Beginner Workshop Video

Advanced Workshop Video

This last week, I spent a good majority of it reviewing, selecting, and cutting 20 hours of footage, which I then crammed and timed into a 4-minute song. For some crazy reason, I decided on a high energy, fast-paced song to edit to, which resulted in over 350 cuts in that 4-minute span of video.

The video is by no means a masterpiece, as it is just casual behind the scenes footage. Something to look back on, proof of all of the work that went into it (including the video), and a great way to get the word out about the calendar, hopefully boosting sales. By the way, you can pick-up your copy of the calendar now at any of the Smokin’ Hot Espresso stands.

A couple thank-yous are in-order from my production end of things. Ross Abplanalp for his video camera work on the BTS video. And as you can guess, Alice, for not only her work behind the video camera as well, but for putting up with my complete absence this last week as I’ve been a troll in the office, editing this project.

I’ll start slowly releasing photos from the project on the blog here over the next few months, along with some insight into the production of the shoots. Until then…

Some details about things I cover in the video:

Hot shoe flash – those flash lights you can buy that mount in the hot shoe of your camera (hence the name). They can do much more than just sit on top of your camera. There is a huge movement with even high profile photographers using these in their everyday work, so don’t underestimate them.

Wireless Trigger – a method used to trigger the off-camera lighting at the same time you click the shutter, providing flash lighting for your exposure.

TTL – Essentially a way for you to shoot off-camera lighting without needing a bunch of knowledge about lighting. Think of it as the automatic mode of the lighting world, much like the way all of the automatic modes on your camera help novices take photos. Good for people who are lacking in lighting knowledge, or if you are working in a hurried environment. For real control over lighting, advanced knowledge is required and manual light control is the way to go.

Infrared – The technology the hot shoe flashes have right-out-of-the-box. The same tech that your TV remotes use, it’s a short-range technology that allows your camera and flashes to “talk” to each other. Not only does it accomplish triggering your flashes wirelessly, they also transmit TTL from the camera to lights on-the-fly, making it a very dynamic lighting solution. IR does have a few flaws. Just like your TV remote, it requires direct line-of-sight from camera to light. It’s inconsistent, and it gets worse the further the distance is between the camera and light. Bright daylight also can play havoc with the IR tech. If you are not in bright sunlight, and you are usually shooting within 20 feet of your lights, AND you are in direct line-of-sight, it works pretty good.

Optical – One line-of-sight method I did not mention is optical, meaning a light trigger. Just like IR, it works on line-of-sight, so your lighting setup will need to accommodate that requirement. It will work great in a close range, smaller sized rooms, or where the light has surfaces to bounce off of. It will struggle in very bright daylight, and cut down the range of this trigger. It can communicate TTL just like IR as well.

PocketWizard – The professional standard for wireless triggering in photography. Instead of using IR to trigger lights, you are using radio transmission. It’s consistent, long-range, and still retain the capabilities of using TTL between the camera and hot shoe lights. The downside – over 200 bucks a pop, and you need two of them.

Sync Cable – A cable that attaches from camera to flash, which does not carry TTL info, just a simple signal to trigger the flash to fire when the shutter button is pressed.

Cheap Radio Triggers – I briefly hit on a “cheap radio trigger” solution. This is actually what I started using when I got into wireless triggers, scored my set for 40 bucks. These are typically no-name devices you can pickup from various websites. Do not carry TTL info, just a signal to trigger, much like a sync cable, just minus the wires.

Additional Notes:

In order for TTL capabilities to work, you’ll need to buy the same brand hot shoe flashes as your camera, they do not intermingle (at least at the time of writing this post). The little white loop you see hanging off of my pocket wizards are just strings I’ve tied to them so I can hang them off light stands.

The video was shot all with my DSLRs, small snippets I filmed between the photographs I took, and edited in Final Cut Pro X.

This gray area are the things I would like to focus on in these sessions, because I feel it’s worth my time to address them. The simple, easy stuff that software vendors spell out on countless websites where you can get a lot of information doesn’t need to be beaten to death one more time by me in a video. Rarely, it also seems that tutorials spell out the BIG things and leave these little gaps that desperately need explanation. You also do not need me giving you a lecture on how important is it to ensure you have backups of every inch of your business, how to interact with your clients, etc. It’s that middle part, and how they come together. So let’s piece this stuff together.

Today we are addressing our raw data archiving. What do we do with all of these stinkin’ pictures when we are all done with them? How do we archive it all away, make it easy to reach again at a moments notice, and how does it maintain it’s integrity?

Important things to note:

The process to export your projects – File > Export > Export project as new library.

After you have completed the export process, you can delete that project out of your main Aperture library, but please double-check before hitting the delete key. Also remember, if you export the project out and then delete it out of your Aperture library, you no longer have a backup. I export my projects off to an external hard drive, and that hard drive has a sister drive that is a replication. This way if one drive fails, I still have my data. A pain in the ass? Yes, but how important are your photos to you?

This is my method of using Aperture to store project files and how I access them. I’ve found this the easiest way to manage my photos. You might use this information to store your projects the same way, but you might also organize your projects (and their subject matter) differently. This all is personal preference. I keep each photo shoot I do in it’s own photo project. Do what you’d like, and depending on your photo workload.

When you import your photo files to Aperture, it imports the RAW, untouched images. HOWEVER, you are never editing the master/original. Edit away without concerns, you are editing an alias of the master.

When you export a project, it tucks everything away into a single, manageable file. It contains all of your raw images, the alias’ with edits, and any adjustments you have made to them.

When you need to access an archived project, you DO NOT have to import the project in to your main Aperture library. Just ensure you have the Aperture application closed, then click on the archived project file to open up Aperture with ONLY that single project in it. This saves a TON of time not having to import it into your main Aperture library. When done accessing an archived Aperture project, close Aperture, then open up your main Aperture library again, and continue on with life.

I was lucky enough to have fellow creatives Andy and Jolaina at the recent commercial shoot I did with one of my regular clients, Whatcom Sound. The pair, both armed with cameras, got some fun footage that I couldn’t toss into the archives without getting a little attention first. This video will give you a good idea of everything we had going on. A lot of the set and lighting was up and ready to go before the cameras were out to capture anything, but you still get to see the bulk of activities during the shoot.

One of the things you might be thinking as you watch the beginning, where we are in a fairly well-lit room, to seeing the photo compilation at the end where everything looks really dark is, “how did they make that bright room look black?” Well, it’s not a fancy photoshop technique, but rather the power of the strobe lighting I’m using. When I expose for the really bright strobe lights, the ambient room light is many times darker, so it doesn’t effect the end photograph, and all you see are the strobes lighting the scene. Pretty cool, right? Well, enjoy the video and the photos at the end! Lots more coming.

[video mp4="http://mattyphotography.com/video/rockerVideo.iphone.mp4" preload="true"]

Oh, and before I forget, here is the sketch I drew up when I thought of this photo concept back-to-back with a photo from the shoot. Drew the idea on paper, six months later came the photo.

Thanks to:
BTS video: Andy & Jolaina
MUA: Dana Miller
Biz: Whatcom Sound

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This is the first of what I hope to be many little video tips I put together. It’s nothing fancy, and I really tried to keep it simple. There are too many people trying to sound smart and/or experience when giving advice, using terms or situations that go right over newer photographer’s heads. The whole point of this video is education, so I try to make it as easy to follow as possible, and speak English in relative terms. When I think I cover material that is not exactly general knowledge, I step you through it or give you some kind of visual.

I was also extremely surprised to see how much misinformation there is floating around out there, especially from folks trying to tell you how to do it, and doing it wrong. Rest assured, the methods I discuss in this video are repeated with other legit professionals that actually know what they are doing.

Enjoy the video, and please leave your questions in the comment block below. I’m sure you are not the only one with questions, and it may help improve the video in the future. Even leave a comment about a short video tip you’d like to see. I really want to see you guys get the right knowledge in your hands and have a fun, easy learning experience. Let me know how I can help!
[video mp4="http://mattyphotography.com/video/2011/dustSpot.mp4" preload="true"]

1. If you suspect dust spots, take test photo (as described in the video).
2. Check problem areas, starting with the front element of the lens.
3. If determined that the sensor is dirty, follow these next steps in order to rid sensor of dust.
4. Remember – always hold the camera body pointing down as much as you can to keep dust from falling in.
5. Use air puffer, then take another test image. If that fails to work, move to brush.
6. Carefully use sensor brush (only brushes designed to do this, don’t go cheap), test with another image.
7. If the problem dirt can’t be brushed, you’ll have to go to the swabs (again, use products designed specifically for this).

Remember to always start with the least invasive methods first. I was able to use just an air puffer on a camera for a couple years before having to touch the sensor with a brush. Only clean the sensor when dust gets noticeable.

Sensor Brush Covered in detail in this video: Arctic Butterfly 788

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE VIDEO

Let me take a step back… The Upfront Theatre, an improv comedy theatre in Bellingham for those who don’t know, has been running a hugely successful show on the weekends of February called “Space Trek.” It’s a play off of Star Trek where the improv artists entertain the audience with a much more loose format that usual, allowing for story and characters to develop over the period of an hour. You never know what you’ll get, as the audience plays a large role in deciding the fate of our brave space explorers. Every show has sold out, and it’s getting top-notch reviews throughout the land. The video I wanted to cut together would be played for the audience right before the Space Trek improv show started. It’d get the audience pumped up and already laughing before the show even started. Enough filler? Ok…

So Stephen and I were off to create this video. Naturally we had a wicked short deadline, so it was going to be quick and dirty, no working around weather, light, or people’s schedules. It was a now-or-never for many aspects of this project, and in the end… it kinda makes things like this that more fun. To be able to say that we shot, cut, and delivered this in less than 48 hours is kinda cool. Of course, I’ve spent the last 24 hours or so just laughing all day while cutting it together. In all, we had about 5 hours in shooting time, and about 9 in editing. To too bad, eh?

More to read below, but first, let me present to you… “Space Trek: The Trailer”

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This presentation prior to the show is a good idea for a couple reasons. It gets both the audience and cast pumped up for the show, the video being an additional point of well-timed inspiration, and hopefully that will spawn better, more fun suggestions from the crowd when they are asked to participate.

We shot all of this with my Canon 7D, using 10-22mm and 70-200mm lenses. Because we were trying to find that feel of both the old and new Star Trek styles, we tried to find a balance between the two, aka cheesy and overdramatized, yet kinda cool. A steadicam was waiting in the wings, but it was never used, as we shot almost everything handheld, and occasionally tossed in some exaggerated camera shake. Three continuous lights and a fogger were used heavily throughout, as you can tell… the fog gave us the light beams and intensified the lens flares (a popular theme in the newer Star Trek film). We shot this all at one location in about 5 hours.

We did establish the main idea for each shot with lighting and such, but everything the actors did after the word “action” was completely improvised. I just hit the record button and watched the antics unfold before the lens, occasionally working the camera into the lights for all the flares. It was shot VERY loosely. There were points where I rolled the camera for more than 3 minutes, the improv artists doing what they do best and just building a story as filmed. It’s a good thing that we didn’t need any sound from the footage cause I’m laughing in most of it.

A huge thanks goes to Michael Watters, who very generously provided us a filming space as well as any needed prop. Stephen Edwards, Morgan Grobe, Kris Erickson, Jen Warwick, Rosemary Guarino, Tim Greger – the cast who donated their time for this project, thanks a bunch, you guys are so good at what you do. Thanks to Andrew Lahmann and Alida Hammond for the extra hand and wrangling resources. Thanks to Kent Loomer and Jordan Donovan for donating equipment. And thanks to Alida for the pizza, it was delicious.

The video is premiering tonight (Thursday) as a teaser for the show’s final weekend run in February.

That’s all I got for now, I might post up some extra goodies later, maybe some bloopers.