not quite a novice cinematographer

31.5.10

A coworker of mine has been in looking at buying a new camera and every now and then she and I talk about photography. Although I own primarily Canon equipment, I usually recommend that people buy what feels good in their hands and that once they have a camera that they practice and take lots of photos. So much of what I've learned when it comes to photography came from photographing constantly and then analyzing my shots, comparing my work against that of a photographer I admire. And I wasn't too afraid to experiment. Nor was I afraid to admit that my work would never be perfect.

Now that I have a camera that also shoots video, I'm trying to take that same approach. I've had a Vimeo account since 2006, but I've never had any video projects to share. Now, I do. There usually pointless little things (much like many of my photos), but they are my attempt to document bits and pieces of my life. And they're fun to create. With my camera almost always within reach, it's easy to record tiny snippets here and there to piece together into a longer form. Just like composition with my photographs, I'm learning how to compose for video. Although there are some similarities, video does require a slightly different way of thinking. It's also requiring a different way of dealing with my equipment. Video on the 5DMKII is testing my understanding of exposure as well as my manual focusing ability. And then there is the concept of sound, which I'm only just beginning to dabble with. It's really rather fun, although I forsee this new hobby becoming another expensive one.

Here are my latest three videos. When I first started shooting video I had the tendency to follow motion with the camera. Now I'm understanding to keep the camera still and let things move across the frame. None of these are of course perfect, but it will be interesting to look at them after a few months and see if I've made any progress.






0 comments