by Dave Warner on December 29, 2010
In the first part of this series, I covered some places that you could learn some of the fundamentals that you’ll need to shoot video. Now, we’re on to the equipment. The assumption I’m using is that you have a camera body that shoots video and a lens – that’s it. Now, what do you REALLY have to have to improve that basic platform, and what is the BASIC equipment you need to buy. Not the fanciest, most expensive equipment, but what do you REALLY need? The next thing I’m going to consider is – what can you buy that will have a dual purpose – another words, can you use it for stills AND video?
First, everyone ALWAYS starts with a tripod. Let’s face it, you can spend every bit of money you have on one and not get anything else. One clear thing you don’t want to do, is buy a $79 one at Best Buy. It will not cut it for stills OR video. There seems to be two main differences between a stills and video tripod. First, is the weight. If you look on B&H and just search for tripods, you can spend the better part of a day reading about all of them. I was lucky…I had invested in a nice Manfrotto tripod with a ball head many years ago. One of the great things about investing in a GOOD tripod and head up front is that you’ll really never have to replace it. However, in my case, I was very fortunate because that ball head could be replaced with a fluid head for shooting video. [click to continue…]
by Dave Warner on December 21, 2010
Yup - that's me, helping to plant grapes at Arrington Vineyards in Nashville.
Last Christmas, I wrote a piece about some of the gear I wanted or thought I needed for Christmas when it came to shooting video with an HD DSLR camera. I had the folks at Zacuto tell me that they STILL get referral traffic from this post, so I thought I’d update it for you last minute Christmas shoppers and at the same time, tell you how well I did on each item during the last year. Of course, I’m in the middle of writing my series of posts on how I’m FINALLY making my first video, so you’ll get more detail about some of these items in those posts. So, here’s the (updated) 2010 list:
The Gear
OK, so I wasn’t able to find ONE place that told me just what I’d have to have in order to shoot video with these new DSLR’s. How about just a simple list, with the gear, where to get it and the price! How about some kind of order to what you should get first (my opinion, so you MAY not agree) and what about software? What the heck do you need? I figured this would be a good thing to do in case anyone (or my wife) was looking to buy something for me for Christmas. Well, here’s my list: [click to continue…]
by Dave Warner on November 30, 2010
One of the things you have to consider when attempting to create your first HD DSLR video is knowledge. What do you need to know and where can I find that knowledge? Well, to summarize why I’m even asking, let me give you the premise for this series.
It’s been more than two years now since the release of the Canon 5D Mark II and Vincent Laforet’s film Reverie, which really blew everyone’s doors off. For some, the camera was the greatest thing to hit their lives and they ran with it. This series is for the rest of us who bought these cameras and did little if anything with their film-making capabilities.
I know that I had all these grand ideas about what I would shoot when I just figured out how to use it. The more people I interviewed about it for the LensFlare 35 podcasts, the more daunting it became for me personally. I quickly found out that all the settings I had used to capture those first video segments were ‘wrong’. Then, I started hearing about all this extra gear I needed just to shoot video, THEN it was the fact that I needed assistants, had to change out the type of lighting I owned, had to ‘think’ like a film-maker and storyboard everything out first; I needed a more powerful computer AND expensive software to edit it and…did I mention audio? How important it is to have the correct gear, how to record it, how to sync, it, and on and on. [click to continue…]
by Dave Warner on November 24, 2010
I love these Craft & Vision guys and especially David (who has been interviewed on LensFlare35) because they really have come up with a great model to get information out to us. Something that looks especially cool on the iPad in my little library. Anyway, the latest eBook from the group is The Vision Driven Photographer, Notes on Discovering & Refining Your Vision. It is an engaging and inspiring ebook focused on helping photographers of all levels make stronger photographs by identifying or re-discovering their photographic vision.
By clarifying the things you want to say, you’re better able to wield the tool of your expression – your camera – to create photographs that say what you want to say, and move others. Working through these insights and the accompanying creative exercises will help you uncover or re-discover your vision, first personally, then photographically. The Vision Driven Photographer is available now as a downloadable PDF for just $5 USD. [click to continue…]
First, everyone ALWAYS starts with a tripod. Let’s face it, you can spend every bit of money you have on one and not get anything else. One clear thing you don’t want to do, is buy a $79 one at Best Buy. It will not cut it for stills OR video. There seems to be two main differences between a stills and video tripod. First, is the weight. If you look on B&H and just search for tripods, you can spend the better part of a day reading about all of them. I was lucky…I had invested in a nice Manfrotto tripod with a ball head many years ago. One of the great things about investing in a GOOD tripod and head up front is that you’ll really never have to replace it. However, in my case, I was very fortunate because that ball head could be replaced with a fluid head for shooting video. [click to continue…]
