PHOTO TIPS for DAYS - #cjRAW 09 is Here!

Photo geeks — this one’s for you.

Yes the new #cjRAW series covers a lot of territory — from how I taught myself French, why I’ve come together with a bunch of people to build CreativeLive, to why I meditate, to my morning routine and everything in between…but I’m also aiming to maintain the soul from which this series was originally born… and that’s photography. #NeverForget LOL

I’ve already dropped episodes featuring shooting in wet weather, and my religion around good ways not to break your lenses. But apparently your appetite for photo is insatiable and you’ve asked for more photography and filmmaking geekery. So, in your honor, I today drop episode which brings you 3 CRITICAL TIPS from recent work on location in Turkey.

1. Memory Card Management

While on location, your filled memory cards are gold, right? They hold all the goods. And if you’re anything but a rank beginner, you’ve got more than 1 of those pesky cards…in fact I bet you’ve got lots of them. Though we ALWAYS like to keep the shot cards VERY separate from the fresh ones, things sometimes get a little chaotic. So many of you asked what I do in these instances. My answer is simple. I build systems for dealing with cards and data… and the most basic of these systems is something you can use immediately…starting today. Short cut = there are lots of ways… from using gaffer tape to mark shot cards, to keeping them in their own special place away from everything else… but here’s something that works in a pinch = always keep shot cards (ie do NOT use or reformat) FACE DOWN in any card wallet or card storage device. That’s the basics, but watch the video above for a few more details.

2. Never Miss a Sunrise/Sunset

The weather app on your iPhone will tell you when “sunrise” or “sunset” will happen on any given day, but that’s really generic relative to any particular location when you’ve got hills and trees and any number of things to contend with… A scouting trip will go a long way to understand light at a location, but hundreds of you have asked me over the years how do I know exactly when the magic light will come and go. My answer, it’s easy. I cheat. I use technology.

You guessed it – there’s an app for that. I absolutely LOVE Sunseeker app, which will give you an augmented reality view of your location matched to the exact path of the sun at that spot. It’s genius and well worth the small amount of $. It saved my ass here and a zillion other times. There are other apps that do this, but SunSeeker is the one I use and trust.

3. Why Shoot 4K

4K is becoming more ubiquitous and more affordable every day. The latest version of GoPro Hero 3+ and 4, DSLRs like the Panasonic GH4 or even the latest iPhone have 4K capability. Sure there are reasons NOT to shoot it (cost, file size, who has 4k TV’s?), but there are more reasons now that ever before to embrace it – and my favorite of which is DEAD SIMPLE. The resolution give you the ability to crop or reframe a shot in post. This comes in handy a lot, especially for interviews and punching in a a subject. If you tried to scale an basic HD shot, the image may not hold up and you’ll start seeing grain. But with 4K, you can reframe a standard 1920×1080 HD shot with plenty of resolution to spare. Trust me. You’ll thank me later.

So that’s a wrap for you photo geeks. I’m always happen to appease requests for the #cjRAW series – in fact it’s you requests that are driving the content of each epsiode. So enjoy this one, don’t forget to step out of your comfort zone and watch the episodes BEYOND photography…and keep asking in the comments below, Facebook (have you seriously not liked me yet?), YouTube (subscribe for the goodness) or wherever for exactly what you want to see, and I’ll do my best to deliver.