Adam Boozer is an amazingly talented videographer right here in Charleston, SC. His company Jewell and Ginnie has been making a big splash with very cinematic video here in the low country and throughout the southeast. Last night Adam emailed us a BTS video he created on how he sets up his camera for these incredible aerial shots. Besides having the access to a Robinson R44 Helicopter, the actual setup isn't that complicated: A Canon 5D MKII, a Zucato Follow Focus, a Marshall Monitor, and the piece that stabilizes it all together, the Tyler Mini Gyro. I've posted the highlight reel here so click the full post to see the BTS video on how Adam is getting these shots!
J&G 2010 Aerial Selects Reel from Jewell&Ginnie on Vimeo.
I was just informed that there is a behind the scenes video on how the Doritos 360 Degree video was created. If you found that last post as interesting as I did, you will appreciate watching how they filmed it. What's going to be tough about shooting 360 video is that everything has to be done in one take. If you are as poor good as I am in front of the camera then it probably won't be a problem :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN--lp96SmI<
Do you guys remember that show The Shot that was on VH1 maybe 3 years ago? If you do then you probably remember 1st runner up Dean Zulich. Dean has released a great behind the scenes video that outlines everything involved with two of his shot setups. The results are great, and I think this video has something for both the beginner photographer and the experienced photographer. It's nice to hear Dean admit that sometimes you have to shoot on set with the realization that some work will have to be done in post production later. Great photography isn't always about doing it all in camera or all in post but rather knowing your original vision and making it happen...after all that's the only thing clients care about!
Jeff Johnson is a very talented lifestyle and advertising photographer based out of California. He is probably best known for his adventurous images as the staff photographer for Patagonia. He has also worked with Best Buy, Macy's, Target, and General Mills. So when he sits down with Marc Silber to talk about how he produces great travel photos you better take notes. I hope all you outdoor and nature photographers enjoy this video.
I'm always getting asked by our readers to post more videos on landscape photography but it is really tough to find good videos on landscape photography. Luckily landscape photographer Clyde Butcher has a nice little interview where he talks about how he got into landscape swamp photography and some of the gear he uses. All of his work is black and white and you can really tell how he has been inspired by other black and white photographers who have come before him. If you appreciate black and white landscape photography you will enjoy this video. Make sure you check out Clyde's portfolio to see more of his work since he doesn't showcase much of it in the video itself.
As most of you know, Lee and I decided to close the voting of the BTS Video Contest because of some fishy voting patterns we saw the day before voting was to end. Collectively, we decided that the best thing to do was to pause the voting until we could investigate the suspicious votes. Unfortunately both Lee and I were out of the country and could not look into the issue until last week. What we found was no one was actually cheating. After talking to the creators of the top 4 most popular videos, we all came to a fair compromise: we would open the contest voting for an additional 4 days and change the poll so voting remained hidden. You can watch the top 10 videos and cast your vote HERE if you have not already done so. All previous votes are still valid and part of this contest. The whole idea behind this contest was to have the Fstoppers readers vote on what video they though was the most instructional and innovative. We clearly said that if we found users creating multiple accounts then their video would be disqualified. What we found was some of our readers are just better and campaigning for votes than others and having your friends vote for you was never against the rules. So again, we think the most fair solution is to allow a few more days for voting. To be eligible to vote, you still have to have 3 posts after being registered for 24 hours. I personally hate that this voting experience wasn't as smooth as we had planned, and we definitely want to get a camera in the hands of the winner. Good luck to everyone and feel free to use facebook, twitter, and even the good ol telephone if you want to drive votes to your video. Thanks again to everyone who participated in our first ever contest and be sure to check out the monthly contests over at www.fstoppersforum.com
We were first introduced to Tom Guilmette's work last week when he showed us how to shoot slow motion video at 718 fps. This next video is even better! Tom takes us behind the scenes of a Big East college basketball game. Cox Sports shows us everything that goes into producing a sports program at the event and piping it to your television at home. After watching the last 3 minutes or so of real time action, I think I would have a nervous breakdown if I had to work on something like this day in and day out. Tom has more information on his blog; hope you guys enjoy! <
Warning, this is probably the poorest shot BTS video we have ever posted but I think the concept is pretty interesting. I always find the type of images you see in muscle magazine and men's magazines pretty interesting mainly because they usually contain a lot of motion and action. Check out Brandon Myles White as he takes fall after fall while trying to capture a Last Action Hero style leap. Too bad this wasn't shot a bit better with some insight from the photographer.
Back in the Spring of 2009, Louis Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs teamed up with music mogul Madonna produce their new ad campaign. This video is primarily from the point of view of Marc but that shouldn't prevent you from seeing how photographer Steven Meisel executed the overall shoot. I've always been a big fan of Steven's work, and after you watch this video you can browse through most of his extensive portfolio here. After clicking through 127 pages of amazing photo after amazing photo you will probably feel both inspired and completely worthless as a photographer! Click on the full post to view the photographs from this shoot.
Rob Moody, a good friend of ours at Fstoppers, has been working on an interesting video project with Heartsapart.org. Heartsapart has made it their mission to capture military soldiers and their families before they are separated through deployment. Photographers from all over the Southeast have come together to help this in this cause, and Rob has done a great job bringing this story to the public. I can really appreciate this because I grew up in a military family, and I know how important a photograph can be for those who are stationed overseas for extended periods of time. Check out this great video as past Fstoppers spotlight photographer Brownie Harris takes you in his studio to photograph several families.
Matt Hawthorne is a talented photographer based out of Dallas Texas who has a very wide range of genres in his portfolio. Today he is shooting a fashion spread inside a haunted hotel. Click on the link to read some of the back story and the gear he used to take these photos.
Matt Hawthorne Photography Baker Hotel Mineral Wells Fashion Photo Shoot from Matt Hawthorne on Vimeo.
Fred Conrad is a photographer who has been working for the NY Times for over 34 years. Recently he attended the Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show and photographed every single breed of dog at the show. His setup was basically a white backdrop, a ring flash, and a photek softlighter. I've always thought dog shows like this are a bit insane (watch the mockumentary Best in Show for a good laugh), and Fred has captured not only interesting portraits of dogs but also some of the most wild haircuts I've ever seen of dogs. Check out Snoop Dogg the Bedlington Terrier and all the rest over at the interactive online gallery.
One of my favorite directors is Robert Rodriquez, and I was about to post another great BTS video showcasing his directing skills when I came across this video. Most of this short Nike commercial is shot on green screen but that doesn't mean that you as a photographer can't take away something from this big production. I love Robert's ability to tell a story with wild twists and turns all while sprinkling his films with exciting characters and effects that still bring out the teenager in us all. Click the full post to watch the final Nike Black Mamba short film.
Have you ever had to move between 3-5 different environments and maintain consistent exposure and color among each scene? Many photographers move between several locations every half hour (studio setup, indoor bounce flash, outside natural light, low light video) and have to quickly reset their camera's settings over and over again. Imagine only having to hit one button to revisit your camera's settings for an environment you were just in 20 mins ago! There could be a faster way to make those transitions.
The first ever Fstoppers Workshop in the Bahamas is happening May 28th - June 1st at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and we want to give one of our readers the trip of a lifetime for FREE! We are actually doing 2 separate contests and they both end today, Friday May 28th at midnight eastern time.
