Articles from Kenn Tam

There is definitely no shortage of models out there but if you feel there is or you can't get them to risk their lives for your art then maybe it's time you made your own. It may not be what American street installation artist Mark Jenkins had in mind but hey, it's a cool idea none the less.

It's hard to get Lee (see 5:44) to be anything less than southern gentlemanly but I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of times I've heard him curse under his breath as some New Yorker casually strolled in front of his lens. So Lee, this one is for you.

Sharon Vaknin, Associate Editor over at Cnet.com, runs us through 4 clever yet simple iPhone feature that many of you may not know about.

Nikon Rumors is reporting a delay in the shipping of Nikon's D4 and are citing firmware issues as the cause. So if you've been eagerly awaiting your February 16th pre-order, sucks to be you. But hey, what's an extra month's wait for one of the best cameras ever? The delay seems to be global, so don't expect yours to ship until March 15th.

I'm not a big fan of memes. Let's be honest, they're pretty much junk food for your brain. But with the recent slew of "sh!t ___ say" memes kicking around I actually couldn't resist checking out the ones related to us in the photo industry. I mean, seriously, if I hear "That's a nice camera. You must be a good photographer," one more time I may have to slay someone.

You'll never look at your breakfast the same way again, thanks to Anna Franz's 1st place winning entry of Nikon's 2011 Small World in Motion Competition. Unlike the second place and third place winners that use widefield fluorescence microscopy and darkfield thechniques, Anna's work is done using a straight up reflected light source. See all three videos below.

Photographer Markus Reugel displays hero like resolve and creativity when it comes to his ongoing series titled, Refractions. Managing to capture amazingly clear liquid art images that almost seem supernatural one can only imagine how much time and patience he has to put into each shot. No wait, you don't have to imagine because you can see for yourself in the photos below.

Kai over at DigitalRev TV has put together another one of his trade mark, tongue in cheek tutorial videos. This time he gives us the DOs and DON'Ts of street photography. Even though it's intended to be humors, you can actually find some good tid bits, buried in there.

Framed: "There has always been the internal battle amongst artists in the industry of when we can officially call ourselves a “professional”. Stepping foot into a camera store or Costco and buying that DSLR with a kit lens and inserting a watermark on your image doesn’t necessarily mean that you are now a professional. Or does it?

Get a behind the scenes look at a couple shoots Joe has been doing for the Nikon D4 campaign. All footage was shot on Nikon D4 and Nikon D7000 cameras.

Joe's great sense of humor and his amazing work makes this video a fun and insightful watch.

See Hannu Huhtamo, Janne Parviainen "Jannepaint" and Pekka Parviainen in this 25 minute long documentary about light painting, directed, shot and edited by Nico A. Eloranta. This video is subtitled but if you are the observant type you will learn quite a bit from this one.

Do you have a Canon 580EX II or a Nikon SB900 kicking around? I bet you do. I also bet that many of you haven't taken advantage of their Multi/Stroboscopic Flash modes. Check out photographer R.J. Hidson's short video on how to use your flash's Multi Mode to capture multiple images in one frame.

I recently did a post on Google's Street View of B&H when Fstoppers reader Paul Bamford asked what the hanging track system was all about. Many of you already know that B&H has an elaborate conveyer belt system, that moves all of their goods through out the store.

See one of the first side by side video comparisons of Nikon's D4 and Canon's 1DX posted by Fenchel Janisch. This video was shot in daylight using the same settings on both cameras and Sigma 50mm F/1.4 + Sigma 85mm F/1.4 lenses. (Settings: ISO 100, F/4 + F/5.6, shutter speed 1/50s). Which looks better to you?

"My name is David Keller, and this is my BTS entry for fstoppers 2011 contest. This video takes you behind the scenes of a test shoot for a feature film called 'Warrior'. The director tells you about the film, explains why he is choosing 16mm film over digital alternatives, and talks about how the scene is set up.

Another great behind the scenes of Arkells' "Whistleblower" music video, where they use a holographic pyramid to capture the image of the band member, playing live.

Shot on the Canon T2i Edited in FCP 7

A short and sweet behind the scenes look at a desert sand storm photo shoot, without the desert.

www.amylynnstraub.com @amylynnphotos Video filmed by : Taylor Tracy Model : Nicole Keimig Hair and Makeup : Sara Larson

I am a sucker for any post-apocalyptic story. So "Yay!", for The Silent City. A new web series in the works that centers around 1 man along in a broken and empty New York City (a dream of mine, ever since I moved here :P). Why do you as a filmmaker care?

See how existing footage, sound bites, 35 bucks and some creative editing can turn out a kick ass promo vid. If this BTS teaches you anything it should be to film, shoot and archive everything, cause you never know when you just may need the footage. Great work on the video, guys. And on making me miss BC.

BTSV Final

"Spot Cinema was asked to come along to a Matt Barnes' Creative, as he organized an amazing PhotoShoot at Gopher Dunes rein-acting a scene from the 1960s /70s with a couple of male models, dirt bikes, vintage clothing and a Smoke Machine!"

If you are fortunate enough to live in New York City, then gaining access to some of the world's most globally recognized icons is as easy as stepping out your door. The Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal, the Statue of Liberty and for us photographers, B&H.

See how much work goes into a 30 second (soccer themed) water spot. This is one of the few entries where I thought watching the BTS vid was far cooler than the final product. Definitely worth braving the 7 minute and 30 seconds to see how the big boys get things done but be warned, lazy kids, this one is subtitled.

BTSV Final

As good as the BTS is for this submission, the final video is epic. If you are a hardcore gamer like myself and recognize titles such as Gears of War, Halo, Mortal Kombat, and Left 4 Dead, then you're gonna love watching them all come together to kick some zombie ass. Did I say, "Spoiler Alert"? Oh well it's all good.  

If you are a Zombie Apocalypse fan like me then this very well maybe the most entertaining submission you will have seen so far, from the Fstoppers 2011 Behind the Scenes Contest.   Gear: Canon 7D Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L AB-800

Check out this Fstoppers Behind the Scenes Contest video submission, featuring the Glassmen Drum & Bugle Corps, in the making of a promo poster.

French sculptor turned photographer Philippe Ramette takes some amazingly surreal self portraits that some may find reminiscent of Escher. And although we have seen plenty of works before, where the laws of physics seem to be bent or defied, Philippe does it all in camera.

Black List Media follows photographer Jimmy Hickey as he follows professional freestyle motocross rider Justin Homan through the air.

Music by: M83 - Moonchild and Ratatat - Bustelo

Ya, you read the title correctly, I said flying snowmobile. See X-Games gold medalist Justin Hoyer, flipping through the air as captured by photographer Andy Kawa and Videographer Luke Parmeter.  

Watch "The Chase", a behind the scenes look at a 360º panoramic car chase. Submitted by photographer/retoucher Eric Herrmann, producer Steven Hasegawa, BTSV Austin Kearsley with music by Zack Hemsey. The panoramic final image is pretty impressive, so, be sure to check it out here: thechasepano.com.

Dan Savinelli: "This is my behind the scenes video for the FStoppers 2011 Contest. It is a photo shoot where I utilize composite photography & some creativity to come up with a more exciting portrait. I give tips and knowledge where ever I can, I hope you learn something.”

Michael Ericsson: "There is my latest behind the scenes video for a shoot I did back in early September. I've had it in my head for a while to create some sort of tribute video to the late Dean Collins. After seeing the call for entries from Fstoppers.com, I decided to run with it.”

With great final images and a very informative BTS video, this contest entry may have made it into out our top 10 but sadly they didn't submit before the closing date. Having missed the deadline but not the point of the contest, they decided to post it anyways. So, thank the guys from 2D House for this most excellent video. Nice work guys.

Tom Lacoste is a 23 year old, color blind, French student at the Bordeaux Circus School in Southern France for juggling, acrobatics and hand-balancing. And despite the fact that he has no ambitions to be a professional photographer, his artistry and creativity were more than enough to turn out these brilliantly hot images.