The Wednesday Rundown 9.19.2012

Howdy everyone and welcome to the Wednesday Rundown. This week we have two great commercial shoots, one for a jacuzzi company and the other for an airlines' club. We also have a BTS video of a Dubai fashion designer's line. If you have a great and informative video you want to see in the Wednesday Rundown please shoot me an email jerrit@fstoppers.com .

Amazing Tilt Shift Timelapse Video Taken With A Cell Phone

Believe it or not, the video below was taken with a cell phone. Stu Kennedy from kakepipe.com created a really cool timplase video using his Samsung Galaxy S2 cellphone. After filming the video it was edited using Vegas 10 and the tilt shift look was added using After Effects. This video looks better than what a pretty expensive video camera could have shot 5 years ago... and it was shot on a cell phone people!
The Darkroom Techniques Behind the Tools We All Know and Love in Photoshop

This week Adobe celebrated 25 years to the birth of Photoshop, the most successful photo editing software in history. No other editing software was ever able to compete with Adobe in that market — other than Paintshop in the early 90s maybe — and Photoshop became a must-have tool for all photographers and creatives out there. Many of Photoshop's users never really experienced the art of developing film, but many of the tools we use and love came directly from the darkroom. Check out the video to see what dodging and burning looked like before Photoshop.

Helpful Tax Tips From a CPA-Turned-Photographer

If you are like me, you don’t necessarily dread your annual trip to visit your accountant. Yes, it brings with it some anxiety, but a big part of running a business is knowing what your tax burden will generally be, and preparing for that throughout the year. Even with all the planning, we all know the feeling of being hit with a larger-than-expected tax bill, or a smaller-than-expected refund. That’s why I reached out to Brandon Scott, a fellow professional photographer who spent years as a working CPA in his home state of California.

CONTEST WEEK | WIN An All Access Pass To The Fstoppers Workshops + 40 Other Prizes From PRO EDU

Over the next week we are giving away 41 prizes to 41 people that include free rentals for gear & lenses from Resolution Rentals, camera straps from Black Rapid, gel flash packs from ROSCO, and a $3,000 all access pass to the Fstoppers workshops with PRO EDU and Rob Grimm. A total of 41 people will be picked for these prizes so your odds of winning are pretty good. Winners will be announced here Friday February 27th. Check below for the details on how to win.

Lomography Announces Instant Film Camera

Lomography has officially began a Kickstarter project to try and fund their first release an instant film camera. Multiple colors, lens choices, exposure settings, and more! With 30 days to go on they currently have $32,000 raised of their $100,000 goal. The settings for this camera look pretty cool and, I think, worth backing.

What Camera Features Would You Be Lost Without?

Experienced photographers only need the basic camera settings of focusing, metering and exposure. It’s necessary having a grasp of these fundamentals, but extra features and technologies make our lives a lot easier. Here are ten I need. What are yours?

Dropbox Introduces Carousel, A New Mobile Gallery

Dropbox posted today on their blog about a new mobile gallery they are releasing called Carousel. The gallery will be for displaying photos and videos from your life and they are claiming it is "unlike other mobile galleries." The size of your Carousel isn't constrained by the space of your phone, so no more worrying about losing your life's memories as they will always be in one place.

Create Sharp Commercial Videos With Household Items

Creating high-quality work doesn’t have be expensive. Outside of talent, the ability to execute creative ideas cheaply can be the single best quality in a photographer or videographer. While there is some very excellent equipment out there that can make your job super easy, it is very important to consider the items we have around us, reusing resources and thinking divergently. A huge value to any company or agency is the ability to save money whenever possible.

[Editorial] Photography: Is It Still A Man’s World?

The majority of my generation doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying about gender discrimination and gender issues in their career path, myself included. I actively avoided all the gender studies kids in college, finding their “keg-conversation” a tad too zealous for comfort. However, through my never-ending quest for FS Spotlight subjects, I can’t help noticing that a disproportionate number of renowned photographers are men. “Hm, coincidence?” I wondered. “Or is photography still a man’s world?” My personal impression was that while the world of established, renowned photographers is male-dominated, I know just as many young female photographers as male. But as I stared at the Fstoppers writer’s roster - 17 writers, 15 men, 2 women, I decided it was time to do a bit of research.
[BTS Video] Stefan Ruiz Shoots 4x5 Portraits in the Streets of Mexico

Here's a behind the scenes video featuring editorial and advertising photographer Stefan Ruiz. He traveled to Monterrey, Mexico to document the "Cholombiano" youth street culture. Skip to about the ten minute mark to see the set up and capture. He shoots exclusively on 4x5 film, and is highly influenced by renaissance paintings.

The Wednesday Rundown 12.15.10

Howdy, and welcome to the Wednesday Rundown. For those who may be new to the site, my name is Jerrit, and I help Lee and Patrick go through all of the videos sent in to us by you, the readers. Not every video can make the front of FS but many videos do have a lot to offer. Instead of throwing all of these extra videos out, I compile my favorites (which are usually the most informative) each Wednesday so you can learn from them as well. If you have a video that you think we might like to post, please click on "submit content" above.

Rugged and Powerful: Fstoppers Reviews the Elinchrom ELB 1200

The Elinchrom ELB 1200 is the almost perfect battery pack for any photographer who shoots with flash. Powerful but not too cumbersome to carry, it has a lot of features to seduce you! Find out through this review if it has a place in your kit or not.

The Wednesday Rundown 1.19.11

Howdy, and welcome to the Wednesday Rundown. For those who may be new to the site, my name is Jerrit, and I go through all of the videos sent in to us by you, the readers. Not every video can make the front of FS but many videos do have a lot to offer. Instead of throwing all of these extra videos out, I compile my favorites (which are usually the most informative) each Wednesday so you can learn from them as well. If you have a video that you think we might like to post, please click on "submit content" above.

Ryan McGinley's Commencement Speech: "Remember, It’s Romantic as Hell What We Do."

Last month, Ryan McGinley gave the commencement speech at Parsons in New York. Ryan McGinley (NSFW), if you're not familiar, is one of the youngest photographers to ever be exhibited at the Whitney Museum, was named Photographer of the Year in 2003 by American Photo Magazine, is the former photo editor of Vice Magazine and has been featured in public collections at the Guggenheim Museum.

The Super Slowmotion 3D Of 'Dredd' Explained By Prime Focus World

The people over ar Prime Focus World who are responsible for the special effects and/or 3D conversion of films like 'Total Recall', 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', 'Wrath of the Titans' and 'Tron', have made four videos in which Jon Thum, visual effect supervisor, sits and explains the filming process and post for the slow-motion sequences for the movie, 'Dredd 3D'.

Sigma Announces the 70-200mm f/2.8 DG DN OS Sports Lens

Sigma, well known for creating lenses that perform as well or even better than first-party lenses at highly competitive prices, has announced the new 70-200mm f/2.8 DG DN OS Sports. Here's everything you can expect from the lens.

 Leaked Images Show  Viewfinder-less New Fujifilm X-E1

You may not be one of their thousands of fans, but Fujifilm's retro-style mirrorless cameras are some of the most popular compact cameras out there. The X-100 and the X-Pro1 are some of the top selling compact cameras in the industry. These images leaked by Digicame-info.com depict what appears to be another Fujifilm camera called the X-E1 that could be on the market sometime soon.

[Video] Lori Nix Doesn't Take Photos, She Makes Them

NYC Photographer, Lori Nix, is not you're typical photog, she is also a gifted miniaturist! Her series entitled "The City" is a perfect example of what her creative mind is capable of. She creates dioramas in her small Brooklyn studio with her assistant, Kathleen Gerber, and then photographs the tiny scenes using a large format 8x10 camera (that's right, she is still using film!). Enjoy!
Just How Important Is a Flip-Out Screen?

Every new camera release sparks a conversation about features, with today's biggest concerns often being the number of card slots and the crop on the 4K. The presence of a flip-out screen also seems to be near the top of the list and while it seems to be critical for vloggers, just how important is to the rest of the camera-buying public?

2017 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year

On September 14, 2017 the Royal Observatory Greenwich announced the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards. The Guardian writes of the awards, "Awe-inspiring views of the Universe were celebrated at the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017 awards ceremony, held at the Royal Greenwich Observatory." The competition inspired entries from all over the globe and this is the first year entries included images of the furthest planet in our solar system and asteroids streaking through the images. Of the over 3,800 entries competing in the 9 categories an overall winner has been chosen and the images simply speak for themselves.

How to Use Lavalier Microphones for Interview Video Production

A few weeks ago I shared some insight on using shotgun microphones for documentary style interview productions. This week, I’ve got a companion video that explores techniques for using lavalier mics, the standard go-to mic for most interview scenarios.

Incredible "Chasing Ice" Project Shows Challenges Of Shooting 3-Year Timelapses

In 2005 Photographer James Balog began a project of immense scale and historical importance; to capture the changing climate of the earth by shooting images of melting glaciers. The documentary "Chasing Ice" tells his story, and shows the technical challenges he faced, like dealing with harsh temperatures and highly remote locations. This trailer gives us a sneak peek of the final movie, which will be released in November.