Here's a clever idea... EA decided to make the cover shoot for Madden 2012 a promotion in itself. How did they do it? Well they created a studio in the center of Time Square in NY and allowed thousands of people to watch the photoshoot take place live, and in person.
Have you ever seen a car ad in a magazine and wondered "how did they do that?" The car itself seems to be glowing and the location is always perfect. I've always known that tons of photoshop is involved by I didn't know if the car was actually shot in that location or if it was shot in the studio and dropped into the scene in post.
Timelapse videos have becoming incredibly popular over the last year. If you happen to be one of the many photographers interested in getting into this growing feild, you may want to check out Kessler's new basic controller. This gear is by no means cheap but it is far less expensive than it used to be. Check out the video over below created by Tom Guilmette.
Terje Sørgjerd has created a few timelapse videos that we have featured on FS but this may be the best.
Lomo Photography or Lomography has gained quite the cult following in recent years. And it’s no wonder. These little Lo-Fi cameras, such as the Lomo LC-A, produce some really cool and compelling images. Aside from the Lo-Fi look of the Lomo, the other main feature of Lomography is the cross processing of the Color Slide Film.
Travis Tank needed to shoot a portrait of a bicyclist riding down the road. The average person would probably shoot this with natural light but Travis wanted to light his subject with a large, off camera light source. For this to happen Travis mounted Profoto lights to a vehicle. The video seems to have been shot on a cell phone but this video is still very informative.
When I saw this commercial I assumed that it was all CGI. Surprisingly, most of the footage was shot on film and then the bugs were added later. I have absolutely no understanding of motion graphics but I still enjoy watching how it was done.
Jay P Morgan is most known for his photography but he is also a director. In the video below Jay shows us the technical side of shooting a quick comedy short. Many of the same techniques for video also apply to stills. Check out the finished product below the BTSV.
I don't think we have ever had a video submitted to us more than the one below. The Camera Store created a great promo video in which a battle takes place with cameras instead of guns.
In the video below writer Ransom Riggs gives us an artistic tour of the Salton Sea in California. With a tripod, 5DmII, Steadicam Merlin, 24mm, and 100mm, Riggs creates a powerful look at a deserted town in desert of California.
Darren Samuelson created a "great big camera." Although it isn't quite as big as another camera we have featured on FS, it is still just as interesting. Darren's camera shoots on 14x36inch X-Ray negative film.
Darren's Great Big Camera from SULTAN on Vimeo.
This weekend, May 21-22, Peter Hurley will host his first ever "Headshot Intensive;" a 2 day photography workshop dedicated to photographing people and building a thriving business. At $1500 this workshop is not geared toward the average enthusiast. Instead, this workshop was created for professionals looking to take their businesses to the next level.
Everyone claims that they know how to shoot subjects on pure white but many of them still struggle with the background light washing out their subject. In the video below, Olivia Speranza shows us how she created the look for a video but the same techniques apply to flash as well. The key is to light the background as evenly as possible and expose it so that it is just barely pure white.
Below is a fantastic TED Talk given by David Griffin, the photo director of National Geographic. David gives us a unique look at how Nation Geographic's images come to be and he also explains the power of photography in general. As David says, even the most average amateur photographers will take a few amazing pictures in their lives.
Bruton Stroube Studios sets up a beautiful breakfast only to throw it into the air and film it in super slow motion. It's obvious that a lot of planning went into such a simple concept but it was worth all of the effort. Check out the BTS first and then the finished product below that.
Update: The DVD is now Available for purchase here. A few months ago Patrick and I flew up to NYC and filmed our first ever full length DVD (dual DVD actually) with Peter Hurley. The DVD is still being edited but we can finally see an end in sight.
Many of the videos we post on Fstoppers are geared towards professional photographers even though most of our readers are not pros themselves. If you want to take your photography to the next level, you may want take a look at "Learn & Master Photography" with Vince Wallace.
Don't you dread viewing your friend's and family's vacation pictures and videos? Even when I go on vacation I take so many bad pictures and videos that I don't even want to go back and view them again. What if we spent a little more time on our next vacation and shot pictures and stills with a particular project in mind?
Below is a fantastic video filled with random bits of priceless knowledge from 5 acclaimed photographers. Albert Maysles, Sylvia Plachy, Andrew Moore, Timothy Greenfield Sanders and Gregory Crewdson casually answer questions for Ovation TV about all aspects of the business.
We all like seeing things in super slow motion right? Well I have just been turned on to "The Slow Mo Guys". These guys have a Youtube channel totally dedicated to showing things happening in super slow motion and in this video they create and eventually pop the largest water balloon I have ever seen. This video is not informative in any way but it's still fun to watch.
I know that we have shown a lot of timelapses lately but our readers really love them and each month someone seems to raise the bar on quality or creativity. It is now Dominic Boudreault's time in the spotlight with his film "The City Limits". This film has the most amazing cityscapes I have seen to date. Make sure you watch this thing in HD full screen.
Each year Time Magazine picks the 100 most influential people in the world to feature in their magazine. Take a small look at what photographer Martin Schoeller had to go through to get a few of the shots.
via PetaPixel
A few months ago at WPPI I met Dennis Wood the president of Cinevate. Dennis told me that if we had a chance to play with Cinevate's DSLR rigging gear it would totally change the way we shoot. So we ended up getting a few pieces of gear from Cinevate, the most exciting piece to me being the Atlas 10 slider.
RETV, a new video based website started by Resource Magazine recently filmed a quick interview with Albert Watson. During the interview Watson talks about his humble beginnings and walks us through a few of his famous shoots. Watson claims that many photographers get into the field simply because they enjoy the technical aspects of the gear.
Yes, it has been done to death but everyone loves to see it so we will keep posting it. Digital Rev TV has been doing a series called the "Cheap Camera Challenge" and so far they have created 3 videos with 3 different photographers shooting on 3 different cheap cameras.
Here is an example of the complete opposite; amateur photographer with a pro camera.
I released The iPhone Fashion Shoot back in July of 2010 thinking that it would be a fun way to prove a simple point (that people can create compelling images with any camera). I never thought 1, that the video would become so huge and 2, that 50% of everyone who saw it would totally miss the point.
This video gives a quick look at Jay P. Morgan's latest advertising campaign for Pedia-Sure. The video isn't quite as informative as Jay's average BTSV but there is still a lot to learn from it. I was really impressed by the size of the campaign and then range of images that were taken.
Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens traces the arc of Annie's photographic life, her aspirations to artistry and the trajectory of her career. The film depicts the various phases that shaped her life including childhood, the tumultuous sixties, her transition from Rolling Stone to Vanity Fair magazine and later her most significant personal relationships including motherhood.
Most guys are drawn to fashion photography for the over the top concepts and beautiful women. The issue is that most of these men will never truly gain an interest for fashion and sadly, shooting a pretty girl isn't really "fashion photography" at all.
Many photographers claim that they will never shoot a wedding because there is too much pressure. If you miss some of the key moments, you will never get another chance. I agree with this to an extent but at least weddings have hundreds of "moments" over the course of a day. If I miss a couple, it's usually not a big deal.
We were just sent an incredible TED talk with artist "JR". During his speech JR talks about his incredible art project that entailed traveling around the world, photographing locals with power stories, and then pasting their images on the sides and tops of buildings.
Sometimes it's a pain to bring a client to your studio, or maybe you don't even own a studio. In these situations you must figure out a way to bring the studio to the client. Diana Deaver shows us a quick glimpse of her last shoot that involved bringing a paper background and a single large parabolic reflector into a clothing store.
Most skydiving videos are extremely high energy. This video, produced by BettyWantsIn.com, has a totally different vibe though. Instead of the heart pounding "plummeting to your death" feeling, this video creates a calm almost floating sensation by taking advantage of the 60fps that the GoPro can shoot. I thought it was creative so I figured I would share it.
Update: Every day has been booked. I am back up in NYC for the next 10 days and next week my schedule is totally open every day (April 18-22) from 1pm-5pm. I'd love to have lunch with anyone who is interested for absolutely any reason. You by no means have to be an established photographer or even want to talk about photography.
When the iPad was announced I laughed. I thought "this is just an over-sized iPhone that can't even make calls." I then figured out how to tether my DSLR to it and now I bring it on every shoot. Don't get me wrong, it does have some annoying quirks but when it does something well... it does it very well.
