Articles from Lauren Jonas

In this lighting lesson by Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens, shoots promotional material for Cui Baoqun, a Chinese champion ping-pong player. Using the information from his previous lesson on octoboxes, he was able to achieve some nice, dynamic shots.

In this behind the scenes video, Photographer Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens explains in-depth, the differences between lighting with the Octodome and a rectangular soft box. By building a 12 foot tape wall, he was able to clearly explain the area of coverage and quality of light for 14 different lighting set-ups.

With just $500 and 4 days to film, Luke Neumann of Neumann Films created one heck of a slow motion video with the new Sony NEX-FS700. What sets this video apart from all the others is that in at least every clip something or someone is flying through the air. With 24 frames per second we are able to see a ridiculous amount of detail captured on video. Check out Luke's review below to see what he has to say about rolling shutter performance, low light and resolution capabliiltes.

It's pretty crazy to think just a small change of focal length can drastically distort your subject's face. In this behind the scenes video , Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens goes into detail to show us each change and how it effected the model's appearance. Maybe you're interested in buying a fixed lens or maybe you're interested in gaining tips on portrait and headshot photography - either way this video is definitely worth checking out.

In this behind the scenes lighting lesson, Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens does something we might not often think to do: he uses the natural sunlight and turns it into moonlight-like light for this 1920's "speakeasy-themed" shoot. Believe it or not, he was able to achieve moonlight all in the camera - no post processing involved. So with a couple of tungsten lights, gels and sunlight, Jay P. has shown us a great idea that can easily be mimicked in your own shoot.

We want to see your best photo(s) for our Picture of the Day! Submit your images to our Flickr for consideration and check back to our Picture of the Day section daily to see if your photos have been featured. (Horizontal images are preferred and must be at least 750 pixels in width.)

The Canon EOS M camera is now available for pre-order at B&H Photo. It's selling for $799.99 and is expected to ship October 15, 2012. We previously posted about the announcement of this camera and since then, Canon has updated their website with high resolution examples and videos.

We usually don't post stuff like this on Fstoppers but this deal is too good to pass up. Right now Creative Motion Design is having a huge sale on all of their website designs so if you're in the market for a new look for your website then I highly recommend them.

One of the most difficult things about running your own business and being your own boss is managing your time. Life can become stressful trying to manage photoshoots, editing, packaging, having a social life, meetings, and taking care of the daily responsibilities. Professional photographer Tamara Lackey has somehow figured out how to balance her time as she runs two businesses, teach around the country, and play mom to three children. Starting today, Tamara is teaching how you can manage your time through a free creativeLIVE workshop.

If you're a sports fan, or even if you just like toned and tan bodies, you're going to want to pick up the next issue of ESPN (hits newsstands Friday). It's filled with some pretty sexy images of the United States' favorite athletes in nothing but their birthday suits.

This month we teamed up with SLR Lounge and Kelly Moore for an awesome Facebook Fan giveaway. With an overwheleming number of entries, I'd say this contest was even more successful than last month's. Without further adieu the winner of this month's Facebook Fan contest is....

If you haven't seen the movie Snow White and the Huntsman, then you'll want to go see it after watching this video. Filmed with the Red Epic camera, the amount of detail that went into creating the Mirror Man is amazing. The guys over at The Mill Visual Effects Studio did many tests with liquid before deciding to use cloth instead. Cloth provided more control over making the sculpture appear seamlessly out of the mirror.

Here's a behind the scenes look at sports photographer Kelly Kline's recent shoot for Under Armour. She photographed Deandre Jordan of the LA Clippers for UA's Summer/Fall campaign. Now, it's not exactly instructional, but you'll see a little bit of the setup. Her task was to capture action images based on the sketched out ideas for the campaign. What do you think? Would you rather have a specific direction

I'm so captivated by this stop motion video by Hayley Morris. She has gone above and beyond, creating a magical world of sea creatures. You will love the vibrant colors and interesting use of textures. It's a brilliantly executed project and definitely worth watching. It was made as a music video for the song ”Bounce Bounce” by Hilary Hahn and Hauschka.

Here's a fascinating video of 44-year old photographer Qalam Nabi. He is one of two street photographers left in the capital city of Kabul. The son of a street photographer himself, he started shooting at the age of eleven. Watch as he demonstrates how to use his instant camera. He does all of the developing inside the box, and repeats the process to turn the negative into a positive image. If you'd like to know how to build your own Afghan box camera

Lee Morris, Jaron Schneider, and I want to meet up with local photographers and friends tonight Sunday May 13th. Come join us for drinks and conversation at Vinyl Wine bar from 7pm-10pm. We don't expect a huge group so it should be a great low key get-together.

Vinyl Wine Bar 359 Divisadero St. SF, CA 94117 (415) 621-4132

As a photographer just starting my own wedding photography business, I quickly realized how much pro gear really costs. I don't shoot often enough to afford all of the gear that I need but when I do have a shoot, I like to use professional gear and I like to have backups in case something breaks (especially for weddings). For those of you who are just getting started like me, or those of you who need specialty equipment, you may want to consider renting gear.

You may remember R.J. Kern and Amanda Tipton from a shoot we featured on here before - well they're at it again and this one is pretty awesome too. Using the PhaseOne 645Df camera and the Capture Pilot w/Camera Control photo app they got some really cool images. They had the models lay flat on a white seamless background while they shot a typical wedding day in a 2D approach.

Photographer, Michael J Moore was granted access to a creepy and abandoned state mental hospital for this fashion shoot. He used a combination of lighting setups but mainly, the Phase One 645DF camera with a Profoto 8A 2400W and various Profoto strobes. With all three different lighting set ups, Michael did a great job at capturing that Vanity Fair-esque look that we all know so well.

Photographer Dave Hamilton takes us behind the scenes on his latest shoot with hockey legend, Trevor Linden. This video is very informative and well produced - including a lighting diagram for each of the different setups. Aiming to get that perfect cover shot for Vancouver View Magazine's April 2012 issue, Dave was able to get some nice shots using his Canon 5D Mark II.

If you grew up during the late 1980s through early 1990s, then you can remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Using a combination of action figures, about 60 hand-drawn backdrops, and over 4,000 individual images, director Kyle Roberts pays tribute to this classic cartoon with a stop motion animation. This is one you won't want to miss.

In this oh so clever DIY video by Casey Neistat, he shows us how he fashioned a replacement lens hood on his Sigma lens by re-using the cap from a peanut butter jar. I'm sure that this method wouldn't work with every lens but if you ever get into a situation like this and need a quick fix, this video just might come in handy.

Shot with the Red MX Camera, director Andrew Huang created this incredible short film about the gaps between people and the way those gaps are filled. Solipsist is the antithesis of human connection. This video had me glued as the models swayed back and forth in a Yin & Yang fashion, often times co-creating each other.

In this behind the scenes video, Jay P Morgan shows us how he combined natural light and strobes to get that perfect shot while on location. First, he starts by determining where the sun is going to set on the horizon by using the very handy iPhone app, Sunseeker. For this project, he was shooting stills as well as video, which can get a bit tricky.

BH Photo's double instant rebates are back from now until March 31st. You can save up to $400.00 on cameras, lenses and speedlights. They are currently offering the double rebates on the Canon 60D, Canon 7D, and the 5D Mark II.

It goes without saying that besides the Superbowl commercials, we can pretty much expect the same run of the mill advertisements. Whether it's cartoon bears with toilet paper stuck to their butts, or of babies talking like grown adults, this commercial really blew them all out of the water. Advertising film director, Bruno Aveillan, (along with a crew of about 50 people) spent two years putting together this epic 3.5 minute journey celebrating the 160 year history of luxury jeweler, Cartier. 

This is a series of videos that make up a fascinating 90-minute documentary about the great Richard Avedon. It's called "Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light," and first aired back in 1995 as part of the American Masters Series. If you're like me, you could spend hours watching things like this.

Hey guys! Creative Motion Design is in their final month of the Nikon D3x Camera giveaway which means you've still got a chance to enter and win big! All you have to do is log onto Creative Motion Design's Facebook page and enter an image that correlates with this month's theme, "water". If you win March's theme, you'll automatically be entered into the final contest to win a Nikon D3x.

Hey Guys! Hopefully you've been saving up because the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is now available for pre-order at BH Photo, Adorama and Amazon! If you're still on the fence, read all about the specs in our previous post here.

[BH Photo] [Amazon] [Adorama]

It's crazy to compare todays advertising campaign's to those of 30 years ago. They are becoming more involved, creative and technically advanced than we could have ever imagined. In this video, Photographer Tim Macpherson takes us behind the scenes on the new campaign for the fabric company 'Sunbrella' which was shot and filmed in South Carolina! While this video lacks technical information, it is still really awesome to see how much planning and time it took just to film and shoot one simple scene. 

I've always been a fan of documentary photographer, Mary Ellen Mark. Having published over 15 books, she has taken some of the most compelling images and is considered a living legend. In this video, she talks about the state current state of documentary photography and gives helpful advice to those trying to break out in the field.

"Public Domaine" was the name of a skateboarding themed art exhibition that took place at The Gaîté Art Museum in Paris last summer. To celebrate their 25th Anniversary, shoemaker Etnies commissioned award-winning skateboard filmmaker Mike Manzoori to create a unique piece of video art for the exhibit.

Greetings Comrads, I hope you've brushed up on your Russian because today we take a little journey via the world wide web to motherland Russia. We'll be watching a BTS video from PP Productions as they shoot three 30-second TV spots for Elitech Tools. It's a pretty big production that goes into the making of spots like these, especially when your doing 3 in one day.

As an owner of a Lensbaby, I'm a big fan of what these lenses can do. In this video, Lensbaby goes behind the scenes to interview commercial and fine art photographer, Fritz Liedtke. Obviously there are other ways to get similar effects that Fritz shows us but by using the Lensbaby Composer Pro and the Edge 80 Optic, he is able to see it instantly and directly in the camera.

BH Photo is offering up to $200 instant savings on Sigmas Lenses until March 31st. The Sigma 17-50 Lens, which is featured in our Gear Guide as one of our favorite lenses, is great for both stills and video. Normally almost $700, you can pick up that lens for $594.00 after the rebate.