Videography

On the D3100, D5100, and D7000, Nikon placed a rather low video recording time limit for a single clip. Currently, it's somewhere in the area of ten or 20 minutes, depending on the model. However, Nikonhacker.com has come up with a crack that will extend this limit to a much more reasonable 25 to 30 minutes. Read after the jump for more info!

Nick Kelsh kindly brings us an 'elegant' video from the Kelsh Institite For Advanced Photograph Thinking on how to clean your precious lenses. We never had a great way to clean our lenses till now. Once you see this fantastic method, you'll be convinced immediately. Thank you Nick, the results worked great on our lenses! 

We get asked to show our lighting for our Fstoppers Original interviews all the time but it seems like we always forget to shoot our lighting schemes. StillMotion just released a killer video that shows how they light interviews with key, fill, hair, and background lights.

Photographer turned wet-plate artist Ian Ruhter basically dropped everything and cashed in his life's savings to follow his passion, morphing his van into a massive camera and making enormous wet plate prints as he travels the country. From hand-making the silver emulsion to the financial risks of shooting at a whopping $500 a plate, this video "Silver & Light" gives an in-depth

There is no doubt that Dave Hill is a well known name in the photography community. With his recent collaboration with Sony, here's a behind the scenes look of him switching to the Sony NEX camera system for a reinterpretation of Spiderman. Do you feel that mirrorless is a feasible alternative for the way cameras are headed? 

Let's Colour is a worldwide initiative to transform grey spaces with colourful paint, and the results are quite incredible! This film was shot by Adam Berg over four weeks in Brazil, France, London and India. Every one of these locations has been transformed by a palette consisting of 120 different colours.

Vimeo Video School with help from Nikon are turning out a video series called "Do More With Your DSLR", that aims to help educate photographers. The series does a pretty good job at making, seemingly complicated topics, easy to digest and is visually entertaining to watch. Each video even comes with an in-depth post to help break it all down for you.

When it comes to photography projects, Benjamin Von Wong is one of the most prolific guys I know. It seems like every few posts I'm compelled to bring you something cool Ben is doing. Whether it's playing with his pliable models, setting them ablaze or just a quick tip. His latest venture has him teaming up with Udi Tirosh over at DIY Photography to show us how to light paint with steel wool. Including the basic technique, location, safety and a few other helpful tips to consider. For someone who plays with fire as much as Ben and with hair that big, he must know what he is doing... right?

Shown at Sundance this year, the project called Bear 71 is unique spin on a documentary concept. Using an interactive graphical interface, the user can explore Canada's Bow Valley, and click on points of interest like wolves and bears. It's also a linear story being told through a warm, inviting voiceover, while video clips that move the story forward narrative are interspersed. The user fills in the gaps by exploring the valley and viewing images which give a glimpse into the hidden world of the wild.

This years GPP2012 Shoot-out that pitted David Hobby, Martin Prihoda and Gregory Heisler against one another was brilliant. All three photographers approached their respective photos from completely different points of view, using completely different techniques, resulting in an enlightening experience for all. Don't get me wrong, last year's shoot out was great too but his one has definitely encouraged me to make plans to attend GPP2013 in Dubai, featuring workshops, seminars and talks by the world's best photographers.

TrekPak on KickStarter is one of the lastest funding projects aimed at photographers. A innovated design that allows owners of large camera bags and pelican cases alike, easy adjustments of compartment space without having to fight with velcro inserts.

Hi there F(stop)'ers! Today I am posting from the AFP Photo Expo in Caldas, Portugal. I must say this is the most fun and unique expo I've yet to experience. Last night during the Gala event, I sat across from wedding videographer, Antonio Domingo. During conversation he mentioned that upon his client's requests he sometimes shoot, edits and delivers the newly weds their wedding video the night of their wedding! more in the full post

What is going on with cameras these days? First we learned that the $6000 Nikon D4 is not a significant improvement over the D3S in terms of resolution or ISO performance. Now we are hearing that the Canon 5D Mark III is not a significant jump in video quality compared to the 5D Mark II that was released 4 years ago. I was shocked to see this video of a $900 Panasonic GH2 outperforming the $3500 5DM3 in terms of sharpness. Check out the full write up and 100% screen caps at EOSHD.

Canon Explorer of Light Tyler Stableford is making it into yet another post on Fstoppers. This time, he was out on a shoot testing the capabilities of the new Canon 1DX DSLR and the 600 EX RT (currently available for pre-order) by shooting some action shots of alpinist Steve House working with some ice climbing gear. In this video, Tyler shows us how he is using the Speedlite to get the look he wants, while having some fun with the new 1DX.

Remember the World Press Photo contest winners from earlier this year? Well, World Press Photo recently introduced (just last year, actually) a similar contest for multimedia and video entries. The winner is a stark, harrowing, and sobering documentary view into the Kommandokorps in South Africa, an apartheid-era relic that still lingers in the country.

Adventure Photographer and Filmmaker Corey Rich prides himself on being an avid outdoor enthusiast as well as a world class visual artist. Featured recently on a project that put the new Nikon D4 through it’s paces on the Project “Why”, Corey has posted this new video that documents a team of 6 adventurers traveling to Northern Alaska to summit an amazing mountain range.

Most car guys would be happy just to see a McLaren Mp4-12c in the flesh. Getting to hang out with one for a day, while also being paid to take photos of it, would be "dream job" material. Clearly Dallas based photographer Brian Braun is living the dream!

You may remember Canon's promo video for the 5d Mark III that I posted a couple of weeks ago, which showcased the, ehem, interesting sport of Radball. Love it or hate it, I think we can at least agree that it was pretty entertaining. Canon recently released a companion to the promo video which goes behind the scenes into the filming of the piece.

The crew for Travel Channel’s television show, "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain have started posting BTSVs on their Road Bite TV, YouTube Channel. This is an interesting and entertaining look at what the crew, from producers to cameramen, have to go through while traveling the world. Check out the first four videos and decide if life on the road is for you.

The guys over at Omstudios wanted to show off the capabilities of the their OMCOPTER drone, housing a RED Epic. The video clearly shows the drone's ability to move in, out, around and over the action. Sadly we are cheated out of all the awesome clashes of steel and slashing of viscus as there is no sound to this video. But I'm sure, if you ask nice enough, our very own Patrick Hall will beat box out all the sound effects for you over the phone. Check out the video and a couple of BTS of the OMCOPTER drone, in the full post.

DSLR guru Phillip Bloom recently worked on a short scifi film that used the new Canon C300 as it’s primary camera. While the short film isn’t finished yet, this behind-the-scenes video has been released for everyone to see. While it’s quite long, it’s a unique inside look at how the director worked with the crew and what it was like to be on set.

The Limbach-Oderfrohna Zoo in Eastern Germany was holding a big media event to introduce three-week-old Til. Til was (that's right, I said "was") a rare earless mutant rabbit, that met a tragic end when a photographer took a backward step into the animal’s pen crushing him. Until that moment (ironically) Til was living in a private enclosure for his protection even though there had been requests to put him on show to the public.

I'm starting this one with a disclaimer: this post is oriented towards the trending, creative use of LEDs. Like the L.E.D. Surfer post or the Invisible Car post. So, watch this video if you have an open mind and a creative urge, cause it's not photo/video specific.

Now that I got that out of the way... We are seeing more artists taking advantage of the LED tech as it becomes less expensive to work with. Light painters being early adopters of LED use, have opened our minds to the seemly unlimited and magical potential they have to offer in the creative arena.

You may recall that Rob Ashe and his fellow post gurus who work on the Conan O'Brien Show publicly bashed Final Cut X a while back. They've returned with a new video, proclaiming their love for Adobe Premiere, or as Rob refers to it, Final Cut Pro 8. Final Cut X has had several updates since it's initial release, but is it still lacking? Have you made the switch? Are you cutting home movies in 4K?

The Photoshop team rolled out a video which showcases some of the direction which Adobe intends to go in the future. It was shot and then edited entirely in a future version of Photoshop. Though the video itself is pretty standard, it's a glimpse of what's to come. Do you believe that Adobe should keep video editing separate from Photoshop? We want to hear your thoughts. 

Haristobald's photostream has some interesting shots in it but what is more interesting is how he produced them. Using an old school, overhead projector, A4 sized transparencies, a strobe and a bit of mechanical know how, Haristobald can now transform his environment and his models. See behind the scenes of his latest Superman shoot and jump into the full post to see a video on how he modified an archaic device into a useful photography tool.

Benjamin Von Wong just hit me up, from his facebook account, to let me know his latest BTSV is out. His 9th, here on Fstoppers, if I counted correctly. And this time no one had to be set on fire but they did have to bend over backwards. Enter contorsion artist, Myriam Deraiche.

See what happens when professional photographer, Mark Chung, hands his camera over to professional model, Callie Roberts. Given just a couple hours to instruct one another, each are then asked to do one another's job.

A heads up for all our model readers: this video does seem to focus more on the photographer's role and less on the model's. Which, despite the inference, I know to be quite difficult.

Only a few times have I ever questioned what I'm doing with my life. This video makes me wonder why I am not pursuing this. This is a remixed trailer of a movie called Les Chevaliers du Ciel, which means, Sky Fighters. Whatever the name, this video showcases some of the cleanest and most captivating footage I've seen from the skies. Owe it to yourself to get lost in this visual feast.

Commercial photographer Dean Bradshaw provides us with a unique perspective of his recent photo shoot for "Startrac". The shoot involved a handful of athletes being shot while mock competing in their individual sports. The athletes were shot in a controlled environment and then composited into different backgrounds in post.

If you are a beginner in terms of lighting, or looking for some quick and simple light setups, then Don Giannatti has you covered. Don (a.k.a. Wizwow), recently posted some videos on his website showing 8 different light setups, as well as the differences between certain light modifiers.

Rick Genest (aka Zombie Boy) is nothing if not intense. The 26-year-old Canadian fashion model is tattooed head to toe to look like a decomposing corpse, representing “the art of the rotting cadaver.” Genest, who you may recognize from Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” video, spent over 6 years and thousands of dollars on his body art project, so who better to star in a commercial for tattoo-cover-up cosmetic company Dermablend?

Hasselblad Master, Joao Carlos, was featured on the Profoto Blog last week for his free falling studio images. That's right, studio images. Not underwater images. I met Joao in NYC last fall at PDN PhotoPlus and fell in love with his portfolio right away. He always lights his subjects with a minimalist approach and his workflow is powerful and consistent.

Doing video or photo projects for fun and experimenting can lead to some really unique images, and this video by Marc Donahue and Sean M. Williams is a perfect example. While having some fun with a DP Stage Zero Dolly and Canon 5D, they used several different timelapse and stop-motion techniques to achieve a really slick movement and feel to this video.

This is a series of videos that make up a fascinating 90-minute documentary about the great Richard Avedon. It's called "Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light," and first aired back in 1995 as part of the American Masters Series. If you're like me, you could spend hours watching things like this.

Corey Rich was one of the first photographers to demo the new Nikon D4. His extreme athlete documentary "WHY" was one of the best product launch videos I've seen yet. Luckily for all of us, Nikon asked Corey to produce a behind the scenes video on how he and his crew filmed the various athletes for the short film. Watching this BTS video was one of the most inspiring videos I've seen in a good while. Not only am I pumped to have

As a photojournalist for the NY Post, I got to see and encounter some CRAZY stuff, and it sure sharpened my skills as a photographer and as a New Yorker in general. In D. Perez De La Garda's film, "Chimping" you get take a behind the scenes look at the life of the photojournalist. This short film features Pulitzer Prize winners Preston Gannaway and Rick Loomis, Emmy Award winner Paula Lerner, along with Todd Maisel, Chris Usher, Angela Rowlings, Edward Greenberg, Stan Wolfson, and Rita Reed. Worth a watch for sure if you are interested in what goes into shooting for a paper or publication. Enjoy!

Canon France has just released what has got to be the most interesting promo video for a new camera in some time. Not only do we get a sneak peek at the video quality and capabilities of the 5d Mark III, but we also get a look into the sport of Radball: something I can only describe as "soccer meeting BMX meeting Urban Outfitters."

Architectural Photographer Chris Luker creates thoughtful images of buildings and locations, and really digs deep to communicate the details and context of the place. In a very thoughtful and informative video, Chris describes his thoughts and process for trying to translate the “language of architecture.” There’s some really deep thoughts here, Jack Handey would be proud.

In an earlier post, Prime vs Prime and Other Lessons in Stop Motion Animation I tried to show you where homegrown stop motion animation is in it's evolution and offered a couple links to get you motivated. But compared to this video, for Gotye's "Easy Way out", directed by Darcy Prendergast, those other videos with their hours and hours of painstaking meticulous work will seem down right simple.

While in Las Vegas for WPPI, I met Rob Adams and Vanessa Joy who are two talented videographers and photographers respectively. They are both at the top of the wedding market and often speak to photographers about how they can incorporate video into their businesses (something we have been preaching here for years). To help photographers make the video transition easier, Rob and Vanessa have designed PhVusion video editing software which allows you to trim and color correct video directly in Photoshop.

In this post you will see two awesome examples of homegrown stop motion animation by Patrick Boivin. Patrick has done some amazing work such as, "AT-AT Day Afternoon", which we featured awhile back. For the first video, you get to shape the outcome of a battle between the first generation Optimus Prime and the latest generation Optimus. I hold this up as a fun example of what patients and creativity can yield with todays, easily accessible technology.

I'm not sure if I'm over reacting but this kind of thing get's my blood boiling. What kind of thing? Picture being on an over pass, late one night, shooting a time lapse video (maybe to win the next big Fstoppers contest) when you are approached by a police officer. The officer questions what you are doing and why and then demands your ID. You know that you are observing all the laws and regulation, have commited no crime and are not obligated to justify yourself. What happens next? Well,Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania-based photographer Jason Macchioni can tell you. Better yet, he can show with this video.

The music video for Josh Ritter's "Love Is Making Its Way Back Home" was created with over 12,000 pieces of laser cut, construction paper. Directed by Erez Horovitz and conceptualized by Sam Cohen and Erez Horovitz, this video didn't utilized any effects in post production. Everything you see in the final video is purely a physical set of frame by frame photographs, of the paper cut outs, with no effects added.

Adobe has finally let iPad 2 users in on Photoshop Touch (Android tablet users have had this for some time now). Having impulse buy issues I just dropped the $9.99 that it costs for the app but being so excited to share the news, I've yet to review it. Some of the highlights Adobe is boasting are: being able to work with core Photoshop tools designed for tablets, using your tablet camera to fill area on layers, select parts of an image to extract by scribbling, and being able to sync files to Adobe Creative Cloud and open in Photoshop.

With the Oscars taking place tomorrow, it seems like the perfect time to present a b.t.s. video of an Oscar related photo shoot. The Hollywood Reporter has made a behind the scenes video for their most recent photo shoot, entitled:"Oscar Icons". The "Icons" include Helen Mirren, Michael Douglas and some guy named Charlie Sheen.

How do you set up a 150 foot rope swing and not die? YouTube user Devin Graham went with a group of rock climbers to a huge rock arch in Utah, and put together a fun video showing everyone having a great time cheating death. The making of video shows how a glidecam was used to get smooth shots across rocks where a single misstep would have ended in “splat instant death.”