This weeks Memory Bank is one of the many Bui Brothers shoots with Brigette Dale. How can you not love her! She’s beautiful, funny, smart and super fun! Check out her blogto see what she’s been up to and keep up with her latest projects. I also follow her on twitter, @brigittedale, because her tweets make me smile :)

SmugMug User Group (SMUG) is a great way to get together with other photographers and talk about all things photography. This meetup will be here in Los Angeles on Thursday February 10 at 7 p.m. You can click here for all the fancy details you will ever need. This meetup Lan and Vu will be the featured speakers, discussing how to get started shooting video with your DSLR; how to incorporate it into your business as well as giving editing and lighting tips.

So, if you’re free on Thursday February 10th at 7p.m. you should come by the SMUG meeting. There will be lots of cool people and a great presentation, can’t wait to see you there!!

I was asked to shoot a wedding fusion video for Laura and Sasha this past weekend. It was a really beautiful wedding, Laura and Sasha were so fun to work with.

Jesi Haack wedding planners made the day go perfectly and Mark Brooke from Mark Brooke Photographers took the awesome still photographs you’ll see in the video. For Laura and Sasha, I did a same-day edit of their AMAZING wedding incorporating photos shot by Mark. We shot at the hotel through right before the ceremony, then I edited the footage so that video was shown at the reception, thankfully to wonderful applause and compliments at the end.

TECH: For those wondering, it was shot on a 5D mark II, edited in Final Cut Pro, exported and sent to iMovie to add the photos (because it’s easy!). The video was presented on a MacBook Pro to the guests.

MUSIC: Paul Dateh – pauldateh.com

If you like this video you can check out another same day edit we did for Tiffany and Ty in Cancun.

The biggest reveal at CES, at least if you’re measuring in crowd size, had to be the Polaroid Grey Label reveal. I waited patiently for 2 hours plus an extra 45 minutes, standing in the same spot as the crowd grew and pushed in. I was excited and still am to see the new Polaroid. Sure, the reveal by Lady Gaga could have been a little more exciting and I’m still holding a grudge over the destruction of all the old Polaroid machines but I think the new GL30 does a great job of bringing Polaroid into the next generation.

As Lan talks about in the video above, the new GL30 uses Zinc Zero printing technology that produces a pretty good instant print using thermal paper. Each pack comes with the classic 10 prints. You can choose the vintage polaroid border that is so dear to our hearts or other new and fun borders for printing. You can also share your images digitally on the articulating screen. The body is solid and substantial when you hold it, you can even frame up your images like an original land camera or using the articulating screen.

For more on the GL30 and the rest of the Grey Label you can check out the Polaroid website.

We caught up with Camtrol at CES 2011. Camtrol makes some amazing camera stabilizers for not only large DSLR cameras but smaller cameras and camcorders as well. There are two rigs, the Prime and the Grand. There are also accessories for each that can customize for an iPhone or other comparable pieces.

The Camtrol rigs are not your normal stabilizers, they are highly customizable and adjustable. Popular for the ease of low angle shots they make hand held camera operation a breeze. On top of the accessories the Prime and Grand have adjustable handles and legs that fold out so the rig can be sat on a surface without having to lay it over on it’s side.

Just in case being easily customizable and adjustable isn’t enough for you we don’t want to forget to tell you about the ability to add a thumb controlled remote, so all of your controls are easily accessed when you’re shooting.

The Satarii Star is a camera mounting device for iPhones or other such small devices that automatically tracks and follows your movements. This means you can video or photograph yourself without assistance, no more awkwardly asking for assistance from strangers or waiting for friends to help out. It’s small, portable and can mount an iPhone either landscape or portrait. There will also be accessories for other similar devices. The Star is still in prototype and the guys behind it, Brian Lamb and Vlad Tetelbaum, have a campaign going on Indie Go-Go. You can donate and pre-order yours on their Indie Go-Go page.

There was no shortage of new 3D gadgets at CES 2011, but one of the most exciting is the Fuji Finepix W3 3D camera. This little camera has 2 lenses and 2 sensors that can be used independently, which essentially means you can shoot 2 different exposures and focal lengths simultaneously. The LCD displays your photos and video you can view in 3D without glasses.

You can display your images digitally or have lenticular prints made through Fuji.

What an amazing experience… a photo shoot with an awesome model, a fantastic trip to UK and now one of the best videos we have ever made!

Drew Gardner is one of the most talented photographers I’ve ever met. He is an amazing person and his work… well it just speaks for itself. He is the first person I have seen doing true Epic Fashion photography. He combines fashion photography with epicness in something that is best described by just showing it. So I encourage you to go to his website and look at some of his past work. My favorites are the forest series and descendants!

We met Drew last year at a conference in LA, he came up to us after we spoke on stage to chat and we hit it off right away. We all ended up at dinner that night and have since become great friends. When Vu and I heard that Drew was doing another Epic Fashion shoot we had to be there for it… and since he needed a behind the scenes video made we got the job booked right away!

As you can see from the video, the shoot was of an awesome model and a zebra! A zebra photo shoot… it was something new and out there… so great.

Learn from Drew Gardner for under $10

While we were there we actually shot a ton more things… we shot 15 full videos of Drew explaining in detail how he put together some of his biggest and most notable shoots. He explains in detail the lighting, the logistics and all of the camera settings and equipment used on each shoot. He also speaks in each video about other things… the kinds of things you usually don’t hear about… the kinds of things you usually only learn on the job when they happen to you.

These videos normally would be packaged into a DVD and sold for $300 or so… but after shooting the videos and brainstorming with Drew we came up with something I think is going to be really popular and makes a lot more sense for everyone.

A while ago Vu and I started a website called 5 Dollar Tutorials, our intention was to make very affordable tutorials for photo and video stuff. We see all the time someone making a DVD and selling it for $150… $200… even as high at $900!!! This really sucks when all you want is one or two or even HALF the things off of the DVD. You have to pay for everything even when you don’t need it all. So 5 Dollar Tutorials was born… detailed tutorials that were basically like a chapter of a DVD sold for $5!!! How could anyone not like that?

Well, it’s been over a year and we never had the time to actually start shooting our tutorial videos, even though we completely believed in the project. If you look now you’ll see we only put up a couple repurposed free tutorials and some video blogs. We have had offers from people to partner up with us to get it started but for one reason or another it just never happened.

This is where Drew comes in!!! Since we were already making 15 videos for Drew, each of them worth WAY more than $5 (I think he could easily sell the 15 videos on DVD for $300) we worked out a deal with Drew to offer the videos on 5 Dollar Tutorials!!! We have not finalized the price yet, but we know they will be a few dollars more than $5… still plenty worth it (even if it doesn’t match the name of the site hahaha).

Once they are released you can pick and choose which photos you love and wonder how were done… and just buy the ones you are interested in. You’ll also have the option of buying the entire set at a steeply discounted price. Digital downloads lower the cost of production versus DVDs, and that savings easily passes on to your price.

Learn from Drew Gardner for FREE

We will be giving away one free video for a limited time sometime next week, if you want to be first in line and guarantee you get that video for free sign up below to get updates about 5 Dollar Tutorials and Drew Gardner:

The video series is called ‘Behind the Photos with Drew Gardner’. After watching each video you will know everything about how that photo was created.

Don’t miss out on the free video.

Learn from Drew for FREE LIVE!!!

Another opportunity to learn how Drew makes his images is to check out his free live webinar on Monday, December 6th. Click here to see what time the webinar will be in your time zone and register.

Conclusion

I wrote this post in a hurry… I just finished the Zebra video a few hours ago and have to get to editing up those 15 behind the photos videos right now… so I’m sure there is more that should be said about the shoot and the upcoming videos but I’ll leave you for now with two things to do… first take a look at this photo…

That was shot on the iPhone… yep… iPhone… we even printed it out and it looks great! Which leads me back to encouraging you to sign up to get updates on 5 Dollar Tutorials… one of our first tutorials will be how to shoot good epic panoramic photos on the iPhone (we get emails and tweets all the time asking how we do these).

And that brings me to the last thing… I really don’t think you should miss out on Drew’s free video we will be sending out next week, so here… sign up to get updates about 5 Dollar Tutorials and Drew Gardner:

If you were following us twitter then I’m sure you heard about last nights big DSLR Teradek meet-up at the Volcom skate park in Costa Mesa. Thanks to everyone who made it out! The turnout was amazing and we had such a great time checking out some great new gear from Camtrol and Marshall Electronics and the new Cube from Teradek. It’s always exciting to meet new people (and see old friends!), get hands on with new equipment and take awesome photos and video!

The Cube is amazing. It is going to completely change the way photographers and videographers organize and collaborate during their shoots. The Cube is tiny and, contrary to it’s name, is actually a rectangular box which easily mounts to your camera, allows for H.264 HD streaming to a connected network of computers/laptops/ipads/iphones in real time! The Cube will change the way a production team communicates and stream line the workflow.

Rod Clark from Teradek was on his skate board using the Cube and the Camtrol. Zadi Diaz brought her 7D out to try on a Zacuto rig. There were so many of you out shooting video and stills, we can’t wait to see what you came up with. Teradek is doing a video mashup of the evening. If you would like your footage to be included please send it over to rod@teradek.com

We hope you like the teaser video above. Lan and Vu shot video with a Zacuto rig and the Nikon 7000 as well as the Canon 5D Mark II. Thanks to Sara Moosbrugger from Nikon for hooking us up! There will be a longer version ready to go soon so stay tuned!

I’m not going to say much about this video… just that Drew Gardner had Vu and I shoot a promo for his photo shoot in the UK. We had a great time and can’t wait to release the full video, which will be happening soon. Well… I’ll also say… I’ve had a chance to see rough edits of the photos and they are really EPIC!

-Lan

UPDATE: Althought the slow motion is not technically perfect, I really loved the way it turned out. It has dreamy motion effect that works perfect for the look we wanted. Sometimes something undesired and technically wrong works to your benefit! Seriously I love the dreamy cool look it made.

Also a quick bit from Drew’s post:

In fact if you want to know more about this shoot and the rest of ‘The Forest’ series why not join me (its FREE!) at my Manfrotto School of Xcellence Webinar Tutorial on December 6th.

A few months ago we did a photo shoot of the the lovely Maurissa Tancharoen.

Maurissa is a mega talented television writer, singer, actress and lyricist. You may know her from Emmy award winning Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog where she was a writer as well as the lyricist for many of the songs for the score. She is also a producer on Spartacus and writer for the new Dollhouse comic book among other amazing things!

We had a ton of fun doing Maurissa Tancharoen’s photos.

This is my favorite photo of Maurissa Tancharoen from the day… it is actually on my desktop as my desktop background right now!

Lan and Vu met cinematographer/director Rodney Charters about 1 year ago and have since become good friends. Rodney recently needed some new head shots and promo video for the launch of his new website. It took a mere 3 months before their schedules were able to coincide but finally this past June they were able to meet up and create some amazing portraits.

The video was all shot and edited on the iPhone 4, the photos were all shot on the Canon 5D mark II with Westcott TD5 lights.

There has been so much talk about the Streamy Awards 2010 this year. Our experience of the awards show was magically unique because we were hidden away with one goal… to document the event with photographs.

This is our version of motion portraits for the award winners and presenters.

We knew nothing outside of our photo area, so please enjoy the video above and see how we experienced the Streamy Awards 2010.

If you liked the look of the video take a look at the photos we took in that setup here.

Actually, without our production team we could not have done this either:
Josh Allard
Megan Chrisofferson
Mark Bealo
Scott Kearse

Khara Plicanic of Kabloom Studios contacted us about shooting a promo video for her some time last summer, starting the conversation… of course… via Twitter DM. Remember when you had to actually pick up a phone or even drive down to their shop to hire someone for something? Anyhow… she is super cool and fun and radiates positive energy… and over a few bunches of 140 characters or less I took an instant liking to her and was extremely excited to shoot her video.

This is definitely our favorite production yet, and showcases some of the things we love about doing promotional videos. We believe in letting others speak for you, because honestly it’s easy for most people to speak highly of themselves… but getting others to come forth and give an honest testimonial about how awesome you are… well that really speaks to your effect on your clients.

I’ll let the video say the rest of what needs to be said. Khara is awesome… and hopefully our contribution to her online presence helps to show that to the world.

-Vu

This is the second teaser for Gabriel and Carlie’s new video suite, set to release within the next few weeks in conjunction with their new website.

This video was shot in Hawaii, and is our second example of 3D text living in a motion video world. For those of you who watch TV, you can see the same effect on the show Fringe (also on Hulu). It’s in every episode. It’s also appearing in a few movies here and there (the earliest I ever saw it was the opening sequence of the movie Panic Room).

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The Boudoir Divas, Kimberlee West and Marissa Boucher, are an amazing photography duo based in San Diego who teach boudoir photography to both aspiring and experienced photographers. Lan and I met with them a few months back and we instantly connected with their vision to educate and work with other photographers. They will be offering new workshops over the coming months, notably the one in Paris, France… so we took them to Paris, Las Vegas to shoot their promo video.

Book some time with them before it’s too late!

Santa Barbara, CA DEC 08
Las Vegas, NV FEB 09
San Diego, CA Spring 09
Paris, France APR 09

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When Gabriel and Carlie told us they wanted to make the promo video to end all promo videos, we were totally excited. Their work is fantastic and we love working with people we can really connect with and work creatively together. This is a little preview of things to come. Very soon.

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We, Lan Bui and Vu Bui (The Bui Brothers), were hired to fly out to New York City to shoot another episode of Shoot The Sh!t with Jessica Claire. This is a comedic series of videos we made for The [ b ] School Blog that has been very popular. Jessica Claire is so awesome to work with, she is too funny.

This is just a teaser to the episode, make sure to watch the full episode here.

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A few weeks ago Vu and I had the pleasure of shooting some amazing things for Kimberlee West and Marissa Boucher… known together to the world as The Boudoir Divas. We can’t tell you much about what we were shooting, but here is a short promo video we put together for them with some of the extra footage we shot while in Vegas.

We’d also like to announce that we will be sending out our first BuiLetter (like a newsletter only better) soon and would love for you to receive it. And if you DO sign up for it we promise to never call it a BuiLetter again.

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