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Gorillapod

Taking Vacation Photography to the Next Level with Your iPhone with #JOBYAmbassadors Atort

By | Gorillapod, iPhone, JOBY Ambassadors, Mobile Photography, Travel, Tutorial | No Comments

#JOBYAmbassadors and photographer Atort Photography shows you how to get the most out of your smartphone with his best five tips for vacation photography.

Aloha from the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii, where every day feels like a vacation! Depending on where you live, though, summer holidays are in FULL swing. With a month and a half left until Fall, some of you still have vacations to look forward to. If you’re like me, you’ll want to remember every epic moment. And if you’re like me and 99% of other smartphone users, you’ll use your phone to capture those moments. Why? It’s just so convenient!  You know what they say…the best camera is the one you have with you!  Using your smartphone as your camera allows you to reduce the amount you have to carry and pack – in addition to having it ready for those Instagram-worthy shots at a moment’s notice.

As a professional photographer, I’ve spent a lot of time shooting photos and video not just from my Nikon professional cameras, but also from my iPhone 7 plus. I’ve gotten SO good at it that one of my images was featured in the “Shot on iPhone 6” campaign! Since I’m both a local in Hawaii and a phone photography evangelist, I wanted to share a few tips with JOBY fans to help take your vacation smartphone photos to a new level. Here we go!

 

  1. Shoot video horizontally! There are a few things that people don’t tend to think about when capturing video footage, but they really should! No one watches vertical television, so shoot sideways with your phone! TVs aren’t vertical, so video shouldn’t be either.
  2. Stabilize your images or video. Nothing is more frustrating (or nauseating) than shaky video or blurry photos, so I highly recommend getting some tools to help you stabilize your shots. I use the JOBY GorillaPod Focus with BallHead X most of the time. This bendable tripod can be used with heftier cameras, but is also great for phones when you pair it with the GripTight Mount PRO Phone. A tripod like this has limitless possibilities, meaning you can get exactly the angle you want, stabilizing your video to give it a more professional look and feel. Need something smaller? Try the GripTight POV Kit for easy handheld videos, the Bluetooth remote even helps you get better selfies!
  3. Consider your angles. Looking for the perfect shot? Consider which angle you are using. While unique angles can make for great shots, some just don’t work. If you’re shooting with a visible horizon, you’ll want to make certain that it’s always level in your background. Something else you may want to try is using scenery to frame your shot. Try to frame your photo with some interesting detail, like a palm tree framing the right end of a beach shot. These little details can transform a shot from blah to beautiful. I am a BIG fan of extreme perspectives … see how low you can go and get ground level … or get creative and use a selfie stick and your remote to get your phone as high as humanly possible to see what you come up with!
  4. Edit. Once you have that amazing surfing footage, you may think you’re done, but trust me when I say that a little editing can go a long way. There are some great free and paid tools out there that are well worth the time and effort. If you’re looking to make waves for yourself with a travel vlog – editing is essential. My go-to tool for editing is VideoGrade, which isn’t free, but is well worth the money for simple color grading of videos. Splice is another great easy app that works well for trimming and editing down your video, in addition to adding musical soundtracks. For still shots, Snapseed is one of my go-to apps, it’s very reliable, powerful and. Even just cropping or adding a filter through the built-in tools in many applications (like Instagram or Facebook) can turn an ordinary image into something extraordinary. The more you hone this skill, the better your video and images will be.
  5. Be respectful. Travel photography should be a sustainable practice that doesn’t compromise the environment or subjects you are shooting. Make certain you are respecting the culture and the rules of any place that you are visiting, in addition to other travelers. Don’t get too close to wild animals and by all means – don’t touch them! When I take people out to photograph turtles in Hawaii, the most important thing I do is show them how to do this the right way, without impacting these beautiful ancient Hawaiian creatures or their habitats. No shot is worth endangering or harassing the subject in any way whatsoever. If you want your shakas and aloha to actually mean something in both your images and your heart, please have sincere respect for our land and the amazing creatures that inhabit Hawaii.

Smartphones are incredible in that they make photography more accessible to people who have never picked up a standalone camera. Now that you have this amazing tool at your fingertips, I hope you are able to capture all of life’s best moments, whether on vacation or at home. These are just a few suggestions, and I know many of you out there are also highly skilled, so feel free to add your best smartphone photography tips below.

Aloha and mahalo.

5 Tips On Creating Killer Snaps with #JOBYAmbassadors Andy Burgess

By | DIY, Gorillapod, Instagram, iPhone, JOBY Ambassadors, Mobile Filmmaking, Snapchat, Tutorial | No Comments

Snapchat Filmmaker and new #JOBYAmbassadors Andy Burgess offers up five creative tips on how to create killer Snaps and Instagram Stories with your #GorillaPod.

Andy mastered his unique cinematic style of shooting Snapchat stories whilst living in NYC and has taken his followers all around the globe. As well as vlogging every day on Snapchat Andy continues to travel the world creating visually stunning vertical videos for brands such as Forbes, College Humor & Topdeck Travel.

Follow Andy on all his channels.

Snapchat

YouTube

Instagram

Vlogging with #JOBYAmbassadors and Electronic Musician Lesha

By | Gorillapod, Music, Vlog, YouTube | No Comments

Lesha is a 19 year old electronic musician and vlogger from the Philippines and a proud JOBY Ambassador. She’s always using her GorillaPod and JOBY gear on the go to capture every beat of her world. Check out her current vlog setup and latest music video where she puts her gear to use.

 

Make sure to follow Lesha on all her social channels for more!

YouTube

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

VALidating the Griptight ONE series

By | Gorillapod, JOBY Ambassadors, Review, Vlog, YouTube | No Comments

#JOBYAmbassador Valentina Dang gives you a comprehensive tour of the new Griptight ONE line and shows you how to unlock their potential to capture the best content on your smartphone. She features the GripTight ONE Magnetic Impulse, GripTight ONE Micro Stand, and GripTight ONE GorillaPod Stand.

Follow Valentina on her social media channels.

YouTube

Instagram

Catch Some Air With BMX Rider And #JOBYAmbassadors Rob Darden

By | Action Sports, BMX, Gorillapod, JOBY Ambassadors, Photography | No Comments

Professional BMX rider and #JOBYAmbassadors Rob Darden gives us a tour around his BMX life, how he sets up for a bike shoot, and how he uses his JOBY gear. Hop on and enjoy the ride!

Can you give us a quick bio of yourself?

My name is Rob Darden. I am 35 years old, originally from Concord, CA now residing in Greenville, NC. I am a professional BMX rider, husband, and father of two. I have been riding BMX Freestyle since 1992 and have a long competition history in BMX Park and Dirt I have ridden at major events such as X Games, Dew Tour and Fise. Throughout my professional career, I have participated in numerous tours and produced many video segments and continue to do so.

What’s your greatest achievement?

X Games Bronze Medal, Year End Park CFB Jacket, Nominated for Rider Of The Year.

What’s your go-to JOBY gear and why?

GorillaPod Hybrid. It’s not too big and supports all of my gear great. The GorillaPod Magnetic is the other tripod that is a must have for me. I always find myself in weird situations filming BMX. With the Magnetic feet, I can pretty much set my camera up at any spot. The Magnetic feet are also a nice security feature if it’s a windy day.

What camera gear do you use?

Sony A7ii, GoPro Hero 5, iPhone 6s

What’s your favorite image you’ve posted and why?

I don’t have a favorite photo of mine. I shoot so many different things it’s hard to narrow one down. Long exposure photos are always fun and interesting to me because you don’t know what you’re going to get until the camera is done processing the photo. I love the anticipation! Also going out at night and working in the dark is always an adventure.

What’s the next piece of gear on your wish list and why must you have it?

I want to add the DJI Mavic Pro to my gear.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to an up and comer?

Just get out and shoot as much as possible. It doesn’t matter what it is, just learn your camera, and it’s settings. Remember the best camera is the one that is with you. Have fun out there.

Hitting The Slopes With Snowboarder and #JOBYAmbassadors Seth Hill

By | Gorillapod, JOBY Ambassadors, Photography, Uncategorized | No Comments

With winter in full swing, #JOBYAmbassadors Seth Hill is in his element out on the slopes. Here he shares with us a little about himself, what gear he uses, and some tips on how to capture the perfect shot.

Can you give us a quick bio of yourself?
My name is Seth Hill, and I am a professional snowboarder and emerging filmer/producer. I have achieved a top 20 ranking in the world for professional snowboarding. I also produced, filmed and starred in a full length snowboarding documentary presented by RedBull called Really Gotta Wanna (currently available on iTunes). I also create content for Monster and my sponsors Sims and Phunkshun. I have found a fun place in mixing my love for action sports and videography.

What’s your greatest achievement?
My top snowboarding result was a second place at the ride shakedown in Canada; I was also Snowboarder Mag Super Park 16 Stand Out in 2012 and ended my career as 18th in the world. On top of my snowboarding achievements, I am also very proud of graduating from Colorado University in 2010 and the debut of my first full length snowboarding documentary, Really Gotta Wanna in 2014 (currently available on iTunes).  All in all, I have had a very blessed life, traveled the world snowboarding and filming and am now starting to get my company RGWproductions.

What’s your go-to JOBY gear and why?
I use the GorillaPod Focus daily; I like the event photo kit with the clamp and the suction for action camera timelapse shots. The UltraFit Sling Strap and Hand Strap are always on my camera and have taken out the jib kit to create some more unique video shots.

How do you setup for a shot with your JOBY gear?

With the array of shots and styles of shots, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one set up. I tend to keep the hand grip on my DSLR for running around and quick mounting to my GorillaPod Focus. I also like to use the clamp for a second angle while using my stabilizer.

What camera gear do you use?
I have a wide variety of camera gear, Canon 6D and 60D for most of my photography, Panasonic GH4 and FZ1000 that I filmed ReallyGottaWanna with, 2 GoPro 4s, and my newest addition of the Sony FS700 with Odyssey Q7

What’s your favorite image you’ve posted and why?
Below is one of my favorites from a random trip to London, even though it has nothing to do with snowboarding.

What’s the next piece of gear on your wish list and why must you have it?
The next piece of gear on my wish list is the Lowepro Pro Roller x200 AW. I travel lots and love that the bag can be both inconspicuous for travel and can detach to run around with the backpack.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to an up and comer?
I have always been a learn from experience kind of guy and feel like its taken me pretty far. Get out and just shoot nothing compares to the first-hand experience.

 

Check out all of Seth’s adventures on his social channels.

Instagram     Facebook     YouTube

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Three Tips To Make You A Better Vlogger With Valentina Dang

By | Gorillapod, JOBY Ambassadors, Travel, Tutorial, Vlog, YouTube | No Comments

JOBY Ambassador, Valentina Dang shares three helpful vlog tips on how to use GorillaPods to make your videos more watchable.

#1 Stabilization

No one wants to continue watching a shaky video. The GorillaPod acts like a buffer to dampen your arm movements for a smoother video.

#2 Use Your Environment

Give some context to where you are vlogging from. You’re telling a story and you need a setting. Make sure the viewers can see where you are and not just an up close selfie.

#3 Perspective

Having multiple angles in your video will help make it more entertaining. Using multiple GorillaPods setup around your shot location will go a long way to creating a better overall final video.

 

Check out the JOBY gear Valentina used in her video.

Valentina is a makeup artist/travel vlogger. Check out all her social channels for more great content including her recent trip to Iceland, where she put her JOBY gear to great use.

YouTube    Instagram    Twitter    Website

Capturing Dramatic Urban Photography With Neal Kumar

By | Gorillapod, Photography | No Comments

My name is Neal Kumar, a Chicago-based photographer, focused mostly on urban photography. I usually shoot with both a Canon 6D SLR and an iPhone, and I have the extra gear to help me shoot with both of those. While my Canon body isn’t too heavy, some of the lenses I use can add a lot of weight which makes having a sturdy tripod essential.

The Gorillapod Focus is perfect for this setup and is very stable despite harsh conditions. In Chicago, it can get quite windy, and in those situations, I like to spread the legs of the tripod out wider to increase stability. To be safe, I often adjust the legs without the camera attached, so that I can ensure the set up is secure before resting my camera on the tripod. Once I have the legs set, I will make fine adjustments using the ballhead. Sometimes I will even use Live view on the camera screen so I can make adjustments without having to look through the viewfinder. I use the Gorillapod for light trails, moving clouds, and night shots.

Ever since the iPhone first came out, new apps have been developed that allow the phone’s camera shutter to stay open longer to capture motion, light trails, and night shots. In most cases, I will use my Gorillapod with the iPhone attachment and ballhead. Again I like to get the Gorillapod legs set up before attaching my phone, and then make small adjustments with the ballhead. The beautiful part about the ballhead is that you can take both landscape and portrait shots with the iPhone by tilting it 90 degrees.

For night shots I like to use Cortex Cam which has fast focus and a relatively short shutter speed which decreases the chance of blurriness.

AvgNiteCam is great for capturing motion during both day and night. To capture the action of moving clouds or bodies of water, I like to use 16-64 shots depending on how much movement I want. However, the more shots I take, the long the shutter is open and the higher the chance of getting a blurry shot. Be sure to turn on the timer so that when you press the shutter button, you aren’t shaking the phone while the shutter is open.

Lastly, I like to use SlowShutterCam to capture light trails from moving objects such as cars or trains. This app is also useful for capturing motion while shooting from the very back window of subway trains in cities like Chicago and NYC. This is the one occasion where I don’t need a Gorillapod since I’m able to firmly hold the phone against the glass looking straight-on with the tracks. You can adjust how long you want the shutter to be open, but I like to keep this on “bulb” which allows you to stop the shutter whenever you feel like you have captured enough motion. I almost always keep the app in “Light Trail” mode, and use a sensitivity of ¼ or ⅛.

Check out JOBY Ambassador, Neal Kumar’s photography on his social channels.

500px

Instagram

JOBY Capture The Holidays Sweepstakes

By | Contests, Gorillapod, Photography, Vlog | No Comments

Capture your holiday memories with some great gear for your camera. We have everything on your camera’s Wish List to start vlogging the holidays away! One winner will win this amazing prize package.

To enter on Instagram, find the sweepstakes post on @jobyinc. In the comments tag three of your friends, you’ll capture the holidays with, and follow the following brands.

Sweepstakes runs from 12/5 to 12/12. Check out the Official Rules for details. Have a Happy Holidays and good luck!

JOBY #SchoolPridePOV Spotlight featuring Trevor Mahlmann

By | Gorillapod, Pro Spotlight, The Crew | No Comments

This month we’re featuring our #SchoolPridePOV Ambassador, Trevor Mahlmann. Trevor creates wondrous long exposure shots of the stars and beyond when he’s not in class at Purdue. Listen to what he has to say about his gear and check out his channels for more!

https://www.instagram.com/tmahlmann/

https://twitter.com/TrevorMahlmann

https://www.facebook.com/TrevorMahlmann

http://www.tmahlmann.com/

Don’t forget to get your entries into our #SchoolPridePOV Sweepstakes, for a chance to win $1,500 worth of camera gear! Details here: http://joby.com/schoolpridepov

What’s your favorite JOBY gear and why?

My GorillaPod Focus w/ BallHead X is my favorite because I use it the most.  It is a very sturdy and easy way to set up a shot quickly without getting out a bulky tripod, allowing you to get in lower situations you couldn’t reach without it.

What gear do you use?

I use a Canon 7D MKII, Canon Rebel T5i, GoPro Hero 4 Black, and a DJI Phantom 4 as my primary capture devices!

What is your favorite image you’ve posted and why?

My favorite image has to be the one below because of the craziness of it all. I still wonder to this day what made me think of that when I sat down on my flight.

What drives you to create?

Sharing awesome scenes I can be a part of with anyone and everyone I can so they can enjoy it too!

What’s the next piece of gear on your wish list?

5D Mk IV, definitely a full-frame body.

What’s your life outside of photography?

Student at Purdue, busy engineering student! During my summertime, I chase the photography projects I dream up during the school year.

What’s your dream job?

Astronaut. Flying in space, maybe step foot on Mars one day.

Any advice to those starting out?

Shoot everything, find what you like to shoot and hone in on it, perfecting your skills. Share those beautiful scenes with as many people as possible!

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