Thumbs and Ammo posits the idea: would it be funny to replace guns with thumbs up in stills from movies?
YES!
Stylish Illustrations from the story of Moby Dick and other monsters
I was put onto Tom Neely, a painter and cartoonist living in Los Angeles, by Adam Albright-Hanna (@adamah). Neely's imaginary creatures reminded him of the fantastical Photoshop Bestiary from a few days ago.
Neely is best known for the cult-hit indie comic book Henry & Glenn Forever, which he created with his artist collective The Igloo Tornado whom were voted LA Weekly's "Best People in LA 2011."
From the book description:
"Starring super-notorious musclebound punk/metaldudes Glenn Danzig and Henry Rollins..."
It is his brief series of illustrations from the story of Moby Dick (which, honest to God, I love and keep re-reading now. I hated it in high school and college, but came to it again in grad school and gave myself permission to think of Melville's voice as sly and funny amidst the mythological and timeless), that have really caught my imagination.
Shooting Toys in the Real World
1:1 Toys is a photo series Ottawa-based photographer Daniel Picard.
"The road in front was going to be closed down in two days, for almost a year. So, with no time for a human model, I tried shooting it with a robot I had just bought, the first of my collection. I liked the result so much, that it was the beginning of not only my toy series but my interest in building a fun toy collection."
"[Shooting the toys in the real world] takes care of lighting and white balance and all that instead of shooting green screen in my studio and trying to match things hours, days, or even weeks later.
"The rest is all computer magic not unlike what Hollywood does with CG in films like District 9 and Lord of the Rings with Gollum. I just use already built, amazingly detailed toys instead of amazingly detailed 3D models."
MIDNIGHT BARCELONA
With a city as gorgeous and vibrant as Barcelona, it might be hard to make a timelapse that can live up to it.
This one, directed by Pau García Laita does for me at least.
Peering Inside an Active Volcano in Eastern Russia
Andrew and Luda, Kyrgyzstan-based photographers, post outstanding nature photography, including of active volcanoes on their joint Live Journal account.
They recently headed to the volcano complex known as Tolbachik, which was in active eruption on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia. The video and the photos are really phenomenal.
Pendulum Waves
Who doesn't love a good pendulum wave video?
Church Tanks by Kris Kuksi
Kris Kuksi makes these startling sculptures, aptly named Church Tank, with the same macabre overabundance that has garnered such attention from the likes of Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labirynth).
“A post-industrial Rococo master, Kris Kuksi obsessively arranges characters and architecture in asymmetric compositions with an exquisite sense of drama. Instead of stones and shells he uses screaming plastic soldiers, miniature engine blocks, towering spires and assorted debris to form his landscapes.The political, spiritual and material conflict within these shrines is enacted under the calm gaze of remote deities and august statuary. Kuksi manages to evoke, at once, a sanctum and a mausoleum for our suffocated spirit.”
Ice Climbing at Night
Photographer Ray Demski and climber Alex Luger shot a project called “Ice Nights” entirely at night with the use of powerful flash units and a medium format camera.
Insects Caught Mid-Air With Laserbeam HD Camera Rig
It is no small feat to snap crystal clear shots of the very rapid movements of insects and their wings.
Biochemist and photography enthusiast Linden Gledhill used a cross beam trigger system called StopShot manufactured by Cognisys.
Gledhill explains:
"The external shutter opens in about 10 milliseconds 10x faster than the DSLR can react and that is why its important to have access to a very fast acting external shutter. If the camera’s shutter was used the insect would be out of the field of view before its shutter could open. Because of this, high speed photographs are typically done in a darkened room to avoid this lag (ie on bulb mode). An external shutter allows insect to be captured in full sun. "
Stylish Kama Sutra Alphabet
Do I need to disclaim that anything about the Kama Sutra is sexual in nature? Well, consider yourself warned/enticed.
The Kama Sutra Project A-Z is an amazing project from London-based French designer Malika Favre.
Paragliding Lit to Paint with Light in the Sky
In a follow-up to Long Exposure of Lighted Wakeboards at Night from Red Bull, we have Motion to Light Paramotoring.
Fun Rube Goldberg Music Video
McPop Art and Other Package Paintings
Australian artist Ben Frost uses the McDonald's french fries container, boxes from pharma and other packaging as his canvas in a street art style subversive series of pop art pieces. The full series on his site is deliciously dark and dapples in the pop art genres of hentai and erotic cartoons.
From his bio:
“Subverting mainstream iconography from the worlds of advertising, entertainment and politics, he (Frost) creates a visual framework that is bold, confrontational and often controversial.”
Machu Picchu In Timelapse
Vimeo user Pachacutek created this delicious tilt-shift timelapse of the ancient city of Machu Picchu.
Composited Timelapse Photos of the Sky Create A Smeared Look
Matt Molloy uses 100 to 200 individual photographs to composite these vibrant and surreal images of the sky.
Growing Images with Bacteria
Both a microbiologist and a visual artist, Zachary Copfer has created this innovative scientific technique to grow bacteria in a Petri dish to create an image: ‘Bacteriography‘.
Find him on Kickstarter where he’s trying to raise $8000, so he can bring them out of the lab and into galleries.
Hyper Realistic Paintings of Toys
Canadian Jason de Graaf creates these acrylic paintings that test your own eyes, so detailed, so attuned to the nuance of perception, light and perspective. They seem almost unbelievably photographic.
Photoshop Beastiary
From wikipedia:
A bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the Ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson. Reminds me of course of Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings.
Redditor gyyp imagines, with the help of photoshop, a compendium of beasts. I would love, as a writing exercise, to come up with a name and moral lesson for each. Anyone help?
Hraffonallard - The wit and temper of a duck with the grace and strength of a mustang, the Hraffonallard learns early on the emotional triggers of its opponents, delivering, on its powerful back, the one person that will undermine the confidence just moments before physical confrontation.
Playmobil Surfing
Super fun stop-motion surfing video.
Wingsuit Flyer Flies Through A Hole In A Rock Wall
The project page describes this crazy-stupid-amazing-daring video as:
Wingsuit / BASE-jump athlete Alexander Polli does the never before done—a tactical flight through a narrow cave on a rugged mountainside. The flight starts with a jump from a hovering helicopter, Alexander reaches speeds of 250 km/h (155 mph) while following a precise trajectory leading to the cave opening, he then fully commits and flies directly through the narrow opening of the "Batman Cave!"
