Patrick Hall Photography Tutorials

About Patrick Hall

Patrick Hall is a founder of Fstoppers.com and a photographer based out of Charleston, South Carolina.

Popular Articles from Patrick Hall
Timelapse Of Golden Gate Bridge's 75th Anniversary Fireworks Show

On Sunday, San Francisco celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge with one massive fireworks display. For all of us who weren't able to attend, no worries; the guys over at The Seventh Movement captured the entire event with several Canon 5Ds (MKII and IIIs) and a Red Scarlet (at 48 fps). The editing job on this is amazing and all the shots were planned out really well...the twilight harbor shot is worth a watch alone!

[Crazy Deals] Sandisk 32GB Memory Cards On Sale Today Only

What's that? You need twice as much memory now for your crazy large Nikon D800 RAW files? But those 32GB Memory Cards are so expensive you say. Well today only 32GB SD and Compact Flash Cards are on sale at some of the lowest prices I've ever seen (and no rebate forms to deal with). This is great news after shooting my first wedding with the Nikon D4 and D800 and realizing single 32 gig cards aren't cutting it anymore. Don't say we didn't warn you if you miss out on this deal!

Does Adidas Use Too Many Lights For Their Ad Campaigns?

A big part of what makes commercial photography so interesting is it often requires photographers to incorporate the latest graphic trends into their work. In other words, in order to cut the mustard in commercial photography, you not only have to be at the top of your game but you also have to produce something eye catching in a market full of interesting media. That's exactly what photographer Gary Land did with his latest Adidas ad featuring soccer superstar Lionel Messi. However, his arsenal of Profoto lights and heavy photoshop has caused a bit of controversy over on the Strobist website where many photographers are claiming the final image is a bit overkill. I personally love the final image and think the direction Gary went is exactly what separates the boys from the men. However, I can appreciate the purists point of view who think great advertising photos should remain true to real life and capture a more realistic vision. Check out this great behind the scenes video of the latest Adidas shoe ad and let us know what you think in the comments. Check out Gary's interesting website as well for more inspiration.
[Business] Dane Sanders Talks Creativity With Trey Ratcliff

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dane Sanders at WPPI while we were in Las Vegas. If you don't already know Dane, he's a wedding photographer who web chats with some of the industry's up and coming photographers. Trey Ratcliff of Stuck In Customs fame sat down with Dane to talk about creating unique and artistically strong content for the web. [read full post]
Insider View:  Joey Lawrence

Meet Joey Lawrence. He is one of the most highly sought after commercial photographers in the world. And he has all of us beat by a good 15 years! Click below to find out why. The Real Joey Lawrence from Canamedia Inc. on Vimeo.
[Timelapse Video] Your Photographs Are Being Tracked By GPS, And It Looks Beautiful

Have you ever wondered just how many photographs are taken each day? Maybe you've wondered where the most photos are taken throughout the world. Well the GPS data tracking company Triposo has released a timelapse video that shows exactly where most of the world's photographs are taken. With the help from sites like Flickr, Dmoz, TouristEye, Open Street Maps, and dozens others, Triposo was able to plot popular areas for photography using GPS data embedded into the photographs themselves. Not only did they capture the location of the photos but also the day it was taken. Click the full post to see still shots of the most popular days people are using their cameras.
[Contest Submission] How To Use An Intervalometer To Create Day Long Timelapses

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!
[Post Production] Liquifying Your Models With The Puppet Warp Photoshop Tool

Gry Garness is a makeup artist turned retoucher/photoshop consultant from Norway. I wasn't familiar with her photoshop tutorials until I came across this video the other day, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with her articulate approach to complicated techniques. In this video, Gry teaches some interesting liquify techniques on an image by Derek Cooper. Instead of simply using the lossy liquify tool, Gry shows you how you can use warp and puppet warp selections which give you the ability to go back and change any transforms down the road. The results are pretty amazing and it's always good to know a few different ways to accomplish the same overall outcome.
[Deals] Limited Time Save On Sandisk Memory Cards And Pocket Wizards

We are heading into the holiday season which usually means manufacturers and retailers are looking to hook up buyers with some pretty sweet deals. Right now through BHvideo.com you can get some great discounts on Sandisk high speed flash memory cards which are great as newer cameras offer more megapixels and greater video capability. Pocket Wizard is also offering a rebate on their flagship Flex and Mini radio triggers. Check out our Nikon Pocket Wizard Flex and Mini Review to see how far the new line of triggers have come over the industry standard Plus IIs. Act fast because these units rarely go on sale and hold their value really well if you ever need to sell them down the road.
Fstoppers Is Giving Away An Apple Macbook Air Through Twitter!

Well the title pretty much says it all and you only have 3 day left to enter! Fstoppers is excited to announce a new twitter contest where you can win one of the brand new Apple Macbook Air 11.6" Notebooks. Click Here for details on how you can enter the Fstoppers twitter contest and win this macbook. Also make sure you enter before the end of October 12th since we are announcing the winner the following day.
For Your Next Photoshoot, Try Building An Interesting Set

Taking your creativity to the next level can make all the difference between typical photographs and artistic photographs. Orb Outerwear just released their new Fall 2011 fashion designs and they included a fun behind the scenes video to go along with it. So many photographers already have a pretty solid understanding of lighting to produce great photos. What they lack is artistic vision to do something different and unique. Everyone who reads this blog can easily create a small team of set designers, hair stylists, makeup artists, and clothing stylists to produce studio quality catalog profiles. Try putting something like this together for your entry into the Behind The Scenes Contest we are running. Unfortunately I could not find out who the photographer was so if you know the talent responsible for these please reply in the comments. Click the full post to see a stop motion video of some of the final images (the snow shoot doesn't appear to have been published yet).
The Aurora Borealis As You've Never Seen It

When I tell people that I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, everyone always asks me what it's like to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). I always try to explain how it looks by relating it to a laser show or smoke streams but I've never found a way to describe it to someone who hasn't seen it for themselves. Two days ago Terje Sorgjerd created the best visual representation of the Aurora Borealis I have ever seen from Pas National Park near the Russian border. Using a timelapse dolly from Dynamic Perceptions, a Canon 5D Mark II, and a few wide angle lenses, Terje was able to take long exposure iamges and size them down to create an 4K video masterpiece. Check out the Geophysical Institute if you live near the North Pole and want to monitor the activity of the Aurora.
Photoshop Tips For Moving Car Photography

This week over on the Fstoppers Forum there has been some pretty interesting posts. One that grabbed my attention was made by user Evolize Photog who showed how he photographs luxury cars in motion. In this video Evolize shows how he photoshopped his suction cupped boom arm out of a Lamborghini Gallardo hero shot. This should be great inspiration for our behind the scenes contest we are running the rest of this year. I'm sure a lot of you are like me and have questions about mounting a boom arm, triggering the camera, and positioning the camera for the best angle. These are some of the topics you should consider when making your own BTS video in the future. Do we have any other automotive photographers here on Fstoppers?
Transformers:  The Sound Behind The Movie

If you went to see a movie over the weekend, chances are you went to see the new Michael Bay movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon. You may not be a big fan of Michael Bay and his over use of (and often reused) CGI effects, but you have to admit the creative artists responsible for carrying out Mr. Bay's vision are pretty remarkable. SoundWorks has profiled the incredible work sound designers Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl went through to create the soundtrack required to make the visual effects on the screen believable. For the photographer or videographer just getting into video, you will soon realize how important the audio element is in maintaining a high production value in your films. If you enjoyed our post on The Sound of Inception then you are sure to enjoy this one as well.