Produced by the Yosemite Project, this time lapse video is an amazing look at one of America’s most impressive and popular National Parks.
Apr 172012
Inspired Art
A select collection of works from artists on the web, including photographers, designers and animators, whose work can inspire us.
Feb 072012
More good news for astrophotography fans: this winter has seen a lot of extra solar activity, which in turn creates more spectacular viewings of the aurora borealis (or “the northern lights”). Since it’s been a while, I’ve posted another inspired art segment this week, covering one of the more impressive aurora time-lapse videos that I’ve seen. Filmed by Christian Mulhauser, the sight of the aurora gets old. Especially for those of us who rarely get to see it.
Sep 152011
While exploring the work of other photographers, I found some incredible work by Norwegian photographer Terje Sorgjerd. This video shows time-lapse shots of Norway during different weather and light conditions and is perfectly put together.
Jul 042011
Here’s a different kind of pyrotechnics, in honor of my country’s birthday. Nothing like a human flame-thrower in super slow-mo! This is entitled “Incendium” and was made by Danny Cooke. Goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway: don’t try this at home (or anywhere else). ;-)
Jun 092011
As you can guess from the graphical treatments here at Colortrails, astronomy and astrophotography are close to my heart. There is something about photography of the cosmos that inspires me in ways few other types of photography can. I’ve often thought, if I had more interest in advanced math, I could’ve been an astronomer or cosmologist. Maybe in another life.
For this segment, Chris Abbas has pieced together publicly available images and clips from the JPL/NASA Cassini program, which focus on the spacecraft’s study of the planet Saturn. Much of it is effectively a time-lapse sequence of how the spacecraft viewed the planet as it orbited .
Mar 302011
It’s not that often that we get a truly inspiring story along with beautiful artwork, but this week we can enjoy both, thanks to a short documentary by Sam Collins, about a corporate sales worker turned light painter, Denis Smith.
Like a lot of people, Denis found himself in an unhappy and difficult place working the corporate sales ladder; it all came crumbling down when the Great Recession hit in 2008. After struggling with alcohol and even depression, and almost losing his wife, Denis pulled himself up out of the hole he was in, and discovered a completely new life. The result is some amazing photographic art, and something truly inspiring.
Mar 212011
Here’s a great hybrid animation piece that combines stop-motion photography and motion graphics, created by Max Moertl. This work proves the value of keeping things simple and focusing on one technique and doing all that you can with it, rather than trying to throw a lot of bells and whistles at a project. Also definitely worth checking out the “making of” video.
Mar 092011
Here’s an amazing mix of time-lapse video and “miniaturization” effects from Joerg Daiber, created in post with DOF techniques. This is becoming a more popular technique, so I’ve planned a nice DOF tutorial in the near future for you, using a plugin called Bokeh. Meantime, enjoy the beauty of Thailand (no grey skies, snow or slush)!
Jan 262011
This video contains some excellent high speed photography (used for ultra-slow-motion). Conceptually it’s not new (high-speed camera gurus have been used to photograph splashing water and “exploding liquids” for a long time). However the idea of using paints and a dark background has a certain simplicity and artistic appeal I like. Check it out and see what you think. This was photographed by Johann Cohrs and Siggi Kuckstein, and edited by Michael Koch and Michael Lübben. Even the music is spot-on.
Oct 212010
Something a little different this week. Sometimes it’s as much about the journey and what you learn from it, as it is the final art. This documentary of a photo-expedition in the Himalayas is both inspiring and a little bit of a wake up call for most of us. Takes real commitment and a fearless attitude to leave the world behind and go do something like this because you can and because you want to. This was put together by Renan Ozturk, Camp 4 Collective, Cory Richards and others.
Sep 302010
Just caught this on Vimeo today. Obviously a promotional piece but what sets it apart from most other promotions is that it’s genuinely inspiring. An interesting story, fantastic video footage that covers the raw power of nature, and an interesting subject.
The Dark Side of the Lens (Astray Films / Mickey Smith)
Sep 232010
Time again for another installment of “really cool stuff I found on the web”.
I Was fortunate recently to stumble across a link to Bill Newsinger’s Vimeo site, which is loaded with amazing photographic works. Time-lapse, day-in-the-life, still-life, you name it. Bill apparently does a lot of his own music as well, which is doubly impressive to me when people have the talent to make that work. Much easier said than done, even if you have an ear for music.
Two of his “compositions” that impressed me most (and I’ve only watched about 5 of over 170 titles) are below. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have. A real thank you to Bill and others like him. It’s art like this that inspires us get out from behind our LCDs and go photograph stuff more, worry about technology and gear less!
Night Walk (Bill Newsinger)
Still Life (Bill Newsinger)
Sep 092010
This is a fantastic example of both astrophotography and time lapse techniques. Not only from a technical standpoint but it gives you an idea of the attention to detail and harsh conditions you have to deal with sometimes to get shots / sequences like these. This artist also has several other good videos on his Vimeo.com page that are worth checking.
Moonlight and Milky way rising at Daigenta Canyon by mockmoon
Sep 022010
Here is an amazing sequence of time lapse photography / videos from the recent Iceland volcano eruptions. Not much background is needed here. Just cue it up and enjoy it. ;-)
Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull by Sean Stiegemeier
Mar 022010
Yesterday I found (via retweet) a site called Timescapes.org, which is run by an independent filmmaker, Tom Lowe. He has posted some samples on his web site, and has announced on his that he’s just hit the road for some extended shooting opportunities for his first film “Southwest Light”.
Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.
Jan 112010
The thing that really strikes me about this motion graphics animation is the attention to small details in the textures and particles, and especially the lighting. Further proof that as in photography and cinematography, lighting can be everything in motion graphics and is everything in 3D. There’s a lot to learn from here and is further motivation to look into technologies like Vray for C4D if you haven’t already. ;)
Jan 052010
Remember the name Alex Roman… I know nothing about this guy on a personal level, but you’ll want to remember. His movie, called “The Third & The Seventh“, is probably the most inspiring piece of 3D animation and compositing I’ve seen yet at least where fine art is concerned (i.e. Hollywood not applicable). Watch it in full-screen HD if you can. The level of realism is pretty amazing. There is really nothing here to suggest this isn’t real photography and video, but it’s all CG.
The most amazing thing about this project is that he evidently completed the entire project by himself! That’s 12 minutes worth of animated models, dynamic lighting, photo-real textures, compositing and post-production… even the freakin music production. Pretty impressive!