In all my years of printing and teaching printing workshops, the single most important thing…
Canon 1DS Mk III, 1/30, f8, ISO 200, 24-105mm L
There has been much talk about the convergence of still photography and video recently, and with good reason. This has been driven by the video capabilities of recent DSLR’s from Canon, Nikon and Panasonic. The advantages they offer include extremely high quality HD video recording combined with shallow depth of field (a hallmark of traditional film movie cameras) and access to a great selection of lenses.
In addition to photography, I’ve always had an interest in the combination of static and moving images to tell a story, especially in the environmental work I do for Scenic Hudson. A project I’m currently working on is a 400+ acre farm that Scenic Hudson has protected from future development. I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to experiment with multimedia so that others can better understand and appreciate these environmental success stories.
This is the first of many multimedia projects I have in the works, and I’m constantly learning the more I practice. Your feedback is welcome as always!
Technical Info:
I shot this video with a Panasonic GH1 DSLR, which I recently purchased primarily as a video camera for the above mentioned reasons. Why not Canon you might ask considering I have a nice collection of Canon lenses. The main reasons are a) autofocus capability (great when you need it) b) an articulating LCD screen (makes shooting at low angles much easier) c) stereo sound recording (again not pro level, but great when you need it. I capture audio separately using a Zoom H4n recorder.
Another reason is that being a micro 4/3 format, it can adapt to many third party lenses, and I wanted to take advantage of some old but really fast Olympus lenses I inherited from my Dad. The GH1 14-140 kits lens is also excellent, and I shot most of this video using it. I shot in 1080p at 24 frames per second, and edited in Final Cut Pro where I added several still images. There is also a time lapse segment which I created with my Canon 5D and an intervalometer. It was set to capture an image every 20 seconds for 4 hours.
Combining all of these media elements is exciting, and I think adds another dimension to my landscape photography work both as a story teller and provides more ways that I can share my passion for nature and the Hudson Valley.
Rob, It really works. Great dive into the water. It left me with a really good feeling for the farm. I’ll have to watch it again a few times for more specific feedback.
Peter
Thanks Peter – appreciate your thoughts, I still have much to learn!
RR
Beautiful, serene and appealing. It will definitely build appreciation for the work of Scenic Hudson. A few of the transitions seemed a bit abrupt, but otherwise everything flowed soothingly. Stretch it out to 30 mins and it would be a perfect stress relief video! 🙂
Thanks Rae – appreciate your generous feedback and comments. I am working on a general Hudson Valley video which will be much longer, so hopefully I can continue to improve. Like anything else, the key is practice, practice, and more practice…
RR
Hey Robert,
I visit your blog often and really appreciate your work and the wealth of information you share. I love the farm video.
Thanks for the great blog. Very much enjoyed.
Andy
Hi Andy – Thanks for your very kind feedback, I’m glad you like the video and hope to continue to share as much as possible with those like yourself who find it of value. Feel free to share your thoughts in the future!
RR