Everyone knows Annie Leibovitz is one of the most, if not THE most, well known photographer in the world. Her images evoke a strong sense of story, drama, and beauty. It's not surprising why so many advertising agencies choose Annie to take their clients' portraits. In this video Annie Leibovitz puts Profoto co-founder Conny Dufgran in front of his own lights for a series of environmental portraits. Like most of Annie's behind the scenes videos, you really have to pay attention to the details because she isn't going to spell it all out for you. The first time I watched this video I noticed how much feathering she does with her medium octaboxes, how she controls fill light with large black cards, and even a little on how she directs her subjects. I also like the magic arm trick she uses to get her softlighter closer to her subject...I might have to steal that one. If you have any tips you have taken from Leibovitz share them in the comments.
A while back we posted a popular video series by Philip Bloom called New To DSLR Video? Here Are 8 Videos To Help. In one of the videos, Philip talks about how when shooting on Canon DSLRs (and presumably all DSLR cameras), certain ISO values actually may produce more noise than ISO values 1/3 and 2/3 stops HIGHER! Of course this made everyone a bit uneasy and sparked some interesting discussion. Well Andrew Schär made a video that demonstrates how ISO settings at multiples of 160 are actually better than the normal ones we use at intervals of 100. The question that immediately comes to my mind now is does this hold true for still shots as well or does it only show up when processing video? What do you guys think?
Another week has passed which means Freddie Wong has posted yet another great action video. This guy is a machine when it comes to producing interesting action videos consistently which is probably why he has one of the most viewed channels on youtube. In his newest action sequence, Freddie is determined to capture 50 seconds of mind blowing violence in one single take. You can watch the entire video in the full post. Below is a little behind the scenes on how Freddie and his staff created One Shot ft. Eliza Dushku. The beauty with Freddie's production is that literally anyone can make these videos if they just use their creativity and keep the production high despite the gear they own.
Terje Sorgjerd has become one of the most popular timelapse photographers lately. His video sequence The Aurora has become a favorite here on Fstoppers, and his latest video, The Mountain, has already gotten over 3.5 million views in it's first week. In order to capture the mountains of El Teide and the skies, Terje used an automated dolly created by Dynamic Perception. Using his Canon cameras, Terje was able to capture not only the Milky Way galaxy but also an amazing sandstorm brushing off the Sahara Desert. If you are a fan of these videos, join the TSO Photography facebook page for more of Terje's work.
One of my favorite bands recently is The Black Keys (ironically, I like most bands with the world Black in them). They have really exploded in popularity with the release of their current album Brothers, and the latest video to come from that album is Howlin' For You. In a nutshell, this video is ridiculously badass; I've never seen a music video completely bury the music under a fake trailer before! The Black Keys are pretty good about making BTSVs, and in this one Chris Marrs Piliero explains the concept behind probably his best video to date. There's not a lot of technical talk in this clip but the overall concept and great directing make it worth watching. Pick up at least one Black Keys record if you think about it and check out the final music video in the full post.
Chris Marquardt has developed a really mind blowing new camera called The Invisible Camera. Using ground breaking technology developed by the Max-Planck Institute in Germany, Chris has designed a camera that can properly expose an image even when the film is exposed to ambient light. The special film uses a technique called "directional desensitization" which prevents the emulsion from capturing light; the only light registered is from the very small projection created by the tiny pin hole. What's even more mind blowing is this technique might allow for images to be captured at ISO 1/500th or 15 stops lower than ISO 100! Chris estimates that this increase in resolution would be equivalent to about 3,000 5D Mark II cameras which I can't even imagine. Hopefully some of our more technical readers can explain this to me since I have a feeling it's going on sale a week from this Friday and The Invisible Camera has offered a demo model to Fstoppers.
CLICK FULL POST IF YOU CANNOT WATCH THIS VIDEO! If you watched my video on how to photograph wakeboarding then you know I'm a big advocate of throwing water at your subjects during a photoshoot! So needless to say I was excited when this behind the scenes video surfaced showing how photographer Art Streiber shot the hero shots for the television show Hawaii Five-O. The whole lighting setup is pretty straightforward: one beauty dish and a bunch of back lights for the water splashes. To create the wave splash look Art fired high pressure water at each of the cast members with a 4,000 gallon water truck. Click on the full post to check out some of the final images as well as a few behind the scenes stills from the production.
Congratulations to Justin Trapp for winning the Sports Themed October Fstoppers Forum Contest! Each month we host a photo contest over at FstoppersForum.com where the winner gets their photography on the top banner of Fstoppers.com as well as a nice piece of lighting equipment from the good folks at Photoflex. This month Photoflex is giving away an OctoDome: Extra Small Basic Kit. If you win you will also get to pick the theme for the next month's contest as well as choose the winner. This month Justin will be our guest judge. So if you think you have what it takes to compete, head over to the Contest and post your best EMOTION themed photo.
When I first saw Gregory Heisler, I thought he was a college professor not a professional photographer. I guess in reality he is both since this is one of the most indepth BTS videos I've seen explaining how to construct lighting that doesn't call too much attention to itself. I'm always a big fan of images like this since shooting environmental portraits forces you to not only produce a great portrait but also create something iconic and often time monumental. Gregory does a great job with this portrait of then NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Much props to Profoto for producing some really educational videos.
While many Canon and Nikon users are bickering about whether DSLR cameras should even have HD video capabilities, the company RED is completely changing the game between both photography and motion video. If you have even been slightly interested in video then you have probably heard about their famous RED One camera (District 9, The Social Network) that shot in 4k resolution. Well very soon they are releasing a new camera called the RED Epic which will shoot 60% more resolution at 5K (up to 28K!) as well as being able to pull large 12 megapixel images directly out of video. There is no doubt the bridge between still cameras and video cameras is quickly narrowing, and innovators like RED are definitely at the forefront. Check out this video where Ted Schilowitz takes questions from fans in Vietnam where the RED One is already the primary video camera of choice.
RED EPIC CAMERA - TOP TEN QUESTIONS - TED SCHILOWITZ & TONACI TRAN from Tonaci Tran on Vimeo.
Last month we tested out our first ever Photoshop Contest, and it was a great success. So many readers participated that Think Tank has offered up prizes for at least 6 months of photoshop contests. This is your January challenge. This month we challenge 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 on 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!
Ella Manor is a fashion photographer based out of New York City who approaches her photography in a rather unorthodox manner. Much of her work combines beautiful models and extravagant clothing with dreamy camera effects and often times double exposures. Her hybrid style lends itself to the unpredictable nature of Lensbaby lenses so much so that she has been labeled a "Photo Guru" by the lens company themselves. This video showcases her latest photo essay Power House and explains how she approaches her photography from both a technical aspect and also a visionary aspect. I can't say I've ever seen anything quite like this before but judging from the images on her website I think I like what I see.
Chase Jarvis has started a really cool idea called Creative Live in which he gives back helpful information to other creative individuals. In this video Chase sits down with Jasmine Star who is one of the top wedding photographers in the business. I first came across Jasmine through David Jay and instantly fell in love with her. I love how they express their frustrations with living a typical 9 to 5 lifestyle and how professional photography allowed them to live the life they wanted to live. Just like them, I too went to school for something compeletely opposite of photography, and it was conversations like this that eventually lead me to change my career path to become the photographer I am today. Chase says it really well when he says, "There is no prescription for how you get to become a photographer." This video is not about fstoppers and shutterspeeds but rather about how to take control of your life and your passions and turn them into a business. I know wedding photography often gets a bad wrap but through wedding photography, I have been able to support myself financially every weekend and still have time to pursue other fields of photography during the week. Jasmine Star's story is about as good as it gets, and it's inspiring to hear her share her success story with everyone so candidly. I hope you guys enjoy this video as much as I have and I'm only half way through it! <
As Lee has posted earlier, this week we are going to continue to feature some of our favorite BTS videos from the FS Contest. Austin, TX based photographer Sans Talbot really raised the bar on the contest when he filmed the shooting of his visual concept "Spitfire". This video is great on many levels but what I really love is the effort Sans puts into educating other photographers on how they too can get other creative professionals involved in their photoshoots. Sans also goes into great detail about how he combined multiple images to create one large file for his final rendering. Enjoy. <
Love her or hate her, you have to admit Lada Gaga is a breath of fresh air when it comes to being creative with her music videos and photoshoots. When it comes to going all out in both production and creative thinking, Lada Gaga is always an inspiration. In this video you can see just how many looks she goes through to find a compelling image for the cover. And I'm sure the "throw away" images made some pretty good article photos as well.
