I already profiled Martin Schoeller a couple years ago but his work is quite interesting to me so I’m featuring him again!
Martin Schoeller is a New York based photographer whose style is distinguished by similar treatment of all subjects whether they are celebrities or unknown. His most recognizable work are his portraits, shot with similar lighting, backdrop, and tone. His work appears in The New Yorker, Outside Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, and Vogue.
Schoeller applies his unique style to document identical twins. He succeeds in creating compelling photo sets that engage you to spot the differences. This collection of portraits was featured in a January 2012 National Geographic article entitled “Twins“. Be sure to check out the gallery of portraits linked in the article as they include captions about the people photographed.
Inspiration: Dubai Timelapse
I love to share timelapses and have to re-post this one right away. It’s some amazing work showcasing Dubai, a city that appears more like a 3D fantasy world rendering than actual reality. This piece is by Dima Vazhnik (username “dimid” on Vimeo). Oh, and it was shot on a Canon EOS 7D (my camera).
The short video description is:
This video was filmed during our trip to UAE in January 2013. Visiting all of rooftops in video was totally illegal and made by our own risk, but no fine was payed =)
Equipment:
Canon 7D
Sigma 10-20 mm 3.5
Canon 24-105 mm 4
Sigma 30 mm 1.4
Benro C-257 tripodSound: Foreground set – Go with the wind
Dima also has a few other great stills in his Flickr stream…
Recently Pocketed: Interesting Links
Here is a round up of great photography related articles, videos and resources I recently came across and Pocketed to read later. I may not have read them all but they all seemed interesting enough to save and share.
Explorer of Light Vincent Laforet explains the basics of time lapse photography in this beautiful series. Travel with him from the rugged canyons of Utah to the Las Vegas Strip, and learn how to make your own unique time lapse movies.
Beauty retouching can be an arduous task in any photographer’s workflow. The amount of detail that can go into retouching a glamor portrait can easily run into several hours. Learning the secrets of the pros can be even more difficult.
We’ve seen some pretty crazy, vertigo-inducing rooftopping and skyscraper photography in the past, but French photographer and graphic artist Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze‘s “Vertical Horizon” photo series takes the opposite approach to yield a similar awe-inspiring effect.
In what may very well be the most exciting Magic Lantern development ever, the team has discovered a RAW DNG output in live view on the 5D Mark II and 5D Mark III. What this means is that, in the near future, 5D Mark II and III owners may be able to record crystal clear 2K RAW video that blows H. read more…
If you’ve been on the fence about trying Adobe Photoshop Lightroom ($120 @ B&H), now is a great time. Adobe just released a free and open beta of version 5 and it’s free until June 30th. I currently use, and love, Lightroom 4 and it sounds like it’s getting even better (of course).
UPDATE June 10, 2013: Lightroom 5 is now out of beta. Get it as standalone software (full version: $150 @ B&H / upgrade version) or join the Adobe Creative Cloud for $20-$50/month.
Lightroom is the all-in-one solution for photographers (amateurs and professionals alike). It’s so good that you can largely avoid Photoshop and still create stunning edits. Yes, it is that much better than Picasa and iPhoto, especially if you shoot in your camera’s raw format.
Head over now to Adobe Labs to get the new Lightroom 5 beta:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom5/
Below, I’ve included a list of new features and three videos that Adobe has just released, they all look great! read more…
Recently Pocketed: Interesting Links
Here is a round up of great photography related articles, videos and resources I recently came across and Pocketed to read later. I may not have read them all but they all seemed interesting enough to save and share.
Have you ever been on a shoot in which you used two cameras or had an assistant shooting with you, imported the files into Lightroom and then realized they were not time synced properly? If so, this quick 5-minute video is for you.
You’ve probably seen photographs of the Concurs de Castells, the human tower competition held in the region of Catalonia, Spain, but photographer David Oliete got a pretty unique perspective in 2012, shooting the entire event at what appears to be a nearly aerial position.
I love photos of non-smiling children. Most of the images I have displayed in my home are of my kids not smiling. But the difference between a beautiful, serene expression and a grimace is a very fine line.
Whether it’s before, during, or after you shoot, we’ve posted some awesome photography tips, tricks, and hacks this year. Here are the most popular for 2010. People are for portraits. When you want a good landscape they’re just a nuisance.
There is no magic calculator that tells you how to set your prices. If only it were that easy! Pricing your work is dependent on many variables. When deciding to take on the role of CEO to your very own business you also must dedicate time to business planning.
In Michael Wolf’s latest photography series, entitled ‘Architecture of Density’, the urban landscapes of Hong Kong are explored.
From Adobe:Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.4 April 2, 2013 The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.4 update includes these enhancements: Improved demosaic algorithm for better raw file support on cameras with X-Trans sensors. This includes the Fujifilm X-Pro1.
We’ve seen an incredible week in the wide world of photography, and Toad Hollow Photography has been very busy searching online for the best material to share here. read more…
Time-Lapse Earth
If I had time to kill while on the International Space Station, I’d take a few timelapses too. This is too good not to share (thx Jason):
For a long time, I was sure my next camera would be a full-frame DSLR (I have a Canon EOS 7D now). Perhaps it would be the Canon EOS 5D Mark III or the less interesting Canon EOS 6D. Instead, I’m opting for something compact, street-ready and totally portable.
They say the best camera is the one you have with you, and I think there’s a lot of truth in that. I need something for everyday use but I’m not ready to settle on photo quality. I want something fun and unique that will spark my creative juices.
Luckily, I found the solution for me and it’s called the Fujifilm X100s (B&H). It’s a beautiful retro-styled, fixed-lens (35mm), APS-C sensor, mirrorless camera.
Update April 22, 2013: The Verge posted some nice close-ups that show how well built this camera is.
Image from http://www.imaging-resource.com/
Canon has announced two new cameras and one new lens this evening. First there is the Rebel SL1 (a.k.a 100D), the smallest DSLR on the market apparently. They also refreshed the t4i and called it the t5i (a.k.a 700D). The new lens is an 18-55mm STM lens. STM is the new stepping motor they’ve been using in the latest consumer lenses as they can autofocus quietly during video (there are only 3 STM lenses now).
Here’s how the SL1 looks and compares in size relative to the t4i and Canon’s mirrorless compact called the “EOS-M“:
The most interesting of these three announcements is the SL1. It’s a truly compact DSLR that’s still a DSLR in every way (i.e. no compromises relative to mirrorless cameras). Relative to the t4i/t5i it has some compromises like a fixed screen, smaller grip and a smaller battery. It has only 9 focus points and only 1 is cross-type —that’s pretty much the same as their entry-level full-frame EOS 6D (that’s more an issue for the 6D). read more…
Recently Pocketed: Interesting Links
Here is a round up of great photography related articles, videos and resources I recently came across and Pocketed to read later. I may not have read them all but they all seemed interesting enough to save and share.
10 Photography Rules To Break : Popular Photography
http://www.popphoto.com/gallery/nature-how-to-10-rules-to-break?image=10
Over the years, we’ve heard certain guidelines, maxims, and rules repeated over and over again by nature photographers. We’ve even repeated a few ourselves, before stopping to think, “hey, some of these have merit, but most don’t.” Here are 10 of our favorite “rules” that have little or no basis in reality. Go ahead and break them.
14 Commandments for Fine Art Photography Marketing (with photos)
alainbriot
http://www.lightstalking.com/14-commandments-for-fine-art-photography-marketing-with-photos
The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be. – David Ogilvy You have created some great photographs and you are considering selling them. Doing so makes sense. You have skills and you want to recoup the investment you made in photographic gear.
The Asylum
Mark
http://markblundellphoto.com/the-asylum-chapel/
Through the random nature of the internet I came across this location The Asylum. It’s a chapel in a converted almshouse complex fairly near to where I live. The name is somewhat misleading as I don’t believe that the location was ever an actual ’asylum’ for the insane.
Getting Started with Softboxes
B&H Photo Video
https://vimeo.com/58369471#
Moving your flash off camera is great for improving the look of images, but the quality and size of light is every bit as important as the location.
Mirror Trick: Ep. 121: Exploring Photography with Mark Wallace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGgDcn0tK4E&feature=em-uploademail
AdoramaTV presents Exploring Photography with Mark Wallace. In this episode, Mark uses a mirror to shoot a p… read more…
I’ve always been skeptical of iPhone apps that claim to be light meters but here’s an interesting, and very popular, Kickstarter project called Luxi. It’s essentially a diffusion dome that fits over your iPhone camera so you can get a more accurate reading from existing iPhone apps that take such readings.
Why is a Light Meter is Important?
Even though your DSLR camera has a light meter built in, it depends on light reflected into the lens and it’s easily fooled (e.g. dark shirt or light shirt on someone should not change the camera setting but it does). A light meter like Luxi is an incident light meter and it measures the intensity of light directly. You place such light meters right next to your subject and have it face the camera (e.g. place it below a person’s chin if you’re doing a portrait).
Learn more in my Back to Basics series…
Episode 6: Metering Light, Metering Modes and Exposure Compensation
Light meters give you the camera settings to use for a given situation. You put your camera in manual mode and then input the settings given after a light reading. You can still simulate aperture and shutter priority as light meters let you lock-in at least one value among aperture, shutter speed and ISO. For example, if you want a shallow depth of field, you might lock in an aperture of f/2.8. The light meter app might tell you need to set your camera to 1/125 and ISO 400 to get a correct exposure with the given f/2.8 aperture. read more…
