Videography

Videography and photography share a foundation — light, composition, optics — but moving images have their own demands around motion, audio, frame rate, and narrative pacing. This section is built for photographers who shoot video or want to start, covering the transition from stills to motion: the gear decisions, the technical differences, and the storytelling skills that make video work compelling rather than just competent.

Check Out This Behind the Scenes Footage of 'The Conjuring'

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.  

   

Watch a Golfer Destroy an $80K Camera

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.

A Short Film About A Man Who Has Sold Millions Of Forgotten Personal Photographs

“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.  

Tony Northrup Shares Tips For Capturing Close Up Bird Photographs

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.

Behind the Scenes Look Into My Commercial / Fashion Photo Session

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.

How Photographer Jasmine Star Prepares For An Engagement Session

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.  

Tutorial on Using PocketWizard Hypersync for Shallow Depth of Field in Bright Daylight

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.  

Behind The Scenes Look into World War Z’s Special Effects

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.

How Holograms Were Added to a Video Using Only Exhaled Breath and Light

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.

Tutorial on How To Create Detailed Grungy Athlete Portraits In Post Production

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.

A Twelve Nikon Camera Symphony Made with the Sound of the Shutters

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.  

eSteady: The $200 Homemade Version Of The MōVI

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.

Canon Calls the 70D a "Game Changer," Watch Their Promo Videos Now

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.

Fstoppers Reviews The New DryZone Bag From Lowepro

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.

Casey Neistat's Studio Is Incredibly Well-Designed For Function

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.

Samsung Tries to Convince Consumers That Bigger Isn't Better When it Comes to Cameras

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.

"Six Photographs" Interview with René Burri

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.

 

Credits:

Videographers Must Help One Another Out To Combat Thieves in the Industry

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.

How They Made This Single Photograph Look Like Four Different Photographs

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.  

The Sound Behind: 'Man of Steel'

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.

Detailed Tutorial On Shooting Day To Night Timelapses

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.

Dynamic Target Tracking Camera Can Follow Fast Moving Objects

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.  

Instagram Meets Stop-motion Video

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.

 

Behind the Scenes of 'Man of Steel'

'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.

Behind The Scenes As Philip Lee Harvey Travels To Venezuela

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.

Behind the Scenes - Capturing a World Record Speed Attempt with Phase One

Many people go out every year to set a Guinness World Record, and for those who can succeed comes fame, money and the ultimate bragging rights. Mike Newman should know, he's already set four... but now he wants three more to hold the triple crown for land, water, and air speeds.

Gorgeous Supercell Storm Footage!

Photographer Mike Olbinski has been visiting the Central Plains to shoot it's storms since 2010, and last week he encountered a supercell straight out of an apocalyptic thriller. The views in this timelapse are breathtaking! It's incredible to watch this massive storm tear through the fields near Booker, TX. There really isn't much more that I can say, just watch the video. Well done Mike!

Use Your Tripod to Create Video That Looks Like You Used a Slider

Now that many of us are shooting with DSLR cameras that handle both photo and video we often find ourselves doing a bit of both. For example, while I specialize in shooting weddings it is nice to be able to capture a bit of video of my clients and use it in a slideshow such as those done in Animoto or Lightroom 5.

BTS: Game of Thrones Rap Battle (NSFW)

Stage 5 TV is known for their clever take on geek culture with high production value. Their latest project is a fun video parody of one of television's best shows, 'Game of Thrones'. Many times parodies are filmed with DSLRs, so it's nice to see a company raise the level and use higher-end equipment like the RED cameras. WARNING: Vulgar Language. 

#CreativeDay Retouches Bus Patrons in Real Time, On the Street

I love creative videos that are just plain fun to watch. In this video, one Photoshop "magician" uses hidden cameras and a specially rigged advertising board at a bus stop to entertain bus patrons with retouched images of themselves, done in real-time. I have to admit, if I was sitting at that bus stop and they did this to me, I would be pretty amused.  

Create a Digital Masterpiece Composite from Every-Day Images

Sometimes those obligatory travel photos snapped on location are great on their own, but (at least for me) a lot of them aren't visually dazzling. Luckily, that can be rectified. Jonas De Ro recently published an absolutely breathtaking composite image psd.tutsplus that is jaw-droppingly amazing.

'Double-Exposures In Motion' Is Nothing Short Of A Spectacular Video (NSFW)

We're all familiar with double-exposure photography by now, often done by combining some sort of landscape or cityscape with the outline of a person to create a visually interesting effect. Now, it's taken to the form of video. Granted it has been done before, this video by Breeder takes it to another level.  

Comicbookgirl19 Interviews Practical VFX Artist, Alec Gillis

Comicbookgirl19 has to be my favorite channel on youtube at the moment. She and her trusty side-kick, 'Robot', review the latest shows, movies and comic books. Recently she interviewed one of the greatest practical special effects artists of our time, Alec Gillis. They discuss why practical effects seem to be losing traction in the film industry and how it will affect future filmmaking.

Romantic Short Shows Off Getty's 63,103,983 Seconds of Video

Several months ago,  Brazilian ad agency AlmapBBDO teamed up with Getty images to produce 'From Love to Bingo in 873 Images.' The ad showed off the extensive photographic library Getty has to offer with a creative story of boy meets girl. Recently, the same creative team came up with a similar concept to advertise Getty's video library.

Insane Video Showing Storm Chasers Get Caught In a Tornado

A number of deadly tornadoes touched down around Union City, Oklahoma on Friday afternoon, killing at least 5 people. Storm chasers Brandon Sullivan and Brett Wright were hoping to get as close as possible to the tornadoes to shoot videos of it, but when they realized that the tornadoes are coming right at them, it was (almost) too late to run away.

Great Tips On Shooting Handheld Video

Last week I was at Disney with my family and had my DSLR with me to get some good photos, but I hadn't planned on shooting video and there was no way I was going to haul a video rig with me around the park even if I had planned on it. When I shot video I made sure to lean on something stable and let stationary objects do some of the work for me without the shake of my hand affecting the shots.

Watch How Zeiss Manufactures Their New Touit Lenses

Zeiss is preparing for the availability of their Touit line, lenses for E-mount and X-mount cameras. For those who love Zeiss glass and compact cameras like those from Fuji and Sony, getting these high quality lenses might be a must. For the rest of us, we can still appreciate the beauty of the precision that goes into producing lenses of this quality.

Sam Jones Goes offCamera with New Magazine

Print is not dead and celebrity portrait photographer Sam Jones has created offCamera magazine — part print magazine, website, web television series and podcast — to showcase and profile actors, musicians and artists working at the highest level of their professions.

Magic Lantern Turns the Canon 50D Into a Video Monster

The Canon 50D doesn’t get a lot of love much anymore. The system is 5 years old, and was among one of the last DSLRs to come out without video capabilities. When searching through the firmware, it was later found that video functions existed for the 50D, but were disabled by Canon. Upon opening these features, EOSHD forum member Julian has found a beauty hidden in this old beast. 

Creativity, Robots, And A DIY Spirit Make For A Unique Music Video

This is one of the most interesting, and almost bizarre behind the scenes video I've seen. Musical artist Jack Conte came up with an idea for a video to go along with a music track he created called "Pedals", and through building his own spaceship set, using real working robots, and even getting Jeff Orlowski to shoot it, everything came together for an inventive final product. 

Behind the Scenes of Canon's 'Rhythm of Life'

Canon has recently come out with their short film, "Rhythm of Life' showcasing their new line of cine lenses. Shot with the Canon C500 director, Dean Hargrove and cinematographer, Steven Poster ASC, explain how the different cine lenses affect the footage and change the color and feel of your shots. The BTS video was shot with the Canon C300. 

Life in the Future with Google Glass

The hilariously creative people over at Grovo (gogorovo on YouTube) posted this video yesterday showing what life may look like in the future of GWC photography/videography if Google Glass ever becomes the next big innovation it claims to be. While it's obvious that this is just some tongue in cheek humor, I'd imagine that as with any popular product with a built-in camera someone wil

J.J. Abrams On Filmmaking

Filmmaker J.J. Abrams; Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Lost, Revolution, Fringe, the upcoming Star Wars movie (the man is everywhere these days,) gives us a peek into his process during a recent sit down interview with the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts.

My Top 8 Pieces Of Gear For Shooting Run And Gun Video On A DSLR

Whether I’m going out for a short hike, a weekend camping trip, shooting the zombie apocalypse, or assisting someone for their personal project, there are many times when I’ve needed to be light and fast in my video rig setup. Besides going with a single camera and lens, the accessories I choose enable me to be versatile and get better clips in the end.