Articles written by Corey Melton

Bulgarian Magazine, 12 Mag, has sure been rufflin' up some feathers over a piece they ran in June entitled "Victims of Beauty". Photographer Vasil Germanov along with MUAs Daniela Avramova and Slav have been making international headlines along with "12" for depecting models beaten, bruised and cut. Personally, I love the series and I think the artistry is beautiful, especially on the account of the MUAs...

Photographer Matt Rainwaters hails from the land of Texas where all things are big and bold. So when he set out to shoot a project chock-full of the world's biggest and bestest moustaches and beards it just seemed like the right thing to do. The subjects are simply lit with a single ring flash shot against a black background, but in situations like this you dont really need complex lighting and crazy locations ...

Photographer Ted Sabarese who is "armed with only a wacom tablet, less-than-mediocre drawing skills and an acute sense of smell" walks us through some of the photo industry's best images. Ted gives us his hypothetical lighting used on the photos in question and teaches us a thing or two in the process. Enjoy!

I have been learning a ton of video know how in the past few months from watching the tutorials over at VideoMaker. I recently shot a green screen video for some background compositing and didn't take as much time as I should have setting up the lights for the green screen (the subjects on the other hand were flawlessly lit, haha). I thought I was out of luck until I came across this video which showed me how to fix my beginner's mistake and also has a few more handy tips for other green screen screw ups. Enjoy!

Slovak macrographer (not a real term) Dusan Beno has built quite a stunning body of work consisting almost entirely of bugs. These insect headshots are intense and beautiful at the same time. Dusan's mix of lighting and color really make these images pop and they leave me wanting to see more. Check out his 500px for larger versions of these photos. Enjoy!

Here is a rad way to spruce up the background of almost any photo or video shoot. Whoever Unallocated Space is (cant find anything on who or what that is) has created an amazing tornado of fire by using a bunch of box fans and a tub filled with fire. This video demonstrates how you can easily create a beautiful and deadly looking whirlpool of fire in your own backyard. Disclaimer: Fstoppers did not tell you to try this. If you try this, it was at your own risk. Enjoy!

Jeremy Cowart is the newest photographer to be featured as a part of Profoto's Master Series. In this video he explains his work flow of his well known Imogen Heap portrait. Jeremy thinks way outside the box with much of his work and he is a true artist at heart. Hopefully hearing him talk us through this shot will move you to find new ways to shoot whatever it is you do. Enjoy!

Latvian photographer, Ivars Gravlejs, has created a great and funny list of rules for idiots who also want to be photographers, or at least who want to take pictures. The format is simple to understand for the morons that need process this information as it is a "This, not that" kind of deal. Everyone of us knows a few people that could benefit from this post and can help them stop sucking so bad at taking pictures. However, you can't really take this too seriously.

When we as photographers jump into movie making using our newly video-enabled DSLRs, there is a lot of new info to learn and an entirely new vocabulary begins rearing its head. For me frame rates, shutter speeds, interlacing and how digital video all relates were a mystery, but thankfully the good ol' folks over at the Videomaker blog have answered these questions for us already. Check out this short video that will certainly help any new video guy (or gal) understand frame rates and interlacing. Enjoy!