Articles from Kenn Tam

Director Matthew Rycroft continues to knock out fun and informative videos for the Cooperative of Photography. The COOPH's latest offering, shot with the help of photographers Anastasia Ehlakova & Julia Gebhardt, demonstrates some simple photo techniques. Levitation, free lensing, light stenciling, instant collages, colored lights, broken mirrors and hula hoops. Give them a try.

Freelance motion graphics designer and London-based art director T Tagholm created this mesmerizing piece with the help of After Effects. I honestly can say what it is about this video that caught my eye but I found myself transfixed in a way that was reminiscent of the time I watched Koyaanisqatsi (the second time, not the first time when I fell asleep). The undeniably hypnotic 'simulacra' is part of a larger project that is still in the works but in the meantime you can check out T Tagholm earlier released piece, 'Plain Sight'.

Watch as LA based photographer Dan Marker-Moore shows us how he stitches hundreds of photos together to make one Time Slice image. Dan travelled Hong Kong and Shanghai to shoot the same landscapes at different times of the day.  This series of photos were then color corrected in Lightroom before a composite was created in After Effects. By lining up slices of the photographs, that had been offset in time / exposures, the photos create a sense of time-in-motion for each landscape.

While sipping my morning coffee I said to myself, "I sure wish I had a cool, thought provoking and entertaining video to watch with this (something that relates to me as a photographer)". And wouldn't you know it, my wish came to me in the form of an email from video director Matthew Rycroft .  If I knew wishes were coming true today I might have asked for a moonwalking pony or a night with an all girl thrash metal punk band. But, not knowing what to do with either of those I'm just thankful to have these 13 Mind-Bending Thoughts About Photography. So, from all of us slow morning starters, thanks for the video Matt.

A professional retoucher does so much more than just pushing pixels about. To say the least there is a lot of artistic interpretation, collaboration, technical understanding and skill involved.  Then there are master retouchers like Becci Manson who go even deeper,  show us the nonsuperficial side of the industry and help restore pride in a profession that has gotten a bad rap over the years. This video will give you some understanding of what it means to work as a high end retoucher but more importantly it will show you that, being a retoucher doesn’t mean you don’t have a conscience or something important to offer.​

If you've been working to improve your photography then you should already be familiar with the Golden ratio and the rule of thirds as they relate to visual compositions. Avoiding all the math we can simply say, to create a more intriguing shot we divide our composition into nine equal parts (two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines) and then we place important elements along these lines or their intersect points. This and other compositional guidelines (or tips) are nicely illustrated by this Cooperative of Photography video, using the works of Steve McCurry.

For Feature Shoot 's first video release they were lucky enough to catch up with celebrity photographer Martin Schoeller. Hours of conversation were condensed down to 6 minutes of behind the scene stories, inspirational anecdotes, advice and insight. 

A lot of us became photographers not so much for the pay check but because we were passionate about photography. Still we all have to pay the bill and please our clients which means a lot of the time we have to shoot whatever comes our way. But every once and awhile we get the opportunity to do something fun and inspired like this creative collaboration by photographer Steve Shaw and painter Gregory Siff for Treats! Magazine. I know not everyone will get what these artist have to say and there will be plenty of trolling but when peers come together to create, how can we not want to celebrate the process?

There are shooters who spend 100's if not 1000's of dollars on courses to learn what you can learn in these two videos from DEDPXL. In them commercial, editorial photographer Zack Arias goes into great detail on how to light your subjects with a seamless white background set up. Learn everything from studio dimensions, light and model positioning, camera and light settings, post production, equipment use, taking the background from black to white and more tips and tricks then you can retain in one viewing.

AYP just put out Part Three of Annie Leibovitz's exclusive gallery tour where she shares the stories behind some her life's most meaningful works. These short unpolished videos provides insight into this legendary photographer and some of the works that have made her one of the most notable shooters of all time. Get the back story behind her pregnancy shoot with Demi Moore, moments with her family and more from this ongoing series.

By placing 80 people along an 80 meters stretch, French filmmaker Guillaume Panariello managed to capture a whole music video in just 5 seconds. Siska's “Unconditional Rebel” was shot on a 1000 frames per second Phantom Flex 4K from a car traveling at 50kmh (or 31 mph). All that action and it only took 4 takes to get it right. Be sure to check out the below video to see what this shoot looks like in real time. 

Rudy Winston (from Canon USA pro productions team) breaks down the differences between Canon's EOS 5DS and 5DS R cameras. At $3699.00 and $3899.00 respectively these 50.5 Megapixel full-frame offerings will take some serious consideration before committing resources.

Whether it's capturing a close encounter with a great white, documenting an Eiger ascent or riding the dash of an F-16 the GoPro has been used for some pretty amazing things.  Here is one recording I don't see any of us re-creating anytime soon though.

Follow Northern California-based photographer Brian Gaberman as he pursues his love of wet plate collodion photography, on a journey from New York City to Wolfeboro for Element.  

Filmmaker Michael Tapp recently hit me up to share his latest experience with the people you typically find in New York City's Times Square and the Sony A7s.  If you haven't spent an evening there, this short documentary (co-produced by Bill Novak) gives you a good sense of what draws 26 million people per year and how the A7s performs under noisy, bright conditions.

The guys over at DigitalRev TV love doing things just for the hell of it and never seem to backdown from a challenge. Their latest of which is to take the actual food from a popular fast food chain and make it look like the advertisements.  As an added challange they use nothing but Apple gadgets.  

When it comes to taking better photos you can never go wrong with a few choice words from Joe McNally.  In this short video Joe reminds us of the importance of giving our audience a sense of scale and demonstrates how the simple addition of a person can create a more compelling image.

When it comes to portrait photography, your camera, your light, your years of photographic know-how counts for little if you don't have a subject with substance.  The power of a portrait is in the people.  Do you reveal their essence?  Do you tell their story?

Yes this is a big ad for Sandisk and yes it's an uncut webinar that is an hour long but if you are in post production and want to fill the air with something other than the sound of your teeth grinding and knee bouncing, then there are some great tidbits of information riddled through out this video.

Smartphone cameras are the new master tool for capturing the moment. In this webinar, world-renowned photographer Joao Carlos shares what you need to know

There is a good chance this video will make you jump.  You may even pee your pants just a little.  The REMUS SharkCam equipped with GoPro cameras gives us a clear view of what it would be like to be attacked by a great white.  Watching this video I couldn't help but appreciate how cameras have opened the world to us.  How else could we experience something like this...  

What started out as a couple of school girls playfully creating a video ends up as an ad spot for Suntory's C.C. Lemon.  This is not an educational video so much as another good demonstration of how low cost gear and some skilled editing can turn out pretty awesome, that is, if the camera shakes don't make you nauseous.

Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake over at The Camera Store take us to the Calgary Stampede to demonstrate the improved features of the Nikon D810.  While "10 Amazing Changes in the Nikon D810" makes for a catchy title, the truth is Chris and Jordan provide a full-fledged, hands-on field test.  They go into considerable depth about what you can expect from Nikon's latest offering.

Tinybop, a Brooklyn-based studio building educational apps, asked Kelli Anderson to make a trailer for their app.  Inspired by the app’s original illustrations by Marie Caudry, Kelli and her partner, Daniel Dunnam, cut a forest entirely out of paper.  400 tiny leaves, 500 blades of grass, and 25 squirrels were just some of the elements required to produce this time consuming, 6000 photo project.  See how Kelli and Daniel turned out this trailer and know that if you exhibit a fraction of their dedication and patience in your own craft, you'll do just fine.  Inspiring work .

Summer is here and chances are you're going to have to remove a few tan lines or sunburns from your photos this season. Luckily for you Aaron Nace is willing to walk you through all you need to know. I've posted tutorials by Aaron before but it wasn't until I had the opportunity to meet him over drinks in the Bahamas that I discovered how talented he really is. Because he is so talented and the summer sun so hot I think this is a great pick to share with you this Sunday.

If you have never taken the time to learn some of the basics of camera care then this is your video. System checks, cleaning, strap threading, and general maintenance are all covered in this video published by Canon USA. But don't let the excessive Canon logos fool you. These care tips are just as useful to all our Nikon shooters too.

Here is another lighthearted video for you to enjoy on this lazy Sunday or to help you ease into your Monday morning. I really don't know where DL Cade dug these guys up from but I'm glad he did. If you haven't already seen this video over on Petapixel then watch now as The Chaser's War on Everything try to convince an unsuspecting stranger to shoot 40 different pictures. They even add a few hilarious curve balls in towards the end.

In celebration of Earth Day, NASA asked people, “Where are you on Earth Right Now?” and had them respond through social media outlets: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+ and Flickr with a photo tagged "#globalselfie". One-hundred-thirteen countries/regions and thousands of photo submissions (approximately 50,000), gave NASA all that it needed to create a “Global Selfie”. Each photo acts as a pixel in a giant, zoomable 3.2 gigapixel mosaic, depicting our planet as it was on Earth Day.

I've been using Photoshop since 1998 and if there was one thing that I've learned, it's that their slogan should be, "There is more than one way to skin a cat." We've seen a lot of videos on how to change the color of things using PS, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. This one from Aaron Nace, of Phlearn, is quick, easy and you should add it to your arsenal.

There are days when living in a tiny New York City apartment really suck. Like when you just watched a cool DIY video on how to make holograms at home and that creates a burning desire to experiment yourself. Watch this video to see how you can make make your own holograms wih glass, mirrors, a projector and some fog, mist or steam.

Why We Create, a series by director/cinematographer Andy Newman, features artists and what drives them. This video is the second installment with portrait photographer Nick Fancher but I highly recommend watching all that Andy has to offer as the series will remind you why we got into photography in the first place (An easy thing to forget when on the hustle for clients). Now if you'll excuse me I feel the need to get out and create something. Enjoy the video.

The 1985 Amiga computer launch conference, demonstrated its graphics software by having Andy Warhol photoshop Blondie's lead singer, live, on his first ever computer.

Here is a short, beginner level, video featuring 30+ year veteran, commercial photographer Bryan Peterson at work. It does have a couple of jarring advertisment cuts but AdoramaTV needs to make a buck too and heck, they are providing you with free education.

At the time of writing this post it is a gorgeous spring day and I have no doubt our readers are out shooting and enjoying it. If you have opted to stay in, these six videos provided by Lastolite and taught by the best-in-our-business Joe McNally are what you should be watching... no studying. Seriously. If you absorb every bit of information/advice in these videos you will be a better photographer than you are right now.

I know, I know. My post last Sunday also featured Zack but when you put yourself out there as much as he does, you're going to get noticed (a lesson for us all). Besides, this isn't really about him. This is about one of the greatest challenges ever conceived in the photography industry. That's right kids. It's the 2014 Gulf Photo Plus ShootOut, pitting Sara Lando against Zack Arias with cameos by some of the best shooters in the industry.

Good friend (and even better photographer) Zack Arias over at DEDPXL.com just kicked out a little Q&A video on how to get your foot in advertising agencies' doors. As usual Zack delivers solid, straight forward, no-nonsense advice and as a bonus you get to meet Carl (the laconic squirrel). There's even a shout out to John Keatley from the Fstoppers' Bahamas Workshop coming up in May.