[Reminder: Since each of my staff are experts in their own right, you’ll be seeing more and more posts from these talented people in weeks and months to come. Today, Erik–our video guru–takes you on a ride down the HDdSLR road to extol yet another reason he loves this cool new format. (It also is a pretty fun recall of some fun behind-the-scenes moments from 2010.) Take it away Erik…]
My interest in becoming a filmmaker started back in high school, when the only way I knew how to create visual art was with a still camera. I went to film school to learn how to make my pictures move. Now 7 years later I find myself making films with a camera that’s a tenth the size of the cameras I learned on. And the first thing that popped into my head for my guest post was to talk about an aspect of my job that I quite like: DLSRs that shoot video.
I can talk to no end about the pros and cons of the format, but I’d much rather share one simple thing that makes them so special to me: the moment when I remember that the video camera in my hands is also a badass still camera.
Much of the sentiment in our blog here is that photographers are very fortunate to have amazing video capabilities built in to their cameras. I’m here to tell you that it goes both ways. As a filmmaker I couldn’t be more excited about the instant access I have to a quality still camera every day I show up to shoot video at work. To illustrate the point, here are some behind the scenes images that I’ve captured this year that were only made possible by the fact that my camera is such a strong switch hitter.
Chase & Director of Photography Chris Bell in Telluride.
10 more still photos from our 2010 adventures that were made possible because I was shooting a HDSLR after the jump…
Chase showing some love.
Norton rocking the slate during our video profile of Soren Sorensen for Russell Investments. (Click the photo for the movie)
Mercer Island, en route to San Diego for our “12 Tasty Video + Photo Tips” shoot (Click the photo for the movie)
Chase composing his frame.
San Diego
Springtime in Telluride.
Chase laying out the image order for the Seattle 100 book.
Scott at the Jarvis cabin on Camano Island.
Kate driving the “Ride the Ducks” tour boat/vehicle thing on her birthday.
The view from the Ace Hotel NYC before Chase’s Photo Plus keynote presentation.
Waiting for the perfect light in Oahu.
Shooting Light.
An impromptu creative meeting with Scott (left) and Chase (right).
Happy holidays! And don’t forget your fancy new video camera also shoots stills…
Looking forward to going the opposite direction and learning more video with my new camera. It will be a challenge since I am drawn to the silent split second.
dang. my photography has been beaten by a filmmaker. amazing behind the scenes photos.
Wonderful photographs, I want to be as talented! 🙂
Cool quote! “I can talk to no end about the pros and cons of the format, but I’d much rather share one simple thing that makes them so special to me: the moment when I remember that the video camera in my hands is also a badass still camera.”
And too, you can do both at the same time!!
A DIY 9Shooter: Shooting Stills & Video Simultaneously & Audio Too!
http://www.diyphotography.net/a-diy-9shooter-shooting-stills-video-simultaneously-audio-too
“The post below shows a simple way to capture video while taking still pictures. Sure, there is some added weight and yea, video will not get a dedicated person and will just “follow along”, yet, this is a neat way to achieve video with just one person shooting, This is also a great instructional tool for yourself to see how you interact with your model, what things work and what makes them shrink.
There are two versions for this mod – a dueler which mounts a DSLR with a video camera and a 9Shooter that also has sound attached.”
These are all really well composed and made shots. I know you said that you started as a still photog because it was the only way you knew how to create visual art until you learned to do video. Did the photography naturally lead to the video pursuit, or was it something that you did because you couldn’t do the video yet?
Thanks Joseph. My pursuit of filmmaking vs photography was almost a coin toss for me. I have a lot of passion for photography, but I’m a movie geek at heart. When it came time to go to college, I figured that film school would make me a better photographer, but going to school for photography wouldn’t necessarily ever lead me to filmmaking. Kind of ironic now when you look at this HDSLR boom and the convergence of film and photography that’s going on (Chase’s success definitely contradicts my previous belief). So anyway, I applied to one film school and got in, so that was that. Good times.