I feel like a lot of my blog posts recently (as well as many on other people’s blogs that I read) have been very gear oriented. That’s not bad; I like to read about new gear, but I think all this talk about gear gets us further away from discussing and sharing WHAT we are doing. Because ultimately it doesn’t matter what we’re using, right? (I only sort of agree with that last statement, but let’s just leave it at that.) Anyway, I’ve also realized that I’ve done very little posting of what I’ve been working on this year, so I’d like to change that. I’ve been fortunate to have had a pretty busy year. I just wrapped up what was my biggest job to date for a company in Boston, but it will probably be a few months before I am allowed to post the final video. But I thought I’d share a short piece I just finished this week for, Rosie’s Place, a shelter for poor and homeless women in Boston. Read more…
Blog
It’s small, it’s HD!
So back in April I wrote my recap of attending my first NAB conference. I discussed how one of the items I was checking out to buy was a new HD field monitor. I wanted something to work with my 7D (which I was starting to use more then) and my EX-1 (as well as any other camera going forward). I was most interested in the existing Marshall 7″ offering, the prototype Marshall 5″ and the SmallHD DP-6. I settled on the SmallHD and soon after returning from NAB, pre-ordered one. The big selling point for me (other than image quality) was that the DP6 would have HDMI, Component AND HD-SDI inputs. Neither of the Marshall monitors had that. This meant it would work with any camera out there, which was a huge plus. They “guaranteed” that we would have the monitor 75 days after purchase. That was fine; I wasn’t in a huge rush. Read more…
Cost of Entry
It costs money to make money. In most cases that is true. To be a doctor, lawyer, etc. you need an (often expensive) education. To own a machine shop you need tools. To work in video production you need equipment.
It seems that nowadays, though, that cost of entry into the professional field of video has plummeted to an all time-low. The 2-year old “HDSLR Revolution” has spawned an amazing number of new video makers into the industry, snatching up these highly affordable cameras and going out and creating content and landing jobs. Our inexpensive cameras are being used by the big boys, and we are seeing prime-time tv shows, commercials, and movies being shot on cameras that you can buy at WalMart. Suddenly it doesn’t take deep pockets, bank loans or strong business plans to buy your way into the industry. Read more…
The Sound of Music
Let’s talk about music. I’ve been thinking about this post for a while now but am finally getting down to writing it. Music is arguably one of the most powerful mediums we have; it can so strongly help to create a mood or emotion and can stay with you for hours or days (even when you don’t want it to). But film or video might even be more powerful a medium because it can benefit from having music AND visuals. I am a big fan of music and it has always played an important part of my life; prior to starting a career in video, I was working and heading in the direction of being a music engineer. (In fact, I met my wife through music production.) Read more…
The New Addition
As many of you may know, my wife and I just had our first child, Owen, about 3 weeks ago. These early stages of parenthood have been amazing and magical. I looked back today at the video we shot on the day we found out that Owen was on his way, and it is unbelievable that here he finally is. I know that he will be my new focus in life, my new artistic inspiration, and hopefully someone to help carry my gear someday. Read more…
A Nice Set of Legs
I wasn’t planning to do a review of my new purchase, but some Twitter buddies were curious about my new tripod, so I thought I’d post a little overview. It just arrived yesterday and has not gone on a shoot yet, but I played with it a bit today and can go over some of the features. The tripod in question is the Manfrotto (Bogen) 535 Carbon Fiber legs with the new 504HD head. I wanted a second tripod and when I was at NAB, in April, that was one of the things I was looking for. Read more…
Expansion
So this week I added a new piece of gear to my arsenal. Unfortunately this piece of gear won’t make me much money, but it will get me from point A to point B. I bought a new car, a minivan, in fact. As anyone in production knows, having a good sized production vehicle can be essential. Even though our cameras and a lot of other gear have gotten smaller, there is still a ton to take on shoots. My previous (now second) car was a Mazda 3 wagon. A great, fun, zippy little car. I could pack A LOT of stuff in it. I used to joke that this car could JUST barely fit whatever was needed. Read more…
A Cautionary Tale
I think anyone who works for themselves long enough will run into a case of non-payment. It sucks. It makes you mad. It makes you feel betrayed. I have been fairly lucky, though, that in my three and a half years of working for myself there have only been two cases of this. The first time was in my first year as a freelancer and it was a half-day shoot for a company from Florida. Everything seemed legit, and it probably was. I imagine that nobody was setting out to screw me or scam me. But in the end, a few months after the shoot, after the tapes were sent to them, it seemed as if this company no longer existed. Read more…
My Most Used Camera
“The best camera is the one that’s with you.”
I believe that expression was coined by photographer Chase Jarvis. At least, he has a book with that title, which features photos taken with a mobile device and discusses the idea of creating art without getting hung up on the technical things like resolution, dynamic range, lens selection, etc. Read more…
My Archive and Storage Solution
Recently, several bloggers I follow have posted about different storage workflows and solutions, so I thought I would add my two cents. Hopefully this will help people tasked with storing a large amount of data. (I write this knowing full well that storage solutions are a HOT topic for many who feel strongly that THEIR solution is the best and other solutions are DEAD WRONG, so hopefully I will stay out of the line of fire.) Read more…