You can really get yourself into trouble putting your expensive camera gear on a drone, Lee Morris has personally lost two drones and Chase Jarvis famously crashed his DJI Phantom into a lake in Iceland. Now Swiss researchers are looking to change all that, or at least help prevent some minor crashes.
His client list reads like a who's-who in iconic businesses: Pearl Vision, American Standard, Shell Oil, Virgin Galactic, AOL, Wells Fargo, Salesforce, Red Bull, Minute Maid, Costco, and Allstate. He has even photographed celebrities like Kevin Spacey, Richard Branson, and Al Gore.
Friend of the Fstoppers Dave Kai-Piper recently shared this great little tutorial showing you exactly how he creates his beautiful monochrome images in a clever little process that takes only a couple minutes.
For those of you who are a little short on time, Dave has allowed us to share the step-by-step rundown below:
One of the many reasons people become attracted to photography is the capability of capturing the world around us in wondrous ways. While choosing large apertures or developing a dramatic style in post processing can completely change a setting, there are also subtle but supportive ways to change a scene. Such a way is through the use of a circular polarizing filter (CPF).
Big things are happening in the world of video editing and post-production. If you ever thought you’d like to develop (or improve) your video editing and post production skill set (and get a chance to do so for free) read on.
What’s Changing?
Sometimes aperture and depth of field can be a little tricky to get your head around, especially when you’re a new photographer. Matt Granger gives a quick run down of appropriate aperture settings to get the shot you are looking for. Granger mentions the possible aperture settings that will help you with focus as well as where your lens might perform at its best
After watching a great film, it is rare that we give conscious credit to the editing (which is actually a silent compliment to the editors).
It's always a small handful of people that begin the process of ruining it for everyone else. On Monday, two drones nearly crashed into a New York Police Department's chopper while it was going over the George Washington Bridge.
All this week at the PRO EDU studio in St. Louis, Michael Woloszynowicz has been hard at work showing off his techniques for an upcoming tutorial series on creating fashion and editorial photography.
If you're a wedding photographer then you're all to familiar with Uncle Bob photographers: people with a camera getting in your way, breathing down your neck asking about settings and gear, and otherwise making your life dificult.
It's hard to imagine someone not describing what Sergeant Larry Reid Jr. does as a dream job. Once you see what he does, the images he captures and the joy on his face as he explains his process, part of you (no matter who you are) kind of wishes you were him.
ESPN's Body Issue 2014 is out -- and the results are stunning. Every one of the 59 images in the "Bodies We Want" piece is a beautiful portrait of the pinnacle of the human form. There is no doubt these are professional atheletes with perfect, sculpted bodies. No puffed-up editing, no extraneous fluff. This is the real deal: clean, sharp, and on point.
I've personally covered the Sony a7S a lot here at Fstoppers, full disclosure: I'm in love with the idea of this camera. As a diehard D700 user (though I've since retired it) I love the idea of a high-ISO somewhat low-res monster. All the reviews and sample images / video I've seen of this camera have absolutley blown me away, this video is no different.
It's extremely easy to produce mundane timelapses, which is why amazing work like "Barcelona GO!" produced by filmmaker Rob Whitworth gets me so jazzed. This timelapse/hyperlapse done in "flow-motion" (what Rob calls his fast-moving short films) is simply stunning.
Stop motion is one of the oldest and historically most popular tricks in the industry. It was used in many great films, music videos, advertisements and children's TV shows for many years. Recently Lexus decided to take the stop motion idea and combine it with some cool practical effects to create their new TV advertising spot.
Every once in a while I come across a photographer or project that blows me away in terms of content, just in time for Independence Day weekend, B&H released this video of Stacy Pearsall, US Airforce Veteran and combat photojournalist, telling the story behind one of her latest and largest project, photographing veterans. Take a look.
Ah July 4th. For us in the United States, this national holiday calls for hot dogs, beer and most importantly fireworks. YouTuber Jos Stinglingh may have published this video of a DJI Phantom 2 and a GoPro a couple months ago in West Palm Beach, Florida, but there are few dates more apt to view it than today.
Happy fourth of July everyone!
If you've been following the world's favorite sports championship as closely as they do everywhere except in the U.S., you've undoubtedly noticed snippets of Beats' beautifully filmed World Cup commercial, "The Game Before the Game." Featuring Serena Williams, Lil Wayne, and numerous soccer stars, the cinematic ad shows the world's greatest talents' pre-game/pre-show preparations from patriotic
Last month we shared a really impressive project of an underwater shoot in Bali done by my friend and conceptual photographer Benjamin Von Wong. He stated then that was only part one and that part two would be coming soon.
Phoenix based model and photographer Shantia Veney took some time to make a quick three and a half minute video demonstrating how a constant, fluid, motion of dance-like movement looked in front of the camera.
Gillette, founded in 1901, has been around for just over 100 years now. To celebrate, they recently put together a genius stop-motion video showing the evolution of men's hair during that time. This video takes us behind the scenes of the four-day production and shows the painstaking level of attention-to-detail involved in creating an animation of this magnitude.
Stijn Verlinde is boarding a flight home to Belgium from a shoot in Las Vegas. “The one piece of advice I would give to anyone starting out is 'be dedicated'.” Stijn, who started out a few years ago with some basic gear has lived by that advice. He is constantly working and is revolutionizing dance music festival videos across the globe.
The combination of two visually striking methods resulted in this surreal video by Vincent Brady. After checking the video, read on for some more information on the rig Vincent used to shoot with, and some insight on the programs he used to painstakingly stitch his images together for the final timelapse video.
Hiking season is in full swing and in the last few years I've incorporated a lot of video and photography while on week long trips in the backcountry. When every pound of weight counts, you have to choose your gear carefully. In this post I’ll share my tricks and tips for making a useful kit without weighing you down.
Those that know me know that Los Angeles is one of my favourite cities in the world. The city just feels like home for a number of reasons and this timelapse from Chris Pritchard absolutely embodies everything I love about it. The ever changing conditions and light, the mixture of urban and landscape and the way the city just feels alive.
GoPro is getting ready to release their official IPO (Initial Public Offering) and join the stock market within the next 2 weeks. I received an email from GoPro yesterday asking if I wanted to participate and reserve the power to buy some of their IPO's and I instantly signed up and transferred funds.
In a rather raw video posted to Youtube earlier today, a man jumps off some rocks and into the water only to find his friends screaming, "Shark!" behind him. Captured from a GoPro he attached before jumping in, this video gives us get a pretty good POV glimpse of what that would feel like. What would you do in that situation?
Have a creative urge to create something but have no time to execute it? Or maybe you feel you don't have the right location and atmosphere? I think you should consider getting stuck at the airport. Richard Dunn did just that. The Georgia man got stuck overnight at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, alone, and decided to use do something useful with his time.
My friend Chris Lavigne is what I like to call the "master of media" over at Wistia, which means he gets to make all their product videos and also spends a lot of time sharing tips and tricks he uses as a cinematographer. He recently released this video which explains how he records audio to his 5D Mark III in a somewhat unconventional, yet still effective, way.
The LitePanels 1x1 has arguably been the industry standard for LED lighting in many news and documentary productions. At the recent CineGear show, LitePanels demoed their latest product, an update to the award winning 1x1. The new "Astra" light claims to have an output 4x greater than the original 1x1. Nate Weber from Newsshooter.com shares the first look in this video.
In a short film created by media group Blue Chalk, photographer Cory Richards discusses his growth as a photographer and his experiences shooting in some of the most beautiful-and dangerous-places on earth.
Michael Schmidt of Chemnitz, Germany, shares a video review of Canon's new and quite affordable EF-S 10-18mm IS STM lens. The lens features silent focusing thanks to its stepping motor (STM) and even throws in built-in image stabilization (IS).
Earlier this year Lukas Renlund, a 30-year old professional photographer from Scandinavia, sat down and tried to imagine what the photography industry might look like in 5 or 10 years. That imagination-session lead him to quickly start a new photography/media company named 'Not So Fast | Media'.
Thirty years after their original collaboration for Koyaanisqatsi, filmmaker Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass are at it again with documentary where the audience is placed in an unusual situation: watching the varied expressions of others interacting with technology. This video, an Fstoppers exclusive, gives you a look into the mind of Godfrey Reggio while making the film.
If you watched the Fstoppers "How To Become a Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer" DVD, you might remember a scene where Lee Is shooting by the water. He later told us he was too concerned for the structural integrity of a dock to put a wedding party on it, stating he didn't want to be "that photographer." Well, Lee might have avoided it, but this group sure didn't.
This little DIY "hack" from MrCheesyCam on YouTube shows you how to add a 3 stop ND filter to lenses that you might otherwise not be able to (such as the MFT Rokinon Fisheye as shown in the video). All the components needed for this nifty little mod cost well under $10.
When it comes to camera memory cards, most of us gravitate towards Sandisk and Lexar. Maybe PNY or Sony too. Samsung has been making memory cards for other companies for quite some time, but only recently have they decided to branch out and brand them as Samsung. So how do they perform? Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, quite well.
I've always been a Lowepro fan. I own pelicans, Think Tank, ONA, swag backpacks... the works. But for some reason I keep gravitating back to Lowepro. I currently own both the old and new versions of the Pro Roller bags. In an attempt to show how well protected your gear is inside the new Lowepro Pro Roller X-Series, Lowepro decided to do the ridiculous.
Let me preface this by saying I hate calling anything the "ultimate." Odds are, I've missed something in the market that might be better. It's nearly impossible for me to keep a pulse on everything in this massive and expanding industry. But if anything comes as close to "ultimate" in the video tripod world, it would be the Benro S8 Video Tripod.
The RagLite LED systems are a product seeking backing on Kickstarter to do a production run of what appear to be LED strips on fabric that can be rolled up, powered by battery, are waterproof, and claim a CRI of 95. With several rewards being offered, including various sizes of their light, they seek to raise about $25,000.
I was recently introduced to a new business, TogTools.com, from a photographer friend of mine and co-founder, Jess Robertson. TogTools is a free online resource for new or emerging photographers to gain knowledge through various podcast interviews from notable creatives in our industry. The focus of their interviews are all things related to running a successful business.
Last month, Lytro announced their second generation light field camera they call Illum. The Illum system is clearly geared at serious amateur and professional photographers interested in experimenting with variable focus photography. This new mini-documentary features photographers using the Illum system, the technology behind it, and their creative process.
In beauty and portrait retouching, one of the most important goals is to retain skin texture and keep the image from looking soft. We often however face a situation where the existing texture is unflattering and harsh. While we could heal out each pore or patch manually, this often leads to sub-par results and takes a long time.
Capturing a high action activity like ice climbing can be tricky enough, but photographer Ray Demski took it one step further– to include the aurora borealis, and to do it in a single image (no compositing). In this behind the scenes video, see the challenges Ray faced when having to deal with capturing a long exposure of the scene, while dangling on the side of an ice cliff himself.
In case you didn't know, Amazon recently put out a patent on White Seamless Studio Photography which a lot of photographers found to be quite bogus. You can read our article about that here. Colbert put out his video of him ripping on Amazon with some pretty humorous jokes and going a bit in depth into the patent they filed.
Intelligent Details is the new ad / documentary that Bentley Motors commissioned. It was filmed throughout New York and highlights what inspires Luc Donckerwolke, Bentley's Director of Design, and SangYup Lee, Head of Exterior Design. At around the 3:16 mark, you'll be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at how the film was created.
A few weeks ago I released a video featuring my friend and fellow photographer Blair Bunting in the backseat of an F16. The video blew up on Reddit (#1 in r/Videos making it to the top 5 of the front page), was featured on Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Daily Mail, Telegraph, CNN, ABC World News with Dianne Sawyer, hundreds of other blogs and even was officially recognized by YouTube.
Nikon provided a new video highlighting the benefits of using its fluorine coating, first used on the just-announced updated 400mm f/2.8 lens. In addition to adding a certain clarity to the image because of its antireflective properties, the new 400mm f/2.8 benefits from the fluorine coating's ability to repel just about anything that might hit it. I want this on all of my lenses!
Vincent Laforet’s Directing Motion workshop has done what every workshop should do – it’s challenged my current way of working and given me clarity on how I can improve my work. Less than 24 hours after the workshop, I was working differently, shooting differently and thinking differently.
Sound is critical to a successful video. Clear sound. Crisp sound. Real sounding sound. Once you get into audio (and I mean really get into it), it's hard to get out. "Pictures say a thousand words? Sounds say 10,000 words." It's rather literal, but it's true. Sound is often under-appreciated in video and that's a shame. This video is an ode to sound.