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Nike challenged this photographer to walk on air and he did, right off the edge of a skyscraper

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Did you dream as a child that you can walk or run on air? Benjamin Von Wong was wondering what it would be like, and he got a chance to experience it and capture it with his camera. He and his team defied gravity in the new Nike campaign. They created fantastic images that alter the reality, but they also experienced what it’s like to run on air.

It took creativity, courage, lots of safety equipment and thorough planning. Ben didn’t use stuntmen or stuntwomen, but his models were everyday heroes. He chose athletes, social entrepreneurs and community leaders who make the world a better place, and they defied gravity for this bold photoshoot.

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Benjamin Von Wong tackles First World child hunger in compelling fantasy photo series

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We tend to think we’re quite privileged here in the First World. To the point where the #firstworldproblems hashtag is basically a joke. It’s to make us feel better about all our petty grumbles the world throws at us. But even in this supposedly privileged society, there are many people truly suffering. And many of those are children.

Benjamin Von Wong discovered this after talking with the people at Second Harvest Food Bank. They told him that where he lives, in the heart of Silicon Valley, 1 in 3 children struggle with hunger. Pretty sad for an area that boasts America’s second-highest concentration of wealthy people. So, Benjamin decided to do something about it.

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Photographer shoots a paralyzed mom. Hanging off a cliff. With her son. In a wheelchair

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A print or a photo shoot can be a great gift for Mother’s Day. But photographers Benjamin Von Wong and Karen Alsop took it to a whole new level. They gave a quadriplegic mom a unique photo shoot and a chance to connect with her son through an adventure.

Sarah Jay (SJ) Staszak used to be a master rock climber, abseil instructor, and passionate cyclist. After a routine surgery gone wrong, she became unable to go on her adventures. The photographers and the team gave her a chance to experience the same thrill and adrenaline again. Despite bad weather and SJ’s disability, she was hanging off the edge of the cliff of the Blue Mountains once again, together with her son Hamish, for an epic photo shoot.

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Photographer turns 10,000 plastic bottles into an ocean for this mermaid shoot

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The ideas of conservation, living “green”, fighting pollution and global warming have been at the front of everybody’s mind in recent years. Well, almost everybody. It’s gotten to the point, though, where many have become numb to the relentless commercials and posters telling us to recycle and do this and that for the planet’s benefit.

Photography Ben Von Wong wants to keep bringing these issues back into the public’s conscious through amazing photography. This time around, he’s used 10,000 plastic bottles to create an ocean home for a beautiful mermaid. As usual, this was an idea in Ben’s head that came together with the help of a lot of volunteers and assistance.

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This photographer shot his subjects on a real lava field for these incredible images

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There’s a whole lot one can do with Photoshop these days to put your subjects into any environment we wish. But, for me, nothing beats the authenticity of shooting on location. It seems Ben Von Wong feels the same way. For his latest project he took his model, Tau, and crew out into the middle of Hawaiian lava fields.

The project is part of Ben’s work to raise awareness for climate change, and to give back to those who have been victims of natural disaster. In this case, Hurricane Matthew. Assisted by lava expert and landscape photographer CJ Kale, ben and his crew set off for the Big Island of Hawaii to capture the shots. Fortunately for us, as well as fantastic images, Ben also created a behind the scenes video documenting everything that went into their production.

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4 steps for planning your photography project by Benjamin Von Wong

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If you’re ever looking for inspiration, you really can’t go wrong with Benjamin Von Wong, and just a quick scroll down the homepage of his website will instantly show you why.

But, if you needed some more convincing then I present this video, brought to you by the folks from the Cooperative of Photography, featuring Benjamin himself with some information and advice on pushing yourself to take your photography to the next level.

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Want To Retouch Like Von Wong? You’ll Want To Check Out This Tutorial

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If you are unfamiliar with the work of Benjamin von Wong (previously), you have probably not read DIYP in the last few years. Ben creates epic, inspiring, larger than life art and now he released a set of video tutorials explaining how he works. But I am going too fast, let me take it from the start.

Von Wong has done some amazing work, but many of his first creations can be related to his crowd-funded trip to Europe. In this tutorial, Ben breaks down those photographs and explains his entire workflow on editing them. After watching this section of the tutorial, I can say that this alone is worth the package, as the amount of information that Ben fires while editing is incredible. If you know Ben, you know that the pace is pretty fast and expect a rate of about one tip per ten seconds.

But Ben does you one over and also includes two more sections: a Lightroom tutorial section and a Photoshop section. Both are critical for understanding how to optimize your workflow. Hit the jump to see the full review.

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Epic Portraits Taken While Storm Chasing Show The Impact Of Climate Change

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I remember chatting with Benjamin Von Wong on Facebook one day, and him inviting me to this Facebook group that would involve his next adventure. Months later, this story came across my desk and I had to jump on it and made sure I got to share it with all of you! If you are unfamiliar with Von Wong’s work I suggest you take a look at his site after you read about this project. What happens when you take creative minds like Benjamin Von Wong and Kelly DeLay, plus a crew of talented storm chasers, photographers, and a community of friends and fans, and send them out into the midwestern United States into some very strong storms?

Come out of that storm cellar and take a look at the imagery and the story behind it!
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