Matthew Jeppsen
Matthew Jeppsen is the founder of FreshDV and a digital video shooter and editor. By most reports he is powered entirely by coffee. Kendal Miller has over 10 years experience in the production industry. Currently he is working as Director of Photography in Chicago, IL where he resides with his wife Kendra. He works on a wide variety of projects ranging from commercial to independent film projects, working on one of the first commercial Red projects in the midwest area. When he's not shooting film or video he enjoys still photography as a hobby....
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Freeze slices of time, DIY style
By Matthew Jeppsen | November 07, 2010
If you've ever wanted to try shooting high-speed photography like balloons popping, drops of water, glasses shattering, you'll probably appreciate the following tutorial from Matt Richardson. In the video embedded below, he shows you how to build a simple audio sensor for your DSLR using an Arduino controller that allows you to trigger the camera fast enough to freeze incredibly fast action. Not only that, he takes it a step further to automatically cut his room lighting once the controller is armed (ok Matt, now you are just showing off). It's a really cool tutorial, watch below...
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Canon 5D MKII's + 6 wks + 100 hrs footage = 4 minutes of pure awesome
By Matthew Jeppsen | May 22, 2010
Awesome timelapse of the weeks of NASA preparation before a shuttle launch, culminating with the launch sequence. Watch below.
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Wirelessly review your photos on the fly
By Matthew Jeppsen | May 06, 2010
ShutterSnitch is an exciting new app for the iPhone and iPad that offers an FTP server that can interface with standard Eye-Fi cards or Canon & Nikon DSLR wireless transmitters. Link the two, and you can transfer images over wifi on the fly as you shoot, using your Apple device for review, or to notify you if an image doesn't meet a certain set of criteria.
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It's funny because it's true
By Matthew Jeppsen | April 28, 2010
Over at Clusterflock there's a funny graphic that charts the main stages in a photographer's development. Ah, photographer humor.
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News and info from the tradeshow floor at PMA and WPPI
By Matthew Jeppsen | March 14, 2010
FreshDV was on-site at PMA in Anaheim, CA and also WPPI in Las Vegas, NV to get some video coverage from the tradeshow floors. This small series of video coverage is a mix of photo and video topics, and should be of interest especially to those who are embracing the HD/stills convergence offered by the new breed of video-equipped DSLRs. Watch our PMA / WPPI coverage here, and you'll find notes and product links below the video playlist.
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I must have one.
By Matthew Jeppsen | March 03, 2010
PDNPulse reports that Canon handed out these L-series lookalike coffee mugs at the Vancouver Olympic games. What a brilliant idea! Here's hoping they are available to the general public at some point, I'd love one of these.
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DIY spirit: A year in review
By Matthew Jeppsen | December 14, 2009
Lifehacker has posted their Top Photography Hacks of 2009, a collection of DIY tutorials and tips mainly for amateurs, but with some wisdom and creative ideas there for professionals too. From bokeh hearts to a fiber-optic DIY ringflash on the cheap, it's all here. Check it out.
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5000fps video down the barrel of a Nikon D3 shooting continuous 11fps
By Matthew Jeppsen | December 08, 2009
Ever wonder what exactly happens when you press that shutter release button on your DSLR camera? The following video shows the sequence of events in excruciating detail. It's video shot at 5000 frames-per-second, looking at the internals of a Nikon D3 camera shooting 11fps continuous. As an added bonus, they show the lens stopping down to f/16 in tandem. The result is beautiful, and surprisingly violent. Watch below.
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Out-of-focus never looked so good
By Matthew Jeppsen | December 03, 2009
Looking for a little simple inspiration? These 40 beautiful examples of bokeh-heavy photography should do the trick. In these shots, it's the out of focus area that draws the eye. Very cool.
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Titles at just $2.50
By Matthew Jeppsen | November 27, 2009
David duChemin is offering 50% off his Craft & Vision photography ebooks until December 7...use discount code BLKFRIDY to make these $5 titles just $2.50. Titles include: Drawing The Eye - Creating Stronger Images Through Visual MassChasing The Look - 10 Ways to Improve The Aesthetics of Your PhotographsTEN - Ten Ways To Improve Your Craft. None of Them Involves Buying GearTEN MORE - Ten More Ways To Improve Your CraftI've purchased Drawing The Eye and Chasing The Look and am loving them. They are beautifully laid out, and the info is fresh and relevant. A steal at $2.50.Get 'em while they are hot!
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Scott Bourne offers practical ideas you can implement Right Now
By Matthew Jeppsen | October 30, 2009
Photographer and blogger Scott Bourne has posted a nice list of five things you can do right now to grow your photography business. It's good advice, check out the article here.
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Photoshop's new Content Aware Fill tool will blow your mind
By Matthew Jeppsen | October 20, 2009
Over at the Adobe Photoshop Facebook Fan page, they've posted a nice preview clip of beautiful new advancements in the fill tool, using a tech tool called PatchMatch. What it is, is an algorithm that is content-aware, allowing you to intelligently remove objects, wires, hair, etc from an image even easier than ever before using the fill tool and spot healing tools. Really cool tech, check it out for a taste of what's (hopefully) coming in the next revision to PS.
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Photographer Laurence Kim offers beautiful (and free) advice
By Matthew Jeppsen | July 06, 2009
As a learning photographer, orchestrating subject poses is consistently one of the most difficult things for me to do. I have extensive experience with documentary-style videography, so directing posing is not a natural thing for me. It is particularly difficult when you have a subject or couple that doesn't move organically with each other, and seem apprehensive about interaction in front of the lens. So I'm always on the lookout for tips and advice on poses, posing guides, etc. And today I just stumbled across an excellent resource on the subject...this one in the form of a simple blog post by photographer Laurence Kim. It's a great resource...there are example images and a quick text blurb that talk about the shot. Simple, effective, and beautiful imagery. I'd recommend taking a look at this one.
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Fully remote control Canon cameras with this app for the iPhone and iPod Touch
By Matthew Jeppsen | May 22, 2009
There's a new program coming to the App Store for iPod Touch and iPhone users. This program by Mike Wong enables complex remote control and triggering of Canon DSLR cameras (the developer is working on a Nikon version as well). The app runs on your mobile device, and communicates over wifi with a laptop connected to the camera by USB. I'm not just talking about triggering the shutter release, this app can do it all; shutter speed, aperture, white balance, intervalometer, review shots, and even stream Live View to the iPhone display. I understand that they will enable video record start/stop in a future update for cameras like the Canon 5D MKII. Read more below for the full scoop and links.
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Arresting photography from the current shuttle mission
By Matthew Jeppsen | May 19, 2009
The Boston Globe has an excellent story-in-pictures of the current space shuttle mission to service the Hubble space telescope. The images are inspiring.
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Know your First Amendment Rights
By Matthew Jeppsen | April 02, 2009
Bostonist is running an article about a photographer who was taking stock photos at a public park, and was harassed and questioned by local police. They informed the photographer that he had to delete the pictures he'd taken. The photographer was aware that their demands were not lawful, but he felt he had no other choice and deleted the images. It's another sad, chilling account that shows the continual erosion of our Constitutional First Amendment rights. More details below...
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Stu Maschwitz says "No."
By Matthew Jeppsen | March 29, 2009
Over at ProLost, Stu Maschwitz has written a great post on the topic of photographers suddenly taking up video due to the new video-enabled DSLR cameras from Canon and Nikon. His answer? No, they won't. Read on...
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Taking a look at color accuracy and wide angle viewing
By Matthew Jeppsen | March 23, 2009
Rob Galbraith has a great article that looks at color accuracy and performance of popular laptop displays. They break down a handful of popular Mac and PC laptops in two main categories of performance, accurate color rendition and angle of view. A good look at an important topic that we should all be aware of.
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Metadata cage match! Two enter, one emerges victorious!
By Matthew Jeppsen | March 23, 2009
Military photographer Tyler Ginter has written a fantastic article comparing Lightroom with Photo Mechanic, specifically in the metadata dept. Why all the fuss about metadata? Tyler's military documentation group and AP photographers are required to complete no less than 17 metadata fields in order to submit images to the Pentagon and National Archives. Tyler nails down 5 areas that Lightroom is weak in, and discusses how Photo Mechanic fits their needs in those areas. It's a great comparison and look into an area that most photographers probably don't have to deal with. Adobe, are you listening?
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Turn round specular highlights into creative shapes
By Matthew Jeppsen | February 19, 2009
Here's a cool little tutorial that shows you how to make a lens cover that can control the shape of bokeh in your photographs. All this DIY tutorial takes is a little cardboard, tape, and time...
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DBA Createasphere