Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (August 2019): Kevin Plovie
12
by

The Fstoppers community is brimming with creative vision and talent. Every day, we comb through your work, looking for images to feature as the Photo of the Day or simply to admire your creativity and technical prowess. In 2019, we're featuring a new photographer every month, whose portfolio represents both stellar photographic achievement and a high level of involvement within the Fstoppers community.

How To Shoot Kickass Video From a Helicopter
14
by

Adam Boozer is an amazingly talented videographer right here in Charleston, SC. His company Jewell and Ginnie has been making a big splash with very cinematic video here in the low country and throughout the southeast. Last night Adam emailed us a BTS video he created on how he sets up his camera for these incredible aerial shots. Besides having the access to a Robinson R44 Helicopter, the actual setup isn't that complicated: A Canon 5D MKII, a Zucato Follow Focus, a Marshall Monitor, and the piece that stabilizes it all together, the Tyler Mini Gyro. I've posted the highlight reel here so click the full post to see the BTS video on how Adam is getting these shots!

J&G 2010 Aerial Selects Reel from Jewell&Ginnie on Vimeo.

How To Create A Pure White Background For Video Or Stills
22
by

Everyone claims that they know how to shoot subjects on pure white but many of them still struggle with the background light washing out their subject. In the video below, Olivia Speranza shows us how she created the look for a video but the same techniques apply to flash as well. The key is to light the background as evenly as possible and expose it so that it is just barely pure white. If your background is a few stops past pure white, the light will begin to eat into your subject.
Hand-Woven Designer Camera Straps For Every Photographer
4
by

All you photographers out there! Does your camera strap look dull, worn out with the leather sweating the time and comfort out of your skin? Yes, they may be durable, but can they be more? Well, KIKI camera straps answer these questions fashionably. Made for every professional photographer, these cool, fashionable, and functional cloth camera straps might make you think of bidding bye to the conventional ones.

How To Create The 2.5D Effect AKA Animated Photos
7
by

We have all seen it before, you may have just not known what it was called. I think the first time I saw this was years ago in a Gatorade commercial and it really stood out to me. Today, 2.5D animations or "animated photos" are starting to pop up all over the place. Check out a cool example of 2.5D in action mixed with moving time-lapse by Ryan Flett below and then head over to Creative Cow to watch a fantastic tutorial that shows you how to create this effect in After Effects. FYI, simpler versions of this can also be created in programs like Premiere and Final Cut.

Backyard Booty Segment: Natural Progressions from Ryan Flett on Vimeo.

A Year in Review With Luminar Neo
7
by

With 2023 well underway, it's time to look back at what has been a busy year for Luminar Neo, the AI photo-editing software from Skylum. Since its launch back in 2021, Luminar Neo has seen many updates, performance improvements, and major feature enhancements, including new AI-powered tools, and has established itself as a powerful editing tool for both amateur and professional photographers alike.

Planning for a Photo and Still Shooting When Things Don't Go As Planned
8
by

The past few weeks I have been driving up the parkway here in New Jersey for work, my eye kept getting drawn towards this one specific railroad bridge between exit 136 and 137. Every time I passed by it, my eyes would follow it until I had to turn to see the road in front of me again. It was one of those things that I had to remember so I could go back and photograph it when the time came. Today was the day that I set out to photograph it, but before anything, I had to put a little bit of planning into it.

How Do All the Faces of "Grimm" Come to Life?
4
by

If you've watched the TV series "Grimm," you may be curious how the mythological creatures from Grimm's fairy tales make it onto screen. Bent Image Lab, the production company behind the cg creations of the show, explains their process of transforming characters into creatures and adding a fantastical element to each episode.

Instagram Adds Hashtags and Profile Links to Bios
3
by

Instagram has always limited the bio field on your profile quite strictly. However, today, they're allowing full linked support for hashtags and profile links in your bio. But what does this actually mean?

Sigma Reveals Pricing of Three New Lenses
4
by

In late January we announced three new lenses to be released by Sigma. Sigma just released the pricing and availability of those lenses. The updated 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM lens will be available in late March for $499 and the 30mm f/2.8 DN and 19mm f/2.8 DN lenses, which are available for both Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-Mount camera systems, will be also be available in late March for $199.

Aurora HDR 2017 Photo Editing Software Packs New-and-Improved Features
2
by

Today Macphun launched Aurora HDR 2017, their latest version of the HDR photo editing software for Mac. The new software features an improved user interface, faster performance, and more features that Macphun claims will provide “more versatility and higher quality images than before.” Aurora HDR 2017 will officially release on September 29 for $99, but there is special pre-order pricing plus bonuses for new and current owners of previous versions available if purchased before then.

Now or Never: Protect Your Rights With the CASE Act
10
by

It’s time to get involved in protecting your copyrights if you’re a photographer based in the USA. The H.R. 3945 CASE Act is a piece of legislation that has been winding its way through Congress since October 2017, and it would allow photographers to better protect and defend their copyrights, but it needs your help!

Three Important Reasons to Create Personal Projects
1
by

Everyone wants to bring in money with client work, but not setting aside time for personal projects can be detrimental your growth as an artist, and to the bottom line. Here are three reasons you should always schedule personal projects.

[Pics] Flickr Spotlight #12 – The Beauty of Sunsets
3
by

Sunsets are probably one of most photographed 'subjects' ever. Almost every photographer out there is shooting something related to sunsets here and there, and it doesn't matter if its a pro shooter or just someone who started - beautiful sunset is just something that is hard to ignore. This week I bring you some of the best sunset images found on Flickr. Some are what you expect them to be, but some are very unique and surprising - Check them out.

Free Photography Advice From Google+ Photographer's Conference
1
by

Right now some of the biggest names in the photography world are gathered in San Francisco for the Google+ Photographer's Conference. Scott Kelby is the brain child of this event and you can keep up with a lot of the free video content here on the Google+ Page. Photographers like Trey Ratcliff, Peter Hurley, Jeremy Cowart, Alex Koloskov, and Lindsay Adler are giving advice about marketing, social media, growing your business, and creating "shabanging" images.

Joseph Anthony Baker Photographs Taylor Swift
7
by

Some musicians release a new album with a mediocre cd booklet or no booklet at all. But when country star Taylor Swift releases an album she sets out to create photographs that depict her songs in cinematic fashion. Taylor and Nashville musician photographer Joseph Anthony Baker work together to create very stylized sets which are often as tongue-in-cheek as some of the lyrical content in her songs. Shooting these sort of fantasy images requires a lot of art direction and a mastery of set design and elaborate lighting but the results are truly amazing! Click the full post for part 2 of the series (part 3 requires a comcast login) and head over to Taylor's website to see the final images.
RED's New Raven 4K Camera Is Right Under $6,000
21
by

RED Digital Cinema has announced the latest addition to its line of professional cameras, the RED RAVEN priced at $5,590. RED RAVEN is the lightest and cheapest camera among the RED Cinema lineup. This camera is capable of capturing 4K resolution footage at up to 120fps or 2K resolution at 240fps.

Use These Visual Storytelling Basics for Better Photos
1
by

Photographers often look for the "epic" shot — the one that will stand out, get thousands of social media likes, and get printed by our clients for wall art. While these photos are important, it's also essential to slow down and look for the other images in the scene that help tell a story and capture the vibe and emotion of the moment. In this video, we'll review a simple storytelling framework called "Wide, Medium, Tight" to help you find these opportunities.

How To Deal With Manual Focus And Your Super Shallow DOF
4
by

It's really exciting that every new DSLR now takes amazing, cinema quality HD video. One of the main reason it looks so different from video cameras of the past is the super shallow depth of field that large sensor sizes produce. It looks really cool BUT you will have to learn to manually focus the camera just like they have to do with movie cameras. If you are looking for a great tutorial on the basics check out the BTSV by Still Motion below.
[BTS Video] Next Time You Photograph An Outdoor Building, Try This Technique
13
by

We are heading into the final stretch for our 2011 Behind The Scenes Contest and someone is about to win a truckload of gear! The latest video that caught my attention was from LA photographer Mike Kelley. Mike has been featured on our site before but in case you missed that post, his portfolio is full of some pretty kick ass commercial images of buildings and outdoor environments. So it was only fitting for his contest entry to showcase how he approaches an outdoor commercial architectural shoot. Mike uses a lot of exposures and some well thought out accent lighting to create a composite image that looks really nice. As much as I love this video, Mike won't win this competition by impressing anyone here at Fstoppers. Instead his video has to make a lasting impression among our celebrity panel of judges. If you have any questions for Mike, leave them in the comments below.
Animoto's New Marketing Video Builder Makes Video Easy
1
by

After ten years Animoto has just launched their next product, Marketing Video Builder. If you're not already familiar with Animoto, their first product has been a staple for photographers to easily make quality video slideshows. Their product lets you combine both stills and video to your favorite song (or songs), or use their expansive collection of over 2,000 royalty free songs, to produce a video slideshow that's perfect for marketing, client products and so much more.

How To Find Your Authentic Voice in Photography
0
by

Authenticity is the holy grail of being an artist. If you’ve managed to find your own authentic voice, you’ve achieved more than most photographers will ever do. I won't lie to you: it takes time to find your own authentic voice. Here are some steps that you can take to find yours.

The Wednesday Rundown 3.28.12
2
by

Howdy and welcome to the Wednesday Rundown. This week we have a great tutorial on using smoke at your photo shoots. Jay P Morgan shows us his tricks on getting the right amount of smoke to add that something extra to your photos. Check out his DIY add on for the smoke machine. If you have a video that you think we might like to post, please click on "submit content" above.

Philip Bloom Reviews The Sony NEX FS700
5
by

The Sony NEX FS700 is probably one of the most anticipated video camera releases of the year, and with a price point of $8,000 it's not very hard to see why. Legendary Cinematographer, Philip Bloom, recently got his hands on a pre-production version of the Sony NEX FS700 for review.

ProGrade Iridium CFexpress Type A 4.0 Cards: Futureproof Performance?
0
by

CFexpress Type A has been a bit of a niche card format compared to the bigger Type B cards. Mostly used in Sony cameras, Type A cards haven’t seen as wide availability or as high specs. However, ProGrade has just launched their Iridium line of Type A cards, which promise to take performance into the next generation.