Immediately upon unpacking their new Nikon D4, Jason Kolsch and Jayson Jordan, began filming the Nikon with a high speed Phantom camera. The film takes you on a short 360 tour of the Nikon body, stopping briefly to allow you get a good look at all of it’s finer details. The highlight of video is when the Phantom uses its monstrous 1000 frames per seconds capability to capture the Nikon D4 firing off at 11 frames per second. Take the tour of the D4 here (for those of you reading this by email you can see the video here):
The Phantom high speed camera does an outstanding job capturing the Nikon D4. For the all the gearheads out there, the two used K5600 Joker 800 and two 400’s to light the D4.
When most people think cameras, they think of small hand-held devices that can easily be tucked away into a back and carried about. But, if you ask Ian Ruther about his camera, he’ll tell you it’s the size of a delivery truck, literally. That’s because Ruther converted a truck into a mobile camera and processing lab, in which he travels the country in creating large wet plate prints. Take a look at Ruthers journey in the following video:
For those unfamiliar with the process, wet plate photography uses the collodion process which requires a silver bromide emulsion to develop the photographs onto sheet metal. Most of Ruthers prints are done on 36 x 24-inch sheets of metal. Each print costs Ruther upwards of $500 to produce. But the results are unique works of art, made using an antiqued, but visually stunning process.
The Amazing Process of Wet Plate Photography
As you saw in the video, the process has been trial and error for Ruther and it appears that his diligence is paying off.
Facebook announced today that it has acquired photo-sharing app Instagram. This huge deal is rumored to be in the amount of roughly $1 billion in a combination of cash and stock. A staggering price for a 9 person company that started only a few years ago.
Instagram Acquired by Facebook by $1 Billion
April 9, 2012—Facebook announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire Instagram, a fun, popular photo-sharing app for mobile devices.
The total consideration for San Francisco-based Instagram is approximately $1 billion in a combination of cash and shares of Facebook. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close later this quarter.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, posted about the transaction on his Timeline:
I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.
For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.
We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.
That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.
We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.
These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure.
This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.
We’re looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we’re going to be able to build together.
As smartphone cameras improve, manufacturers are going to great length to prove how effective these little devices are at capturing and uploading images quickly. Far from being a gimmick, the image quality from these smartphones has become good enough to produce professional looking photos and video for next to nothing. This production is a classic example of what can be achieved with a smartphone, a lot of skydiving talent, a big budget, and a little creativity. Check it out:
The brief was to create a fashion shoot during a skydive using HTC’s new smartphone for the final shot. The team involved in the production created an entire location shoot during the drop, including a lighting team with head mounted lights, a skydiving model (Roberta Mancino) and even a make up artist, applying touch ups whilst hurtling to earth.
An immense amount of preplanning was involved in getting the shot, including a fashion designer to design a good looking costume capable of withstanding the high wind speed, a physicist to advise the fashion designer and a rigorous training schedule for Nick the student photographer, tasked with taking the image. This video shows the preparations and planning behind the final jump.
The final shoot brings together all the planning and training into just fifty seconds of exhilarating free-fall action. Nick, in tandem with an experienced skydiver has just moments to capture the perfect image and at the first attempt misses the shot. As Roberta flies through the set on the second attempt, there is just enough time for him to compose the image and get the shot:
Fashion Shoot at Terminal Velocity
This short video shows how well choreographed actual photo shoot was. The whole crew was required to fly into place within a matter of seconds. The first shot opportunity was missed, a mid-air collision nearly occured, then the desired shot was captured on the second pass:
The three videos combine to make a compelling case for smartphone photography and videography. It is interesting to think that we are only at the beginning of this amazing technological journey.
Looking for a little comedic relief? Look no further than Fauxtographor, the 1-minute long parody that pokes fun at the life of a photographer in the form of a medication commercial complete with possible side effects. Have a look at the commercial here and see if Fauxtographer is right for you (for those of you reading this by email you can see the video here):
Ask your doctor if you are healthy enough for photographic activity
Stop-motion director “PES” gets creative as he takes his viewers on a visual ride through the process of making the tasty green dip one photograph at a time. This production has set a new standard for creative stop-motion photography shorts and many in the industry have taken note (over 4.5 million views in a few weeks time). Have a look for yourself here:
Besides the ingenious items he uses as ingredients — hand grenades, cue balls, poker chips — the video’s success is contributed to the thoughtful approach and professional execution of stop motion techniques.
If you have an SLR camera and are looking for a flashlight attachment to take better, more professional looking shots, you should look no further than the Canon Speedlite 580EX II. The 580EX offers the highest quality in a flashlight, while remaining affordable for consumer camera.
Most complaints about built-in flashlights in SLR cameras are that they aren’t bright enough, that the timing on the flash cannot be controlled, or that the placement of the flashlight in relation to the lens is too close – giving a glaring bright spot or washed-out area where your subject matter should be.
Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash
The Canon Speedlite 580EX II not only has the esteemed honor of being Canon’s top shelf flashlight for its EOS III system, but it has found itself being used by photographers shooting with other SLR and DSLR camera simply because it offers wide compatibility and extremely fine tuning found nowhere else in an internal or external flashlight.
Key Features:
The Speedlite 580EX II has one of the fastest recycling times out there. Over 25% faster than other flashlights. This means more continuous shots without all of the waiting time.
The built-in catchlight means you can use the 580EX II to switch for portrait shots
FP Mode, which allows the camera to sync with the Speedlite 580EX II at higher shutter speeds.
The Canon 580EX II has a stroboscopic mode. This sends out tiny, successive flashes so that you can monitor what the flash will look like ahead of time, and monitor the outcome of your pictures.
The Speedlite 580EX II has 14 custom professional setting to get your picture the way you want it. No more guessing or working around how the flashlight functions. Take your pictures without worry of flash delay or effect.
The Canon Speedlite 580EX II automatically transmits color temperature data. This sets the camera’s color balance for optimal flash shots.
There a second curtain that fires a flash at the end of the exposure when using the 580EX II, which allows for a natural flow of light behind your subject matter suring action shots. The Canon Speedlite 580EX II is the perfect upgrade for those who are tired of the performance of flashlights on regular SLR/DSLER cameras, and who want the best quality flash shots on consumer AND professional levels. When combing through customer reviews of the Canon 580EX II, the feedback seems to be outstanding on the following points:
Pros:
High compatibility
Very fast recycling time between shots
Easy to use custom settings
Durable
High power and performance output
Consistent
Cons:
Heavy / bulky
People who have purchased the Canon Speedlite 580EX II and put it through its paces come from all walks of life – frontline journalists, nature photographers, professional even photographers, paparazzi, professional portrait photographers, nighttime photographers, and (mostly) everyday users. They will tell you that the 580EX II has changed the way they now take flash pictures, and that the Canon Speedlte 580EX II has opened up a whole range of photography that wasn’t possible with their camera’s built-in flashlight, or other external flashlights that they tried before switching to the 580EX II.
So whether you are taking nighttime wildlife stills, capturing the bride and groom during their first dance, covering a concert, or taking photos of the world around you for your blog or personal album, the Canon Speedlite 580EX II will let you start taking pictures the way you want them. No longer will you have to deal with the frustration of washed-out pictures, overexposed subject matter, or inaccurate timing for you flashlight photography. The 580EX II should be your next external flashlight for all your photography needs, and once your switch, you will never think about going back to another flashlight ever.
About the Author:
If you are curious about taking the plunge and getting the best quality in flash photography, you can check out the specs of the Canon Speedlite 580EX II in full detail, plus see the reviews of actual users – from journalists to professional event photographers to home users – just by clicking the link.
Some of you may have seen this amazing project already but it is well worth revisiting for it’s unique creative style. Rick Mereki used the themes of movement, learning and eating to create three compelling short videos that leave you wanting more. As a travel photographer, I was very fascinated and inspired by this even though it is in fact a video project and not photography (but it was created with Canon 5D Mark II DSLR cameras). This amazing project inspired me to try travel more, how about you? Where is the next place you really want to go? Join the discussion on our Facebook.
Traveling the World: Move, Eat and Learn
The first film, Move, is probably the most well known of the three and features actor Andrew Lees walking and sometimes, jumping and riding towards and across the camera. Although Andrew appears to walk normally, the background location changes rapidly with the beat of the music, revealing him to be in many locations around the world. The superb editing makes his journey appear seamless despite being shot in eleven countries over 44 days and on two Canon 5D Mark II DSLR cameras (for those of you reading this by email you can see the videos here):
The next film is Learn. Again using actor Andrew Lees and a distinctive cinematic style Rick has produced a film showing our subject learning a multitude of new experiences from wine tasting to playing the guitar. To convey the change of scene between each learning experience the team has used a clever transition of rapidly panning the camera into the next scene, as with all good editing the effect is so subtle you only notice it if you are looking for it:
Last up we have Eat, which, as it’s name suggests, is about food from around the world. The same cinematic style is used but again with a slightly different editing technique. The film opens with a split screen of a plate of food. The left of the screen is half of one plate of food from one part of the world whilst the right of the screen is a completely different dish. The team cycle through these dishes before revealing our actor eating traditional foods in a large number of recognizable locations around the world:
The three video’s work perfectly together to convey a sense of wanderlust in the viewer and leaving them wanting to Move, Learn and Eat around the world. This amazing project inspired me to try travel more, how about you? Where is the next place you really want to go? Join the discussion on our Facebook or Google+
There’s been a lot of buzz about the Canon 5D Mark III going around the photography world lately and it’s no wonder why. Canon upted the ante on the latest 5D, packing it with new functions and time saving features, making it a photographers dream. Some of the cameras more powerful upgrades will also greatly reduce the workload of filmmakers. Photographer Richard Walch shows us how as he takes us on a behind the scenes shoot where a pair of 5D Mark III’s were used to create a short film spot for Canon. Take a look here (for those of you reading this by email you can see the video here):
Now, before we take a look at the finished product from the behind the scenes tour, let’s recap some of the new features that the Mark III boasts:
First, let’s talk about the 22.3 megapixel full frame sensor. Not only does it give superior resolution, but also allows for true focal lengths and a super shallow depth of field.
You can now slow the frame rate to 50 or 60 seconds while shooting in 720p. This means less time in post as all slow motion shots can now be done in camera.
Another time saving feature comes with the new SMPTE timecode function. It allows for easy syncing of multiple cameras, which anyone filmmaker will agree, can be a huge time saver
The Canon 5D Mark III ISO rating was also boosted through the roof to an outstanding 26500.
The camera allows for nearly 30 minutes (29 minutes 59 seconds to be exact) of continuous filming.
Two new compression modes were added. The interframe ALL-I format improves the editing process and IPB was added for maximum storage efficiency.
Now, as promised, here a clip of the finished product, Radball, which was filmed on a Canon 5D Mark III:
Note – I recently tried to order a 5D Mark III from Amazon and their estimated delivery date wasn’t in June (they are very bogged down with pre-orders). B&H has them in stock now, see below.
The short film, Frame of Mind, by Ben Boutwell and Steven Alan is a creative look into the world of forced perspective photography. Frame of Mind was inspired by the opening credits for the sitcom Modern Family and borrowed techniques from François Vogel’s innovative filmmaking. At just over a minute long, the video is short, sweet, compelling, and close to reaching 1 million viewers in it’s first week. Have a look for yourself:
Although the video was short, the duo spent many, many hours behind their computers working on post production in Adobe After Effects and Mocha.
When asked how many hours they logged during editing, Alan replied, “Probably around 30-40 glorious hours.”
