For years, videographers have been saying video will replace photography altogether. Last year we tested this controversial statement in our own Red Epic Video vs Hasselblad Photo Shootout. In this latest video, Abraham Joffe along with Philip Bloom and Sue Bryce test the idea of simply pulling out still shots from video and printing them at reasonable sizes.
Den Lennie from F-Stop Academy shot this behind the scenes video that documents James Tonkin as he creates visuals for his short film "A Night at Nine Elms" with the EF-Mount version of the BlackMagic Cinema Camera. James talks about his experiences with the BMCC and discusses using Canon EF lenses. See the final short film in the full post.
If you've watched the TV series "Grimm," you may be curious how the mythological creatures from Grimm's fairy tales make it onto screen. Bent Image Lab, the production company behind the cg creations of the show, explains their process of transforming characters into creatures and adding a fantastical element to each episode.
Everyone who has ever taken any interest in photography has thought about attempting to take one picture a year in order to fuel creative growth or to create an interesting and varied body of work in a relatively short time span.
Dr. Amir Amedi, brain researcher and Neurobiology professor from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, developed a technology that lets blind people 'see' with their ears. In this TEDx talk (TEDxJerusalem) he shows how he managed to use a simple camera, and transform the video captured into sound waves that quickly become visual images in the brain.
Though we are still working on our review of the Canon 6D, Gizmodo just published their Lightning Review and besides the expected nods to the high quality of the stills, the unexpected moire issues they found in video have me frowning.
DIY photo/video gear projects can almost always save you a few bucks if you have the skills and time to make it. But there are a few DIY gems out there that can save you hundreds of dollars, if not more. One of these gems is stillmotion's tutorial on 3 point lighting for video interviews made from a whopping total of $26!
Australian Fashion and Commercial Photographer Peter Coulson with Arterium Creations put together this video from one of his fashion shoots in Melbourne. Not your typical studio setup, Peter is out with his crew shooting in the open streets, complete with the public watching and potentially ruining some of his shots.
Marvel's 'The Avengers' is the top grossing movie of 2012 and the third of all time, ensuring that the superhero genre of movies are here to stay.
This past week I was conversing with a taxi driver while in Jamaica. At one point I noticed a slum of houses and quickly shot a picture of it as we drove by. He responded abruptly, "Why are you shooting the ugly parts of our country. All of you media do the same. You should focus on the beautiful areas, not the ugly ones." He was absolutely right!
"In A New Light" is non-profit that uses nature photography to empower, teach, guide, and ultimately change the lives of it's students- students whose background often includes struggling in school, abusive homes, and general hopelessness. Both the photos captured and stories told are simply inspiring.
In the last several years camera development has taken huge strides in giving photographic capabilities of stills to video. Non film makers now have the capability of taking cinematic quality video without needing to upgrade from their dslr. In this video, Untitled Film Works unpacks the continual merging of stills and video.
Several years ago Richard Schneider of PictureCorrect.com decided his new years resolution would be to begin training to be able to fly a wingsuit. This dream along with his passion for photography eventually led him to Dubai, where he captured the footage you'll see in this video. Learn more about Richard and the work it took to get to this point in the full post.
The New York Times just released an absolutely incredible piece of journalism titled 'Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,' which is a story told through the use of still images, video, computer animations and one hell of a piece of writing. I have to say that this looks like (I at least hope) the future of editorial journalism.
Earlier today we posted this video of an Eagle lifting a baby in the park, and it started a massive debate whether its real or not. Now we have the answer: its FAKE. Check out this BTS video showing how 4 animation students from Montreal created this viral video. Did you get it right?
BTS video showing how this video was made
The folks at Candy Glass Productions have posted a cool tutorial on how to spin a camera around a building, using the CN Tower in Toronto as an example. This would be an awesome technique to highlight a landmark from a vacation if you're throwing together a video for friends and family.
Meet the Decelerator Helmet, it is quite a ridiculous experiment in time and space dreamed up by German artist, Lorenz Potthast. The DH is made up of a camera that leads to a notebook computer which is connected to 2 monitors, all of which is mounted to a bicycle helmet that is encapsulated inside an XL silver globe. The wearer controls the speed of what they see via a wireless hand control.
A few days ago my buddy Bryan Bowden called me and said that he was in possession of the currently unreleased Black Magic Cinema Camera. This camera could be the next big thing in videography because it's incredibly cheap ($3000) for what you get (2.5K RAW footage).
For one of the most epic trailer sequences of the year, youtuber Genrocks compiled over 100 films into one sequence. Although the movies range into every genre, the sequence flows amazingly well from one scene to the next. For a list of all the movies and music used in the compilation, click here.
Youtube put together a tribute video where the biggest viral sensations of 2012 were invited to star in a mash-up of culturally defining moments from the year, directed by Peter Furia. Can you spot all the references? We've also got the BTS, so check that out once you've had a good laugh.
In a recent 60 Minutes special, CBS Reporter Lara Logan spent time with Dereck and Beverly Joubert in Southern Africa. The Jouberts have been shooting images and video of the wildlife there, for over 30 years. They have produced countless amazing images and have even created documentary films from the content they captured. Embedded video inside.
I love 24 and 48 hour film contests where teams are given a short amount of time and often a budget limit to shoot, edit and deliver short films that go head to head with eachother at the judges table. "The Girl Is Mime" was created for London's 48 Hour Film Project in 2010 (which it won) and is directed by Tim Bunn, starring Martin Freeman. Also, here is a BTS video, ENJOY!
This is a crazy concept that is truly amazing: Directed by Emmy-award winner Patrick Moreau of stillmotion, the docu-short PULSE profiles the making of the BioBeats app, a new technology that utilizes cameras to generate custom music based on a human heart rate. The subject of this short is awesome in itself, but it's also one of the first Short films to be done on the Canon C100.
How do you turn the mobile email inbox into a to-do list, but in a non-obtrusive way? Cloud to-do list company Orchestra today announced Mailbox, an email client for the iPhone it's been building for the last year which will launch soon — a beautifully designed messaging client meshed with a swipe-able productivity app.
The guys over PHLEARN have a lot of cool content, and this is their most recent. The original idea for this photo shoot was inspired by childhood, drawing on references from stories such as “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak and the classic comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes." The result is a playful look at the imagination of a child.
Photographer James Balog has put together a documentary called "Chasing Ice," which we featured last October, designed to look at the controversial issue of climate change. The video here is the trailer if you haven't yet seen it, but I stumbled upon another video of the largest iceberg breakup ever caught on camera over at The Guardian.
Sometimes we post content that's just worth watching. Videos that speak for themselves and just make you feel. Google has done a great job with their search-based videos in the past, and this is no exception.
As a part of a recent TED series, 'Be Fearless', Cameron Russell, who has been a professional model and walked for some of the biggest names in fashion, advises young women everywhere not to look at modeling as a viable career path. In such bold claims, she gives a look into the fashion industry from the viewpoint of a model.
For the past 3 years the One Day On Earth community has set out to capture video of the entire planet on triple digit days (10.10.10, 11.11.11, 12.12.12). In short the project is comprised of amateur and professional filmmakers from every country, background, technique, etc. and creates a beautiful, geotagged video archive of the day.
Check it out guys. Here is another great speaker from Luminance 2012. Heck he isn't just a great speaker but also a great photographer, husband, father and friend to have (so he tells me). Zack gives us some insight on what it means to be genuine and what that means for your social media and ultimately your business. No need to learn the hard way, just watch.
Looking for your daily inspiration? Look no further.
This Do-It-Yourself equipment video by Jay P Morgan of The Slanted Lens features Cinematographer Lars Lindstrom as he shows us how easy it is to build your own camera shoulder rig. To make this rig all you'll need is some standard PVC piping and a few other items from your home-improvement store.
Like it or not, Instagram isn't going anywhere. I personally love Instagram because I can snap a photo, post it, and share it with everyone who follows me in less than a minute. With that being said though, I do miss the times I spent as a kid, looking at projected slide film with my family on the holidays. Now thanks to Projecteo I can have those times back again!
Have you ever wondered who the people are behind some of Instagram's biggest profiles? With the way it's setup, you see their work first but you don't get to know too much about who they are. Some of the users on Instagram have tremendous followings. What drives them to shoot and who are they? Here are some great interviews about them and their work.
We featured Elena Jasic on here last month, and this month she is back with this awesome tutorial on how to add freckles in post to your photos. Elena is a young and upcoming fashion and beauty photographer from Philadelphia. The photo in this tutorial is from Chris Zupo. You can also find the brush used in this tutorial here.
I'm a big fan of the mission and idea behind websites like Kickstarter. I appreciate creating a community of people from all over the world who help each other pursue their dreams. On Indieagogo, a site similar to Kickstarter, I came across this cool project on photographer, Fred Lyons. After spending 7 decades behind the camera, Lyon is still going strong at 88 years old.
How many times have you seen an amazing timelapse project, and wondered where exactly the photographer was when they recorded their exposures? Or maybe you wondered what they had to do to get to such an amazing vantage point? Sean Goebel created his timelapse film "Epochs" and documented the location and equipment details for most scenes.
With the help of pro breakdancer, contortionist, acrobat Karimbo, Brussels-based photographer, director David Olkarny put together this short video using the Canon 7D a Canon 50mm 1.4 and Canon 24-70mm 2.8L. Another video that proves that if you got the talent, creativity, drive and a modest kit, you can make something worth looking at.
UPDATE: Apparently video was removed from Youtube. Link to original CollegeHumor video is here. Taking a break from any serious discussion about whether or not Instagram is a good thing, let's all take a moment to appreciate the hilarity that is this video, which pokes fun at Instagram to the tune of Nickelback. I remember when I actually liked this song...
ReutersTV put together this video of interviews with their photographers as they describe what happened to them during and after the destruction left by Hurricane Sandy, and how they worked to capture compelling images.
If you've always wanted to get into wedding cinematography then this is your jump start. Starting at 9AM tomorrow, Monday December 3 creativeLIVE will be hosting a FREE Wedding Cinematography workshop With Vanessa & Rob. Together, they've got a career's worth of film-making knowledge and will be packing it into this three day course.
The path to success changes based on who you ask. There is no one path that gets you where you want to be. As creatives, we keep defining that path daily. Chase Jarvis recently talked at the PSFK seminar and he spoke about the new models of creativity. He argues that the traditional system is broken and most people who have 'made it' have done so through a-typical methods.
The Slanted Lens recently posted a new behind the scenes video, explaining the process for a project that involves shooting photos of a warrior princess out by Vasquez Rocks. This video really dives in to considerations you have to make as a photographer when shooting on a remote location like this.
We've featured several creative uses of projection mapping here on Fstoppers before, used for both commercial photo shoots or just visual appeal. There is something captivating about incorporating dynamic imagery into a set. Formative is a company that adapts projection mapping set ups for any auditorium.
I recently was introduced to Making View, a Norwegian company that specializes in creating 360-degree panoramic video. Yep, you read that right. Panoramic video. Much like a 360-degree photo tour, you can zoom and move around the video as it plays. It is without a doubt one of the coolest things I've seen in recent memory, and I can see the technology being used in some pretty incredible ways.
CBS's Jeff Glor recently interviewed Pete Mortimer, known mostly for his work on this Citibank Commercial and the 60 Minutes special on free solo climber Alex Honnold. In this interview, Pete discusses the mental attitude needed for his line of work, and emphasizes how crucial safety is while dangling off of a rock.
If you're a fan of the immortal and time-traveling Doctor Who, then this VFX breakdown might just be for you. The Mill, who works on the visual effects of BBC's Doctor Who, have been with the show since its re-imagining in 2005.
A mix of hilarious and slightly educational, 'Fafa's Photoshop Tutorial' is what you would get if you mixed fuzzy puppets, Photoshop, and humor. I'm glad they don't run all the tutorials, they would be all over the place and no one would actually learn too much. For the sake of light hearted Photoshop fun, enjoy.
[Via Tegan via PetaPixel]
Architectural photography is something I can never seem to get down. I love shooting people much more than buildings, but when it is executed correctly I love it, even though it is not my favorite thing to shoot. I could look at good architectural photography all day. What's interesting is how architectural photographers use light to sculpt, add contrast, and bring out details in their work.
I was completely f*cking torn as to what to do here. Post them all at once or roll them out. Here is the thing. I attended Luminance, Photoshelter's two day conference, back in September expecting the same old song and dance of over crowed auditoriums as speakers and spokes people try to sell me their wares.