Using 6 aircrafts, 138 skydivers jumped at 18,500 feet and created a snowflake shape by holding hands and remaining vertical (head down feet up) to set the new vertical world record. Skydivers traveled from all over the world to take part in the record attempt, including from France, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Belgium, Australia and the U.K.
In Lord Of The Rings the Hobbits, who are supposed to be very small, are required to interact with much larger humans. I always assumed they did this by recording each actor separately and then combining them in post but I was very wrong. By using a telephoto lens and very small aperture that produced a long depth of field, they could place the actors on different focal planes and keep them both sharp. With some incredible set design they could fool the viewer even while the camera was in motion.
I've been a big fan and user of Alien Skin Exposure software for many years now. A couple months ago Alien Skin asked if I would review their newest version of the software and although it took me quite a while, I'm finally done. Basically, Alien Skin has taken what I have always considered to be the best photo enhancing software available and they have made it even better.
If you have been waiting for a deal on Pro level memory cards, your wait is over. Today only B&H has high end Lexar memory cards on sale from 16gb to 128gb. Keep in mind that many of these cards are still very expensive because they are some of the fastest cards money can buy (up to 150mbps). The discounted cards are broken up into 3 levels; mid level CF cards, top level CF cards, and SD cards.
We've all left our lens caps on before but it usually takes a split second to look through the viewfinder and figure out what the problem is. This Olympic photographer took a little bit longer to figure out that his lens cap was the reason for his blank images. Unluckily for him, these embarrassing 12 seconds were broadcast to the world.
Is it just me or are the Olympians this year extra revealing? Each year ESPN releases a Body Issue which features men and women Olympians fully nude but this year other publications are also jumping on board with extra sexy Olympic imagery. For every image you have seen there are dozens of other photoshoots that also took place. In this video we go behind the scenes on a handful of these lesser known shoots featuring female athletes.
Our good friend David Bergman was hired by Sports Illustrated to shoot the Olympics once again this year. David is becoming more and more well known for his Gigapan images which require a camera to take hundreds of pictures that are then stitched together in post. The result is a single image that you can "zoom" almost endlessly into. If you want to see every detail of the gymnasium at the Olympics, check out this incredible GigaPixel image.
Many photographers already use a tablet like the Wacom Intuos to work in Photoshop. You would think that an iPad would be even better because you can touch the very screen that you work is on but it's not that simple. Due to a number of issues like lack of pressure control and the fact that your hand itself will "select" parts of the screen, the iPad never took off as a professional tool. That is until I saw this video.
MIT has created a camera that can actually view light in motion. By firing trillions of pulses of light and syncing their cameras shutter, they can create a video that shows how light moves through space and reacts to mass. By recording this amazing detail, these cameras can actually see into objects and around corners by monitoring the way the light bounces off and around an object.
For the last few years photographers have been getting nervous about high res video cameras taking still photography jobs but we failed to see the biggest threat... robots! Apparently 12 of these robotic arms have been make to hold Nikon D4 cameras and shoot aerial photography at this year's Olympics Games. Luckily each of these cameras must still be controlled by a human photographer so we aren't going to lose our jobs yet.
Remember Justin Wojtczak? If not, make sure you watch this video of Patrick surprising him with the news that he won the Fstoppers 2011 BTS Contest. Well Justin is back with his latest behind the scenes video. In this BTSV Justin takes a bride into a creek in the woods of Georgia and shows us how to shoot on a budget.
Admit it, we have all done it. Whether you used Napster to download music illegally when you were in highschool, made a mixed tape for a friend, or put music behind your last Youtube video, none of us have paid for music properly in every instance. In most cases we know what is right and wrong but there are still many misconceptions about licensing music. In this article Matt Thompson of SongFreedom.com goes through 7 legal and moral misconceptions when it comes to using popular music.
Last month we published a post on Fstoppers informing you guys that the first batch of knockoff MB-D12 battery grips for the Nikon D800 were available on eBay. It took over a month for the grip to show up from Hong Kong but yesterday I finally got it. If you have been considering buying one of these you will want to watch our full review.
The Amazing Spider-Man has been out for about 2 weeks and has made 137 million dollars. I saw it last week and was really impressed by the special effects but I've never had a full understanding of what really goes into it. In this video Jerome Chen from Sony Imageworks takes us through the basics of creating an all CG fight scene. Check out the full post for 3 additional videos.
Foton inc. recently released a video showing off their video retouching skills. As photographers most of us know the time it takes to make someone look younger in a still image but what if you had to do that with video, frame by frame. To do this Foton created a new retouching technique they have named “Age Reduction FX".
A few years ago, after about 10 phone call attempts, I got in touch with a guy who was in charge of licensing the music for a major band. I wanted to purchase the rights for a single song to to play in the background on my wedding website. I was told that if my budget was below $15,000 he didn't have time to talk to me. Since my budget was around $100, our conversation ended quickly. It has always been practically impossible for individuals to purchase licenses for popular music... until now.
Last month we gave a Canon 5DM3 away in our Facebook Fan Contest. The contest was such a success we decided to do it again. Just like last month, to enter the contest you simply have to "like" 3 Facebook pages. If you get anyone else to sign up for the contest you will receive an additional 3 entries per person raising your chances of winning considerably. Check out the full post for all the details.
Last week we posted a video featuring a high speed robotic arm that is used for precise movements during high frame rate filming. Although this robot isn't as fast, it is on a dolly, which gives it the ability to move around the room. Check out Bot & Dolly's website to learn more about their "bot" and see a few examples of their work.
Pepsi Australia recently teamed up with Kelly Racing to produce the Pepsi Max super car. Photographer Chris Benny was hired to shoot the new car and lucky for us, he filmed a quick BTSV of the production. As with many shoots, the weather became a problem but Chris had a backup plan. With a little post work Chris made the outside shots pop and then moved the car inside to finish the shoot.
If you are into studio lighting at all you have probably heard about the D1 Monolight by Profoto. These lights are known for their size, flash consistency, and of course the wireless Air Remote system. In this video I'll take you through each of my favorite and least favorite features of this flash. If you are on the fence you may want to try renting these lights first.
