Tag Archives: video

Flowers Timelapse

This is an absolutely spectacular piece of timelapse photography of emerging flowers by a Czech photographer, Katka Pruskova.  The video is 2:41 and best viewed in HD fullscreen. The music is “Arrival of the Birds” by The Cinematic Orchestra. Katka Pruskova’s website is here, and a page of “behind the scenes” information on the flowers video here. The video is copyright 2012 by Katka Pruskova.

This work is magnificent and exhibits both extraordinary skill by Ms. Pruskova and exceptional artistic flourish. The flowers are truly fascinating. Flowers include Amaryllis, Lilies, Zygocactus, Rose, Gladiolus, Tulip, and Gardenia. Relaxing and deeply enjoyable!

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Iceland: The Midnight Sun

Summer is the season of the midnight sun in the far northern hemisphere. There is  splendid landscape and time-lapse photography in this video of “Midnight Sun | Iceland” shot by Scientifantastic.

Best viewed fullscreen and in HD (the embedded video is HD), “Midnight Sun” was shot over a 17-day period in June 2011 by Scientifantastic. If you like mountains, sky, water, oceancoast, and spectacular scenery, you should love this video! Some of the mountainscapes almost look like abstract paintings.

Facing The Future: Nine Perspectives on the Future of Photography

This fascinating article is from Petapixel.

Late last year, during the Day of Photography in Amsterdam, PhotoQ interviewed nine photographers about the challenges facing them and photography as a whole from both an economic as well as social perspective. The resulting videos offer nine different perspectives on the business of photography, how it’s changed, where it’s headed, and how to adapt. Some viewpoints are more negative and others more positive, but in the end you can tell that each of these photogs love what they do, and just want to make sure they keep getting to do it for a long time to come. (*)

Here are two of the recorded interviews. There are seven more video interviews with professional photographers.

Many of the bloggers who follow Random Sights are not professional photographers.  That is, they do not seek to make a living from their photographer. (“Enthusiast” is, I think, the most apt description.)

All of us, whether our involvement in photography is a livelihood or a serious amateur pastime, have found, I think, that both the demand for pictures and the popular interest in photography are greater than ever. At the same time, as most of the photographers in these interviews attest, the field of professional photography is changing as a result of both social and economic pressures. Whether we are talking about professionals or not, never before have so many people been part of a particular medium of expression or dedicated to a love for creating pictures.

Huangshan, by Luciano Bostico

I have not been posting all week because I have been busy on a book project and working on a deadline. (It’s almost done!) I have been working with Lightroom 4. I’ll have more to say about Lightroom 4 in the future, except to say that in general it seems much faster, but I’m really dissatisfied with the new Bookmaking module which seems not quite “ready for prime time.” So I laid out this book with the old software.

I have not posted any videos recently. Here’s one I found, “Huangshan” by Luciano Bostico.

Huangshan was shot in China’s Huanshan National Park. I have always loved Chinese landscape paintings, and this video seeks to make them come alive amidst the extraordinary geography of Huangshan. I like the music as well – very soothing – “The Arrival of the Birds” by the Cinematic Orchestra.  Play this to relax after a busy day.

(This version embedded is not HD. The HD is at Vimeo and it may tax your bandwidth or your system. I had to let it load first.)

Timescapes 4K from Tom Lowe

This is an awesome example of ultra-high definition video, shot by Tom Lowe at 4K on the Red camera. Make sure you have HD on (The “HD” should be blue; otherwise, click the “HD”)  and also fullscreen.

Not only is the videography here amazing; this features scenes of the American Southwest. (Alert viewers will note scenes shot in Joshua Tree.) This is from Tom Lowe – One of the acknowledged masters of time-lapse photography, and 2010 Astronomy Photographer of the Year, →website here. This is a trailer for an upcoming feature film on scenes of the American Southwest. Although there are spectacular landscape images, this and the videos below are not exclusively landscape or nature videos. It’s pure video, featuring landscapes and awesome skyscapes, but also everything from scenes of tourist at Yosemite to ravers at the Electric Daisy Festival.

The above video was shot and edited at 4K though the video here is not 4K but just 1080 HD. If you have a large monitor and a very fast computer, a 2K version is available →here.

Note on music credits on Timescapes: →Nigel “John” Stanford.

Here are two earlier videos, shot with Red and Canon. These feature the award-winning sky photography.

Timescapes: Rapture

Timescapes: Mountain Light

Aren’t these fantastic? Again, Tom Lowe, →website here.

Louie Schwartzberg (TEDxSF)

Wow. How to categorize this video?? There is exceptional time-lapse nature photography here, shot by one of the real masters of the genre. But there is so much more as well. Louie Schwartzberg is one of the top cinematographers of the film business, with work on many of the top films and television programs of the last 25 years.

This is a video of a TED presentation in San Francisco by Schwartzberg. He discusses a bit about his life and philosophy and shares some beautiful time-lapse footage. The presentation also includes a current project of Schwartzman’s, a film entitled “Happiness Revealed.” The title will have to speak for it, the film itself is indescribable, but it is moving and beautifully photographed. Enjoy!  Joanne

(This is a You Tube, rather than a TED, embed. Switch the video to HD and fullscreen.)

Mountains

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “On tops of mountains, as everywhere to hopeful souls, it is always morning.” There is something about mountains that inspires the highest hopes and visions of human experience.

This video, an excerpt of almost 11 breathtaking minutes from the “Mountains” episode of the BBC Planet Earth series, features some of the most inspiring and amazing mountain photography I have ever seen shot. The video is accompanied by a great music track from “Gaelic Storm” and “Celtic Woman”

If your monitor can handle it, switch the video to 1080p HD resolution (equivalent to BluRay) and then fullscreen. Unbelievable. Keep an eye out for climbers on some of the highest peaks. Inspiring. Emotional. Beautiful mountain scenery.

When this video was first made (2006-2007), it represented the peak of new and innovative high def photography, and much of it still is. Some scenes in the series recorded places and events on earth never before filmed or photographed. If, in spite of it being Friday today, you need a “pick-me-up” this video is guaranteed to do it. Or even if you don’t, watch it and be inspired. Joanne