Videography

Amongst this years Broncolor Gen NEXT line up (a pioneering group of young professional photographers lighting up the future of photography) Gonzaga Manso throws in with his beautiful concept shoot, "The Pond". This photograph is meant to express the calm, sincere and deep love that comes from getting old alongside the person you love. But what maybe more interesting, for us inquisitive shooters, is the release of this behind-the-scenes video which details Gonzaga's elaborate and meticulous set-up.

While capturing footage of a San Diego pier, photographer Tice Ledbetter drew the attention of a seemingly annoyed fisherman who then cast his line into the drone's prop. Not knowing what had occurred, Ledbetter flew the drone for half a mile before landing and didn't know how the fishing line got entangled until after he watched the footage.

Most amateur photographers assume that they need to buy a ton of expensive gear in order to compete or reach the level of most professional photographers. I’m quite guilty of doing the same. As a matter of fact, I spent the first couple of years studying the work of photographers that I admired and I was quickly intimidated by their level of production. I didn’t think that I could possibly afford to invest in the type of equipment they used. It wasn’t uncommon to see these photographers use 3+ studio strobes on set, along with a seemingly endless list of modifiers they had access to. Their level of production just didn’t fit my personal budget at that time.

"The San Diego Studies", a series of short videos that collapse time to reveal otherwise unobservable rhythms and movement in the city is the product of filmmaker/photographer Cy Kuckenbaker. Shot in Tijuana Slough, San Diego County, this series showcases some impressive imagery/effects that Cy has been gracious enough to share with us. To see how this was done be sure to check out his "Making of Notes" video.

Seeker Stories defines itself as taking a deep look at some of the world’s most unique individuals, places, and cultures. With weekly short documentaries set out to expand our perspective and transform our understanding of the world. Having watched their latest documentary about the role photographers play during wartime, I have to say, they've achieved what they set out to do. I've often thought about being a wartime photographer and this video has rekindled that desire.

It’s no secret that image files have quite a bit of redundancy and wasted space — it’s part of the reason why I love the app JPEGMini which helps reduce unneeded information to decrease file size. What you might or might not be aware of is that you can hide information, even large files inside of your images. In this episode of Computerphile, Dr. Mike Pound explains two techniques of burying info in your pictures and the application for photographers. Warning, supremely geeky content ahead.

Writer, director, and presenter Ryan Connolly, best known for his internet television shows Film Riot and Film State, has teamed up with CanonUSA to teach us the basics of film production. There is an amazing amount of information compressed into each short video but what's more amazing is how easily digestible and concise it all is. Factor in the entertainment value (I chuckled through every episode) and you will find these slapstick-styled gems beyond fun and educational. Even if you aren't interested in making films you will enjoy these videos and may even change your mind by the end.

I've always been one to complain about poorly rendered computer graphics in modern movies. I thought I could easily pick out what was real and what was rendered on a computer. This video makes a compelling argument that there is such a thing is "good" CGI.

It is once again time for us to continue our behind the scenes series on the creation of our landscape photography tutorial: Photographing the World. Episode 4 of this series is our final day in Iceland before we move on to New Zealand in next weeks episode.

Maybe I'm just jaded, but GoPro videos of snowboarders, mountain bikers, parkour runners, and wing suit flying people (to name a few) have just started to get a little old for me. Sure, they're exciting and give me a glimpse of what the world might be like if I got off my sofa, but I feel like I've seen them all, so when I saw this video posted on the San Bernardino County Fire Department's YouTube channel, I had to click it.

I have never really been into extreme sport videos ever in my life. The second I see someone decked out in Red Bull apparel, I am immediately turned off. But this video in particular has caught my attention. Everything from the directing, editing, camera operating, and sound design has been formulated perfectly into a four minute YouTube masterpiece.

Berlin-based photographer/retoucher Erik Johansson creates wildly imaginative and often surreal images that has us posting on his work time and time again. Erik's images have been defined as a complex combination of his own photographs that captures ideas rather than moments. As impressive as his finals are, it was this simple 20 second video that caught my attention this time. You get a pretty good idea of Erik's technical process and if you're anything like me, you'll be motivated to create an Erik Johansson inspired piece of your own.

Yes, you've read that correctly. Nokia, the former maker of my favorite cell phone in which I could play "Snake" during high school math class, has entered the hot new virtual reality camera market. A lot of the camera details are scarce, such as pricing and when it will ship to the consumer market, but there are some key functions I am very intrigued by. As Fstopper's resident virtual reality filmmaker, I am hesitantly optimistic. Read below to learn why.

That is not a typo. Canon's newest camera is its first "multi-function" camera and is capable of something entirely refreshing (and maybe even a bit scary): capable of shooting 1080p at an equivalent of over four million ISO, the ME20F-SH can shoot objects that even the naked eye cannot see (objects lit by less than 0.0005 lux of illumination) in Full HD. While all cameras are somewhat multi-purpose by nature, Canon's "multi-function" designation of this camera speaks to the wide range of uses for which the ME20F-SH can be adapted given such features.

Earlier this year, Blackmagic Design announced their newest upgrade to their editing and color grading software. Guess what, they want you to be a video editor, and to prove it, they want you to have their software, free. DaVinci Resolve 12.

I'm not usually one to watch indie films or go to film festivals. However, when I watched the trailer for "Victoria" recently, I was blown away by the technical difficulty of what the production crew had accomplished. This Berlin made movie has now been featured in dozens of film festivals and has won some big awards. Why? All 140 minutes of action throughout the film were shot in a single take.

Last week I wrote a post about how Nikon really needs to jump on the 4k bandwagon. I got a few comments that basically said; "Why do you care about 4k? nobody even owns a 4k TV at this point." They were right, 4k TVs aren't very popular, but I have no interest in producing 4k videos right now. I want to shoot 4k footage to enhance my 1080p videos.

This morning I found myself aimlessly surfing through Vimeo and I ran across a great video by Photographer/Videographer Alex Cornell. In this 14 minute video Alex takes us through all of the gear that he brought to Iceland to capture both still images and 4k video.

This past weekend would have been the 87th birthday of the iconic filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. Still considered one of cinema's most influential filmmakers, Kubrick's works are memorialized by directors through the incredibly iconic style he established. Many elements signify Kubrick's unique style, from his love and incorporation of the color red to his use of the Kubrick Stare — a long soul-piercing stare, head down, eyes fixed up (pretty much the most sinister expression you could think of). Perhaps one of Kubrick's most cherished contributions to cinema is his pioneering of camera movements. In this short birthday tribute supercut, we see some of Kubrick's most influential tracking shots.

Metabones, best known for their magical lens adapters that actually make cameras more sensitive to light, has added another adapter to their micro four-thirds lineup. Along with this new adapter, (aimed at users of the Panasonic GH4) autofocus functionality will now be available for certain Canon adapters as well.

The Line is a collective of directors that specialize in short films. In their most recent video they combine candid video footage with some carefree hipster animated characters. Watch "Amaro and Walden’s Joyride" as they tear up the streets of London.

Apple's new advertising campaign couldn't possibly get any simpler: One 15 second clip shot on the new iPhone 6 and then the name of the iPhone user who shot it. I personally think it's one of the most inspiring ad campaigns I've ever seen.

We love to look at beautiful, flawless people in our ads, tv shows, and movies. For some reason drenching someone's face in makeup is totally acceptable but for many people, Photoshoping skin imperfections or removing fat is unrealistic, disgusting, and dangerous. Well most of these people haven't even considered video retouching.

B&H is offering a pretty hefty discount on the Comodo Orbit Handheld Stabilization Rig at $900 off their normal price. The unit normally has a whopping price tag of $1,299. The Orbit is designed to carry up to 11 pounds, meaning it works will with just about every DSLR/lens combination and most light to medium weight camcorders.

Monday, GoPro unveiled a new licensing service that allows professionals to license content to agencies and brands. GoPro calls the service "a premium content licensing portal for global advertising brands and agencies to license premiere video and images” that “offers high production value content.”

Last year I wrote an exclusive article talking about RED's plans to attack the photography camera market by adding a still photo mode to the RED SCARLET and EPIC cameras. That day has come with their latest firmware update release. Some of you still photographers may be saying, "So what?" Well, 16.5 stops of dynamic range at nearly 20 megapixels is what. Do I have your attention now?

What a great application for GoPro Hero Cameras. The kinds of up-close shots revealing the tight side-by-side athletes, crashes, and a few close calls, take the drama to a whole new level with this footage from the 2015 Tour de France bike racing event.

A recently shared YouTube video by Australian photographer Dillon Mak puts viewers behind the lens as he navigates rowdy crowds, police barricades, and scores of other journalists. The point-of-view setup takes you right to the front lines of the Reclaim Australia protests and counter-protests that have been taking place across Australia.

Fro Knows Photo, AKA Jared Polin, sits down with celebrity photographer Jeff Kravitz. They chat about shooting red carpet events, the business of concert photography, and how to balance work and passion.

This week we released our 5th photography tutorial: Photographing The World with Elia Locardi. Since this tutorial was going to be filmed over the course of 2 months in Iceland and New Zealand, we decided to turn the cameras back around on ourselves and show you how we filmed this massive video project.