The music we use in our work, whether for videos or slide shows for stills images, is an integral part of the narrative and story we are trying tell. The genre, artist and music track we choose, sets the tone for the entire story we wish to tell. I treat music as the keystone that underpins the visual story of a BTS video, commercial work, documentary piece or creative editorial shoot that I am working on.
Bullet Time added to Major League Baseball and the National Football League is as cool as it sounds.
Replay Technologies has put together what they are calling FreeD aka free dimensional video which installs and sets up a number of cameras along the ballparks and captures footage from all angles compiling them into a smooth, almost 360-degree pan.
In the latest video from the "Life In Focus" series presented by F-Stop Gear, professional snowboarder turned photographer Jeff Curtes is interviewed about his beginnings in the world of photography, and he explains what he thinks is the key to his success. The video goes on to show Jeff hanging out of a car to shoot road bikers from mere feet away, while moving at a very fast speed.
Earlier this week, I stumbled upon Eskimo’s latest passion project “Wonderland”. At first, I expected a step-by-step guide to finding success with commercial work. But in fact, what I watched felt more reminiscent of a support group.
We can often get swept up in the world of digital video. Topics like 'What it will mean for the future of photography when we can pull stills from video?' occupy a lot of time and thinking.
Discussion like this is relevant but I sometimes think we miss the most important element of all. The single biggest contributor towards great video is actually making sure we understand what it is that makes a great still image in the first place. To go faster, we should actually slow down. Maybe even stop.
Photographer Lukas Renlund shares with us the second installation in his "Steal My Photograph" series. I was very impressed with this idea when I posted his Copenhagen Exhibit last August but Lukas has added a humorous new twist to his Barcelona installation by hiding a GoPro camera behind his photos to capture the reactions of the unsuspecting, would-be-thieves. I got a chance to catch up with Lukas and asked him a few of the questions that have been on everyone's mind.
Yesterday I posted a great aerial video over New York, and today I stumbled on this gorgeous time lapse/environmental piece by videographer Eric Hines. The project, called Expedition Iceland, is a collection of shots from a 17 day adventure around the country during the midnight sun in June 2013. It was all shot on a Canon 5D Mark III, a few different Canon lenses and Kessler equipment (such as the CineDrive).
Over the span of three months, Luke Shepard journeyed through 36 cities and 21 countries with the intent of capturing these beautiful European structures. What started as a successful kickstarter campaign,which raised nearly $20,000, has led to this beautiful video.
Despite the information floating around regarding the legality of drones, when you see some beautiful aerial footage taken with them, you can't help but gape in awe. In this video uploaded by Nicolas Doldinger you can watch a GoPro take to the skies. In their own words: "DJI Phantom + Zenmuse H3-SD Gimbal + Gopro Hero 3 = NYC LOVE."
Dave Dugdale of LearningDSLRVideo.com just published this great demonstration of the differences between recording video in raw and H.264 formats using Canon DSLRs and free Magic Lantern firmware. The difference is pretty astounding to me, as someone who has only ever shot video in H.264.
“Dress for the job you want, not the job you have”. I’m sure we’ve all heard this saying at one point in our lives. Even though I never took the advice (In your face Mom!) it can easily be reworked into something I firmly believe. “Film for the job you want, not the job you have”.
Recently director Moark Tola got the chance to spend 2 days testing out RED's Epic Dragon and has shared the results with all of us. I'm not going to lie, I've always been afraid that the day would come when a videographer could pull any frame a video and call it photography. Now you are only $29k (the price of an Epic Dragon brain) away from being able to do just that. Then again, I suppose you could use it to make kick-ass videos. This video shows the capabilities of Red Dragon's 6k sensor. Enjoy and drool.
Yesterday, I showed you the process of pre-producing a successful photoshoot and used a recent session as an example on all the steps it takes to put together a successful session with a large team. Today, I put together a breakdown of the entire production and post production process on creating a successful portrait session and a behind the scenes look into what all goes into it.
The Weather Channel recently released "Brink" a series of gripping short films showcasing six stories of animals that are dangerously shrining in numbers due to poaching, development and hunting.
Each of the six stories are enraging and harrowing to see and hear each story unfold about the mistreatment of the animals. Due to graphic images, viewer discretion is advised.
Recently, a duo by the name of Cruz + Jacob released an short documentary about a niche of concert photography known as EDM Photography. EDM, short for electronic dance music, has swept up the top music charts and its popularity is spreading quickly. The filmmaking duo snuck into this year's ULTRA, one of the biggest EDM festivals in the US, and did a pretty good job at showing what it's like to be an EDM photographer or videographer.
Sometimes the greatest tool for creating unique movement is your own body. Using human-powered camera moves, an aggressive color grade, and high-speed cameras, the final video in the full post is definitely worth a watch. In this behind the scenes video, Sebastian Linda explains how his vision came together using a high speed camera to create a fascinating 'dream world' of skateboarding.
Casey Neistat was approached with an unusual proposition from Mercedes Benz. They wanted Casey, a successful Youtube filmmaker to make a car commercial for the new Mercedes Benz CLA, even though Casey has never filmed a car commercial or anything close to resembling one. The following set of the three videos is his rather interesting journey so far. With Casey's charismatic personality it's curious to see how the commercial will turn out. I will update this when the final commercial is released. Enjoy.
DigitalRev's Pro Tog challenges are back, this time with a DIY theme. In this video see Pro Photographer Mark Chung create a continuos ring light using some basic hardware store materials, then use them in a fashion shoot.
Night photography is a very broad category, open to many different approaches and techniques to create a unique image of the world, or universe around us. The team at Walley Films has done a great job in this video, documenting the night/light painting photo workshop led by Scott Martin and Lance Keimig in Texas. While you won't get the full hands-on workshop experience, hopefully you can pick up some tips or inspiration for your own work.
Sometimes you see videos that just enthrall you in their simple yet beautiful elegance. This timelapse by Daniel Csobot is one such experience. He uses a Canon EF 100mm Macro on a Canon 7D with a Kessler CineSlider to capture the growth of a flower from seed to sprout to full growth.
Not too long ago we featured a tutorial that showed you how to make a fantasy desert kingdom out of tourist images, and thought I would share with you another amazing project by a talented artist. Alexander Koshelkov has quite an impressive resume of outrageous Photoshop compositions that excellently use real world items to create fantastical scenes. He just released this time lapse where you can watch his latest composition which took him just over 7 hours and uses 284 Photoshop CC layers.
Today my Facebook Newsfeed has been bombarded with posts about people going to see 'The Conjuring'. Released today, the supernatural thriller is getting great reviews from critics and viewers alike. Check out this b-roll and behind the scenes footage of the movie. With James Wan behind the helm the camera work is nothing short of amazing.
This is highly unusual, and super unlucky for both the golfer and the camera guy. Today in the first round of the British Open, Pro Thomas Bjorn chipped a ball out of the "rough" on the first hole and struck a very expensive camera. An estimated $80,000 camera to be exact. There isn't much else to say other than watch this, then check out how crazy the damage looks. Yikes.
“Mark Kologi has collected and sold literally millions of forgotten personal photos of complete strangers.” That was the only tag line associated with the video. With curiosity, I entered Mark's world for a moment through the video. I was curious to know why he does this. Immediately, I got it and it brought out the fascination I have with photography.
Every time I go to state parks along the lakeshore, I always see a few people with DSLR cameras walking around taking shots. Anytime there's an interesting bird nearby, it often becomes the subject of their attention. These colorful creatures are as majestic as they are quick though, and don't usually tolerate humans being too close to them. In this video tutorial from Tony Northrup, he shares many tips to get up close to birds in the field or even your own backyard.
Many of us travel, sometimes for work and sometimes as a tourist, but one thing I'm sure most of our readers have in common is that no matter where you travel, a camera is coming with you. This video serves as a sobering reminder that at any given time as a photographer in public you have hundreds if not thousands of dollars of equipment by your side, and as you can see this proves to be very temping for thieves with some skill in deception.
A single photograph from a photography session barely shows you all the planning and execution that goes into a photoshoot. Dozens of ideas, shooting styles and concepts often come into play in the pre production, not to mention the hours that can be spent in post production as well. As a result, I decided to give you all a breakdown of my recent photoshoot with good friend and model, Harmony.
If you're a wedding photographer, you probably know who Jasmine Star is by now. Not only is she talented in what she does but she also has a wealth of knowledge that is helpful to those who want to learn more about shooting weddings and engagement sessions.
This week, Ben Von Wong shows us a set of great conceptual photographs he shot with model Jen Brook that feature a great shallow depth of field and dark, moody atmosphere despite being photographed in bright daylight. Ben was able to do this using PocketWizard hypersync and was kind enough to document the shoot to show us exactly how he did it.
The summer zombie blockbuster film ‘World War Z’ starring Brad Pitt was rolled out to theatres everywhere a couple weeks ago, and showed the world some of the most in-depth special effects used to date. Hordes of tens of thousands of zombies showed us, perhaps, a realistic view of what the surely impending zombie apocalypse would really look like. Now they want to show us how it was done.
With the advancement in technology in the past few years (and decades), music videos and videos in general use more and more computer generated imagery and effects. The band 'Travis' decided to go back to the basics and hired Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth of Wriggles & Robins to help them create a super creative video without using CGI and green screens. Instead, they just used a projector and breath. Yes, breath. Actually, freezing breath. They filmed below freezing temperatures, and when band members exhaled into the cold air the projection showed up in mid-air. Creative, simple and awesome.
I've written about Glyn Dewis before on Fstoppers. He's a fellow Photoshop World Instructor, UK-based photographer, and has an amazing blog and youtube channel filled with great image post-production tips. In this tutorial, Glyn teaches how to add nice detail and grit to your portraits, as he did with his boxer portrait series featured here. Click to see the entire post to watch another tutorial video on this shoot.
Benjamin Von Wong is known for making some pretty exceptional creative images, but this time he decided to go audio instead of visual. In his latest project, he uses 12 Nikon cameras (with the assistance of Nikon Professional Services) and the musical know-how of composer Andrew Kesler to produce a masterpiece of rhythm and shutters.
Tom Parker, avid aerial photographer and videographer from Cambridge, UK, decided to try and make his own homemade MōVI rig without losing all his savings in the process. Parker is a Product Design and Manufacturing student at the University of Nottingham, where he got the knowledge on how to design and build the rig for his GoPro camera. The final result works great, and all he had to pay was $200. Not bad if you compare it to the $15,000 it will cost you to get the MōVI. Check out how he did it.
Last night Canon unveiled the successor to their popular 60D DSLR, the EOS 70D. There is a lot to like about the camera, but where Canon is focusing the brunt of their marketing is around the new Dual Pixel sensor which supposedly offers significantly faster focusing during video production. We've gathered a few videos from numerous Canon sources for your perusal to get you excited for Canon's next camera.
Chris Godfrey, VFX Supervisor on the film The Great Gatsby, recently released a 4 minute clip of before and after shots from the movie.
The sweeps reveal the sheer amount of post production that goes into a Hollywood movie like this. As a viewer, we know the movie magic is happening and that the heavy amount of FX are standard in blockbusters that hit the silver screens. It is interesting seing how some of the wide shots
Lowepro’s new DryZone bags come in two different models, a 40-Liter backpack (40L) and a 20-Liter duffel (20L). Lowepro has been making bags for years, and these are a new entry into their DryZone series. These new bags have an IPX6 waterproof rating, which means they can take a significant amount of water blasted onto them and keep your kit dry. Think rappelling through a waterfall or taking on some white water rapids in a small boat. This review will focus solely on my experiences with the 20L and how well it performed.
If you don't know Casey Neistat's name, you probably know at least one of his viral videos (like this). Gizmodo just did a great multi-part video series showcasing Casey's nearly OCD attention to detail that he used when creating his New York City studio and workspace. You have to admit, it's quite admirable the way he meticulously designed his workspaces for maximum functionality. As I am moving my photo and video business to New York City myself, I hope to take a few notes. Click to see the full post with video part 2 below.
Though I appreciate the spirit of this commercial put together by Samsung, I'm not sure I'm fully on board with their test environment (comparing image quality from an LCD or even a tablet isn't really a comparison). However, it does show the kind of people that camera companies are advertising to. Often pros are baffled by some of the products that hit the market. There isn't as much money in appealing to pros, but rather to the often totally ignorant consumer.
In this interview, Port Magazine sits down with Swiss photojournalist René Burri, to discuss the unbelievable stories behind six iconic photographs from his career including a very casual portrait Pablo Picasso in Cannes, and the reopening of the Suez Canal.
It seems like every week another story is circulating around the industry about one photographer stealing from another. Often the theft is done to build a portfolio of images they then use to promote themselves with and gain more business. This morning, though, I experienced a first. I learned that another company has stolen a video, put their header logo on it and is sharing this video on their site to promote themselves. Amazingly this was a video we featured here on Fstoppers and even shared how the original creator and owner of the video Simeon Quarrie put the whole thing together.
Bela Borsodi is a NY city based photographer that shot this beautiful photo of what looks to be four different images stitched together. In actuality, it was meticulously created in one take to look like four photographs. This is a behind the scenes video showing us how it was created, which in itself is a work of art.
With filmmaking it's not just the camera operators, directors, actors or even the composers that bring a good well-rounded film together, you also have to have an amazing sound team. It seems to be such an insignificant thing when creating a film, but in reality sound mixing can create the mood of the film just as much as the acting or lighting. Follow the team behind Zach Snyder's 'Man of Steel' as they discuss how they created the mood for the 'super' blockbuster.
Preston Kanak has released another highly informative video, this one on the subject of capturing successful day to night timelapses. In this long video, he covers different methods for achieving good results, such as bulb ramping, aperture priority, or blending it in post. Each of these methods is a bit different, and Preston shares many tips along way while showing plenty of examples.
It wasn't long ago that the art of photojournalism was handed another pink slip when the Chicago Sun-Times decided to lay off all but 2 of their photo staff in favor of iPhone wielding freelancers. In this video, Jared Polin of Fro Knows Photo interviews Al Podgorski who was one of the last staff photographers at the paper to talk about his last days at the paper, highlights of his career, and the future of the photojournalism industry.
When I first saw this video, my jaw was hanging open. This new dynamic target tracking camera is absolutely outstanding, capable of following extremely fast moving objects as well as able to project images on fast moving objects. It's something out of science fiction, and I love it.
The Youtube channel Friends in Faux used over 1600 Instagram uploads to create a stop motion video depicting the crazy adventures of one character throughout his day, creatively manipulated using the available tools on the iPhone app.
'Man of Steel' is number one right now in the box office. Whether you loved the movie, hated it or haven't even seen it yet; it's hard to argue that this installment of the Superman franchise was a step up from the last iteration. Check out this 13 minute long behind the scenes feature on the movie where they discuss the making of the movie. Watch closely and try to pick out different lighting set-ups.
Dream jobs are made where individuals labor in love, and passions are fostered. It is where “working” is hardly the right descriptor for they day-to-day. Seeing people who truly love their work and work for their passion is rare. I want to tell those stories, and I found one worth telling at a place where they produce the tools that make the lives of creative professionals possible- tools that often at first we never knew we needed, but now would find it impossible to live without.
In this short behind the scenes video, photographer Philip Lee Harvey takes to the sky, as well as the earth, for shooting images of Angel Falls in Venezuela. This expedition hits home with Philip, as he looks to follow the same path that an aviator named Jimmie Angel took when he became the first american to discover the area in 1933. With this backstory towing the line, Philip's shoot becomes that much more interesting of an adventure.