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Articles written by Mike Kelley

Fstoppers Rapid-Fire Q&A Session With Fine Art Photographer Vinny Picardi
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Vinny Picardi is a successful fine art and advertising photographer based in Los Angeles, CA, who has exhibited work all over the country and around the world. I recently came across Vinny's work and I have to say that I'm a pretty big fan, so I thought it would be interesting to share not only just a photo series with our readers, but also to take some time to ask a few questions to get inside the head of a successful fine art photographer.

The Long-Awaited Canon 6D Is Now In Stock And Shipping From B&H
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Just a quick heads up to the many of us who have been waiting for this camera: It's finally in stock and ready to ship! Just in time for a nice holiday gift to...yourself. Because let's be honest, if you're as excited about this camera as I am, you're not going to let anyone else in your family get their paws on it before you. For more information and to place an order, head on over to B&H Photo's 6D page.

360-Degree Panoramic Video: The Next Big Thing In Video?
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I recently was introduced to Making View, a Norwegian company that specializes in creating 360-degree panoramic video. Yep, you read that right. Panoramic video. Much like a 360-degree photo tour, you can zoom and move around the video as it plays. It is without a doubt one of the coolest things I've seen in recent memory, and I can see the technology being used in some pretty incredible ways.

Watch As Photographer And Digital Artist Erik Johansson Creates A Gorgeous And Surreal Landscape Scene
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We've featured Erik Johansson's Ted Talk before, as he is a digital artist and photographer who is on the cutting edge of his genre. Using clever pre-visualization and a lot of Photoshop, Erik is able to create some brain-melting pieces. In this BTS video, he'll show you how he created one of his newest pieces, titled Cut & Fold. Be sure to check out Erik's Website if you haven't before, it's well worth a look for any aspiring creative.

Behind The Scenes: Creating A 1930s-Themed Fashion Shoot In Detroit
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Detroit-based fashion photographer Paul Manoian recently released this informative (and cold!) BTS video of him shooting models using vintage automobiles, clothing, and styling. Paul touches on what he does to keep a shoot running smoothly, especially in below-freezing weather: keeping the crew and models fed and happy, moving quickly between locations, and having a clear idea of what you want to accomplish. The final images are pretty incredible, if I say so myself. Goes to show what you can accomplish with a dedicated team and a clear end goal in mind.

Behind The Scenes: Creating The Highest Resolution Photo Ever Taken Of Machu Picchu
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Jeff Cremer recently traveled to Machu Picchu with the goal of creating the highest resolution image ever taken of one of the most incredible places on Earth. Using a Gigapan robotic head, Jeff swept a Canon 100-400mm lens back and forth over the scene, taking hundreds of photos, which resulted in one incredible image. He even had a close call with the law,

FS Reviews: Scott Hargis' Lighting For Real Estate Photography Video Series
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Many of you are familiar with Scott Hargis, who has made his living as both a successful architectural photographer and in recent years, teacher. Scott has cris-crossed the world to teach his methods, including a recent trip to Dubai to teach at Gulf Photo Plus. Scott recently released a multi-part video tutorial that teaches his methods for shooting high-quality photos for real estate photography using off-camera flashes, and Scott was kind enough to send us a copy to review.

BTS On The International Space Station: Discussing The Cameras, Techniques, And Difficulties Involved When Shooting In Space
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Astronaut Donald Pettit has spent more than a year of his life in space. Between two long-term stays on the ISS and a six-week Space Shuttle trip, he's racked up an incredible 370 days living, working, and photographing in the most hostile environment known to man. In this video, Donald shows us the techniques he's developed to create some of the jaw-dropping images and timelapses that he's created

Chasing Obama: A Day In The Life Of A Reuters Photographer On The Campaign Trail
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With the United States' presidential election decided with Barack Obama as the winner, I thought the timing would be perfect to share this video created by Reuters' White House photographer Jason Reed. Jason follows the president on his campaign trail, and offers some interesting behind the scenes views of a job that most of us dream of having. While not an earth-shattering video, it gives us a better idea of how many hats a modern photojournalist must wear, and how incredibly hectic it gets when photographing the world's largest election. I know I'd probably sprout a few grey hairs after...

Kamil Tamiola Shows Us How To Create Awesome Nighttime Images
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Alpine photographer Kamil Tamiola has made quite a name for himself shooting landscapes and people in hostile high-altitude environments. His work is stunning, and he admits that a large part of what sets him apart from other photographers is his use of nighttime and twilight imagery, which can be incredibly difficult to capture in this environment. In this video, a very cold Kamil will walk us through what it takes to create one of his gorgeous high altitude images.

Disney Acquires Lucasfilm, Star Wars Franchise: More Star Wars Films Coming
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In the most unexpected yet earth-shattering news in recent film and video memory, Disney has agreed to purchase Lucasfilm for a reported $4.05 billion. Along with that purchase, Disney has stated that it will continue to produce original Star Wars films and related material. Since I know that most all of our readers grew up watching Star Wars and at some point in their life have pretended to wield a lightsaber, this has got to be the greatest Star Wars news in some time.

Yet Another Outrageous Deal: Rebel T3i Kit With Two Lenses, Printer, And More For $599
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B&H strikes again! This time it's a Rebel T3i, 18-55mm IS, 55-250mm IS, PIXMA Pro9000 Mark II printer, 16gb Sandisk Extreme SD card, shoulder bag, and glossy paper pack. All of that for $599 after a mail in rebate, which is just an amazing deal. If you're a new enthusiast, looking to pick up a gift for a loved one, or looking for a backup option that will create high-quality images for a great price, you need to look no further. Click here to see the deal on the B&H website.

Go Behind The Scenes With Brad Wilson As He Creates Incredible Portraits Of Live Animals
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Brad Wilson, a commercial and fine art photographer who splits his time between New Mexico and New York, recently released this video of him shooting exotic animals in a studio. Take a look at how Brad works with giraffes, elephants, alligators and more to create breahttaking studio portraits of animals that are never seen in this environment. To be honest, the fact that Brad has the guts to get six inches from some of these huge cats to take their picture with studio lighting is just incredible.

Fstoppers Reviews The Singh-Ray Variable Neutral Density Filter: A Must For Any Landscape Photographer
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Most photographers and videographers have felt the need to slow down their shutter speeds on more than one occasion: whether you're a landscape photographer looking to get scintillating blurry water and clouds, a portrait photographer trying to slow down a shutter speed to use shallow depth of field with a wide aperture, or a videographer in search of that cinema-like look. While there are a number of solutions, one of the most well-known and most flexible is the Singh-Ray Variable Neutral Density Filter.

One of The Best Uses of Timelapse We've Seen: Endeavour's Final Journey Through The Streets of LA
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As Fstoppers' resident aviation dork and lone Angeleno, I'd be making a huge mistake not to share this incredible timelapse of Endeavour's final journey. Filmed over a sleepless weekend by an all-star timelapse team, the video chronicles Endeavour's slow, delicate, and surreal journey (which made for the perfect timelapse subject) from Los Angeles International Airport to its final resting place at the California Science Center.

Smoking Hot Deal On 5d Mark II Kit With 24-105 and Printer At B&H: Only $2199!
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B&H just announced this incredible deal: $2199.00 after mail-in-rebate for a Canon 5d Mark II, 24-105mm f:4 L lens, and Pixma Pro9000 Mark II Printer Kit. On top of all this, they're also throwing in a LowePro AW 170 Shoulder Bag, a wireless IR shutter release, and a bundle of glossy photo paper. For those who have been waiting for prices to fall on the 5d Mark II, you simply can't beat this. Need I remind you that the original MSRP of the 5d Mark II kit was $3,499?

Ian Ruhter Shoots Inspiring People With an Enormous Wet Plate Setup
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We've featured Ian Ruhter before: his Silver and Light series was an incredible display of talent, ingenuity and originality. I'm glad to say that he's back at it again, this time criss-crossing the country, telling the stories of inspiring people with his portable darkroom setup. Watch as Ian shoots Madison, a young girl who overcame some serious setbacks, and creates a series of incredible portraits using his custom made (very large format) camera which is built into the back of a box van.

Behind The Scenes With David Honl: A Hilarious Look At A Quirky, Conceptual Photoshoot
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David Honl, photojournalist and the mastermind behind the Honl line of lighting gear, put together this hilarious behind the scenes video involving a cavewoman, spaceman, mind-altering drugs, and speedlights (which, besides getting a few chuckles, manages to pack some educational punch as well). This video is for those of us who just couldn't pay attention in those classes full of dry material and boring lecturers. Enjoy!

Reverse-Engineering The Work of a Master: Creating A Portrait In The Style Of Dan Winters
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Phlearn.com just released this behind-the-scenes video which shows how to light, shoot, and process a shot in the style of Dan Winters. By reverse-engineering the light and color that Winters uses (and using a little Photoshop magic), you'll be able to replicate one of his most well-known shots of actor Tom Hanks. I don't know about everyone else, but whenever I look through a magazine, I guess at the lighting setups

Insert Here: Sensual and Artistic Portraits of Sex Toys [NSFW]
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Sam Kaplan, a New York-based product and still life photographer, was inspired to create a series of photographs of an object that is often enjoyed in the bedroom rather than on a gallery wall. Sam decided to change all of that, and his series 'Insert Here' takes the taboo and transforms it into an exploration of line, form, and color: Dildart, if you will. It goes without saying that you might want to be careful where you open this post.