Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
A while ago I got myself a new camera bag. I was looking for something smaller to carry around my Sigma dp cameras and I stumbled across this little beauty from Cosyspeed, which has been a great addition to my kit.
Since shooting products is something I love doing, I could not help but create a photo of the Streetomatic bag and I want to share the steps I took to create it.
Swedish photographer Erik Johansson is known for his dreamy and surreal images. This time, he decided to depict the change between day and night. As always, the artist of great imagination took a lot of time and effort to turn his idea into a photo, and in this video, he takes you behind the scenes of his latest project.
If you didn’t know better, you’d swear this almost-two-minute sequence from new TV show, Kidding, was multiple takes with motion controlled cameras and some nifty cutting. But thanks to Episode 3 director Jake Schreier, who posted the final clip side-by-side to his Instagram with an overhead view of the stage, we do know better.
Tim Wallace is a high-end car photographer, while he is not restricted to cars, you’ve probably seen his work with Porsche, Lotus, Ford, Aston Martin, and others on one media or another. I’ll admit, I stalk him on social media, because he produces stellar images, but also because he is a witty guy, and his insights are fun to read.
This rant of his, caught my eye and I think it’s spot on to the point of epic, so I asked Tim’s permission to share it with DIYP readers:
While usually quite exciting to watch, shooting timelapse is often rather boring. You turn up at a location that doesn’t yet look its best and set up your equipment. Then you wait, ready for just the right moment to tell your camera to start shooting away. Then you wait, and wait, and then wait some more, until it’s finally done. You could spend an hour sitting there waiting for what will become a 5 second video clip.
Sometimes, though, shooting it can be quite exciting, too. Especially when you’re at 13,000ft in subzero temperatures in the Swiss Alps. In this video, filmmaker Drew Geraci of District 7 Media takes us behind the scenes on such a shoot. We see how the shots are set up, as well as the results they produce.
The world of commercial shooting, whether stills or video, is an attractive one. It can be a tough one to break into, but it can also be a lot of fun. But it’s not like shooting for yourself or for personal clients. There’s often big crews to deal with, time and budget constraints, venue hire, actors, and a whole host of other potential issues to deal with.
On a recent commercial shoot for Nu Skin, filmmaker Parker Walbeck documented what went into making it. He talks about the gear used, as well as how it was used. We learn about the lighting choices and setup used to film the actors. Parker also talks about the budget breakdown for this shoot.
For American rock band OK Go, boundary pushing music videos have become the standard. They’ve done the long one-shot takes with crazy optical illusions, shot with a massively co-ordinated cast of dancers, and they’ve even levitated in zero G. Now, they’ve done it again with their latest music video for new song, The One Moment.
The entire video, again, is shot as a single take. The main action in the video took only took 4.2 seconds in real time. After that, it bounces back and forth between real time for a few seconds, and then back to super slow motion with people flying through the air over fountains of paint. It’s a ridiculous video, and the amount of planning that must’ve gone into it to get it right first time just doesn’t bear thinking about.
Joey Lawrence has been photographing the tribes of Ethiopia since 2008. Drawn by the aesthetic of the country itself and its residents, it’s a place he’s returned to many times since. In 2013, Joey started a kickstarter to raise funds for a cinematic narrative film. The film was to be shot in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, and star the members of the tribes he found there.
The film has toured the festival circuit, picking up a number of very respectable awards. Now, the film is online, available to watch for anybody with an Internet connection. Joey has also released several behind the scenes videos to accompany the piece. You will want to sit back with a good amount of time spare to watch through it all, but it’s well worth it.
Photographing dolls and action figures is something a lot of people ask me about. Sometimes it’s just product shots for classifieds or auctions, sometimes it’s something a little more creative. I always give the same advice, regardless. Light them exactly the same way you would a real person, but on a smaller scale.
In this video taking you on a behind the scenes look at a Barbie Dreamtopia photo shoot, you can see this principle being applied. There isn’t any commentary, but you do overhear some of the conversation,
I’m sure most of you are familiar with Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz’s work by now. His signature splashed-milk photography has been featured twice before on the blog as well as on numerous media outlets across the world.
But, as much as I liked his 1940’s Milky Pin-ups and loved his Splash Heroes, they both suddenly seem like they were just a test run in preparation for his latest series.
Coming from a personal place with this one, and with plenty of experience, Jaroslav seems to have outdone himself as these incredible photos show.
We were also lucky enough to get awesome behind-the-scenes shots, giving us a glimpse into how these photos were created.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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