Articles written by Patrick Hall

With only about 2 weeks left in our 2011 Behind The Scenes Contest, entries are starting to pour in. It's great to put some faces with the names of our readers and see the different types of projects everyone is working on. William Walker came up with a pretty simple but clever idea for his contest video. Using just a camera and a Vello ShutterBoss intervalometer, William was able to capture photos of his buddy restoring a badly damaged 2011 Audi Q5. The whole project took over 40 working hours (several days of footage) and presented William with a few challenges. The concept is pretty straightforward and mad props to William for going out and pushing himself to try something new. The BTS video is below but click the full post to watch the final timelapse video. If you are planning to submit your own BTS video to our contest, you have just over 15 days to get it up online. Don't wait until the final day or you will probably not make the deadline!

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!

A few weeks ago, commercial photographer Jay P Morgan showed us how to balance strobe light with ambient light on a large 18 wheeler (which involved closing down a California highway on ramp). In this video Jay is shooting a lifestyle image for Pilot Freight Services which requires him to light a large outdoor areas with studio lighting. The answer to the question in the title could probably be "one light," but using one strobe on a commercial shoot is not only going to produce a less than perfect image, it is also going to look unprofessional from the eyes of the art director. When photographing large advertising campaigns, I've learned that giving your clients that "wow" experience is perhaps even more important that the actual final image so don't underestimate the saying under promise and over deliver. What is great about this photoshoot is that even if you don't shoot large campaigns like this on a daily basis, it should still force you to think why certain lights are needed, and more importantly, ask what you yourself would do if this was your hired job.

Now this is an interesting story. Lately there has been a ton of controversy and debate about the role of photoshop in today's advertising market. FHM (For Him Magazine) just published their December issue with Pakistani cover model Veena Malik wearing what appears to be nothing. But that's not the full story; also pictured on the cover is Veena baring the tattoo "ISI" which refers to the rather polarizing Pakistani intelligence group. Pakistani's are outraged both because of the ISI reference and also because of Venna's lack of modesty displayed on the US men's magazine. It is quite common for photographers to shoot "implied nude" images with models actually wearing clothing (and the visible piece photoshopped out), but Veena claims the magazine maliciously manipulated her cover shoot without her permission. As for the ISI reference, well apparently both FHM and Veena were in agreement on the controversial art work with Veena making recommendations on how it should be drawn on her arm. Stories like this happen all the time but it's rare to see such a story with world wide appeal. What do you guys think? Read more about the full story on the BBC News page.

We've featured a lot of timelapse videos here on Fstoppers. And while they are really cool, very few videos have been made on how you can actually make one yourself. The guys over at Dynamic Perception, makers of the Stage Zero Dolly and MX2 Dolly Engine, have created a pretty thorough explanation of how to program dolly movements with long DSLR exposures. Many of the concepts in this video are useful no matter what electronic dolly you are using, and it really does a great job teaching some of the pitfalls you might have when calculating the timings required for both great photos and slick camera movements. Click the full post to watch an intro video to timelapse and head over to Dynamic Perception's site if you are interested in getting into this type of photography.

We have a lot of contests going on each month but we wanted to give away something really special for the Holidays. What are we giving away that is so special? How about a free Apple 16GB iPad 2 and a free digital copy of Peter Hurley's The Art Behind The Headshot!
All you have to do to enter is follow @fstoppers on Twitter, and tweet the following message: "Follow @fstoppers and retweet this message to win Peter Hurley's DVD and an iPad 2 http://bit.ly/tsTufu" Make sure you tweet this message between now and the end of December 15th, 2011 because we will announce the winner the following day. Goto Peter's The Art Behind The Headshot Website for more information. Thanks to everyone who has already purchased the DVD and good luck to everyone entering the contest. NOTE: If you plan on ordering the DVD or already have purchased it, you will be refunded if you win the twitter contest.

So you've had a long week of work and just survived a record breaking wind storm...what does one do to cut the edge in Salt Lake City? How about socializing over a few beers with other local photographers? Lee and I will be in Salt Lake City, Utah this weekend hitting up Solitude (if the snow sticks around) before we head down to film the next Fstoppers Original in Phoenix. We've been told the best local watering hole is a beervanna called The Bayou (645 South State Street), and nothing cures a long flight and a little jet lag like a few cold brewskies. Meet up at The Bayou around 9PM if you are in the area and we'd love to hang out a bit. In typical Fstoppers fashion, yes this meetup is being announced within the maximum 48 hour notice :)

The videos keep coming in for our 2011 Fstoppers Behind The Scenes Contest as we enter the final month of submissions. Most photographers use either strobe, fluorescent, or incandescent light to mold and sculpt their subjects. German photographer Julius Ise went a completely different route and used UV blacklights along with some gelled lights for separation to produce extremely vivid images. The shoot has an overall tribal theme and I really think the blacklight look brings something to the overall vibe. I'd say this is one of my top 5 submissions so far but Julius will have to impress our judges. What do you guys think? Leave Julius your thoughts below in the comments. Also check out Julius Ise's full portfolio because it's pretty awesome as well.