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James Robertson

Saskatoon, SK, CA

Articles from James Robertson

What is Color Theory and Why Do I Need to Know It?

Our industries rely heavily on color, which most of us know as a wavelength of light that our eyes and brains perceive as ..well color. But we don’t always think about how or why this is happening. You can go a long way just knowing what looks nice, but if you want to optimize the potential of your finished product, knowing the physics involved is very beneficial.

 

Best Online Tool I've Seen for Learning Manual Photography (Canon)

I can think of at least five times where a client has pulled me aside in the past year to ask how they can use their camera better, outside of the automatic setting - I've drawn out countless exposure triangles on napkins, newspapers, even an iPad drawing app, and despite my best efforts I can sometimes tell they're still confused from my brief lesson.

The Paper Kites "Young" Music Video Made of 4000 Portraits

There's nothing more inspirational for me than someone taking a medium and using it outside of it's usual purpose. This creative collaboration between film team "Oh Yeah Wow" and musical group "The Paper Kites" shows how photography can become a killer music video.

 

 

Fabian Oefner's "Psychedelic Science" TED Talk

Back in March, Fstoppers writer Zach Sutton featured Fabian Oefner's "Black Hole"  series, high shutter speed images of paint being spun and flung quickly to produce some amazing art pieces. In this TEDxWarwick 2013 presentation, Fabian shows his passion for bringing art and science together to create his surreal and colorful work, and explains the process behind it all.  

7 Steps to Being a Cooler Photographer with Jimmy Hickey

Ever worry that the way you hold your strap makes you look like a tourist? Well, worry no more. Portland based photographer, Jimmy Hickey joins us with his slightly tongue-in-cheek video to teach all photographers how to take great photos and look like a pro while doing it.  

 

Wildlife Photographer Charms a Wolf Pack

In wildlife photography, and being in the wilderness in general, there's always a risk that you'll meet one of the many wild and territorial creatures that calls it home. In this video, a photographer meets a (seemingly wild) pack of wolves that fight amongst themselves, yet remain gentle and affectionate towards him.  

Taking it on the Road: Location Scouting 101

Lately I've been scouting locations for a calendar project I'm working on, and it got me thinking how little content I've come across online on how to go about it. Location scouting isn't really a science, there are a lot of ways to go about it, but there are a few simple tricks and tools to maximizing productivity in your efforts.

 

Change It Up (Challenge)

Recently we saw a great post from Rich Meade listing off 34 ways to stay creative, well now I have my own to add as well, as a challenge to our readers - change it up!

Behind the Scenes of a Composite Photo

A big part of the appeal for composite photography for me has always been one's ability to imagine a scene, then use different components of the world around them to make it a reality. In this behind the scenes video from Erik Johansson, we're given a breakdown of one photo from the beginning sketches, to the different components and method, post production, and the final product.

The Little Business Practices That Make a World of Difference

So you know your business inside and out and your image quality is top notch, but there's always room for improvement. A factor that many people overlook is the experience that a client has when they work with them, being on one side of the operations gives you a very different perspective and because of this you could be overlooking little important details that make the world of difference.

5 Ways to Make Hours of Editing Endurable

Recently, fellow Fstoppers writer/astounding editor Pratik Naik posted a status on Facebook asking what people's editing routines were, you can read the discussion that followed here. With his permission I've decided to spin this off into a post, and offer some suggestions for our readers facing hours of repetitive retouching in their future.

10 General Items to Keep in Your Gear Bag

As photographers and videographers we often obsess over our cameras, lenses, stands, lights, etc. But often times, the most important tool in your bag is from the hardware store, something that allows you to temporarily fix an unexpected situation, whether it's a gear failure, or the need to fix something in an awkward space.

DigitalRev's Pro Tog DIY Challenge - DIY Ring Light

DigitalRev's Pro Tog challenges are back, this time with a DIY theme. In this video see Pro Photographer Mark Chung create a continuos ring light using some basic hardware store materials, then use them in a fashion shoot.

 

Night Photography: Finding Your Way in the Dark (Workshop BTS)

Night photography is a very broad category, open to many different approaches and techniques to create a unique image of the world, or universe around us. The team at Walley Films has done a great job in this video, documenting the night/light painting photo workshop led by  Scott Martin and Lance Keimig in Texas.

"Six Photographs" Interview with René Burri

In this interview, Port Magazine sits down with Swiss photojournalist René Burri, to discuss the unbelievable stories behind six iconic photographs from his career including a very casual portrait Pablo Picasso in Cannes, and the reopening of the Suez Canal.

 

Credits:

Instagram Meets Stop-motion Video

The Youtube channel Friends in Faux used over 1600 Instagram uploads to create a stop motion video depicting the crazy adventures of one character throughout his day, creatively manipulated using the available tools on the iPhone app.

 

10 Photographers to Look to for Inspiration

No matter what skill level you're at in photography, it's often helpful to take a break and spark the creative process on some new ideas by looking at the work of others; this shouldn't be confused with imitation, but rather used as a tool for building original ideas.

Behind the Scenes - Capturing a World Record Speed Attempt with Phase One

Many people go out every year to set a Guinness World Record, and for those who can succeed comes fame, money and the ultimate bragging rights. Mike Newman should know, he's already set four... but now he wants three more to hold the triple crown for land, water, and air speeds.

Retouching - Is Credit Due?

In the world of digital photography, retouching often plays just as much of a role in the final image as taking the photo(s).

Insuring your Photo/Video Business - What to Consider

When you decide to get serious and make your photo/video hobby a source of income, one thing that you need to look into is insurance. With the abundance of different plans available it's easy to become overwhelmed as to what coverage is right for you, but hopefully this guide can make that decision easier.  

100+ Million ISO May Not Be Far Away!

Some of you may remember this article that I wrote a while back in which I touched on the benefits of capturing wide-spectrum light rays with photographic sensors, and while I haven't seen anything about single-pixel detectors hitting the consumer market anytime soon, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll soon be able to see some of these benefits anyway with the help of one of the lightest indu

A $50 Pen Tablet - Too Good to be True?

I don't think many people would argue that Wacom is the leader in the drawing tablet industry right now, with many professional photographers and graphic designers using tablets from their $200+ mid-level Intuos line as the staple for precise mouse work, and some even shelling out the thousands for the Cintiq line tablets with a built in screen display; so when I heard about a sub-$100 tablet w

Life in the Future with Google Glass

The hilariously creative people over at Grovo (gogorovo on YouTube) posted this video yesterday showing what life may look like in the future of GWC photography/videography if Google Glass ever becomes the next big innovation it claims to be. While it's obvious that this is just some tongue in cheek humor, I'd imagine that as with any popular product with a built-in camera someone wil

Scientists take 3D Photos with Single Pixel Sensors

Original BBC Article (w/video)

Prof. Miles Padgett and his team of scientists at Glasgow University's School of  in Scotland have created a technology which can generate a 3D image using just four stand-alone pixels by capturing light frequency waves beyond what the human eye can see.

 

Get a Stanford Education FOR FREE!

Okay, so maybe you won't get the entire Stanford experience, but they do have their entire 2011 "CS 178" Digital Photography course available online for free here.

How to Go Pro Without Going Crazy

I'm James Robertson, a new addition to the Fstoppers writer staff and a full time commercial photographer/studio owner for the past year. I've joined the team to bring content to the readers who may find themselves either ready to jump into the professional world, or have already and are looking for tips to make life easier.