First Person Shooter Project
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Photographing PSY “Gangnam Style”
I got the chance to photograph PSY at a recent radio show and this video explains how I went about capturing the images. Everyone now is familiar with the three song rule but for PSY the rules were a little different. You only had one song to photography, not because they were limiting how many you could shoot but because he only performed ONE SONG!!!!
Knowing that PSY would be coming on and probably dancing I set myself up at the dead center of the stage before the prior act was finished. I knew it would be important to own my spot before anyone else tried to take it. Well i succeeded, I owned the center spot for the entire song and captured the shots I envisioned.
By now you should know how I talk about pre-visualization, I knew with limited time I had to focus on captured one type of image. In this case that would be a dancing wide angle shot of PSY. That is exactly what I captured and you can check out the FULL FULL RES exports by clicking the image below.
You can print or share these images for personal use but you can not sell or make a profit off of them.
Click Here to view all the FULL RES Images from this show.
5 Min Portrait – From the NEW Loft
I love nothing more than creating images and I have to say my NEW Loft lends well to doing so. Last week Todd Wolfe of Cheesesteak Media stopped by to check out my new space. While he was there I asked him if he would pose for a 5 min portrait.
What is great about this 5 min portrait is I also include the First Person Shooter Project into it. You get to follow along and see my perspective as I capture images in what is close to a true 5 Min Portrait.
There is so much light in the new loft as there is an entire wall full of huge windows. Right off the bat I guessed my settings and they ended up being spot on which I take pride in. Like I have said in the past you should be able to walk into a situation, guess your settings and be able to have the proper exposure within three shots. In this case I had the proper exposure without even taken a test shot.
Click Here to see the FULL SET from this 5 min Portrait.
Photographing Justin Bieber – First Person Shooter Project
At a recent concert I got to shoot photos form the pit of Justin Bieber. This video will break down my thoughts on the images I captured and why I shot them the way I did.
I have opened up the FULL RES exported JPEGS for you to download and print for personal use only. I ask that you respect the watermark on the images as well as my request that you do not try and sell these images.
Below you can watch the full three song set that I had to capture Bieber. Though you may think three songs is not a lot of time, it really is. You have time to capture a lot of different angles with different lenses. I also go into the pit with a plan of what I would like to accomplish and stay focused to do so.
Click the image below to access all the FULL RES exports from this video.
Click Here to access all the FULL RES exports from this concert.
The FRO Vs The WATER – Who will WIN
On my recent trip to Florida I thought it would be fun to see who would win a head to head battle, the FRO or the Water. To get your answer check out the video above.
I am sure many of you wold like to know how I captured this video. The main camera was the Nikon D4 wth the Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR II shooting at 720p 60FPS. The second camera was the Nikon D3200 with the Nikon 35mm F1.8 shooting 720p 60FPS. The final camera which I was hand holding was the contour roam which is an underwater action camera.
I was very happy with how the contour cam handles itself in and out of the water. The clarity was just really amazing both with video and audio under water. Who knew you could pick up a camera for $199 that will let you swim with the thing and capture amazing under water footage. If you are interested in picking up a Contour Came please check out AllensCamera.com or call 215.547.2841 and tell them the Fro Sent you.
Join me in the PIT as I photograph of Monsters and Men for 3 Full Songs – First Person Shooter Project
This is your chance to join me in the photo pit for three songs as I photography Of Monsters and Men. I am not sure if this has been done before but I attached my Contour Roam to my D4 to capture one clip of what I see in the pit for three full songs. This is the first time that I have filmed a shoot of this nature from the pit.
Three songs is the going time frame when you are shooting shows if you are not with the band. For those of you who have never ventured into the pit this is a first hand look as to what goes on. You will see how fast the lights change, how tight the quarters were in this particular pit and see how I work with others in the pit. There are so many variables going on at any
given time from the lights to the sounds to the crowed to the band. You have to be calm in the moment, feel it and than capture it.
I wanted to create a video for your guys that went beyond the norm and ventures into more advanced teachings. I know some of you may not understand some of the concepts I am talking about in the video but I know you will in time. I am starting to mix it up a little more on the site, we have had almost two years of basic photography and now its time to mix in there some more advanced teachings for those who are interested. (more…)
Of Monsters and Men First Person Shooter
As I continue with the First Person Shooter Project I bring you this photo and video from the Of Monsters and Men show. This is just a taste of what is to come from this first person shooter segment.
Being that I knew I was going to have three songs to shoot I decided to let the video run the entire time. The idea is to show you what I was able to capture in the three songs I was allotted. This will give many of you a feel for how little time three songs is.
This image was captured with the Nikon D4 and the Nikon 16mm 2.8 fisheye shot at 6400 ISO and processed in Adobe Lightroom 4.
For not having a lot of light I am very happy with what this image looks like. I decided to shoot with the 16mm at the start of the show because I felt that would be a good change to captured the entire band in one photo. The idea for me is to run through as many lenses as possible to give myself as many angles as possible in three songs.
Stay tuned in the future for the full three song set with all the images I captured.
If you have not heard their debut album you can check it out in its entirety right here on Spotify.
Click Here to see a larger version of this image
On Stage with Matisyahu – First Person Shooter Project
As I continue with the First Person Shooter Project you get to see me on stage at a recent show with Matisyahu. This time around I had two cameras running, the Nikon D7000 as a static shot on the side of the stage and the countour cam on top of my D3s capturing the first person angle.
All I can say is this was one of the hardest shows to shoot due to the lighting, I will elaborate more on that in the future. When that is the case you have to get creative in order to get something usable. There are always a few options, you can pop a flash but that wouldn’t have been a good idea and rarely is a good idea. Or you can start to get creative and try to seize the opportunity when it arises.
In this case the opportunity came when Matis went out to the barricade and the lights came up for a quick second. I was not prepared with the right lens on but you will see I quickly made the change and a decision. The split second decision I had to make was should I walk out onto the middle of the stage to try and capture Matis with crowd holding him up? As you will see in the video I went for it, check out the video to see what happened next.
Click Here to see the FULL Res Image
Photographing the Q102 Jingle Ball
The Q102 Jingle Ball comes around to town each year bringing the current days musical acts to play. I used this opportunity to further the First Person Shooter Project which allows you to see via a video camera on top of my camera what I am capturing images of.
As you will see in the first part of the video I am breaking down concert photography tips for you from the venue. Remember these tips just don’t apply to concert photography, they are tips that can be used in any situation you may find yourself in.
Please follow my during the day as I break down all aspects of this photo shoot from the gear I am using to tips and tricks from the pit.
Here is a list of some of the acts I was photographing.
Playing this years concert were Avirl Lavigne, Big Time Rush, Flo Rida, Kelly Clarkson, LMFAO, Demi Lovato, Gym Class Heros.
Click Here to see all the images from this shoot
Deconstruct This Image #001 – Skateboard Photo
Last week I posted an image for you guys to deconstruct without knowing anything about it. I asked you guys to tell me as much detail about how it was taken down to the shutter speed and even the focal length. Though this is not easy to figure out it is a great excursive to get your mind thinking about what goes into making an image.
There were a lot of guesses that this photo was taken with some off camera flash. It turns out that I did not use flash at all even though it really looks like I did. This shot was taken somewhere after 1pm on an overcast day with the sun peaking its head every so often. I was using the Nikon 70-200 VR II and ended up shooting this photo at 70mm because the skater got much closer to me than I first expected. Normally I would like to have shot at 200mm to compress the background as much as possible.
You also get to see a “First Person Shooter Project” view of the exact moment I took this picture. Be sure to check out the video above to see the video of this photo in action.
Nikon D3s Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR II
1/1000th at F4 ISO 1000 70mm No Flash
Shot RAW Not Cropped
Raw Edit of the WEEK 55 – Avril Lavigne
Each week I want to bring you fun files to play with for the RAW Edit. This week I was showing Adam some of my photos from the jingle ball (which will be part of my First Person Shooter Project) and he talked me into letting everyone edit one of my Avril Lavigne Photos. This was my second favorite one as I am keeping the first one for myself.
You will get to see a short video clip of what I was looking at when I took this photo that I captured with the ContourROAM. CLICK HERE to see more about the First Person Shooter Project. You will get to see Avril walk form the back of the stage to the front than for a split second put her boot on the monitor while you hear me snap off three shots and than she moves on.
How would you edit this file, would you crop it even though I think the composition is ace? Feel free to crop, I fully encourage you to if you feel it would make for a better image. Would you stay color or go black and white or split tone? Lets see what you would do with this and don’t be afraid to try a fun second edit.
CLICK HERE to access this weeks RAW FILE.
Unedited Image
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