Posts Published in December 2010

Royal Engagement Photographs by Fashion Photographer Mario Testino

Royal Engagement Photographs by Fashion Photographer Mario Testino williamtestinophotos

Prince William and Kate Middleton recently released engagement photographs shot by fashion photographer Mario Testino, who previously also made portraits of Princess Diana. Testino is one of the world’s most sought after fashion photographers, but public opinion regarding these portraits appears to be quite mixed (check out this dpreview forum thread).
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Time-Lapse Motion Control Using a BBQ Rotisserie Motor

While adding movement to time-lapse videos is cool, the special equipment (e.g. dollies, cranes, etc…) you need can be pricey. Derek Mellott couldn’t afford to shell out hundreds of bucks for a dolly, so he decided to make his own using things found in his garage. His resulting setup included tripods, a cable management tray, a TI-calculator as an intervalometer, and a BBQ rotisserie motor to slowly pull the camera along.
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Nikon Super Telephoto Lens Doubles as a Fake Bazooka

Nikon Super Telephoto Lens Doubles as a Fake Bazooka nikonbazooka

Once your lenses get to a certain level of awesomeness, you have to start carrying them like bazookas. Can anyone identify the two lenses found in this photograph?

(via The Phoblographer)

Lo-Fi Photography with a 4-in-1 Lens

 Lo Fi Photography with a 4 in 1 Lens subjektiv lens kit

If you’re a fan of lo-fi images produced by plastic or pinhole camera, you don’t have to carry around multiple cameras or lenses. The “Subjectiv” lens give you four shooting modes in one lens and is compatible with Nikon and Canon.
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“Chrono Cubist” Photos by Diego Kuffer

Chrono Cubist Photos by Diego Kuffer  cube1

For his “In Transit” series, Diego Kuffer takes multiple photographs of scenes, then creates neat-looking composite images afterwards. Kuffer tells us,

The idea behind the series is all about time, but in a more condensed way, also known as “moments”. I wanted to capture a moment with photography, but it only allowed me to get instants. So I decided to use the idea behind the movie making techniques (a great way of capturing moments) and apply it to photography. So, I took several snapshots of the same scene, sliced them horizontally and vertically, and assembled them in to a single one, chronologically. I like to think about these grammar as Chrono Cubism.

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First Ever Movie Filmed Entirely by Cats

Back in August 2010, Friskies selected 25 cats around the country and gave them the hardship privilege of wearing a camera around their necks, documenting their lives over the course of 5 days. The resulting footage was edited into “Cat Diaries”, the first movie to be filmed entirely by cats. It’s a unique look into what it’s like to see and explore the world as a cat.

Next time they should figure out a way to attach a chicken to the cats to stabilize the footage.

Futuristic Concept Camera Captures Entire Perspectives at Once

Futuristic Concept Camera Captures Entire Perspectives at Once capture180

It’s always fun thinking about what photography will be like in the future, and the direction camera technology will go. What’s even cooler is seeing these ideas turned into concept drawings or videos. The Capture180 is a concept camera by Lucas Ainsworth that takes a 180° hemispheric photograph with each exposure in addition to the ordinary, framed photograph. When viewing the photographs with the camera, you can “knock” the camera into a viewing mode in which it acts as a small window into the giant scene that was captured.
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Watch Your Life Flash Before Your Eyes with Pummelvision

Pummelvision is a neat little website that aims to help you see your life flash before your eyes by taking your Flickr, Facebook, and Tumblr photos, combining them into a rapid-fire slideshow set to music. Once the video is done the service uploads it to Vimeo or YouTube for you. The above is an example Pummelvision video created with the photos of Justin Ouellette of chromogenic (we interviewed him a while back).

Pummelvision (via Lifehacker)

Turn Film into Ribbon Bows for Presents

Turn Film into Ribbon Bows for Presents filmbow

If you’re planning to give any gifts to photography-enthusiasts this Christmas, you can try adding a little awesomeness to the presentation by creating your own ribbon bows out of film. All you need to do is cut the film strip into narrower pieces, and arrange the loops in the shape you’d like.

(via KEH Camera Blog)

Quick Hyperfocal Distance Tutorial for Sharp Landscape Photographs

The concept of hyperfocal distance is used in landscape photography to achieve the greatest depth of field and acceptable sharpness for both near and far objects. In the two minute tutorial above, wildlife photographer Chris Weston walks through some hyperfocal distance focusing techniques. You can also find a couple informative tutorials at DOFMaster and Cambridge in Colour.