Fstoppers Meetup At Photo Plus In NYC Tonight

The entire Fstoppers office and many of the Fstoppers writers are at PPE this year. Today we will be wandering around the convention center and we hope you'll come say hello. Tonight at 8pm we're throwing a small get-together with a few big names in the industry.

We Review the Genaray Portabright COB LED

It seems more and more, competitors are showing up in the COB LED lighting world, and this is no exception. This is the Genaray Portabright, and here's what it’s like to shoot with and ultimately who it could be for.

Podcasting 101: How Do You Start and Can They Make You Money?

I listen to podcasts every day on all sorts of topics, including photography. Thus, I began thinking about how you start a podcast from scratch and whether, ultimately, you can turn them into money. I asked a veteran podcaster these questions and more.

iPads, Light Painting, And A Lot Of Calculations

I remember when I was first playing around with my first SLR camera and someone explained to me the concept of painting with light over the course of a long exposure. Well the guys over at Dentsu London have decided to make light painting extremely complex by creating a sort of stop motion animation with ipads displaying different shapes. There is really no way I can explain this so you pretty much just have to watch this for yourself. You can read more about this project over at Dentsu London's blog here.

Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

In Surprise Move, Apple Announces RCS Support Is Coming to iPhone Next Year

In an unexpected move, Apple has announced plans to support RCS (Rich Communication Services) on their devices starting next year. RCS is an open messaging protocol that allows features like read receipts, high-quality media sharing, typing indicators, and more between different platforms.

Live In NYC? Let's Meet Up... Again

A few weeks ago we decided to try to get FS readers in the NYC area to meet up one night. We made a simple post with a time and address and it turned out to be a great event. Over 20 photographers showed up included a few big names in the industry. At the end of the night Peter Hurley actually invited everyone up to his studio for a tour and actually gave us all some quick headshots. I had such a great time with our last event, I want to do it again. Tomorrow (Thursday August 12th) we will be meeting at D.B.A (41 First Ave. New York, NY 10003) at 7pm. Honestly, this get together has little to do with Fstoppers. It is really about meeting others within your industry. No matter how established you are, we would love to see you tomorrow night. At the last event we had a couple of the top photographers in the industry and we had those who were just getting started and wanted to start assisting. This event will be great for networking and an all around good time. If you plan to come please leave a comment below so we can have some what of a heads up. Update: I have just been given confirmation that David Bergman will be there. You may have seen one of his 8 SI covers.
LAST CHANCE: Win a Year of SmugMug Pro and a Copy of Lightroom 4

SmugMug is celebrating its 10th birthday, and want you to partake in the festivities by giving away a year of SmugMug Pro (awesome website/portfolio hosting service) and a copy of Lightroom 4 (the best combination photo editing and photography workflow program) for either PC or Mac! We have extended the deadline until tomorrow, so get your entries in!

Canon Broadens Serial Number Scope of Allergic-Reaction-Causing Grips

I'm sure many of you heard the original hooplah involving Canon's issues with the new Rebel T4i/650D, and if not, allow me to summarize: the grips were changing colors and allergic reactions were being reported related to some serial numbers. Well Canon Australia, which originally stated that its cameras were not affected by a fault - when they were - which could result in allergic reactions and red eyes when users come into contact with the camera, has expanded the number of serials affected.

David Jackson Creates a Creepy Circus

David Jackson is a commercial photographer based out of Appleton, Wisconsin and this week he has released a personal project entitled "Circus". Dave puts a lot of effort into not only every detail of this shoot but also in explaining why it is important to shoot for yourself and not just for clients. You only book the types of jobs you already have in your portfolio and if you want to book something new down the road you really have to go out and shoot similar images for yourself first...and for free. This first video is a bit long and has few BTS clips but there is also a second less informative BTS video just for the shoot itself. Both videos are in the full post and if you want to see the final images check them out here. David also has a second post outlining in complete detail every element of the photoshoot which is really worth checking out here. Lots of videos, lots of posts, but a pretty cool concept.

Shear Chaos Salon Circus Shoot :: Technical Banter from David Jackson on Vimeo.

EA Sports NCAA Football 12 Cover Shoot

EA Sports has been allowing fans to vote for the cover of their newest installment in the college football series NCAA Football 12. For the contest, they filmed four short behind the scenes videos from each player's photoshoot which can all be found in the full post. The photoshoots consist of two primary setups: hall of fame style portraits and on the field action shots. Each portrait was created with a gridded beauty dish and a hard background light while the action shots were lit with a huge octabank, some stripboxes, and a bunch of white v-flats acting as both gobos and reflectors. I'm not sure that the final images are online yet since the contest just wrapped up, but you can see a lot of them on photographer Tim Mantoani's site. My vote goes to Mark Ingram; roll tide roll!
Elinchrom Introduces the Skyport HS Trigger for Olympus

Three months ago, Elinchrom released the Skyport HS for Sony. Back then, many seemed to complain there was no version for smaller bodies. It’s not the case anymore with the introduction of a new Skyport HS specifically designed for Olympus cameras, making it the fourth version of this pioneering flash trigger.

Interactive Documentary “Bear 71” Includes Video and One Million Photos

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.

Call for Entries: Canon Female Photojournalist Award

For female photojournalists of all nationalities, The Canon Female Photojournalist Award has announced that it is open for entries until the 26th of this month. The €8000 (roughly $11,096) award is intended to help its recipient “produce an ongoing one year project which will lead to an exhibition or showing at the Festival in the 2015 edition.”

[Deal] Canon 5D Mark II Now On Sale Less Than $2000

We don't usually put a lot of deals on the front of Fstoppers (we save those for our twitter account) but this one is simply too good to pass up. Right now BHvideo has the Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera on sale for $1999 which is pretty close to the price of some of Canon's cropped sensor cameras. Who knows how long this will last or if this is a sign of a new camera coming or just a great holiday deal. Either way, if you need a 2nd camera or haven't made the jump to full frame, this might be the best time to snag one of these up. We will try to update our Holiday gear guide as more sales pop up or if you find some, send them to us on twitter or in the comments below. Happy holidays everyone!
The Canon 5D Mark III is Currently On Sale

I just got an email from one of our readers saying that Amazon is currently selling the Canon 5D Mark III for $2999.00, the lowest price this camera has ever sold for. If you were waiting for a deal this is it. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended in a few hours. Check it out here.

Mike Sisk Makes A Mess

Mike Sisk of FX Studios just sent this video over to us. He used falling paper to make his background a bit more interesting and appeared to tether his camera to his iPad to review his shots. Cool idea!

Flying Papers - BTS from Fx Studios on Vimeo.

10 Essential Tips for Scaling and Optimizing Your Business: Part 2 of 2

In this rapidly evolving world of photography, it's essential to take a step back and scrutinize how well we're reflecting our business in its current state, including growth in our personal photos, websites, and social media profiles. In the previous article, we discussed five actionable strategies to address commonly overlooked areas, from updating personal images to refreshing website content, and from leveraging social media to nourishing creativity through personal projects and continuous learning.

Some Inspiration: Finalists of the Second Annual Whalebone Photo Contest

Whalebone Magazine (the self-proclaimed ninth-best magazine in the world) just wrapped up their Second Annual Whalebone Photo Contest, leading up to the release of their aptly named Photo Issue. Categories included Water, Adventure, Human, Motion, Joy, and Weather — whatever those things mean to you.

Brownie Harris Talks Shooting Film

After speaking with professional photographer Brownie Harris, I realized that he didn't need to be shot behind the scenes working, he needed to be interviewed. Watch this quick 10 minute segment in which Brownie talks about his 40 years in the photography profession... you will be surprised by how many of his world famous images you have seen before.
[BTS Video] The Making Of Canon VS Nikon Just Released

The Canon vs. Nikon video has gone viral these past few weeks. The behind the scenes video was just released so I thought I'd share. If you missed the actual video, click here to see the original post. A big thank you goes out to Fstoppers reader, Marten, for submitting this video to us.
New Education Series: The History of Sound at the Movies

FilmmakerIQ.com and RØDE Microphones have launched a new education series on sound! Starting with the included "intro" video showing the history of sound at the movies, John P. Hess and team have started a six part educational series which, in their own words, will cover science/microphones, recording, editing, foley, and ADR.

“Nimia” Offers Videographers A Venue To Store, Share, And Sell Their Footage

If you’re anything like me, you’ve got hard drives full of footage from personal or other non-commercial projects, that don’t serve much use once the project they were shot for is completed. I’ve considered trying to license it as stock footage, but never really taken the time to do it. After checking out the site Nimia and interviewing one of their staff however, I decided to give it a try.

Behind The Scenes Of ESPN's TV Ratings

Now this isn't your normal behind the scenes video. The guys over at Jess3, a creative agency, were asked by ESPN to create a video that explains how the Nielsen television rating system works. I know it sounds a bit boring but it's actually pretty interesting to see how it works especially if you've ever wondered how in the hell Two and A Half Men is rated as the top tv sitcom on the air for the last several years. Check out the behind the scenes video below on how director Mark Kulakoff created this 70s concept and employed his "2.5D" vision into the final production. Click the full post to watch the final ESPN mini show.
Annie Leibovitz photographs Keith Richards

I'm a big fan of Annie Leibovitz's photography (who isn't), and a few weeks ago I was admiring this photograph she did of Keith Richards for Louis Vuitton. I was really happy when I found a short behind the scenes video of it via Strobist even though the quality is really poor. Click the post to view the final image and hopefully you can see how relatively simple this photoshoot was in lighting. It's the overall production and attention to detail that really makes this image so awesome.