I’m currently in the middle of a two week trip on the coast of Maine, but have not been able to do much processing due to lack of electricity at the campsites I’ve been staying at. Here is the first of many images from the trip captured at Quoddy Head State Park, the eastern most coastline on the US.
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In addition to photography, I also shot HD video on my recent trip to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia with the intent of combining the video and stills into a short film. I shot video with my hacked Panasonic GH1, the stock 14-140mm lens and a Canon FD 20mm lens. The hack enables much higher bit rates than the factory firmware, which results in much more detailed video, cleaner shadows, and better files for post editing.
DSLR’s cameras that shoot video have opened a whole new world for those who want to explore new creative possibilities, and I really enjoy the challenge and rewards of experimenting and finding new ways to convey a story. I’m learning a great deal each time I work on these projects, and have a bunch more planned for the near future. In addition, my commercial clients are excited about the new possibilities it brings to communicate their message in the digital age. Enjoy this short film, and as always, please feel free to leave feedback and/or leave any questions.
Tech Notes
I shot this film at 1280×720/ 30 fps (Motion JPEG) and the slow motion shots were 60 fps (AVCHD). Both were converted to 24 fps using Apple Compressor. I edited in Final Cut Pro and color graded using Magic Bullet Looks (an incredible plugin). All filming was done on a tripod, and I used a Zoom H4N for field audio.
Now also available on the Beyond the Lens Video Podcast!
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Canon 1DS Mk III, 25sec @f/11, ISO 100, 24mm (24-105 f/4 L IS)
I visited this location four times during my trip to Cape Breton Highlands National Park, three times during sunrise, and once during sunset to shoot some video. The first two times were unsuccessful since there was never a sunrise, but I decided to try once again on the day I was leaving – I’m glad I did. The weather was very active to say the least, with fast moving cloud formations, wind, and extremely variable light – the perfect opportunity to play with long exposure once again. I made many images, but here are two that are similar, so I decided to see what a black and white conversion would feel like.
Canon 1DS Mk III, 3 min @f/14, ISO 100, 24mm (24-105 f/4 L IS)
CREATIVE NOTES:
Both of these were processed in Lightroom 3 only, with little or no noise reduction since I used ISO 100 for both. I added a slight warming tone to the highlights of the black and white, and some minor dodging to the waves in the foreground. On both of these images I used a Singh-Ray 0.3 soft graduated ND filter to bring down the highlights in the clouds, adding drama and intensity to the scene (the way I felt while shooting). Lately I have been using these filters more and more to cut down post processing time and capture an image that is closer to a final version.
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