Cell phones at weddings are getting really obnoxious. "Unplugged weddings" (where all cell phones are confiscated before the event) are becoming very popular these days. I've shot literally hundreds of weddings in my life and cell phones have always been a problem... with the guests. I've never seen this before though.
As many of you know, Fstoppers.com has 2 video products currently for sale; Peter Hurley's: The Art Behind The Headshot and our wedding tutorial How To Become A Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer. Today we have expanded and created the Fstoppers store that will house some of the best digital photography products on the web.
A few days ago I wrote a post about Animoto's new theme that I designed. Although I'm sure a few of you will take advantage of it, I forgot the mention the really important part; they wanted me to give out a discount. Click here to save $50 on a year of Animoto Pro.
Animoto.com has revolutionized photo slideshow creation. I believe that for my wedding photography business in Charleston, slideshows are the most valuable form of marketing I have. I've always had one problem with Animoto though, most of their themes were really over the top. That was until they let me design my own.
The D7000 is an amazing camera. I shot weddings with it exclusively for 2 years and during that time we also filmed every Fstoppers video with them as well. Today only Adorama is selling refurbished versions of them on eBay for just $580! If you need a mid level DSLR, don't let this deal pass you by.
Have you ever seen a photograph taken for a large, expensive advertising campaign and thought: "I could have totally taken that picture." I see photographers charging unbelievably high prices for mediocre images all the time. It makes me wonder; what is more important, the quality of my photography or the business of selling it?
Since we released Peter Hurley's: The Art Behind The Headshot, the internet has been trying to replicate his signature look without shelling out thousands for his Kino Flo lights. The guys over at SLR Lounge put together a great video that comes up with a similar look by using only 1 light, 1 bank, and 3 reflectors. I think the results are fantastic.
A few months ago I got a random email that said "Would you like to review our new remote controlled drone that can carry a GoPro?" I love all types of electronics so I said I would be happy to. I assumed I would be receiving a remote controlled toy in the mail but I was very wrong. The DJI Phantom absolutely blew me away. Even after I destroyed it.
Happy fourth of July Fstoppers. To celebrate we are currently discounting Peter Hurley's: The Art Behind The Headshot $100 (the most we have ever discounted it). If you purchase Peter's tutorial you will also receive a $50 discount for our wedding tutorial: How To Become A Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer.
To save $100 use code "save100"
The Fstoppers Logo contest has ended and after over 1500 submissions I can say that I believe all possible avenues have been explored. Both Patrick and I went through every single logo one by one separately and we narrowed them down to our favorite 17. Check out the full post to see our best options and vote on your favorites.
4 years ago Patrick and I came up with the idea for Fstoppers.com. We needed a logo and so I went into Photoshop and created the "FS" inside a circle that you can see above. It took me about 5 minutes and neither Patrick or I have ever really liked it. It's time for a change and we will pay you to help us get there.
This year Patrick and I were invited to Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai to film a behind the scenes look of what it's really like to go to this exotic workshop. The experience itself was one of the highlights of my life but the most memorable moment for me was the few minutes I had with each of the instructors. I decided to interview them about the pitfalls of their careers and what it takes to become successful as a photographer.
A couple years ago Patrick and I were invited to film David Bergman shooting a Bon Jovi concert in New Jersey. The experience was one of the most memorable of my life and if I had to put a price on it I really couldn't, to me it was priceless. The same opportunity is now available to you. David Bergman is auctioning off the ability to shadow him at a Bon Jovi concert.
If you've seen any movies in the theater recently you've probably seen a preview for the movie Oblivion. A major part of the movie takes place on a science fiction "sky tower" above the clouds. Instead of using green screen the director had a 360 degree set built that allowed the team to project real skyscape video around the glass building. The results not only look incredible but they also gave the actors a more realistic set to work on.
I know many of you out there think that a massive team and a giant budget is necessary to produce a quality video but most of the time that simply is not the case. I was just sent a link to a quick video about filming with an incredibly small film crew and these guys give 3 fantastic tips for the average person trying to get into video production.
Jurassic Park is my favorite movie of all time. The story line itself is captivating but the incredible special effects are what really set this film apart. The movie was released 20 years ago in 1993 and the CGI and robotic dinosaurs still look more realistic than the majority of special effects in movies today. Stan Winston has just released 3, never before seen videos of the creation of the robotic dinosaurs from the original Jurassic Park.
Rick Coleman was scuba diving off the coast of Southern California at night from a personal kayak. As Rick was entering his boat after the dive a sea lion pup jumped aboard. Rick eventually was forced to push the pup back into the water but the pup jumped back on. luckily Rick had a couple of GoPros rolling throughout the whole experience.
I've been out of college for just 8 years now and in my mind I am far from being "successful." I'm not going to pretend that I know what it takes to become successful, obviously I'm still trying to figure that out, but I've made enough mistakes to know what not to do. This is my list of the top 5 ways to never become successful.
Our good friend Dave Lehl is at it again and this time he's moved out of the snow and into the skate park. To add a bit of flare to the standard skateboarding shot Dave taped sparklers to the bottom of the board and used smoke bombs to set the mood. Check out the full post to a link to the high res finished shots.
We recently released our 14 hour tutorial on How To Become A Professional Wedding Photographer and as promised, we will be releasing excerpts from it for free over the next year. In this video I show you my go to method of lighting posed pictures in a church at weddings. I've tried every method of lighting but I find it easiest to light up the whole sanctuary with my Profoto D1 monolight.
