Hurricane Irene is battering the East Coast of the US right now which has left many stuck in their homes browsing the internet for storm updates. One particular story that has filled my facebook news feed and was tweeted by CNN involves a shark swimming in the streets of Puerto Rico. Apparently the shark was swept up by Hurricane Irene and trapped inland on flooded streets of the Caribbean island. But something about the photo seems very suspecious. A few weeks ago Fstoppers correspondent Reese Moore interviewed photographer Thomas Peschak and one of his most famous images features the same shark making headlines today. Coincidence or is this shark just hungry for more media attention? Click the full post to see the two photos and you be the judge.
Within 24 hours of announcing the Fstoppers 2011 Behind The Scenes Video Contest, we were shocked to already have our first submission. Marc Kuyer from Holland had an idea to have small model cars battling each other like they were straight out of Rock and Roll Racing (super cult classic). Marc does a good job outlining his plans and showing you all the photoshopping that went into this final image. Of course we'd love to see everyone on camera but sometimes with language barriers you may have to stick with subtitles and text. So I guess it's safe to say right now Marc has taken the lead in our contest. If no one else steps up to the plate he will be moving on from small speed lights to a full studio worth of equipment!
Markus Klinko is a famous celebrity fashion photographer that you've probably seen on Bravo's Double Exposure television show or the countless high end fashion magazines featuring his covers and spreads. Together with his photographic partner Indrani, the duo have produced some of the most iconic celebrity photographs of the last 15-20 years. What you might not know about Markus is that he shoots on a collection of Mamiya RZ and DM cameras and digital backs and uses Leaf and Capture One by Phase One software. What makes his Mamiya cameras so unique though is his custom made ivory mammoth tusk pistol grip which combines the prehistoric era with the modern era all in one camera. For a more serious look at Markus's camera, hit the full post for video number two.
With Apple's Final Cut Pro X just starting to hit the streets, stories about how unusable the video editing software has become are popping up everywhere. Recently even Conan O'brien took a stab at the software editing program when his production team created this funny skit showing some of the new features found in FCPX. Here at Fstoppers we still use PCs and Adobe Premiere but I can imagine how frustrated I would be if Adobe changed many of the UI we have come to love and master. That being said I've heard Final Cut Pro X has some great features; maybe all these negative reviews are just coming from editors not willing to update. What do you guys think? Will you be purchasing the next version of Final Cut Pro?
Monte Isom had one of the most populars videos on Fstoppers back in February. Well he is back with a fun stop motion video for NYC comedian Colin Kane. Monte filmed this entire video on the Nikon D3s with just a few Litepanel 1x1 bicolor constant lights. The final video was made with 14,000 still images to create the final 90 second promo. Below is the final video but you can check out the BTS video in the Full Post as well as read Monte's own words on how he approached this shoot.
This video is a little different than anything we've posted before but I figured it would be enjoyed by those of you who are celebrating Easter. Jeremy Cowart is one of the hottest American photographers right now and his portfolio is absolutely sick! But in this video he is creating a rather unique portrait of Jesus using pastels, photoshop, stock images, and random elements from snap shots. The amount of effort that went into this portrait is quite remarkable, and almost every texture is so subtle you would never know half of what went into making this image just by looking at it. It's pretty exciting to see such a well respected photographer pushing his own craft in a way that is so different than what he does on a daily basis. Click the full post to watch a second video of Jeremy making a portrait of Tom Yorke in this style.
I know many photographers ask themselves, "How can I use my artistic talent to give back to my community in some profound way?" Bringing awareness to a great social or ethical cause can be difficult when our culture is so bombarded with crazy images everyday. Photographer Chris Jordan, author of In Katrina's Wake, recently discovered baby albatross birds who were dying in a very unusual way. Birds inhabiting Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean have been found dead in huge numbers. The cause of death appears to be from parent birds mistakenly eating plastic garbage found floating in the ocean and washing up on shore. These images are quite gruesome, and it is almost hard to believe they are real. Through this Midway Project, Chris hopes to bring awareness to the ecological problems not often seen at these remote locations. Head over to the Midway Journey's website for more videos about this cause as well as more photography.
It is amazing what creative professionals are doing with their cameras. Sam O'Hare blew my mind today with his short NYC video called The Sandpit. I thought I knew how he created this but was completely wrong. Take a guess then click the link to read about how it was really shot.
It's almost April which means that two of our photo contests are about to wrap up. The March Photoshop Contest challenges you to create the best tshirt graphic art of Noam's Stolen Scream for a Think Tank Photo Bag as well as a custom shirt featuring your design. For the March Photography Contest you can submit your best interpretation of the theme "COLLABORATION" and win a Photoflex Starlight and a custom banner on the top of Fstoppers.com! The chances of winning either contest are really good because only a few dozen people have entered so far. Click on the links above to submit your entry and as long as you have it posted before 6am Eastern Time then you will be eligible. And remember Noam is judging his contest and February winner Julius will be judging the Photo Contest. Good luck to all!
The newest promo video for the incredible GoPro HD camera has me wanting to get out of the house and do something exciting! We are big supports of what Gopro is doing and can't speak highly enough of these little cameras. If you enjoy adding a unique perspective to your own videos or want a small time lapse camera, you can't go wrong with these...well unless you destroy them :) <
So you've seen the video on how to tether your iPad to your DSLR camera, and you heard the announcement from Lee that we are giving away an Apple iPad in December. So what do you have to do to win the iPad for yourself? It's really easy: just follow us on twitter and send out one tweet about Fstoppers. That's it; plain and simple! On December 15th we will pick a random user from the previous 30 days and Christmas will come 10 days early :) Feel free to share this video explaining the rules to your friends and check out the BTS video at the end showing how we used an entry level camera, a photoflex reflector, one prime lens, and an iPhone to film the most basic fstoppers video yet (and the first one in 1080). Due to mail/customs issues, this contest is only open to US and Canada residence. Don’t worry, we will be doing a big world wide contest again very soon. <
Fstoppers is Giving Away an Apple Ipad from FStoppers on Vimeo.
It is December 1st which means you only have 15 days left to win the Apple iPad we are giving away through our Twitter Account. If you haven't heard about this or have been living under a rock, click the video below to find out how you can win and also be sure to check out Lee Morris's post on how to use an Eye-Fi card to wirelessly tether your DSLR camera to the iPad.
Fstoppers is Giving Away an Apple Ipad from FStoppers on Vimeo.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day and even got a few new toys to play around with. Lee and I are currently both back home with our families as many of you are yourself. So instead of going all out with a really in-depth video I figured I'd share something a little less serious that you may find amusing. The new season of Jersey Shore is coming out in Jan and MTv just released a new BTS video to promote it. My question to you is "If you had to photograph the entire cast of Jersey Shore, what would you do?" Jersey Shore - MTV Shows
Last month we tested out our first ever Photoshop Contest, and it was a great success. So we have decided to start a monthly photoshop contest so everyone can get in on the action. Think Tank has offered up prizes for at least 6 months of photoshop contests, and submissions are almost due for the January 2011 contest. If you didn't know, this month we challenged you to edit this basketball image from the Pocket Wizard TT5 Test Shoot. If you've watched the video then you know that fellow Fstoppers reader Jaymes Poudrier did a pretty fantastic job of editing my shots but I want to see what you can do. Feel free to manipulate this photograph any way you see fit, and at the end of Jan 15th I will pick a winner. The reward is going to be a new Think Tank Disguise 70 Pro camera bag which is really great for quick on the go shooters. One word to the wise; there are no rules for this contest but I'm a fan of mainstream and marketable photographs. Anyone can participate but if you are outside of North America you will have to pay for any shipping or handling that Think Tank might encounter. Post all your images over at the January 2011 Photoshop Contest Forum and good luck!
David Jackson is a commercial photographer based out of Appleton, Wisconsin and this week he has released a personal project entitled "Circus". Dave puts a lot of effort into not only every detail of this shoot but also in explaining why it is important to shoot for yourself and not just for clients. You only book the types of jobs you already have in your portfolio and if you want to book something new down the road you really have to go out and shoot similar images for yourself first...and for free. This first video is a bit long and has few BTS clips but there is also a second less informative BTS video just for the shoot itself. Both videos are in the full post and if you want to see the final images check them out here. David also has a second post outlining in complete detail every element of the photoshoot which is really worth checking out here. Lots of videos, lots of posts, but a pretty cool concept.
Shear Chaos Salon Circus Shoot :: Technical Banter from David Jackson on Vimeo.
