Recent Videos & Posts

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  Testing Lighting Diffusion Material on a Steampunk Set

  May 25, 2013

  Today on the Slanted Lens we are going to take a look at different lighting diffusion materials Rosco makes. We will see how soft and how hard different diffusion materials are and how they wrap around the human face and affect the background as well. Lighting diffusion has been a critical part of lighting in the Movie and Video world for years. In the beginning it was sheets or shower curtains. Lights needed to be softened and shaped in a [...]

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  Camera Movement Tutorial: How To Create Emotion

  May 10, 2013

  Today on The Slanted Lens we have a great camera movement tutorial exploring how camera movement can create emotion in the viewer. Moving the camera helps create different emotions in a scene. We see it all of the time in the films we watch. A camera slowly sweeping around a scene will give it an epic feeling, where as a shaky hand held camera shooting the same scene can create a feeling of uncertainty and danger. Camera movement can add [...]

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  Strobes & Daylight: A Lighting Tutorial for Photography & Video

  April 28, 2013

  In today’s Slanted Lens lighting tutorial we are out at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Our lesson will look at how to blend strobes lighting with daylight, so that the image does not look artificially lit. We will look at a method that I use to see what the strobes are doing in daylight and to help you better control them when the modeling lights are not bright enough to guide you. For our shots today we have an old wooden [...]

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  The World of Camera Movement – Photo Video West Workshop

  April 23, 2013

  Photo Video West – San Diego Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013 Time: 1:30 pm – 2: 30 pm Location: Video Theater Camera movement has changed in the last few years. It is getting easier to move the camera in smaller and smaller spaces. At NAB this year we saw the introduction of the Movi System by Freefly which looks like it will revolutionize the world of camera movement. The Movi is a Gimbal System that stabilizes the camera with a very low learning [...]

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  Shooting Chrome Surface on Location: A Video / Photo Lighting Tutorial

  April 17, 2013

  In today’s Slanted Lens lighting tutorial, we are out on location in downtown Los Angeles shooting for Pilot Freight Services. We are shooting a composite image that also includes shooting chrome on location. Our shot is for a print ad that Pilot will run in consumer magazines. We blocked off a lane on Hope Street in Los Angeles that looks into downtown so we could shoot our truck in the right position to match the comp. The image consists of [...]

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  How Camera Angle Affects Body Shape – A Video Lighting Tutorial

  April 2, 2013

  In today’s Slanted Lens video lighting tutorial, we are on location at the Bonneville Slat Flats in Utah and we will be exploring how camera height affects body shape. I always wanted to shoot at the Salt Flats but didn’t realize that in March it’s under water. Not to be deterred we headed out to the Salt Flats using them as a reflection pool. The water is only 6 to 8 inches deep which is perfect for our purpose. Height [...]

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  Continuous Lighting Setup w/ 2 Hot Lights – A Video Lighting Tutorial

  March 15, 2013

  In today’s TSL video lighting tutorial,  we will be shooting a simple continuous 2 light setup. With the option to increase the ISO on this new generation of cameras, it has made the use of continuous lighting more possible for still images. Using continuous light sources, you can create great images that have a cinematic look. We are pulling still frames from the new Canon 1DC that Lens Pro to Go delivered to us. In this case the motion blur [...]

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  Capturing Stills from Video with the Canon 1DC

  March 6, 2013

  In today’s TSL lesson we are out on location shooting a rain shot on the new Canon 1DC that Lens Pro to Go delivered to us. Our goal today is to shoot all video on this new 4K camera and pull still images from the video. We are going to test different shutter speeds and see how they affect the video and stills. Rain is the perfect subject to test this concept of pulling stills from video so let’s see [...]

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  How to Make a Green Screen: DIY Equipment

  February 27, 2013

  In today’s DIY Equipment lesson from The Slanted Lens, Lars Lindstrom, our cameraman will teach you how to make a portable green screen on a small budget. The total cost of the green screen created is about $14, but does not include the cost of the stands. You will need: 1- green gabardine fabric (from Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts) wider the better – Lars sewed two 60″ panels together; 2- “A” clamps; 1 – 120″ long PVC pipe (from Home [...]

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  The Basics of a One Light Setup: A Lighting Tutorial

  February 15, 2013

  In today’s Slanted Lens lighting tutorial, we are going way back to the very basics of a one light setup to light a face. Our talent Tiffany Taylor is beautiful and it’s very easy to demonstrate on her face. Everything in the world is a ball, a cube or a cylinder. The human face is nothing more than a ball with features. Let’s look at how to light the face and background to create separation and interest with a single [...]

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  Step 2: A Photographer’s Steps to Working in Advertising

  February 14, 2013

  Now that you have a non-photography related hobby, you are actively participating in your fun hobby, and you are meeting people and manufacturers in the industry, it’s time to design your book around your hobby. The friend that I mentioned in our previous article started his portfolio with bike shots because his hobby is mountain biking. He first started taking pictures of people mountain biking. He wanted to show bike manufacturers that he could do the work they would give [...]

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  How to Composite Lighting Tutorial

  January 26, 2013

  In today’s TSL lesson we are shooting in the Concord and Lexington area of Massachusetts. This lesson will be a how to composite lighting tutorial. This is the perfect place to shoot the elements or plates we will need to create a composite showing a Revolutionary War battle scene. We will show how we shot and combined images from 5 shoots to make our final battle scene. We will shoot the background plates first, then any plates that need to [...]

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