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USA Drivelapse/Timelapse Project

Brian DeFrees — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:50:45 +0000

I recently returned from a 12,225 mile roadtrip around the United States. During my trip I summarized each day in photos using the iPhone apps “Picframe” and “Instagram”. When I was traveling in my car I was shooting photos from my Canon 60D every 5 seconds with an intervalometer. When I was parked for the night or exploring an area on foot I was constantly timelapsing. Below are the photos and videos from my journey:

Daily Instagrams:

Behind the Scenes:

NewsChannel 9 WSYR Interview:

ABC News Interview

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Cheers To Fall SXSW 2011 Tour Video

Brian DeFrees — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:08:35 +0000

Some highlights taken with the iPhone 4 from my tour to SXSW 2011 in Austin, Texas with the Brooklyn, NY based band Cheers to Fall.

Cheers To Fall SXSW Tour ’11 from Brian DeFrees on Vimeo.

.MOV vs .MP4 – Image Quality vs. File Size

Brian DeFrees — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 04:16:32 +0000

Up until this past weekend I had used .mp4′s primarily to showcase my videos on websites such as vimeo. However when I exported my video Timelapses of 2010 in .mp4 format, I noticed serious compression artifacts in some of the darker scenes. I decided to try a .mov with the same compression settings and was pleased at how much better the video looked. The only downside was that the .mov turned out to be 5x the file size, but after this test I feel like it’s worth the extra size and upload times to have a better quality video. Here’s some snapshots of the settings and image example below:

MPEG-4 Settings

Quicktime Movie Settings

Differences in Compression - .MP4 vs .MOV

Difference in File Size - .MP4 vs .MOV

Timelapses of 2010:

2010 – My Year in Music

Brian DeFrees — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:31:30 +0000

Best song of 2010?

Add me on Last.fm:

The Damned Things – Music Monday 12/20/10

Brian DeFrees — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 03:53:22 +0000

Well, I was planning on doing more than two #MusicMonday posts in 2010 but unfortunatly I got a little too busy. So here’s too hoping for more than two in 2011.

This week I wanted to feature The Damned Things which is actually a supergroup that contains members from Anthrax, Falloutboy, and Every Time I Die.

(L-R) Keith Buckley (Everytime I Die), Andy Hurley (Fall Out Boy), Rob Caggiano (Anthrax), Joe Trohman (Falloutboy) Scott Ian (Anthrax).

Below is their first single “We’ve Got a Situation Here”

I was a big fan of Keith Buckley’s singing voice in Every Time I Die so when I heard about the formation of this group I was pumped. Their debut Album “Ironiclast” is a solid rock effort with a slightly old school feel. Some really catchy choruses, grinding riffs and guitar solos make this enjoyable for fans of the members regular bands…or anyone who just enjoys some good rock and roll.

Preview and Download “Ironiclast” on iTunes here.

Add me on Last.fm:

Halestorm – MPJ Interview

Brian DeFrees — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:13:02 +0000

Interview with the band Halestorm at Krockathon 15 in Syracuse NY on 7/31/10.

Check out more interviews at MusicianPhotoJournal.com

Hufa Lens Cap Clip Review

Brian DeFrees — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:54:47 +0000

I have a bad habit. Other photographers and filmmakers may suffer from a similar problem. When I’m out on a shoot, I always seem to be searching bags, pouches, pockets, the ground, or pretty much anywhere for my lens cap. I never put it in the same place twice it seems. Luckily I’ve only lost one so far…or are @anthonyquintano and @wynddan keeping it a hostage form the shoot I misplaced it on until I see them again? Either way I now have a Nikon style lens cap that replaced the stock cap on my Canon 18-135mm and I don’t want to lose this one.

So after more time and lens cap searching. I turned on tweetdeck last week and saw @BenjEckstein providing analogies to the all too common “Please RT” term on twitter. The serious conversation which resulted in free broken lens caps and XLR cables between Ben, myself, @VisualEdgeChris , and @michaschmidt occurred as follows:

Somewhere in the midst of these amazing giveaways and thought-provoking banter I received this tweet from @HufaHolder:

At first I thought it was someone trying to chime in on our pranks, or a bot that had discovered the phrase “broken lens cap”. But seeing as how I had such bad lens cap woes in the past I decided to check out their site like the tweet instructed. After arriving on their website and watching the video I discovered that the mystery person in the video was Darren Siegel, director of sales at Hufa. I quickly shot an e-mail to the company not really expecting to hear back, but soon afterwards I had an e-mail back from Darren asking for my address so he could send me a free Hufa lens cap clip. It then came several days later in the mail:

After unwrapping, I decided the best place for me was the strap on my backpack, but as shown on their website you can clip them pretty much anywhere including your camera strap or clothing.

The Hufa clip easily attached to my backpack strap and stayed on well as I moved around with it on. The cap also stayed firmly in place throughout various maneuvers making it very useful and able to take anywhere without worry about dropping the cap. I now have a place to put my caps instead of the random pocket or other miscellaneous location. It will be nice to know my lens cap will be where I placed it when I take it off the lens and that I only have to search one place when I’m ready to put it back on. I’m considering ordering an extras for my other bags and maybe on for my camera strap as well so I’m prepared for any style of shooting.

So there you have it…a solution to the lost lens cap blues. All from just another serious twitter conversation. I’m still waiting on my broken XLR cable from Ben but at least I have my Hufa cap to keep me occupied in the meantime.

Check out Hufa: the original lens cap clip at www.hufaholder.com

Shadows Fall – MPJ Interview

Brian DeFrees — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:31:06 +0000

Interview with Brian Fair (Vocals) from the band Shadows Fall at Northern Lights in Clifton Park NY on 8/23/10.

Check out more interviews at MusicianPhotoJournal.com

Behind The Scenes: “Tonight We Feel Alive” Music Video Shoot

Brian DeFrees — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 06:14:57 +0000

I recently got the opportunity to work behind the scenes on a Four Year Strong music video directed by Tom Colella . The video was shot mainly with the Red One and a Phantom Cam but also features about 15% footage from the Canon 7D. Here are some behind the scenes photos I took at the shoot:

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Checkout the Four Year Strong music video for “Tonight We Feel Alive” directed by Tom Colella below:

Track Event at Watkins Glen International

Brian DeFrees — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:32:05 +0000

A highlight video and raw footage from my track time at Watkins Glen with my 2009 Civic Si.