and that is why I love it. Zak uses a van, 2 lights, and a stick to create very compelling images. You can join the dialog about this video below in the comments or head over to his forum post here.
I have learned that there is often a lot to be gained by watching people being creative rather than simply being shown an interesting lighting setup or cool new technical gadget.
Joey L is always an inspiration because not only is he really young but because he is really forward thinking with his creativity. Here is the behind the scenes video of his latest project The Mentawai. It's pretty wild to see the logistics of a shoot like this and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Click Here to see the final images and the original video posted by Joey L.
Douglas Sonders is an amazing photographer out of Washington DC, and his work is very stylized with studio lighting and exotic action themes. Check out this behind the scenes video as he brings out the weapons, poker chips, and Bond characters during his Secret Agent shoot. Also check out his website for more inspiring work!
It's pretty rare that I come across fine art nude photographs that I find interesting and respect the execution but Thorsten Jankowski has some interesting photographs here. It's nice to hear a black and white photographer talk about when it is most effective to publish a photo in color too.
I was sent this video by Marie-Louise Cadosch of Marc & Louis Photography based out of Switzerland, and I was absolutely blown away by the attention to detail in their planning and preproduction. Their behind the scenes video "Bleed Like Me" is gruesome and not for the faint of heart but I doubt you have seen anything like it. And if you are thinking about our DSLR Contest, you
Giuliano Bekor is a famous fashion photographer who has had various covers of Vogue, Elle, and Bazaar to name just a few. Today he takes us to "Africa" where BeBe is doing their summer 09 catalog with wild elephants, lions, and giraffes. This video is crazy but totally awesome!
I was just about to throw up a new post and I got this video in an email and decided to change things up. Check out Dave's fantastic BTS video and then head over to his website here.
Dave Hamilton Photography - behind the scenes from tashunka b on Vimeo.
Here is a quick timelapse of one of Pete's latests commercial gigs. It is a bit difficult to see what he is exactly doing in terms of lighting but I am simply impressed by the complexity of this shoot. Look how many people are on the set! After you watch this video head over to his website and be prepared to be blown away.
Graeme Murray just sent us this interesting video of Red Bull Athlete Kenny Belaey jumping his bike through some interesting backgrounds. Check out his photos in this behind the scenes video
Kenny Belaey Photoshoot from Graeme Murray on Vimeo.
Frank Salle and John Trotto have an interesting video on how they approached a difficult task: shooting swim spas both in the studio and underwater. Check out this video as they talk about their lighting and some of the difficulties they encountered during the shoot.
You can see more of their work at www.franksalle.com and www.johntrotto.com
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to shoot a fashion show? Last month Patrick and I had the unique opportunity to follow Todd Surber and Reese Allen of King Street Studios around as they shot Charleston Fashion Week. Todd was in charge of capturing the standard runway shots and that freed up Reese to do something a bit more unique.
Dylan Coulter and his team got pretty creative when asked to shoot a fashion spread for Men's Journal Magazine's May 2010 issue. Here is what Dylan told us about the shoot:
I was sent this video by a reader, and I thought the images looked really nice and the location was very cool. Then I got in touch with the photographer Matt Hawthorne and found out about the history of the Baker Hotel: the place is considered the most haunted building in all of Texas! This is what Matt has to say about the experience:
During the final weeks of March, Lee Morris and I decided it would be fun to feature a professional snowboard photographer on the front page of fstoppers. So we packed up all the cameras and headed out to Frisco, Colorado to see what our friend Dave Lehl could do to shed light on the amazing world of snowboard photography.
Marie-Louise Cadosch of Marc and Louis Photography has put together an amazing Bond-like photoshoot. Ater you check out their BTS video you can head on over to their website: www.marcandlouis.com
It's not often that we see photoshoots taking place a night. After you watch the Bui Brothers knock this shoot out, head over to there blog to view the stills from the shoot here.
Justine Ezarik Photos – iJustine Photoshoot behind the scenes video from The Bui Brothers on Vimeo.
Here is a very simple video of a very complicated photoshoot. I have trouble posing 1 subject but Douglas has to pose 7 guys, a truck, and a hovering helicopter. After turning day into night with Photoshop this is one successful shoot.
Swat Team Photoshoot - Douglas Sonders Photography from Douglas Sonders on Vimeo.
Check out Andres doing his thing and then the actual tear sheets from the magazine he was shooting for. After you check out his video you can head over to his website here.
Here's a really cool video of Oscar Van De Beek shooting a new car. What better way to show of the new car than with fire and explosions. You can check out Oscar's amazing portfolio here.
Behind the scenes of the New Seat Leon Cupra R photoshoot from Simon De Man on Vimeo.
This video is a bit old but I know many of our readers may have never seen it so I thought I would post it. You can check out the finished images at Dave's website here.
081228 Wrestlemania 25 - photo shoot from Dave Hill on Vimeo.
S1 Studios in Toronto Canada have a really cool assistants shootout each month where they showcase new gear and how to it can be used in different situations. In this video, watch as the Profoto Pro 8a packs light up two MMA fighters and shoot up to 10 fps!
A couple of weeks ago I posted a killer video of Simon Gerzina behind the scenes shooting fashion. Well he is at it again and we love his video and finished product just as much as the first one. After you watch him work check out his other photography here. If you live in NYC don't miss out on his April 10-11 workshop.
Originally from Columbia, Andres Hernandez has quickly become one of the top fashion photographers in Miami. In his most recent video, Andres collaborates with Extyn Italy for their spring 2010 collection. There are some nice behind the scenes moments in this video but it does lack a little on the technical aspect.
I just recieved a tip from one of our readers to check out Aaron's blog. I am so glad I did because not only is his photography fantastic; his behind the scenes videos are also interesting and informative. Check out his last shoot in the woods and then head on over to his website here. Behind the Scenes - Baxter from Aaron Nace on Vimeo.
Michael from Pixelcatcher.com has come up with an easy way to capture high speed images with a simple flash setup. While this method works great when popping waterballoons, you could also use it to capture anything that has a dramatic impact. Hopefully we can track down the specific unit Michael is using to create this setup.
Joel's latest book, Rare: Portraits of America's Endangered Species is now available. What started as a personal project grew to a multi-year effort to document everything from grizzly bears to endangered flies.
Lars Franzen shows us how to take amazing pictures outside with only small battery powered strobes. If you want to see more of Lars' amazing photography check out his site at: www.larsfranzen.com
We have been getting a lot of requests for videos that feature behind the scenes footage of specialized fields of photography. One of those fields is food photography which is probably because so many of you are reading our blog before lunch at work or in the late hours of the night when all that is left is that dreaded "4th meal".
Mick Gleissner is an underwater fashion photographer. Watch MG talk about some of the safety issues and unique challenges he faces in this fashion photography niche. It's truly amazing to see his images after knowing what all he and the models have gone through to create each photo.
Check out more of Mick's incredible images at www.mickgleissner.com
I love this video because it is so different. After you learn how to shoot people peaking from behind a curtain you should check out Espen's amazing portfolio at www.heiaespen.com
Behind The Scenes - DFDS from Espen Nersveen on Vimeo.
James Karinejad is a commercial product photographer out of Edgware, North London and his work is probably best described as clean yet imaginative. Some of the clients he has worked with have included Dolce & Gabbana, Pizza Hut, Clarins, and Addison Lee. It's also interesting to note that James made the transition to stills by first working in video.
Before Fstoppers.com launched I was in NYC at a scuba store preparing for my trip to Belize. I was talking to the store owner about underwater photography and Christopher Lynch walked up and joined in the conversation. Chris explained that he was a professional commercial shooter and after some great advice he gave me his card and went on his way.
Glen Writes:
This was a dream job! To shoot a bikini catalogue in an exotic country with a great team! We were flown over to Bali from Australia with myself (Glen Bowden - Photographer), Stylist - Michelle Bennett, Makeup and Hair - Mia Connor and Vanessa and her family from Veve Glamour Swimwear. The model was Amanda Klaassen.
In the beginning the project was only for the commercial product (packages/box), I was able to convince the customer to go all the way with advertising in one of the preproduction meetings; at first he was a bit reluctant to include art and finally agreed. I came up with the concept: a red round sofa, a chandelier and some other kind of chair, sofa with some props.
I have been following Dave Hill for years now and recently he was hired to shoot a picture series for the March issue of Digital SLR Photography Magazine. Dave has an amazing style to his photography; it almost looks like an illustration. Check out Dave's website here and check out snapshots from this shoot right out of the magazine on his blog here.