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Essential Night Landscape Photography Tips from Chris Burkard

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Today’s post comes from extraordinary surf and landscape photographer Chris Burkard, who was recently featured by Smugmag’s short film, Arctic Swell. Chris has made it his life’s work to find wild, remote destinations and then capture the juxtaposition of humans in these environments. The world is an oftentimes harsh, humbling, and magical place, and Chris wants to photograph it all.

He shares his essential night landscape tips below. You can browse his portfolio and print store on his site.

It’s hard to beat the enchanting feeling of star gazing at a clear night sky. You soon become lost in its beauty like a giant kaleidoscope full of shooting stars, planets, and glow from the setting sun or nearby cities. I’ve traveled to countless countries over the past ten years and some of my fondest memories occur long after the sun has set. Whether it’s camping near my home in Big Sur or witnessing a rare northern lights show in the Arctic, I’ve had the privilege and challenge of documenting these night landscapes.

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Unforgiven: The Cinematography of Jack N. Greene

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Last year, actor Ken Watanbe starred in the Japanese remake of a film called Unforgiven. Though it may have had a limited release, its reception wasn’t diminished in the slightest. Acclaimed by critics worldwide, Yurusarezaru mono continued the cinematic relationship between samurai epics and spaghetti westerns at full ignition; the tradition’s beginnings are rooted in Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars, which was a scene-by-scene remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.

Out of everything the film achieved, Yurusarezaru mono reminded us that Unforgiven still remains an ageless masterpiece. After its release, the film became known as a eulogy to classic spaghetti western cinema; in other words, it signified the end of a generation. If that statement holds any truth to it all, then it’s fitting that Unforgiven was helmed by Clint Eastwood, who starred in the Sergio Leone trilogy that pioneered the genre in the first place.

The reason I bring up the fact that it eulogized a generation for this post is because of the fact that Unforgiven was entirely rooted in it; every element that made it what it was borrowed from the old classics, and that included direction, music, writing, and cinematography.

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Why The Non-Refundable Photography Deposit Is A Myth

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Advice below was inspired by the excellent post The Myth of the Non-Refundable Deposit by legalphotopro.com.

About a year ago I received an email with some bad news from a client. “Dear Jeff– I just wanted to let you know that Gwen and Peter have called off their engagement and will not be getting married in September. The news comes as quite a shock to us, but Gwen claims it’s for the best and we’ve always trusted her judgment. I apologize for the short notice, but we just found out less than 48 hours ago. I would like to stop by later this week and pick up a refund of our deposit…” There was a bit more after that, but it was just a blur. My attention was focused squarely on four words– “refund of our deposit.” [Read More…]

Buzz Aldrin On Taking Self Portraits In Space (Plus, A New Service That Let’s You Make Your Own Space Selfie?!)

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Let’s be real, space selfies are light years better than the average Instagram styled selfie. Photos taken of space from space are like the ultimate travel photos. It probably has something to do with the fact that some astronauts, like Buzz Aldrin, were orbiting earth at speeds of 17,000 mph and just casually snapped a selfie like what they’re doing is no big deal.  As Aldrin explains in the interview below, he was supposed to be photographing ultraviolet stars, but when the sun rose and he could no longer see the stars, he turned the camera on himself because he was curious to see what it would like and, you know, why not?.

Listen as Aldrin tells the story behind pioneering the space selfie, then read on to see how you can take a space selfie of your own.

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An Epic Photography Shootout: Benjamin Von Wong vs. Rebecca Litchfield

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Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to participate in a project that brought photographers to Israel to share some of its nicer sides. The project was hosted by Kinetis and brought together an amazing team: Benjamin Von Wong, Rebecca Litchfield, Simon Pollock, Mike Kelly and Adam Lerner and Jared Polin of Froknowsphoto.

With so much talent condensed in such a limited geographical area, I knew I have to do something fun. The concept evolved to make a crazy shootout between Benjamin Von Wong and Rebecca Litchfield. We planned on presenting those two very unique photographers with an ‘identical photo’ themed challenge. Only instead of having them create a single photo, we upped the ante and decided on three different themes they will have to shoot in: A Fire Challenge, A Feathers Challenge and a Flour Challenge.

So, theme was identical, props were identical, wardrobe (donated by Rebecca) was identical, hair and makeup were shared, and the timeframe was tight for both. But…

Having Ben and Rebecca almost on the opposite sides of the spectrum should be pretty interesting: Ben shoots Nikon, while Rebecca shoots Canon; Ben like massive strobes, while Rebecca usually use small constant lights; Ben comes from epic and surreal while Rebecca is keen to fine art… you name it, they differ on it.

The final photos are found below for your enjoyment… (and both Rebecca and Ben will share some more detailed info about the photographs on their own channels as well so stay tuned).

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White Water Kayaking Photos – Surprisingly More Difficult Than You Might Think

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I can’t believe that its late August and summer is almost over.  It seems that every year I have a list of summer time photo sessions that I never get around to.

One thing I have had on my list for a while now is white water kayaking photos.

There is a world class white water course just down the road from one of the cottages we spend time at every summer, yet somehow I never end up with enough time to get out and photograph the kayakers.

Well, this summer I finally made time for it – and as it turns out, white water kayaking photos are surprisingly much more difficult than you might think!

In this article, I will share the thought process, camera settings and post production behind this series white water kayaking photos.

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How The Launch of Apollo 11 Looks Slowed Down at 500 FPS

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It’s been forty five years since Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first two men to walk on the moon. The more unbelievable fact for us, however, is that apparently had cameras that could run at five hundred frames per second back then, as well.

For thirty seconds, the launch of Apollo 11 was filmed by a camera on location at 500 FPS. The ending result was a stretched out to about eight minutes, and gave us one of our sharpest looks ever at the launch of a spacecraft. Obviously, the content shown is a breathtaking sight on its own, but I really found myself focusing on the aesthetics of the video itself after a few repeat views. How amazing is it that we’re able to see footage this sharp, fluid, and clear from 1969? Shot originally on 16MM film, the film was spotlessly converted to HD for us to be able to view online. Check it out for yourself, and stick around for the commentary by Spacecraft Films‘ Mark Gray. For a video that lasts just under ten minutes, what you learn for nearly its entire duration is half of the enjoyment.

Seriously though. With just how expensive film should have been at that point, NASA must actually have been receiving sufficient funding back then.

Explore Portugal In This Scenic Hyperlapse Made By An Award Winning Timelapse Filmmaker

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While on a holiday in Portugal to accept a Best Timelapse award for his incomparably brilliant Moscow Night Timelapse/Hyperlapse, Kirill Neiezhmakov, like any good photographer, seized the opportunity to create his next treasure, Portugal Hyperlapse/Timelapse. Neiezhmakov is making a name for himself among timelapse and hyperlapse photography enthusiasts as one of the art forms leading filmmakers, and rightfully so. He has the uncanny ability to create his new magnum opus with every timelapse he puts out. This Lisbon and Sesimbra, Portugal are no exception.

Upon arriving in Lisbon from his home in Ukraine, Neiezhmakov, contacted Portugal based image maker, Francesco Cerruti for a helping hand in the making of the timelapse. The team traveled to multiple points of interest to make the film, capturing landmarks such as Eduardo VII Park (1:12), Arrábida Sesimbra (0:15) Rossio (1:02), and my personal favorite part of the timelapse, inside and underwater at The Oceanarium in Park of The Nations (1:33). Take a look:

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Increasing Number Of Performers Ban Use Of Smartphones And Tablets To Photograph And Film Events

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After running a post detailing the ban of tablet photography at Manchester United home games last week, we asked our readers if we thought this might spark a trend and whether or not they thought more venues should and would pick up on the idea. Looking through the comments on that post it appears the consensus rules in favor of the ban and everyone seems to at least hope tablet photography gets banned in more places. If you are one of those people, I have some good news for you. It appears more and more musicians are starting to speak up against cell phone photography by pleading with concertgoers to leave their camera phones at home. Some are even banning such devices altogether.

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Experience The Swiss Alps With A Little Help From 12 GoPros And 2 Custom Panoramic Rigs

Have you ever dreamt about photographing your own ascent of the Swiss Alps, but can never find the time to actually get around to it? Luckily, there are professional mountaineers who are, well, let’s just say, slightly more motivated than you and I. Now, you can enjoy the experience of climbing the notorious Eiger North Face from the comfort of your couch thanks to the radical photography project carried out by Dani Arnold, Stephan Siegrist, and the 12 GoPro’s they carried on their expedition to the top of the 13,000-foot (3970 meters) summit. The panoramic imagery they were able to capture is nothing short of breathtaking.

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