Videography

With over 40 years of portrait work under his belt, American Photographer Will Shively has become one of the most successful commercial fashion shooters in Columbus. Will found himself at a crossroads when he first decided to pursue his passion for photography. He got his BFA in painting from Ohio State University and was working for a design firm before being let go with a newborn on the way. But despite the risks involved, Will worked nights as a janitor at a local manufacturing plant while teaching himself the art of photography.

There are a lot of videos online, I mean a lot. The two words I hear out of clients that always make me cringe are "viral video." I want you to take a couple of seconds and expunge those words from your vocabulary... great! As many of you know SEO is the driving factor for long form content (such as this article.) Believe it or not, most of the principles that apply here are almost identical for video SEO.

Have you ever wondered how baby photographers (no, not babies that are photographers) pose newborns? Have you wondered how they got those little writhing, crying, flailing bundles of joy to stay the heck still for at least 1/200th of a second? Well, the crew over at Redhead Photography seems to have found the right combination. In fact, the babies in this video are so malleable that it's a little bit unnerving.

The ME20F-SH is Canon's latest, crazy-high ISO camera, able to record clean video at over ISO 4 million (not a typo). Early footage was lackluster in content, and early media stated the natural security-field uses for such a camera. But the latest video suggests the ME20F-SH could be used to shoot incredibly beautiful footage of our world that wouldn't have been able to be captured the same way in the past.

I'm not even sure they existed five months ago but since then the prolific crew over at RocketJump Film School have pumped out some really great educational (and often funny) content, quickly becoming one of my personal favorite crews out there. In this humorous short, "Droneward Bound," Ashly and Lauren (both adored) have to chase down a super sexy Inspire 1 drone as it takes on a life of its own. From there, director Kevin Senzaki jumps in on the second video to show us how they went about repairing the audio for the video. Senzaki jumps in on the second video to show us how they went about repairing the audio for the video.

YouTuber Michael Delaney found a pit full of rattlesnakes and, despite anyone's best suggestions, didn't turn back. Instead, armed with a GoPro on the end of a stick, Delaney recorded the scene, most of during which the only audible audio was the collective rattling of the bunch. Eventually, repeated strikes from multiple snakes knock the GoPro off of its mount and into the middle of the pit (good luck getting that one back). Put it some headphones, put the video on full screen... I dare you not to flinch at the first good strike...

Thank god for the interwebs right? Not just because it brings us badgers and cat videos but because sometimes it allows us to be places we couldn't other wise go. I'm of course talking about the 2015 Adobe MAX conference that just went down in Los Angeles. If you, like me, were not one of the "5000 most creative minds" fortunate enough to make it, then you may appreciate this glimpse from the conference floor. Adobe set up a display consisting of several mock bedrooms. Each room being representative of a time period and pivotal moment within Photoshop's 25 years.

Cinema5D founder Sebastian Wöber's latest three-part tutorial on drone shooting starts off with quite the introduction in Part I. Wöber could honestly be saying anything to accompany his to-die-for footage, but what makes it so fantastic is how great the information in this video is. From safety to beginner tips on getting started and how to get that cinematic shot you have in your head (don't worry, Wöber has plenty examples if you don't), Part I has you covered. And there's more to come...very soon.

A few weeks ago, I shared the second episode of the video series "Off the Beaten Track," where photographer Chris Schmid visited the land of the Maasai people, photographing their culture and the wild animals of the National Reserve in Kenya. Chris recently released the third episode where he explores a much cooler climate. Svalbard is one of the most remote places in the Northern Hemisphere. This episode is beautifully shot with the DJI Inspire 1 and DJI Zenmuse X5, giving you a new look into the quickly melting ice and the polar bears who live there.

Story & Hart's Academy of Storytellers just put out this wickedly informative video that not only highlights five great drone shot techniques but also breaks down their uses and how to actually achieve them.

Many people that want to get into filmmaking believe you need to attend film school to have a successful career. Many also believe that by purchasing a Red Epic Camera you will instantly become a filmmaker. Neither are true. After watching Casey Neistat's Guide to Filmmaking video, you learn that gear doesn't matter. Neistat does own expensive gear, such as the Canon 70D and the Canon 5D Mark III, however, he became a successful filmmaker and youtuber with dirt cheap equipment.

In a great example of practical visual effects, DIY Filmmaker Joey Shanks created a short video that at first glance appears to be some sort of cosmic time-lapse, but in reality is nothing but a clever, small-scale setup using household products that naturally react and create motions and colors in unique ways.

They say that the ability to still be surprised is the key to happiness. It's growing knowledge of the world around us that informs our expectations of behaviors of all kinds of entities that in turn ruins the surprise in our lives. It's the reason that we're not interested in our boring childhood toys. And it's the reason that it's so easy to stay glued to shorts like the Vimeo Staff Pick, "INPUT/OUTPUT," which juices our bored minds with just enough excitement and surprise to, at the very least, smile on the inside.

Over the summer, photographer Mike Olbinski spent an astounding 48 days on the road chasing storms during the monsoon season in his home state of Arizona. His epic new video, “Monsoon II,” is a captivating collection of the best of the best time-lapse footage he captured during his extended time on the road witnessing these giant storm systems. This is one time-lapse video you need to check out.

Nine-time Emmy award-winning TV producer and writer John Marshall found himself on Maine's Frye Island with too much time, talent and imagination. The result photo series, which he calls Sunset Selfies, is creative, whimsical and inspiring. I'd be ridiculously surprised if this doesn't spawn a whole slew of creative projects within our community, as enthusiastic shooters start cutting out their own cardboard silhouette to use during magic hour.

Canadian Designer, Photographer, and Cinematographer Tom Kucy doesn't sleep. Less than two days after we reported on NASA's huge release of over 10,000 never-before-seen photos from the Apollo space missions, Kucy decided to work them into a project that involves taking these almost half-century old two-dimensional film images and converting them into moving, stereoscopic 3D photographs.

Kai and friends at DigitalRev TV have got their hands on the very new and very exceptional Milvus lenses from Zeiss. Their test includes the 21mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, and 85mm f/1.4 models that make up the core of this new lens system. These new lenses were designed from the ground up to keep pace with the insane resolving power that modern digital camera sensors are capable of.

Lately it seems that DJI has been releasing innovative video tools every single month. Known primarily for their ultra popular Phantom and Inspire 1 drone systems, DJI just announced today that they are releasing their own handheld 4K camera and gimbal called the Osmo. Together with the Ronin DSLR stabilizing system and the Micro Four Thirds Inspire 1 Pro, the Osmo is yet another product that will change the way photographers and videographers can capture stabilized footage on a budget.

“Star Wars” fans around the world are patiently awaiting the arrival of “Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens” on December 18. That being said, the hype train has been running full steam ahead since the initial trailer for “The Force Awakens” was released almost 10 months ago. Since the release of “A New Hope” in 1977, “Star Wars” has created a fanatical fan base, with an expansive universe and many stories to be told. Fan films have been a part of that universe for many decades now, and they have gotten so big that “Star Wars” has an entire section of their site with awards dedicated to them.

Freelance videomaker and visual artist Julianna Thomas did something unique recently: she shot an entire series of black and white subjects, but in color. As a response to one of her greatest pet peeves, Thomas created "Black & White In Color" as a "personal response to treating black and white as an editing afterthought."

In this video we see Antwerp, Belgium-based commercial photographer Andy Van den Eynde tackling color correction on location. Andy starts by dropping his base temperature down to a cool 2800K and then recreates the warm glowing effect of torch light using gels from his Rosco Color Correction Filter Kit. What I found interesting was how he actually builds torches out of strobes and gels, which provide the rim light and the glow that would be thrown off from actual torches.

This is one of the best lighting tutorials I've ever seen, being both educational and entertaining. The German-based production company, Dugly Habits, has created this lighting tutorial for the Dedolight International Competition 2015. Using the Dedolight SPS5E Lighting Kit and a handful of other lights they construct three entirely different atmospheres in one room along with a wide variety of lighting tricks to create the illusions of car headlights, candle flicker, lightening and more. What's even cooler is how they deliver this educationally rich tutorial.

I'm definitely NOT a studio photographer, but I respect and understand why for a urban running photoshoot like this one, it can make things a whole hell of a lot easier by doing it in the studio. Steve Brown shares some insight into his process in this behind the scenes video.

No doubt you are familiar with some of Lewis Wickes Hine's work. He is the guys who took the iconic photographs of the workers who constructed the Empire State Building in New York City. But what you may not know is that he first shot for the National Child Labor Committee, documenting the child workforce of America during the industrial revolution. And that his work went on to influence politicians and law makers by drawing national attention to the harsh realities of child labor.

It can be daunting to try to think of a completely new, never-been-done-before concept for a shoot. But sometimes, the answer is surprisingly simple. In an age in which everyone is touting shooting on the latest equipment with 4K video, while begging for ever-greater bit rates, Japanese designer Dan Tomimatsu took pause to give us something refreshingly simple and beautiful. Using a water droplet "stuck" inside a five-yen coin as a lens on an iPhone, Tomimatsu shot "O (eau)" with the intention of reminding the world that beauty can be found outside of razor-sharp 4K imagery.

Ryan and Josh Connolly of Film Riot always brings us the coolest do-it-yourself filmmaking and special effects tutorials. In this "rewind" episode (read: old) they show us how to create the killer effect of throwing someone clear across the room. What's doubly cool is how easily this can be done with just a still camera and software that most of us already have (Photoshop and After Effects).

Demi Lovato is finally at a place in her life where she is comfortable with the skin she is in, and Vanity Fair photographer Patrick Ecclesine was there to capture this very personal and very public experience.

While the original source couldn't be independently confirmed, the studio behind the recently released movie, "Everest," apparently sent BBC a clip of the still unreleased film without audio effects. Instead, throughout the entire otherwise hair-raising scene, the actors speak to each other in a tone seemingly more appropriate for a focus group discussion between amateurs trying to solve a Rubik's cube than for a life-threatening situation climbing Mount Everest.

There are times when taking in something beautiful is good for the soul, such watching kittens attack shoelaces, bacon sizzle on a camping stove, "The Empire Strikes Back," or this ridiculous hyperlapse of Paris.

What do iconic movies like Dr. Stranglove, Alien, Psycho and Star Wars all have in common? They all knew how to create that, "Oh f**k" moment. You know the one I'm talking about. Every thing is fine. All good here. Wait a minute. What's that? BAM! Well Director Joey Scoma of RocketJump Film School shows us how to recreate those nail biting, butt clenching, knee jerking moments using tried and true video editing techniques.