HD DSLR – Page 12 – Journeys of a Hybrid

June 9, 2010

Back to My Beginnings

I became a visual artist , not as a photographer, not as a filmmaker, but as a storyteller using images and later video to tell the tales of other cultures, lands and people through my eyes and my journeys. My camera was my tool – it was a means to an end. The end being the story that needed to be told.

I’ve spent the last 30 some years documenting the world through my lens, whether it be for magazines like the National Geographic Traveler, Smithsonian or Travel & Leisure or for major corporations. I’ve been blessed and have truly lived a charmed life. But there have been times when I’ve started to go off kilter – or stray from the essence of my being. It’s easy to do, especially in a culture that is obsessed with the drive to succeed – the definition of success being to make a lot of money and have a lot of “things”. Don’t get me wrong – I also enjoy the rewards that money brings – but for me that means having the resources that help me to live a full life.

A few years back I was shooting a documentary on the Delta Blues Musicians and I spent a memorable afternoon with blues drummer Sam Carr. As we were winding up our conversation under the shade of old tree he sat back and said “I’ve lived a rich man’s life in a poor man’s shoes”. That comment has stayed with me over time and when Sam died last year, I was told that his family was grateful for the interview that I captured that day and used his comment as his epitaph. I was humbled and honored, but mostly felt richly rewarded that my personal project had touched the lives of others.

As we wind up our first stop in Africa on our round-the-world trip, some of the fears and trepidations I had that came with taking a risk, and heading out to the unknown for 3 months, have vanished. In their place is the calming realization that this was what I needed to do at this point in my life and I was grateful I had the means to do it and the stamina to travel on a shoestring budget. Africa puts things into perspective – this vast continent is so wild, colorful, rich, poor, exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time. Africa has taken its hold on me and has sparked my true spirit.

My daughter and I decided to take some time to get out of the city and go to Murchison Falls National Park, after shooting the first part of our documentary about people making a positive difference in the world. We saw

Murchison-1772 copy — Elephants along the Nile

elephants, hippos,

giraffes,

Murchison-1311 copy — Giraffe, Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

antelope, cape buffalo, baboons,

Murchison-1607 copy — Baboon, Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

slept in a tent and sat by a fire in the evenings under a canopy of stars that stretched from horizon to horizon. We chatted with people from countries all over the globe – all of us different yet with a common cause – the love of the journey.

Of course I shot still photos

Murchison-1161 copy — Cape Buffalo, Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

as well as some VIDEO but more importantly I absorbed this rich experience and it energized my spirit and my soul. This is the “fire” that I need every now and then. I think we all need a spark every once in awhile and to get past the science of the photographic craft and back to the essence of the art and the story. That is what ultimately leads us to create the kind of visuals that will resonate with others. That spark is different for all of us but nevertheless an essential ingredient for the creative process. It’s not the tools, nor the techniques that define the message or create the images that strike a lasting chord with those who see them. I was fortunate that I learned that years ago and now I’m reminded of those lessons as I get back to my beginnings.

We leave Africa today and continue our journey – next stop Istanbul, Turkey and then on to Poland where our next subject awaits.

June 2, 2010June 2, 2010

Photographers and Video

I’ve been reading a lot of the still photography forums over the past few weeks and I’ve seen a lot of questions about capturing sound with the hybrid HDSLR’s. I’ve also seen some misleading information so I’ve decided to take a few minutes to clear up some misconceptions.

First – Audio is everything in video. People can tolerate a mediocre image but if they can’t understand or hear the audio – they won’t watch. See for yourself – turn the sound down on your TV and see how long you stay interested in the program – even if the image is stunning.

Second – You have many options of capturing audio with the HDSLR’s depending on what you are shooting. I think many still photographers assume everyone is going to be shooting “indie films” with crews. One of the things I find appealing about some of the new technology is that you don’t necessarily need a large crew and a Hollywood budget. And sometimes, if discretion is in order, you’re better off with a small crew. With that said – you should know how to capture good audio.

Third – NEVER use the camera to capture audio – it just isn’t good enough. And I would probably say that you shouldn’t plug an external mic into the camera via the mini plug. I don’t think the audio quality is good enough, especially for an interview.

Fourth – Either use a pre-amp with XLR inputs like a Beachtek or JuicedLink and an external microphone. Make sure you get the mic close to the audio you want to capture. And most importantly monitor the audio through a good set of headphones.

Fifth – Capture your audio independently with a good quality digital recorder like the Samson H4n Zoom and sync it later in post. Syncing sound in post is a snap with a great software application called Plural Eyes.

Lastly – Audio is everything! And remember as you add video to your skill set, you’ll be using your ears as much as your eyes.

June 1, 2010

Outside My Comfort Zone

The older one gets and the more settled one gets in their own ways, the more difficult it is to push oneself outside their own comfort zone. I know this full well, as I am now immersed in a project and a journey where I’m pushing myself every minute of my day and will be doing so for the next three months.

I’m in Uganda, Africa right now and every day I face several challenges. Everything from attending to my personal needs and safety, to negotiating taxi rides and reconfirming upcoming flights to making sure that I’m getting the content that I will need to create the documentary I’m working on, Opening Our Eyes. Little things become much harder and take a lot longer to deal with than if I were at home. And every minute it seems like I’m facing a new learning curve.

Last night, for some inexplicable reason I couldn’t get an internet connection with my laptop. Nothing had changed from the night before when I was online for a good 3 hours, yet all of a sudden – I couldn’t get online. Since I’m working with a digital workflow and totally dependent on a computer, I brought a backup laptop just in case. The “just in case” scenario has already come into play and that backup laptop has become my connection. A few weeks ago when I wrote the blog My DSLR Kit for My 3-Month Road Trip, I received numerous comments telling me that I was taking too much stuff. A part of me agreed but after only one week into this trip, I have used every piece of gear that I had packed. Call it paranoia or the voice of experience but I’m glad that I have the backup, regardless of the extra gear it necessitates.

Building a comfort zone happens gradually, where you set up your business and lifestyle and things click into place over time. But nothing ever stays the same in life and if you’re not proactive, before you know it you get in a rut – whether it be a creative rut or otherwise and when change happens – and it always does – your comfort zone disappears regardless if you were the one that made that a conscious decision or not.

I’ve always known when to “rock my own boat” – when I’ve become dangerously too complacent. I knew at this point in my life it was time that I really push myself outside my norm and as hard as it is at times, I’m confident it will bring great rewards my way. It already has.

Any time I leave the country, especially since I’m usually shooting when I do, I challenge myself on many levels. Yesterday, we were following one of our subjects through a crowded downtown area in Kampala as she went about her errands and searched for just the right fabric in various shops. It was chaotic and a test of nerves as we made our way through the crowded streets dodging vendors, scooters and buses. We were also testing our GoPro Hero helmet cam which was a lot of fun. It was hard enough to blend in being the only “mzungus” (whites) on the street, let alone wearing a camera on your forehead. But check out the VIDEO and see for yourself how it is to negotiate your way through the streets of Kampala. And that’s what I love about this little “adventure sports” camera – it makes the viewer feel like they are part of the action. You can also see what I mean when I say that I am pushing myself out of my comfort zone.

May 30, 2010

Shooting Video in the Field with the Canon 5D Mark II

The first two days of our Round the World Journey, shooting the documentary Opening Our Eyes has been quite full and I’ve faced numerous situations – really putting my tools to the test.

Our first full day was spent at the offices of Wrap Up Africa, which are located in Kampala, Uganda. In addition to shooting b-roll of tailors at work, we shot several interviews. Our main interview was with Wrap Up Africa’s founder, Letha Sandison, followed by interviews of a couple of her staff members. We also did interviews of some of the cancer victims that Letha has helped. Here is where I not only needed to be attentive to my technical details but be sensitive to the situation and the people that I was interviewing. Hearing some of their stories is heartbreaking and hard for many Americans to fathom. Sure, we all watch the travesties taking place throughout the world on the nightly news, but it’s quite another experience to speak with people who have experienced horrendous tragedies in their lives that are simply unimaginable.

One woman, Evelyn who works for Letha had been abducted and held captive by the LRA, which stands for the Lord’s Resistance Army, and is not exactly a charitable group. She managed to escape after most of her family had been killed in front of her. She is now raising three orphans who had been victims as well and works with Letha, helping others.

Our set up was simple and deliberately so. I set up the Canon 5D Mark II and captured my audio separately with the H4N Zoom. I had two mics – one shotgun on a small boom stand and another lav. I will sync them later in post. We chose a room that had ample window light as we are traveling with only a small camera light and nothing else. Our biggest challenge was that the cabinet installer decided to do his work the day we were shooting – so the sounds of hammering and drilling made up our ambient background sound. But the mics were placed close to our subjects and did a pretty good job of boosting their audio above the din of the environment.

The next situation we faced was shooting b-roll in the dirty environments of a potter’s studio and a foundry. Again we used the Zoom to pick up the ambient sound of the environments. After a morning with the artists, we packed up quickly and headed to Mulago Hospital to visit the children’s cancer ward. We were not allowed to shoot video but we did shoot some still images and was happy to have the hybrid cameras that captured beautiful files – far better than frame grabs from a traditional video camera.

Then we headed to the market, which as usual is always a trying experience. For anyone who has traveled to congested third world environments, you know what I mean by “trying experience”. You must be aware of your personal belongings at all times, while shooting and I wish at times that I had eyes in the back of my head. On top of that I’m sensitive to those that don’t want to be photographed. It’s exhausting but at the same time exhilarating because of the exotic nature of the environment. My daughter wore the GoPro Hero helmet cam that is a tiny camera made for adventure sports but she had a lot of fun walking through the market recording the event with running video as we walked through the market.

I was shooting video with the Canon 5D Mark II and used a shotgun mic on top of the camera and run through a JuicedLink audio mixer. I’m embarrassed to say that somehow, even after lots of testing – I came back with no audio! Luckily the helmet cam Hero picked up very good ambient audio so I’m able to use that and layer it in post. In the chaos and confusion of the market, I probably didn’t set it up right and today I will do additional testing so as not to make that mistake in the future. But the video was captured beautifully and I will interweave those clips into the documentary with sound from the interviews and ambient sound from the Hero.

I am realizing one thing though and that there is nothing easy or streamlined when shooting video with these hybrid cameras. The results are stunning, but the shoot and workflow are much more tedious than when shooting with a video camera. Perhaps at the end of this three-month journey, I’ll be singing a different tune – I certainly hope so.

I’ll keep you posted as I get access to the Internet, which is iffy, and we’ve been off line for the last two days. But there’s something humbling about being off the grid and I’m learning to take it in stride and appreciate what I have. Today is Sunday and we are resting and storing up a bit of energy for the coming week. Please read more about our journey at Opening Our Eyes.

May 28, 2010

Arriving in Uganda Under the Full Moon

It’s early morning in Kampala, the sky is just getting bright and the animals are making their music.

Our first day in Uganda was a full but relaxing one. We had arrived the night before under a full moon after over 22 hours of flying. We had left JFK on Tuesday morning and got here Wednesday night, so somehow we lost a day but we’ll make it up after we’ve completed our circle around the world, three months from now. Security in the three airports (New York, Johannesburg and Entebbe) had been a breeze and even though my daughter and I had backpacks full of camera gear, computers and hard drives, no one even blinked an eye, let alone opened anything up.

Letha Sandison of Wrap Up Africa, our first subject of our film, picked us up at 9AM and after changing money, getting a mobile phone with a local number and getting a bite to eat, we went to the local university to meet with two artists. The artists, Bruno, a potter and Sega at metalsmith were working with Letha to make buttons for the garments that she creates for her foundation Wrap Up Africa. Letha’s foundation is two-fold and is a great example of sustainability. She trains family members who have children ill with cancer to be tailors and in turn they sell the garments that they make through her foundation so they can pay for their children’s chemotherapy and hospitalization.

Even treatable cancer can be a death sentence in Uganda if a family doesn’t have the resources for medical treatment. Letha created her foundation to help these families who are dealing with cancer but her task is not an easy one and finding funding is difficult in a country and continent where Aids is so widespread and becomes a priority.

After visiting the university we went to the offices of Wrap Up Africa and entered a room where women were busy sewing. We met her staff and made a plan for shooting there today.

So we are off to start our first day of filming. We’ll shoot some interviews, do some b-roll as well as some stills. Last night we did some testing and I gave my daughter some lessons in capturing audio. She’s a quick study and has the trained ear of a musician so I’m confident she’ll make a great audio person. At any rate after 3 months, we’ll both find our groove. So we’re off and running.

May 24, 2010

Heading Off Around the World

Gail Mooney and daughter Erin Kelly, Giza, Egypt — Gail and Erin in Egypt in 2006

It’s very early in the morning, my favorite time of day – no distractions and a whole new day ahead of me. But today’s a bit different, it’s the day before I leave on a 3-month journey around the world to take on probably the biggest personal project of my life and I have a million details running through my heads.

Just the other day I wrote about the “what if mentality” and how we sometimes fall victim of sabotaging ourselves by talking ourselves out of doing things. And today I have a whole host of “what if’s” running through my head. What if we can’t get into Bangkok or get out? There’s a State Department warning advising Americans not to travel to Thailand and we’ll be traveling with a doctor going into the northern hills – not an easy place to get in and out of in peaceful times. What if one of us gets sick? What if something gets stolen? What if one of our 27 flights get canceled or delayed? What if I don’t get the material I’m after for the documentary?

Certainly, lots of trepidations but I’m a pretty savvy traveler and I’m about as prepared as anyone can be. I try to remind myself of that and focus on the incredible journey ahead of us. I’ll be sharing this experience with my 23-year-old daughter and that in itself will be something we’ll never forget and create a special bond between us for the rest of our lives. We’ll not only be circling the globe together, we’ll be working together to create a documentary on people who are making a positive change in the world. Those connections will be life changing, and in fact one of our hopes is that our film will inspire others to do the same.

So one more day of details and then we’re off – first stop Entebbe, Uganda by way of Johannesburg, South Africa. Our last stop is Buenos Aires, Argentina via the jungles of Peru. Lots in between – lots of laughs, tears, lands and miles. I will be writing as often as I can and uploading when “connected”. And if I disappear at times – you’ll know why. You can follow our journey at Opening Our Eyes.

May 18, 2010

My DSLR Kit for a Three-Month Road Trip

For those who have been following this blog you know that I’m getting ready to depart for a 3-month trip around the world creating a documentary with my daughter – Opening Our Eyes. Here is what I’ve managed to fit into two backpacks – it just fits. Thank goodness there’s two of us.
Please follow our journey http://www.openingoureyes.wordpress.com

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D
Canon 16-35mm 2.8
Canon 24-70mm 2.8
Canon 70-200mm 2.8
Canon 70-300mm 4.5
Canon 1.4X tele extender
Canon 2X tele extender
Nikon/Canon lens adaptor
Nikkor 14mm rectilinear lens f2.8
Nikkor 50mm 1.4
Nikkor 85mm f2
6 Batteries for Canon
1 Battery grip for 5D
3 Battery chargers
Remote control for Canon
AC adaptor for Canon
Rycote Hot shoe extension
4 – 16 GB flash cards – all cards – Sandisk UGMA
4 – 8 GB flash cards
2 – 8 GB SDHC cards
2 – 4 GB SDHD cards
Neutral density filter kit
Polarizer
Epson P6000 digital wallet
Zoom H4n digital audio recorder
JuicedLink DT454 audio preamp
Rode shotgun mic
Tram lav mic
Sennheiser Transmitter/Wireless kit
“Dead Cats” (windscreens)
XLR cords
Headphones
HD Hero helmet camera with attachments
Flip HD
ManfrottoTripod and fluid head
Small Matthews boom stand for mic
Reflector
Zacuto Z-Finder
Zacuto Striker Rig
Flex DSLR remote
Lacie Rugged Hard drives – 4000 GB memory!
Firewire and USB cords
3 – card readers
2 MacBookPro Laptops
1 extra laptop battery
1 extra AC adaptor for laptop
Kindle
iPod
Blackberry Tour
2 Scotte Vests – with 22 pockets in each

May 13, 2010

Photographers/Filmmakers as Publishers/Producers

It’s been a busy year, trying to manage jobs and lots of road trips giving seminars for ASMP to photographers who may be contemplating video. I’ve enjoyed meeting my peers and sharing information through my presentations as well as on my blog, but I need to take some time to get back in the field and capture my own “moments” and “motion”. I need to spend some time “doing” right now and ultimately that will make what I have to share that more valuable and meaningful. So I will be embarking in a couple of weeks on a “passion project” that will take me around the world for 99 days.

It’s an exciting time to be working on a personal project because of various distribution possibilities and portals that are in everybody’s hands. Ten years ago when I got started in video, technology made it possible for me to create documentaries and films without the need of large crews and big budgets. And now with the web, fast download speeds, video host sites, mobile devices and itunes – I can – we all can be publishers and producers and get our content out globally. The pipelines have been democratized and it’s a very empowering position.

I’ve spent a career on the road and on assignment for various publications and corporations. I’ve been fortunate to have worked for magazines like National Geographic Traveler, Smithsonian and Travel & Leisure shooting stories on destinations and people all over the world. I suppose you could say that I lived the life I dreamed of. I was shooting these assignments at a time when magazines were giving me ample time in the field to come back with a story – back when travel magazines ran stories as opposed to survey pieces or celebrity profiles. More importantly, I maintained the copyright of my images and was free to market them as I wished after a standard embargo period was over – usually around 90 days.

These days many publishers issue “work for hire” contracts, so essentially photographers are giving up their copyright. Photographers have always been strong advocates for copyright and I include myself in that position. But in our advocacy to keep strong copyright laws in place, we end up fighting for that right for large corporations and publishing empires who ultimately take away our copyright in lopsided contracts. And for the most part these contracts are not negotiable. You either agree and take the job or you don’t.

These days because of technology we can be our own publishers and deliver our stories and other content in a number of different ways. Sure it means taking the risk up front but that in itself brings its own rewards. It’s very liberating to be shooting and answering only to myself – not second-guessing someone else. I take more chances creatively because I’m not afraid to fail. And every time I’ve ever done that, I’ve grown and the rewards have been many – both creatively and financially.

I don’t know exactly how and where my Opening Our Eyes project will be distributed when I complete my journey. But these days – it could be a book, a multimedia exhibition, a feature film distributed through itunes or on a DVD through Amazon, various magazine articles or broadcast. I could package the journey and the back-story and give talks to universities. An endless sea of possibilities. What an amazing time we live in where we can all make our dreams come true.

May 11, 2010May 11, 2010

Shooting With the Canon 5D Mark II

Two weeks from today, I will depart for a 99-day journey circling the globe working on a passion project Opening Our Eyes. It will be both an adventure and a humbling experience. But right now I’m getting down to the wire and trying to tie up a million loose ends.

This past weekend, I took a break from the details to attend the wedding of my nephew – my sister’s oldest son.

I thought this would be a great opportunity to really do a test run with my new Canon 5D Mark II with the Zacuto rig Striker. I wanted to capture good audio as well so I ran the Rode mic via XLR connection to the JuicedLink DT454. To be honest, I was going to capture the audio two different ways – via the JuicedLink and also straight from the mic to the camera via mini jack, but I forgot to bring the XLR to mini jack cord so I ended up capturing all my audio via the JuicedLink. Because the 5D has had a firmware upgrade where I was able to turn off the AGC, I used the JuicedLink with the AGC disabler turned off. But until Canon issues a firmware upgrade for the 7D that allows you to turn off the AGC, you can use the JuicedLink to disable it.

Ultimately this combination was a nice way of working candidly. I had the Rode mic and JuicedLink attached to an extender on the top of the camera, although I will probably attach the JuicedLink to the Zacuto rig in the future, leaving just the mic on the camera’s hot shoe. But either way, I was able to get good ambient sound and/or spontaneous sound bites from people. I had done previous testing to know that I first needed to calibrate the camera audio by going into manual settings and dialing the audio down half way. Then I dialed the volume down on the JuicedLink to whatever setting is necessary according to the meter levels. In a noisy atmosphere with loud music like a wedding reception, I had it dialed way down. You never want “hot” audio where the volume levels are spiked.

The image is simply stunning and I am really sold on the look. I shot in late afternoon sunlight as well as on a dark dance floor and the camera handled both beautifully. The Striker rig with the Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3Xworked great for stabilization and I didn’t find the focusing to be as hard as I thought it would be. The Z-Finder Pro 3X is very sharp with built in diopters. The striker is light and with the camera strap around my neck, it was easy to be in standby mode, relieving some of the stress on my hands.

I did notice though that I tended to start shooting more with a still “moment” mentality rather than in video/motion b-roll. When I shoot video I have a mantra running through my head to “shoot and move” – meaning shoots lots of variations, from wide shots to close-ups from a variety of angles. When shooting at the reception I found myself defaulting to one spot – rather than covering the angles and focal lengths, but then again I was caught up in the “personal” moment of the event so I wasn’t thinking too much about “getting the job done”.

All in all I have to say that I really loved working with this camera and I definitely love the “feel” of the images. I can’t wait to really test it out over the next three months, and I’ll keep you posted. See a short video “snippet”.

May 4, 2010

Gearing Up For A HDSLR Documentary

Most people have no idea of how much really goes into planning for even the simplest films. My biggest job was to come up with the right mix of gear that would enable me to shoot both still images and video in a high-end way, yet remaining to be portable and lean as far as what we would be bringing with us. That can be an overwhelming task – but the more I break it down and prepare for it with a Plan A, B and C – the more confident and relaxed I feel as our departure date nears.

Please watch the video that I created (nothing fancy) showing the gear that I’ll be bringing around the world on a 99 day shoot for my passion project Opening Our Eyes.

I’m embracing the HDSLR system since I want to shoot both stills and video but by no means is it streamlining my equipment needs. Quite the contrary, I’m bringing an assortment of lenses that I wouldn’t be taking if I were shooting with a traditional camera, as well as a lot of third party gear to augment audio capture and rigging for stabilization. What you don’t see in the video are the two (redundant) MacBooks that are essential when shooting any tapeless workflow.

Of course there are a million other details to cover for a 3 month trip around the world.
I’m still trying to determine my mobile phone and service needs. I’ve set up Skype on both laptops – yes 2 laptops because when you’re shooting tape less you are totally dependent on a computer and a back up if one fails. I’ll most likely upgrade my Blackberry because it’s been two years and that’s light-years in the tech world of communications. And I need to activate travel/medical emergency insurance as well as register my equipment with US Customs and add new gear to my business insurance policy.

There are also accommodations for 99 nights and a slew of internal airline tickets that needed to be taken care of. Read about it more at: Opening Our Eyes