Profile picture for Kenn Tam

Kenn Tam

Toronto, ON, CA
Kenn Tam Photography
5 3 Star badge
1 Editor's Pick badge

Articles from Kenn Tam

BTSV Polar Bear Photography with Florian Schulz

Watch as photographer Florian Schulz takes the shots for the "To The Arctic 3D" movie companion book. The best part of this video is seeing the exhalation and excitement of Florian when he realizes that he got "the shot", that would later be used as the cover. Don't you just love that feeling?

The Slow Motion Video Behind the "Blow Job" Series

Back in May our very own Noam brought you this mind face blowing picture post where Lithuanian photographer Tadao Cern, had taken portraits of people as their faces where being blasted by g-force winds. Since then Tadao has put out a slow motion video that shows all the lip flapping, teeth rattling, eye twisting, jaw dropping (you get the idea) action from his “Blow Job” series.

Behind Charlie Sheen's Rolling Stone Cover Shoot (NSFW:language)

Here is a short video featuring Charlie Sheen commentating on his RollingStones cover shoot. No offense Charlie but I would personally love to see this video with comments from Peggy Sirota, the photographer taking the shots. Maybe if we ask nice, our very own Reese Moore could track her down for an FS Spotlight. I mean let's be honest.

Rubidium Wu's Insights on Directing a Zombie Series

An idea can start small but very quickly grow into something bigger and better. Such was the case with "The Silent City", a web series written and directed by Rubidium Wu. Listen/read as Rubidium talks about how his small 3 person project grew into a full scale production. Another perfect example of how all you really need is creativity, initiative and motivation.

Light Painting Portrait Photographer on America’s Got Talent

The Aurora Light Painters troupe performed a light painting routine that used a large digital display as their recording medium (as opposed to your camera's sensor or film) for "America's Got Talent" judges: Howard Stern, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel. Light painting is no doubt old news to our readers but for most of the mainstream this is their first encounter with this technique. So

The Best Fstoppers’ Posts From May 2012

Your "Likes", "Tweets", comments and clicks all help us know which are our best posts of the month. And because we don't want anyone to miss any of Fstoppers' goodness we put "The Best of" in a monthly newsletter for you. So, if you think you may have missed anything this last month, check out the top 10 posts and don't forget to sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already.

Paparazzi: Vice Stalks the Stalkers (language nsfw)

Steven Randolph and videographer Steven Perilloux give celebrity chasing paparazzi a taste of their own medicine in this short video Vice segment, "Pap Smear". I dare you to watch this video and not make some kind of comment. I'm curious to see if any of our readers will come to the defense of paparazzi. Is there a right way to do this kind of work? Let's hear your thoughts. Vice: "Paparazzi make a living by chasing down celebrities and shoving cameras in their faces and up their skirts. We decided to hunt a few down and give them a taste of their own disgusting medicine."

Nikon's D4 & D800 1.01 Firmware Update Fixes Lockup Issue

Back in April we posted news from Nikon Rumors regarding lockup issues that affected the D800, D800E and D4. Good news. Nikon has released firmware update 1.01 which is said to have fixed that pesky little bug. Thanks again to Nikon Rumors for always keeping us in the know.

[News] Vogue Bans Skinny and Underaged Models

Nineteen Vogue editors have pledged to use only healthy models on their editorial pages and banned underage models, to maintain a healthy and realistic depiction of adult women’s bodies. The editors have agreed on six points, that will appear in Vogue's June issue, which includes not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or “who appear to have an eating disorder”.

[News] Canon Fixed The 5DM3 Light Leak With Tape

As they received their first shipment of fixed 5D Mark IIIs the crew over at LensRentals.com couldn't help but take a quick peak to see how Canon solved the light leak issue. They were not at all surprised by their findings but you may be. Apparently all it took was a little bit of tape.

[Video] How to Photograph a Funeral

Natalie Norton photographs the funeral of a 16 year old girl and then shares her insights about the experience with you. This video is a slideshow of Natalie's work from that day but to get the most of her experience be sure to read her full post

The Best Fstoppers’ Posts From April 2012

Your "Likes", "Tweets", comments and clicks all help us know which are our best posts of the month. And because we don't want anyone to miss any of Fstoppers' goodness we put "The Best of" in a monthly newsletter for you. So, if you think you may have missed anything this last month, check out the top 10 posts and don't forget to sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already.

[BTSV] Behind the Scenes with The Agonist (Promo '12)

There are only a few days left before Von Wong does Europe. But instead of spending that time ironing, folding and categorizing his underwear for the trip, Ben is doing what any proper photographer would, he shoots. Check out the behind the scenes video and Ben's full commentary as he knocks out a rough and tumble band scene with the sexy hardcore stylings of The Agonist.

[News] A Camera that Produces Descriptive Text

Matt Richardson created a unique, prototype camera that actually describes scenes. "The Descriptive Camera works a lot like a regular camera—point it at subject and press the shutter button to capture the scene. However, instead of producing an image, this prototype outputs a text description of the scene. Modern digital cameras capture gobs of parsable metadata about photos such as the camera's settings, the location of the photo, the date, and time, but they don't output any information

[Video] "The Camera": Modest Gear, $50 and an Inspired Mind

"The Camera" is a haunting short film by Peter Lewis about a girl who finds an old polaroid camera that produces some unique and unexpected results. Using modest equipment: Canon Rebel T2i, Canon 50mm f/1.4, Tamron 28-200mm f/3.8-5.6 and a $50 budget, Peter knocked this film out while on vacation in Nags Head, North Carolina. Even more impressive is that this is Peter's first film and he produced the entire thing himself including, filming, sound, the musical score and post production. Well done!

[Video] Time Lapse of Aging Children

Frans Hofmeester is the father of 12 year old daughter Lotte and 9 year old son Vince. Frans has been filming each of them on a weekly basis since birth and has recently compiled that footage into short, time lapsed films. Many of us have seen this concept before but any one who starts a process and sticks it out for 12 years deserves to be seen.

[Video] Indoor Fireworks and Other Insane Acts at 2500fps

“Dumt & Farligt” is a Danish TV show were two guys are given free license to do what ever dangerous thing that comes to mind, in and around the home. But the best part is they they document it all with a Phantom Flex capturing every ludicrous detail at 2,500fps. See what happens when a lighter next to a candle is shot, a waterbed is filled until it pops, fireworks are set off in a living room, a bottle of red wine is microwaved and more.

[Video] Colored Powder + Phantom Flex @ 2,500FPS = :)!

The Holi festival in India has always been a colorful source of inspiration for photographers but New York-based production company, Variable, wasn't equipped with a meager Canon 5D Mark III or Nikon D800 but with the awesome 2,500fps might of the Phantom Flex high speed camera.

[DIY] How to Make Your Own Studio Track Lighting

Admittedly this DIY project takes a little more effort than some but the results are pretty damn cool. Benjamin Von Wong takes a page from DIY Photography and makes a pretty slick fluorescent light track system, turning a small one room into a photo studio. Check out the video and if you decided this is something you must do, then head over to the VonStudio Blog for complete project detail. Parts, pricing, assembly, pros, cons, the works!

[Gear] A Camera that Creates 3D Models of Rooms in Minutes

Creating 3D images of interiors, with furniture, colors and textures is a time consuming process to say the least. But now Matterport, a device prototyped from an Xbox Kinect, uses twin lenses on a hand held unit to render a three dimensional space. This tech obviously has a way to go but the preliminary results are impressive none the less.

[Gear] 5D Mark III vs. D800 (Part 2: low light, jpeg, buffering, ergonomics)

In this second installation, Chris Niccolls over at The Camera Store TV, compares the Canon 5D Mark III and Nikon D800, with photojournalist Mike Drew. Mike and Chris look at how these two cameras handle fast action in low light and how JPEG processing compares to the RAW files. What I really dig about this comparison is that it's not another model shoot but rather a real working world photographer shooting under the unique and difficult conditions of a cutting horse competition.

[BTSV] An HDR, 35000 photo, 7 month Time-Lapse (for the love of it)

Here's a brief behind the scenes video featuring Andrew Geraci and Drew Breese in a Q&A regarding their haunting video, "Asylum". This HDR time-lapse was created from 35,000 photos over 7 months. If you missed this last week on Fstoppers, it's here in the full post. As the BTSV reveals, Drew and Andrew made this for no other reason than the love of shooting. That alone is worth your attention.

[Gear] See Every Hair, Every Pore, Every Strand of DNA (A 4k Display)

If you are not a seriously hardcore, professional editor then I doubt you will give the Eizo FDH3601 a second glance. With it's 4k display that supports a resolution of 4,096 x 2,160 pixels or the equivalent of four 1080p displays in a 36.4 inch frame, this monitor would be the perfect companion for Canon's 1D C, C500 or any high res shooter. The display delivers 100% sRGB coverage color gamut as well as

[News] 16 Cameras in a Haunted House (an interactive story)

Is there anything new under the sun? Has it all been done before? Maybe... but the shadows are a different story. “Haunted” is a paranormal thriller that takes place in a haunted house over the course of 48 hours. This awesomely interactive narrative was filmed using 16 cameras spread through out the various rooms and you are free to jump to any of the cameras at any point of the time line.

[BTSV] How to Shoot a Film With an iPhone

Ryan Connolly over at Film Riot, a how-to filmmaking site, just knocked out a short film using the iPhone 4s as his only camera. The best part is, he has also provided us with a very in-depth look at how he did. Everything from app set up, lighting, equipment, the works. See both the final video and the BTSV here.

"We took the challenge of making a short with the iPhone 4s. The goal was to make the iPhone's video mode look as cinematic as possible...

[News Discussion] Does your Nikon D800 Lock Up?

So many gear releases, so many bugs, glitches and freak outs. The Admin over at Nikon Rumors has just made a brief post about his new Nikon D800 locking up. In a picture, he provides, the D800 can be seen with the LCD on, even though the camera is off and apparently the only way to reset it is to pull the battery. When you head on over to his post you will find in the comments that this doesn't seem to be a new issue for Nikon users but kinda disconcerting none the less.

[Video] A Quick Tip: DIY Wind Machine

Have you ever wanted to give your models that wind swept look. This 56 second quick tip from our friend Benjamin Von Wong can save you from having to lug around a heavy and often expensive fan. So simple, most of us over look it and here is all you need.

Also be sure to check out Ben's latest project "Von Wong Does Europe".

[News] $60 Million in Camera Gear Seized from Smugglers

Chinese customs authorities have detained 14 people suspected of smuggling approximately $63.5 million US worth of photo and video equipment. Officers at Gongbei Customs, Zhuhai City, south China’s Guangdong Province, said the smuggling ring has already transported more than 60,000 cameras, 13,623 lenses, 483 flashlight and 1,025 video cameras from Hong Kong to Guangdong from January 2011 to February 15, 2012.

[News] Photoshopping the Truth (scandalous)

There are questions regarding the church’s wealth in Russian which have recently received a lot of press due to a scandal over photographs of it's leader wearing an enormously expensive watch. The Russian Orthodox Church seemingly had editors doctor a photograph, on their site, of the leader Patriarch Kirill I, in attempt to obscure a $30,000 watch that he has claimed to not exist. The amateur shop job extended a black sleeve where there once appeared to be a Breguet timepiece but somehow managed to forget to remove the reflection of the watch.

The Best Fstoppers’ Posts From March 2012

Your "Likes", "Tweets", comments and clicks all help us know which are our best posts of the month. And because we don't want anyone to miss any of Fstoppers' goodness we put "The Best of" in a monthly newsletter for you. So, if you think you may have missed anything this last month, check out the top 10 posts and don't forget to sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already.

[Video] Do More with Your DSLR Series (edutainment)

Vimeo Video School with help from Nikon are turning out a video series called "Do More With Your DSLR", that aims to help educate photographers. The series does a pretty good job at making, seemingly complicated topics, easy to digest and is visually entertaining to watch. Each video even comes with an in-depth post to help break it all down for you.

[DIY] Light Painting with Steel Wool

When it comes to photography projects, Benjamin Von Wong is one of the most prolific guys I know. It seems like every few posts I'm compelled to bring you something cool Ben is doing. Whether it's playing with his pliable models, setting them ablaze or just a quick tip. His latest venture has him teaming up with Udi Tirosh over at DIY Photography to show us how to light paint with steel wool. Including the basic technique, location, safety and a few other helpful tips to consider. For someone who plays with fire as much as Ben and with hair that big, he must know what he is doing... right?