I was reading about a Kenyan news group called KNN or Kiberia News Network and I came across this report they did on this jeans designer in their neighborhood.  This young man was forced to stop his education in 1999 when a parent died.  Instead of becoming idle and falling into bad behavior, he chose to do something with his life.  Check out the story:

I was inspired because it seems like so many young people in my society have chosen lives of idleness instead of doing something with their lives and they don’t face anywhere close to the challenges I’m sure this man faced and still faces even now.

Our economy is down a bit but we don’t live like they do.  Disappointed because you can’t find a job you like?  Take his advice and do something.  There’s no time for idleness.

In my humble opinion, some of the best photos and videos out there are those either containing time and motion or somehow using them to cause some sort of illusion. Because of that opinion, I would like to introduce you to some of these techniques and how to find examples and tutorials about them on the Internet.

In this article I will be covering speed photography, time-lapse photography, extreme slow motion videos, and stop-motion videos. Check out the links and be amazed!

Freezing Fast Motion (or high speed photography)

This type of photography consists of photos taken at the time of high speed activity. For example, have you seen those photos of fruit exploding or water balloons popping? That is speed photography. It’s done via a process using darkness, an external flash and a flash trigger, whether it’s triggered by sound, light, or actual contact with a trigger). The results of this form of art are very cool, freezing the object at the very moment of its action. Notice the photo above (by Avi Abrams) and how the photo was taken at the exact moment of impact? Very cool!

Here are some links containing examples and even some how-to tutorials showing how it’s done:

• Flickr: High Speed Photography – A great collection of high speed photographs by many different photographers
• DIY – High Speed Photography at Home (at diyphotography.net)
• Speed Photography – How to Photograph Exploding Fruit and Balloons Popping (Digital Photography School)

Time-lapse photography (or cinematography)

This technique consists of recording an event at a slower than normal rate but played back at a faster rate. The result is a video that is high speed. There are several forms this may take, like a crowd of people seeming to run very fast, fruit rotting at a rate that you can actually watch it (or flowers growing or opening), and even watching time pass quickly by recording the sky. There are even some instances where people take pictures of something once a day for a prolonged period of time and string them together to watch the changes occur right before your eyes. Also, check out this MakeUseOf article about a time lapse tool every parent should love.

Here are some YouTube videos showing time lapse techniques and also a how-to tutorial showing how it’s done.

Here’s a video showing security camera footage sped up of a man stuck in an elevator for an extended period of time:

This video shows the passage of time as years go by. The man took a picture of himself every morning and now the photos are strung together to make a time lapse video:

And the tutorial I promised: An Introduction to Time-Lapse Photography (also from DPS)

Extreme Slow Motion Video

A similar technique to time-lapse, slow motion video does the opposite. The video is recorded at a high rate but played back at a very slow rate. The result is almost like a video version of high speed photography showing many details that are normally missed at a normal rate of speed.

Here are some YouTube videos demonstrating extreme slow motion:

A lightning strike:

Water balloon to the face:

Slap in the face:

Stop-motion animation

This is a form of animation where actual objects are made to seem like they are actually moving. This is done by taking photos and moving the object between frames in a way that would make them seem to be moving on their own. There have been many cool animations made using this technique and I’d like to share a few with you.

This is actually a video tutorial showing how it is done:

Iron Man vs Bruce Lee:

Human Skateboard:

There you have it, 4 photography and video techniques which take time and motion and make something awesome out of them. What other techniques can you think of? Also, if you have anymore examples of these 4, let me know in the comments.

This time I wrangled my sister, Tracy to do some tests on wetoku, the REALLY neat (did you hear that David?) new service, wetoku.  They were really nice enough to me to allow me to test some of the upcoming “Pro” features.  Tonight we tested the difference in quality of the video settings (Normal=16kbps, High=32kbps, and Higher=66kbps).  The first video is “Normal.”

If you notice, the video is pixelated.  Even when we are not moving, the picture is a bit pixelated.  When the video is seen in full screen mode, it’s almost like playing an old video game.  Give no mind to the silly wagging of our heads.  It’s just our way of testing motion!

The “High” setting is a lot better, in my opinion.  There is minimal pixelation and even when enlarging the video, the picture is still fine.

During the test of the “Higher” setting, we experienced some blurring instead of pixelation.  The video is still acceptable even for full screen.  Personally I like the “High” setting.  The minimal pixelation is not much of a trade off for the absence of the blurring.  Just my opinion.

As far as my overall opinion so far, I thoroughly enjoy using wetoku and I think they are heading in an awesome (did you hear that one too, Dave?) direction!  When I was told about some of the “pro” features coming out in private beta in October, it was plain to see that they are definitely listening to the public’s opinions.  I’ve heard people ask for better video and, WHAMO!  Better video!  People have been asking about video editing abilities, well, rumor has it there’s another WHAMO coming!  Also going to be tested is the ability to upload re-roll and post-roll video, custom watermark, and a customizable embeddable player.

There are a few things I’ve noticed so far that I think would be good to add, including multiple recordings per interview sitting (unless I missed something) and the ability to download the video for local safekeeping and for sharing on social video networks like YouTube.

They’re not done yet so keep cheering them on and keep giving them feedback!  Good job so far wetoku!

I ran across this YouTube video and I got a kick out of it (and the lady’s hair).  Did you know that they actually disguise cell phone towers?

Funny, huh?  Especially the lighthouse miles from the shore!

FYI, I am testing a new comment type.  Now you can actually leave me comments with you webcam and microphone!  I AM just testing it out right now but if it goes over well, it’ll stick around.

Notice that I left a video AND an audio comment on this post.  It’s reall easy!

• Now you’ll find new options in the comment section of every post!
  
• When you select one of these links, you’ll be asked whether or not your microphone or webcam can be accessed
  
• All there is left to do is hit record!
  

You can still leave typed comments on posts if you prefer.  Now you just have two more options.  Drop me a line and test the new options!  I’d be happy to hear (from) you!

I was shown this video not too long ago and I posted it on Facebook already, but I thought I’d share some humor here too!  Enjoy!

The person who posted the video on youtube made sure to mention that he in no way coaxed his kids to bite each other!  They just happened to catch it on camera.

I ran into this story on Yahoo.com and just HAD to share! You’ve heard about dumb criminals, right? How about filling out a job application and then HOLDING THE PLACE UP?!?!?!