Apple Announces New iPhone SE

Today's Apple event brought a ton of exciting new devices for photographers and filmmakers, including a nice update to the iPhone SE, their popular low-cost iPhone, that makes it quite appealing to photographers, filmmakers, and regular users alike. Let's take a look.

Elinchrom Introduces Quick and Easy to Setup Softboxes: the Snaplux

When working on location, softboxes are not always the best choice as they can be quite cumbersome to assemble. Umbrellas tend to be a lot faster to set up. Thanks to Elinchrom and its Snaplux range, you won't have to choose between the light quality of a softbox and the ease of use an umbrella.

NASA Launches Ten Unmodified Nikon D5 Cameras to Resupply ISS

Back in August, NASA purchased 53 unmodified Nikon D5 bodies. Over the weekend, ten of those went on the OA-8 International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission. The ten new bodies will join the current D4 cameras that are currently used for both photographing Earth and checking solar panels and other external systems on the ISS.

A Review of the New Haida M10 Filter System and Red Diamond Filters

During the last photo trip I hosted at Lofoten, I used the new Haida M10 filter system together with their new filters. Although I was somewhat skeptical at first, I found it to be a really nice system that worked very well under cold conditions. This is my review.

Shooting the "Deadliest" Crew

This striking image (pun intended) was shot by Blair Bunting for a Deadliest Catch ad for Discovery Channel. Curious to know how he did it? Well, luckily for us, his assistant Paul Morton filmed the whole thing, and Mike Maez was kind enough to edit it down into a digestible and inspiring video. Do not worry, it did not take any knocked out teeth or injured sailors to get the job done, but rather a couple of Pro-7a units and 3 high powered leaf blowers. Have a look and see for yourself!

via the ProFoto Blog
The Wednesday Rundown 8.10.11

Howdy and welcome to the Wednesday Rundown. This week I found a great BTS video of a mock Macbook Air commercial. The team behind the video had some creative ways to really make this concept come to life. It Check it out and the final cut of the video! If you have a video that you think we might like to post, please click on "submit content" above.
500px and Format Team Up in Toronto for Online Photographer Portfolios

While everyone is busy arguing down here in the States, two companies based in Toronto, Canada have joined forces in a collaboration to bring Format's very strong looking online portfolio feature set to 500px's active community of over 9 million photographers. 500px is a very popular photo sharing site that was launched in October 2009 and has stood out both in terms of user interface presentation and the overall quality of work showcased. Format boast a very slick and easy to use platform with impressively high user recommendation rate of 95%.

1SE, Because We Are Too Damn Busy To Remember The Things We Did

Being a photographer (or videographer) is probably one of the most interesting professions out there. We get to experience so many things no one else can. We get unique access to shoot amazing people, events or places. Personally, I find it hard to remember all these things I do every day and tend to forget some pretty fantastic things. Exactly one year ago I found a great solution for that problem, an app that became the favorite thing on my phone - 1 Second Everyday.

Partial Eclipse, Partial Results

November’s astronomical events led me to plan for a week-long marathon astrophotography session. The catch was that it had to be around the full Moon, normally a frustratingly unproductive time for astrophotographers.

Balance of Life Combines Great Time Lapses With Compelling Story

One of the greatest challenges when creating art is being able to create something visually stunning while maintaining the integrity to your message. Often, one must suffer for the other to thrive, and blending them both can be a challenge within itself. Jony Karlsson was able to merge those two perfectly, with his beautiful and heartfelt short film entitled Balance of Life.

Process for Planning an Aerial Portrait Shoot

I have been shooting aerial photography for years now, but have never really shared much of my process when it comes to creating images. Here is a quick look at what sometimes goes into a simple photo of mine.

Personal Project to POYi: Bob Croslin's "Grounded"

You submit your assignment images each year as a staff photojournalist at a major newspaper and never place in the prestigious Picture of the Year International competition. Then, years later as a freelance photographer, you win first place for a body of work that was undertaken solely as a personal venture. This is the story of Bob Croslin's self-assigned "Grounded," a portrait project of injured birds undergoing rehabilitation at a sanctuary in western Florida.

Instagram Quietly Testing Multiple Account Support on Android; Photographers Rejoice

In a move sure to delight photographers everywhere, Instagram has begun testing support for multiple accounts within the app. The ability to post and interact using separate accounts without having to resort to third-party solutions or logging in and out of the app has been highly requested for years. If this comes to fruition, it will represent a paradigm change in workflow for many mobile photographers.

Sony's Stereo 3D Commercial "Two Worlds" Shot At 2500 FPS

The amount of effort that went into Sony's 3D commercial Two Worlds is pretty unbelievable. I've watched this video twice now and still don't know if I know what I'm seeing. The creative team filmed the actors at 2500 FPS which required more than half a million watts of lighting and some of the largest fabric grids I've ever seen. Then using green screen, they filmed tons of slow motion projectiles to help their CGI team in the rendering of the background and moving elements. Because super slow motion video often looks fake even if it's real, making sense of what is real and what isn't real in this video is what makes it so interesting to me. Check out the video below and click the full post to see how they created this commercial inspired by the legendary Leonard Cohen.
A Couple Great Tips When Visiting Foreign Countries

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! I had fallen into a trap that so many of us tend to when traveling. This video from Devin Graham addresses this and other issues and gives some great tips on ways to get wonderful photos and video while traveling in foreign countries.

'Social Distancing' Isn't Realistic for Photojournalists

Photojournalism is a contact sport. Or at least it used to be, before the coronavirus rolled into town. Despite the health risks with taking photographs of people in close quarters or crowds, photographers at news organizations around the country are still, more or less, on the job.

Working With a Reverse Ring For Macro Photography With High Magnification

Macro photography is a fun thing to do. With a normal macro lens, you can reach up to a 1:1 magnification. With a couple of extension tubes, it is possible to boost the magnification a bit, but not much. If you are interested in higher magnifications, you could try a reverse ring first.

Behind the Scenes: Celebrity Portrait Shoot With Grammy Award-Winner Fatman Scoop

A little over a year ago I had the opportunity to do my very first celebrity photo shoot with Grammy Award-winner Fatman Scoop at my studio in New Jersey. He had posted on Instagram that he was looking for photographers and videographers to collaborate with. Thinking I had nothing to lose I submitted a brief email expressing my interest and directing him to my website to review my work and to reply back if he liked my work. To my surprise, I received a response a couple of days later asking to schedule a date to shoot!

There Is Nothing Like Photographing a Sunrise [Part 3]

The third and final sunrise in this series was by far the easiest to pull off and the most successful. Once again our setting is on a family vacation, except this time it featured Grandparents. Close your eyes (after the sentence of course) and imagine yourself alone about to enjoy a sunrise all to yourself on a beautiful beach in Cape Cod, MA.

White House Photographer Pete Souza Releases New Book from Obama Era

When I photograph events, I do my best to become a “fly on the wall.” I try to stay out of the way, to be unobtrusive, to not affect what’s happening around me and just document what I see. To be a photographer in the White House and be a fly on those walls — surrounded by high stress, classified this and that, diplomats, dignitaries, tragedies, and achievements, while being charged with capturing all of it, 24/7/365 — would obviously be a job that would take all you’ve got. And to do it for not one, but two presidents? That’s nuts. But there’s one guy who did it. His name is Pete Souza.