Sometimes we take the little things for granted; such as the Aputure MC. The MC is a pocket light I reviewed a few years back but still to this day has proven to be necessary in my work flow. How? Well anytime I want to warm up skin tones or create accent lighting in the background I pull out my MC’s
I even used the MC’s in this video to create the blue smoke you see surrounding the subject;
sometimes it’s just those little things that make all the difference.
The Atomos Ninja V is a 5″ monitor that can record. It was released on April 5, 2018 at NAB, despite it being 4 years old (often considered old tech by today’s standards) it’s still relevant in 2022. Atomos not only releases firmware updates frequently but also hardware to compliment the Ninja. Some of the features that make it relevant in 2022 are
when I started doing video back in 2005, I never understood the importance of Audio and that’s probably because I never took the time to learn what good sound was.
Well after spending $2000 plus on camera gear, I wasn’t thinking about spending anything else. After about 6 months I had someone who was interested in what I was doing as a young film maker and they were willing to invest. Together we went down to B&H Photo and spent over $1000 in audio gear. While that’s was not a lot of money to invest into a business it was a large sum for the average person to spend on audio gear. At that price I was able to get the following:
This was back in 2005 and as you would imagine things would be very different now if I were to go back to B&H to get audio gear. The good thing about audio however is that the technology behind it doesn’t change as quickly as it does for video. As a result a lot of the gear listed can still be used today.
Why did I need to buy so much gear back in 2005? Well I didn’t, I could have just brought one mic and could be on to recording my videos. The one draw back would be that if I brought the EW100 Wireless Mic I could only interview one person at a time and would have to attach the mic to each person before they spoke, since Lav mics need to be attached to each individual. However with a shotgun mic I could easily move over each person’s head just before they speak and capture their voice. Of course the shotgun is still limited to one or 2 persons (once there in close proximity) but having access to both gives me more flexibilty. The shotgun mic’s draw back can be that you have to hold a boom pole, or hold the mic in hand and keep the shot on the camera tight enough to keep it out of frame, yet with the lav mic it can easily be hidden.
So how should you invest when it comes to audio? One of the biggest piece of advice I have ever received is: choose a niche. Because in the beginning you are tempted to do everything in order to earn more and most people continue on this path, only to discover with each area of expertise you need tools. As a result instead of just have two cameras and 3 lenses you have 4 cameras and 12 lenses. So in the end your not only divided with your money but also your time, skills and patience.
Choosing the right audio setup is simple. First figure out what area you want to focus or even which area brings you the most pleasure and go from there. So for example commercials (interview style) would require at least a shotgun mic and a recorder even if you decide never to record your own audio but you hire someone to do it, you should have some basic knowledge of using a recorder and a shotgun mic. Yet for that setup that’s all you would need. However if you plan to do live concerts with at least 4 plus persons the setup will be very different. Keep in mind you always have the option to rent audio equipment so as to keep expenses down as well as inventory. If you own some audio gear though it will give you time to practice in between projects.
Here are my recommendations for a few setups (portable), feel free to ask me why in the comments below:
Interviews (commercials or documentaries) –
Reality Show (less than 10 people) –
Zoom H6 Recorder
Rode Wireless Go Mics
Interviews (commercial or documentaries)
Corporate Interviews or Conferences
We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories…And those that carry us forward, are dreams.
– Wells
I write this post late on a summer night as I ponder what has my photography become? Is it just a splash of entertainment on someone’s IG feed or have I created stories that plant seeds that germinate into thoughts and actions? This may all seems deeper than it should be but considering that there are so many photographers today, which of them actually have something to say?
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.
– PLATO
I’ve always seen Tiffany at church and we will have these real casual conversations: never anything too deep but that wasn’t because we didn’t care. To me it felt like we were always passing each other and just never stopping to really talk. Anyway we were having lunch together at a friend’s place and she actually said to me she’d like me to take her picture.
Although I have taking her photo before, this time I felt she wanted something different. One of the key elements for this capture was Tiffany’s complexion. Her skin always amazed me so rich and smooth it seem to absorb light and reflect it in the right way. Yet Tiffany’s sister (who I didn’t know too well) also has a similar look.
I noticed that she wasn’t big on taking photos so I encouraged her telling her she looks amazing. I was actually shocked at what I saw in the EVF of the Fuji X-T3. It’s funny because the photo above is actually what she looks like in person yet the camera adds more richness, subtle attention to certain areas and just more contrasts. The short session with the 2 sisters showed me yet again the need for the shade. Every image doesn’t have to be extremely bright but you have to find the middle of both light and darkness.
Driving in Manhattan on a late Friday afternoon BAD combo! Anyway I had just left a photo session and was heading home. As I made my move uptown thru Manhattan there were soo many different faces, cultures and behaviors.
This woman below caught my eye! She no doubt was focused as she held her Leica Camera. It seems the majority of the people I saw on my way uptown were fixated on the sun setting. I however didn’t take it seriously I just kept making my way home. It’s only when the streets were a bit more packed that I then enquired what’s going on? Come to find out that the sun was setting at the center of 42ND STREET (something that only happens once in a blue).
