Upgrade Time

15 May

I’m sorry, I have been away again for a while, hopefully it won’t happen again.  Anyway, in the time since I have last posted, I have realised that I need to upgrade my computer soon.  It’s sad as well as unfortunate.  I currently have a 1st generation Mac Pro (4-core) but it is slowly dying; it’s getting slower, it is starting to crash.  Things are going wrong, and some of it is down to the fact it needed a new heart (processor) about a year ago but it is now just wearing out.  I have had a look on the net for a processor upgrade, which will be pricy but it means keeping this computer, which I love.  The other way I can go is to get a new one.  I am caught between two models: the Mac Mini and MacBook Pro.  Before you say anything, I already know what the Mac Mini “lacks” when coming to video editing, but the amount you can increase the performance of computers these days, you can hardly notice.  As for the MacBook Pro, I love them and you can get an obesely powerful one that would do the job, but I have always liked desktop editing.  So I’m stuck at the moment.  I dont want an iMac, I can’t afford a new Mac Pro so my options are few…

If you can help me at all I would appreciate it.  If you are a Mini user, let me know of the pros and cons and so on.

Also while I’m here I’ll give you a breif update of things to look out for on here: I’m shooting video for Sainsbury’s next week, a graphic design exbo in Brick Lane the week after and then either a music video or a day in the studio with two bands I know.

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Formula 1 British Grand Prix 2011

22 Mar

Friday Practice

With the new Formula 1 2012 season kicking off to an awesome start, with McLaren drivers Jenson Button winning and Lewis Hamilton coming third, I thought it was now a good time to post the best of the British GP’s friday practice from last year – I know, it’s very late!  Anyway all the pictures were taken on a Nikon D90 with an 80-400mm F4.5-5.6 Nikkor lens, which was awesome!  It was quite tricky getting the shots, first of all because of the sideways rain that kept sweeping in and also because the cars are moving at around 150mph!  I started off capturing them at around 1/250 of a second, but I then pushed my self getting it down to 1/125, which got the car in focus with awesome motion blur around it.  I am thoroughly looking forward to this years race.  In the mean while enjoy my pictures and also Com’on McLaren!

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Long Time Away!

22 Mar

Hello everyone and sorry for me not being here the last couple of weeks or even months!  I have been swamped with work and it has all been taking my time up and not leacving me any time to talk to you dear readers, but worry not, as I now have TIME!  I still have a bunch of work coming up, some projects more interesting than others but you shall all see those in good time.  Farewell for now, and we shall talk very soon!

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Long Time Coming… My First Timelapse

9 Feb

As is popular today, I have had an attempt at shooting timelapse photography.  I haven’t just had one attempt from the most stunning angle of The Shard, I have had to pick through each test I did and learn from my mistakes.  I had a few attempts, very short and simple, getting used to the right exposure and time between shots, but none of them were what I called ‘true’ attempts and most were diabolical, but this one was good.
Simple enough: Nikon D90 (using Apple’s “Image Capture” as the intervalometer), Control Freak LensBaby and a tripod.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m exhausted or because I’m distracted my the movie I’m watching, but I can’t think of anything more to write… so here it is.

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Burst of Flames: Video

2 Feb

I said I would post this video, and I have.  I have to say I am really really pleased with it.  There are a few slight abnormalities in the footage, but on the whole it came out really well. It’s also unfortunate that I only had four good shots to work with, but that’s not a huge issue as we have already arranged another shoot with hopefully dual cameras to of course get more shot and angles… I’ve got a good vision for the next one.  So look forward to that one.  In the mean time here is my first time using Twixtor and my first time filming fire breathing.

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Burst of Flames

27 Jan

Last week I had a fun time developing my skills further within filmmaking by filming some firebreathing!  Mentioned quite a few times in this blog, John MacDonald, is a bit of a luanatic and breaths fire…as a hobby, which is crazy but it is great if that person has film making friends who want to film him.  So I stepped in…

It was a simple shoot; Canon 550D set up shooting at 720p at 50fps.  I was using a Nikon Nikkor 28mm f2.8, which the majority was shot on and the standard Canon 18-55mm f3.5-5.6.  The struggle I had filming was exposure; it is pitch black and then all of a sudden a huge ball of light erupts and then your shot is over exposed, but I managed to find the setting that got it and if I remember correctly it was roughly f5.6-f8, ISO 400 with the shutter speed around 125.  SO once I found the ballance we set off, with me getting almost stupidly close to the flames to get a good shot and with John burning his hands and mouth.  I will be posting the video later today after I have used Twixtor to its full potential.

One last thing, as we were testing the exposure and John was having some trial breaths, I managed to snap a picture on my D90…

fire breath

…deffinatly one for the portfolio.  Keep reading.

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White Ice Media: ONLINE

5 Jan

My production company has seen its fare share of work in the past, but for a long time it has had no website.  The last few hours of this day has been dedicated to finally making it live, so here it is.

www.whiteicemedia.co.uk

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Canon XC-3F Concept

5 Jan

Canon’s First Full-frame “Unofficial” Pro Video Camcorder: XC-3F

With the release of Sony’s PMW-F3K and PMW-F3L full frame camcorders, I immediately had an interest, but also raised a question as to where is Canon’s alternative? I’ve wanted to post this article for a while, but haven’t got round to it, and in the mean time, more camera companies have put full frame chips into their products…but still none from Canon.  There is the C300, but that is still a CMOS sensor not a CCD, so it still suffers from rolling shutter.

For a long time, Canon have sat up high with the 5D Mark II, bringing a new dimension to filmmaking by using a DSLR. This allowed videographers to achieve the ‘cinematic look’, with soft focus or depth of field. It was the first DSLR witha full frame sensor that shoots video, which made it immediately popular to the film industry.

Now I personally have never fully given myself over to shooting on a DSLR, I still like the control and practicality of Pro Video camcorders. Despite not all my heart being with them, I do really like using them, mainly for the fact of getting the DoF, as greatly as you can. But because I still prefer using camcorders, I have been waiting for the day that you can achieve the ‘cinematic’ look with using a DLSR or lens mount adapter. I want more full-frame camcorders, but more specifically, I want one from Canon.

The technology is there. Canon proved it with the 5D, and then Sony have proved it with the PMW-F3 and Panasonic even have achieved it with the AF100. It is the simplicity behind it to achieve such a good look that us filmmakers want. Creating an affordable full-frame camcorder will give smaller independent companies and even amateurs a much better starting ground for production on films. I’m sure that more features would have been shot on the 5D if it had been more practical, more like the Sony EX3.

Now I can’t go around saying I had this idea first, I didn’t (I had the idea, then saw someone had done it first). Now I didn’t copy this chap, but Phillip Johnston from HD Warrior had a similar article, and it’s probably easier to read! He has got a bunch of interesting stuff on the website, so do have a look.

http://www.hdwarrior.co.uk/2009/09/07/conceptual-film-like-canon-35f/

http://www.hdwarrior.co.uk/2009/04/12/canon-have-it-in-their-powercanon-cf35/

Right so there it all is in black and white, Canon just need to make it now.

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First Ever HDR Photo

4 Jan

HDR photography is all the rave at the moment, so I had me a go at it.  And here it is, sweet and simple, done with a picture of my home cathedral.  The three exposures were changed by the shutter speed and then merged using Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro plugin.  Going to take a lot more like this and hopefully video too.

hdr compare

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Nikon Video: Chelmsford River

25 Dec

I know, it’s Christmas day and I should be spending time being festive with the family, but I really wanted to get this video out.  The other day I went to London with some friends and family but before I traveled there I took a scenic route up the River Chelmer, and my Nikon D90 was close to hand to capture it all.
The D90 video is great, but is no way near to Canon’s video standards of today, but I still think it is an amazing camera, and this video shows that it is capable of quality video.  Some of the video is a little shaky but thats because I was shooting on non VR (vibration reduction) lenses, but with a little help on some shots from a stabilisation tool, everything is fine!  So here is a little Christmas gift to you all, a short Nikon video from me – Merry Christmas.

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