Videography

Here's a brief behind the scenes video featuring Andrew Geraci and Drew Breese in a Q&A regarding their haunting video, "Asylum". This HDR time-lapse was created from 35,000 photos over 7 months. If you missed this last week on Fstoppers, it's here in the full post. As the BTSV reveals, Drew and Andrew made this for no other reason than the love of shooting. That alone is worth your attention.

Is there anything new under the sun? Has it all been done before? Maybe... but the shadows are a different story. “Haunted” is a paranormal thriller that takes place in a haunted house over the course of 48 hours. This awesomely interactive narrative was filmed using 16 cameras spread through out the various rooms and you are free to jump to any of the cameras at any point of the time line.

There is no doubt that Nikon and Canon are putting a lot of effort in creating better video features in their flagship DSLR cameras. One of the most talked about new features has been Nikon's clean, uncompressed 1080p output from the camera's HDMI connector. Both the Nikon D800 and Nikon D4 DSLR cameras allow for this feature, but we've wondered just how useful are these new uncompressed files? We decided to test the new Atomos Ninja 1080p external recorder to see if these 12x larger files gave us better image quality for our own video projects.

Clemens Wirth shows us an entire world of life that resides in just one drop of water. I was horrified yet simultaneously engaged when looking at this video. It's well put together, everything from the videography to the editing. The good news is that the life you see does not exist in your municipal drinking water, to make that clear. So rest easy and have fun watching.

Casey Neistat is a great film maker that you may remember for his Peanut Butter Lid Lens Hack. Recently he was hired by Nike to create something interesting for their Nike + Fuel Band. The story goes that instead of making a traditional commercial, Casey took Nike's budget and traveled around the world until it was all spent. He filmed his 10 day escapade and produced the following video. Even if the Nike story was staged, it's still a pretty inspiring video made by an incredible budget film maker.

There are some styles of photography which have been beaten into the ground. Take, for example, the trip to an old asylum; it seems like we've all seen a thousand HDR images of the local loony bin. Graffiti-covered walls, derelict operating rooms and spooky wheelchairs ad-nauseum. But every once in awhile, something comes along which makes my jaw drop and revisits what is possible in an ages-old subject. Drew Geraci's Asylum is exactly what I'm talking about.

Ryan Connolly over at Film Riot, a how-to filmmaking site, just knocked out a short film using the iPhone 4s as his only camera. The best part is, he has also provided us with a very in-depth look at how he did. Everything from app set up, lighting, equipment, the works. See both the final video and the BTSV here.

"We took the challenge of making a short with the iPhone 4s. The goal was to make the iPhone's video mode look as cinematic as possible...

Oscar-winning writer Andrew Stanton, who’s credit list includes WALL-E, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo among others, was featured in a recent TEDTalks Video sharing his insights onto storytelling, and what it takes to make them compelling enough to captivate an audience. There is a ton of great information here, and it really does go to show that content is king… You can have the biggest camera and tons of talent, but if your story is lame, no one will watch your stuff! Language in the video is NSFW.

Have you ever wanted to give your models that wind swept look. This 56 second quick tip from our friend Benjamin Von Wong can save you from having to lug around a heavy and often expensive fan. So simple, most of us over look it and here is all you need.

Also be sure to check out Ben's latest project "Von Wong Does Europe".

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. By using Profoto's new HMI lights with Air remotes, you can easily change the output of each light without moving from behind your camera. Of course all of this still applies to still photography as well.

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. The people in the film who rolled up their sleeves to transform their community with colour. I love this unity through art. Enjoy!

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?