Capturing Autumn (part 1)

This will be a series of posts acting as a videography diary for my latest personal project which is out filming Autumn in Surrey.

North Downs Way (Ranmore, Surrey)

This time of the year is my absolute favorite. There's a chill in the air, leaves turn stunning tones of oranges, reds and browns, hidden spider webs become visible in the morning dew. Autumn bring a series of treats from the first frost, harvest festival, Halloween and fireworks night, most of which I'll try to capture over the coming weeks as the night draws closer.

Rainbow after a passing storm

I made my first seasonal video back in Jan/Feb called 'Quiet Sunshine', I loved being out with just my camera and me. It was silent and still as I crept around the pond, capturing the life in the Winter. This was also one of the first videos I made with my new videography kit; Canon 5D mkIII, Samyang 14, 35, 85mm cine lens, Manfrotto 755CX-3 carbon fibre tripod and MHV-500AH video head. It's the ultimate in quick, steady shooting with a beautiful image from Samyang's top quality glass.

This ethos of simplicity while filming is aided greatly by wise equipment choices, good planning and being inspired. Taking a little time to research the sunset and weather, the locations you're going to visit, and checking out other creatives work all contribute to the story that is composed and told through the video. For me, my Manfrotto tripods, video heads, bags and lights give me the flexibility to film in a variety of scenarios without needing a set of heavy legs.

Filming the sunset.

Kit of choice for one afternoon's filming

The above pic shows how simple my setup was:

• Canon 5D mkIII (Technicolor Cinestyle picture profile).
• Tamron 24-70mm
• Sigma 70-200mm
• Canon 100mm macro
• Samyang 14mm cine
• Manfrotto 055ProB tripod
• Manfrotto 701HDV head
• Pro Media Gear dual arc slider
• ND filters
• Manfrotto SPECTRA 900FT LED light (just in case).

Some macro shots of fungi!

I never go out with an idea of what the final edit will look like, or what I'm distinctly looking for, apart from to give the audience of the video the experience of what it's like to be in the scene. The story is a visual meditation, taking you on a journey. Ron Fricke has mastered this art through his films 'Baraka' and 'Samsara'.

"Give your audience something new, something they perhaps haven't seen, heard, felt or experienced before. Put them in the scene and give them an immersive experience."

I don't think many viewers of the video would have been in a World War II Pill Box.. So I gave them that experience! It had also started to pour with rain when we arrived at North Downs Way, so the dug out shelter provided ample protection from the elements!

The little details of the changing seasons are what we have as memories of autumn. The turning of the leaves and crunch they make as you step on them. The glorious colours of sunset silhouetting the trees! Shooting with the Cinestyle picture profile allows me to capture the video with an extended DR, that I can then manipulate and restore the details in the shadows and highlights when grading in post. This really pops the colours.

If you're out walking, or somewhere new, stray off the path and discover something new. It's a tactic I use when I'm out, it's how I find 'interesting' things to shoot!

Sunset, white balance of 5800K; golden orange tones.

When I am out shooting, there aren't set rules that I follow as every scenario will be different; indoors or outdoors, subjects will vary and so will the kit you choose to use. I do however make sure I correctly set the following:

• White balance/colour temperature.
• The image is level with the horizon line (more so for landscape, unless artistically intended).
• Sound being recorded with a mic, and that it is ON, with the sound level set appropriate to the environment.
• Shutter speed set to 1/50th (on DSLR).
• The shot must show me something new, with framing and composition telling the next part of the story.
• Am I using an appropriate aperture?

The last one about 'appropriate aperture' is more due to the variety of shots you want to capture. For example: intimate portrait with a wide aperture (F/2.8) vs large landscape with narrow aperture (F/16). Yes, shooting as wide as possible (T/1.5 is the widest I can shoot) produces incredible bokeh, extremely shallow depth of field for intimacy and can keep you shooting in darker scenarios.. But it can also produce softening at the edges (lens dependent), and may not fit the subject; a row of trees, a crowd of ravers. On the other hand, shooting with a deep depth of field (F/11 +) of a babies fingers or the dew on a spiders web does not isolate the subject, makes the image darker and sometimes produces vignetting (lens dependent).

My point being: It is subjective. There is no right answer. Find the right aperture to expose the shot as you wish, using the depth of field to move the viewers attention through the frame.

To summarize, by checking those above points, you'll save a lot of time and work later!

Taken on the North Downs Way, Ranmore, Surrey by Adam Plowden on Canon 5D mkIII and Tamron 24-70.

Winkworth Arboretum (Godalming, Surrey)

I've been wanting to visit Winkworth for months now, originally purchased by Dr Fox in the 20th Century, it is home to over 1000 trees and plant species created to 'paint a picture' of the landscape. The dream of Dr Fox lives on to the hundreds of visitors of all ages through the National Trust who were very accommodating during my days visit.

It was my first time at the arboretum, so while I was discovering the beauty of the location I also snapped up plenty of autumnal shots. My kit list varied to what I used at the North Downs Way, but I still used my trusty Manfrotto 055 ProB tripod, 701HDV head and Pro Backpack50! It's so versatile, and trust me, you really can fit everything in this bag for videography!

APV setup: 5D mkIII with Sigma 70-200 on Manfrotto 055ProB, Pro Media Gear dual arc slider, 701HDV head, Roto-mic and Manfrotto Pro Backpack50. And Peak Design strap!

I wasn't surprised at the number of photographers in the arboretum, the foliage from the range of trees was stunning, a mix of still turning greens, oranges, deep reds.

Beautiful day to be out with the camera!

Acer is my favorite species of tree because of its delicate and intricate leaves and branch structure, it has very unique leaf colours that dramatically change throughout the seasons too.

My favorite!

It was a pleasure strolling around the massive arboretum. I was up for filming anything I liked, I had my Manfrotto Pro Backpack50 filled with my favourite lenses to shoot nature with. The Canon L series 100mm F/2.8 macro lens has been gratefully welcomed into the collection, it definitely being my favorite lens! It has the intimacy and clarity I like to capture, getting the details.

Stunning colours and light, beaming through the trees.

My larger go to kit setup!

The above photo I think captures the essence of my work; simple, unique adaptive.. The ability to move the camera using the Pro Media Gear dual arc slider gives the ability to move and orientate around the subject, in the above case around the trunk of a tree, showing the array of interconnected branches and leaves.

For a number of these shots I would have been using the 14mm cine lens, at around T/11 to T/16, so that I could expose both the darker branches and the bright light bursting through the leaves.

Abundant autumnal foliage scattered the landscapes hillsides.

For photographers and videographers I would definitely recommend a trip to Winkworth. It offers a unique view into nature throughout the seasons, walk freely through the meadows or copses capturing the beauty of nature.

Thanks to the National Trust for upkeeping the arboretum and the volunteers that maintain the site, as well as Manfrotto for their continued support! Get out there and film the lip-chapping mornings, or fireworks night that is coming up soon. It's a stunning time of year, go capture it!

The autumn video is currently in post production, and I am collaborating with Tristan Noon, a composer to produce the soundtrack to accompany the visuals. I'll post up part 2 of the the autumn filming blog when the editing is complete, and the video uploaded!

Filming on the North Downs Way

Surrey North Downs Way, Adam Plowden Videography

I've been waiting for a clear skied afternoon to film some autumn material for another personal project. Heading for the open North Downs Way, accompanied by the 5D mkIII, Tamron 24-70, Sigma 70-200, Samyang 14mm, Canon 100mm, Manfrotto 055 tripods and 701 head on the Pro Media Gear Dual-arc slider.

The video is to come very soon, I want to go out and shoot some more in the early morning!

Filming and editing the Soundbox opening video!

I thought I'd give you an insight into the production of my latest video release; the Soundbox studio opening!

The event took place before the summer, and I took along Sam to help me out with the gear and eat delicious cupcakes! We arrived with about an hour prior to the opening so I could capture some of the establishing shots and BTS of the final touches to the studio.

I had my standard video setup with me:

5D mkIII, Tamron 24-70, Sigma 70-200, Samyang 14, 35, 85.

Zoom H6, Roto-mic.

I also used the new Manfrotto Spectra LED lights, the bi-colour model is fantastic for a kick of soft light that can be easily controlled to daylight and tungsten colour temperature.

For the grip I had my trusty Manfrotto 755CX-3 and MVH-500AH as it is lightweight and easily maneuverable around small spaces, as well as the Manfrotto 681B monopod and MH054 ball head, Edelkrone slider plus and flycam nano.

Construction and tidying up was still under way when we arrived, so I captured some of the nerves and excitement leading up to the big launch. For the establishing shots I used the Edelkrone slider on the Manfrotto tripod, combined with the 14mm cine lens it gives a great moving perspective and shows off the space very well.

Natural light conditions

It was quite dark in the studio, so I struggled with aperture vs exposure and often shot very shallow to retain light. The beauty of the 35mm and 85mm cine lenses is that at T/1.5 they are extremely sharp and great for low light, however without image stabilization a tripod is recommended. I always have my 'go to' lenses on hand as they have good IS and are zoom, so for more run and gun style shooting it suits it much better than needing the time to set up and compose a shot.

The monopod became more useful when the eager visitors began arriving, and after a short and sweet speech, Matt and Jack opened Soundbox to the public!

I captured the buzz and excitement of the event, you could feel the anticipation in the air to see the hard work all finished! I worked with the 5D on the monopod and tripod for most of the time, and occasionally used the Flycam Nano for some moving shots through the studio. I did have to balance the camera and lens when I arrived, as it was set up for a different body when I last used it..

One important skill that I've learned is to become invisible to the guests at the event, or if that tactic doesn't work, being a photographer is a good one too! Acting professional and friendly keeps your subjects in a relaxed and candid manor, rather than adjusting their clothes, posing or avoiding the camera all together. If your subject can feel your good aura, they should respond positively :)

The lead artist of Soundbox is Rebecca James, who was there to perform and support the launch of the studio too! She belted out some great numbers, accompanied by a group of ace musicians on bass, electric guitar and percussion. The track in the background of the video is Rebecca's new one, and will be on her upcoming EP!

Slow mo

As you've probably noticed, I shot a large majority of the event in 50fps (slow motion).. This was purely a creative decision on the day, and also a chance to work in a different format presents it's own set of challenges to overcome.

Now, on the 5D mkIII it will record 1080p 25fps and 720p 50fps. When recording in 50fps the picture appears much softer, and a little darker too due to the shutter speed reduction. In an already darkly lit location, either shooting shallow or with a high ISO were my options as I don't like using a light on camera.

You can push the 5D mkIII very far with it's ISO in video mode, and I often shoot at ISO 2000 and above in certain circumstances.

Gear

Shooting with the Manfrotto gear made me discreet in my filming approach, and provided me with perfect grip and stability for capturing the video. I could rest easy also knowing I stored by camera gear in the Pro Backpack50, so if anything happened to it; kicked dropped, moved, liquid spillage.. My gear is safe.

Post

Backing up the footage happened pretty much immediately after the shoot, onto both drives in my work station and a couple of EHD's. Then, in Premiere Pro I imported the footage, and split up the 25p and 50p into separate sequences so the slow mo footage can be slowed down to the right playback rate.

After cutting down the rushes to the best content, I imported the audio track which Matt from the studio sent over. It's Rebecca James' new track '1000 Roses', which will be on her new EP. To add to the rhythm and pace of the edit, I used the beat and some surprising cuts with the track, and adding in the slow mo shots of Rebecca's performance and the band playing looked good I thought!

Anyways, I added an S curve to an adjustment layer over the whole of the sequence, which limited the black level at 16 and the white at 235. This added a neutrality and a different look I was eager to try out.

So, what are your thoughts? Got any questions about the production? Hope you enjoyed this post!

IBC Show 2014 Roundup!

What a week it was! There was no doubts we would be busy filming and editing videos for The IABM to release, but not on the scale we anticipated! Overall, Adam Plowden Videography captured and produced at least 8-10 videos each day, an incredible 6 times more video content delivered in one week than previously in the whole of 2013!

I did include a run-down of my kit choices before I left, but here is a quick summary of my chosen equipment to capture the IBC Show:

Manfrotto 546GB twin leg tripod with a 504HD head (A Cam).

Canon 5D mkIII, Tamron 24-70mm, Sigma 70-200mm, Samyang 14mm, 35mm, 85mm, Canon 100mm L.

Manfrotto 755CX3G tripod with a MVH500AH head (B Cam).

Canon 60D, Tamron 17-50mm, Canon 50mm.

Manfrotto Hydra Arm and super clamp.

Zoom H6, Sennheiser ENG-G3 RxTx kit, Roto-mic.

(This is the kit we took each day to film with!)

I had to have the above tripod gear after testing them out at my Manfrotto Takeover day, I was impressed by the fluidity of the 504 head when using it with telephoto lenses (as you can see above), however for lightweight, portable and quick 'run and gun' filming, the 755CX3G is a cracking go to set of legs. (Pictured above with the ProMediaGear Arc-Slider) and 701HDV head.

My main camera was: Canon 5D mkIII, and I was frequently using the Tamron 24-70 F/2.8 VC and Sigma 70-200 F/2.8 DC OS for 'go to' lenses around the show. They have a stabilizer in the lens, which means that shake and wobble can be eliminated. I also purchased the Canon 100mm F/2.8L macro lens before the trip for detail shots, but I fell in love with it for capturing everything; crisp and beautifully shallow portraits too.

For establishing and wide shots, the Samyang 14mm T/3.1 cine lens came into it's own. On a full frame camera it has a huge wide angle view allowing to capture the biggest of expanses with clarity.

Day 2 - Thursday 11th September - Welcome to IBC

Things are gearing up at the RAI; exhibitors are flooding through the doors, the stands are quickly being finished and the equipment is on display. IBC Show 2014 is getting ready to open its doors to 50,000 broadcasting, media and IT professionals from across the globe. We began filming the exterior the the RAI with visitors entering the venue and registering in the main foyer; the arc slider and 14mm lens create a wonderful moving perspective. After a short explore around hall 10 and 11 we made our way to The IABM Members Lounge to film an exclusive interview with Peter White, CEO of The IABM.

The IABM is a global broadcasting organization, representing nearly 80% of the broadcasting industry. The members have access to an exclusive members lounge, the IABM business conference, design & innovation awards and much more. It was our job to capture the events, conferences and members at IBC to promote and inform others about the successes at the show. For the interview, I used the Canon 5D mkIII, Tamron 24-70mm, the B cam was a Canon 60D with Canon 50mm F/1.8. For a reliable audio source I used the Zoom H6 (multi-channel recorder) with the MS mic attachment, as well as the Sennheiser ENG-G3 wireless mic kit; this was so I could attach a lav mic on the interviewees for clear sound.

Yes, this did mean throughout the week we had different video and audio sources, but Red Giant Pluraleyes aided greatly in syncing up the V&A for editing in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6.

Editing the IBC Intro video with Peter White on my laptop, yes, Windows laptop!

After capturing the buzz and excitement of pre-IBC, we headed back to our hotel to edit the intro video for the IABM members to see. The editing was fast, but the uploading was terrible via Wi-Fi, having learned our lesson, we uploaded the rest of the videos in the press room at IBC instead! Unfortunately, the video is only viewable for IABM members, so here is a quick screenshot.

Later on, we ventured out into the city of Amsterdam. It was Glen's first time, so I look him for a tour around the sights.

Day 3 - Friday 12th September - IABM Business Conference 'The Future of Broadcasting' and member interviews.

It was an early start on Friday, we arrived at the RAI for the IABM business conference at 6:45am to set up and capture the members breakfast, the conference and the post networking before the show got underway that day. For added motion, I used the ProMediaGear Arc-slider for some of the opening shots, but the main conference was shot on 3 static cameras.

For a mid shot of the speaker, I shot on the Sigma 70-200mm, and for a wide I used the 60D with the 17-50mm. Glen was filming from the front for a reverse angle on the 60D and Canon 100m L, which captured some stunning reaction shots of the attendees in low light. Unfortunately, this video is only available to watch for IABM members.

As our responsibility was to capture and edit videos for a same day or next day release, our two man filming team split so that Glen could begin ingesting, backing up and editing the conference video while I went out into the show and interviewed a number of IABM members. This turned out to be a godsend tactic to release a stream of high quality videos each day. It was, however, difficult to keep track of all the media from SD and CF cards...

That day, I filmed interviews with Georacing, Harmonic, Nexidia that we edited out for same day release:

I then jetted off to The IABM stand to meet the new winners of the Student award from The IABM (I won last year), to capture some interviews with them about their study and what they are looking forward to at IBC!

Day 4 - Design & Innovation Awards and member interviews

We were already half way through our IBC experience when Saturday struck, after a successful few days of filming and editing we geared ourselves up for a long day ahead. The day begun with a selection of IABM member interviews from around the show, including; Blackmagic Design, Avid, Newtek, Sony and many more. If you have been to IBC or NAB before you'll know how long it takes to get from one place to another, but with video kit it was a challenge to navigate around the thousands of people at the show!

I had a great time at the Sony booth, interviewing Peter Sykes about the new innovations; camera, 4K transmission, projectors, storage devices. They can be seen here:

I was intrigued by the Sony A7s, a full frame SLR with great low light and DR features.. There was lots of hype around the camera, and I had noticed a lot of the News Shooter guys using them with Atomos Ninja/Blade recorders (we were working next to Dan Chung and News Shooter in the press room), they rated it very well in a variety of conditions and shooting styles.

Bad luck struck on Saturday afternoon... My Canon 60D and 14mm cine lens was capturing a timelapse when it was moved/taken/stolen from where I left it.. Knowing that this would impact the video production of the D&I awards I quickly got help from RAI security to try and locate it. No luck, so later on that afternoon I borrowed a camera from an IABM member to capture a static wide shot of the awards ceremony. Luckily, when I arrived home I got a call from the RAI security who informed me they had found my camera!

We then got set up and prepared for The IABM Design and Innovation Awards 2014, celebrating and awarding outstanding technical developments in the broadcasting and media industry. Before IBC I edited and produced the 9 nominee category videos and graphics presented throughout the awards. Using the same setup as the IABM conference (A cam - Tele, B cam - wide, C cam - reactions) we captured the night in full, showing the excitement and buzz around winning the awards. I got to have a quick chat with some of the winner companies too!

I edited together the highlights of the IABM Design and Innovation Awards, which can be viewed here -

The individual winner interviews can be viewed here:

Systems - VidiGo

Testing - Cube-tec

Storage - Ardis

Post Production - Quantel

Playout - Elemental Technologies

Content + Infrastructure - NTT Electronics

Audio - Sennheiser

Acquisition + Production - Trimaran

The realities of working 12-14 hour days were catching up with us when we returned to our hotel to ingest and back up the footage. Finally, but 1:30am on Sunday all of the footage was synced and ready to be edited. At that point, we both thought its time to call it a day.

Day 5 - Delivering D&I Award Videos and member interviews

By Sunday, the main haul of event capture had been completed, with the remaining tasks being mainly interviews with members around the IBC show. As our editing 'system' had worked so well previously, Glen stayed in the press room using both our laptops to edit, export and upload the winner videos from the awards while I conducted interviews with more exhibitors and IBC members.

I had a great time at the Atomos booth interviewing Jeromy the CEO about the new Shogun for 4K recording and the power pack!

Atomos Interview -

Later that day I bumped into Joe, my old uni housemate  who was visiting the show for a day. Later, Glen and myself went for Mexican for dinner and met up with our hotel receptionist, Klaudija for a few drinks in Vondelpark!

At this point, I was completely over my missing 60D and the tiredness. Visiting IBC and Amsterdam for work is a very rare opportunity, so we plowed through and continued to produce great day by day coverage of the show for The IABM. Glen, bless him saw less and less daylight each day!

Day 5 - Rising Stars and more member interviews

Arriving at IBC a little later than usual, Glen and myself parked up the the press area and set up the laptops to upload the previous days interviews to vimeo. Before we headed out to Steve Warners talk at Rising Stars I bumped into Nino Leitner who was off to Photokina that afternoon, so I grabbed a quick pic! Nino had been very busy with Cinema 5D coverage of the show producing their 'On The Couch' series with Philip Bloom, HaZ Dullul and more.

At this point, we had captured around 350Gb of video footage and delivered numerous interviews and event videos for The IABM, they were very pleased! We headed over to The Rising Stars lounge; a part of the show dedicated to young professionals in the industry where Steve Warner (training manager of The IABM) was doing a talk on CV's and representing yourself. Even for me, it was quite interesting to hear what recruiters actually look out for and research!

Catch the full video here -

The team then split so I could conduct some interviews with The IABM student award winners, and with a couple more members for The IABM annual conference in December. It was a short and sweet day; shooting multi-cam on talks and conferences made editing fairly straight forward so we were able to deliver the videos pretty much on the same day. Glen did an awesome job and editing videos out quickly. while I was filming more content!

Day 6 - Last interviews

Day 6 was our opportunity to capture the last interview and glimpse of the show until next year. As we were interviewing members and covering events, we didn't get to see that much of the show itself, but made time to visit some cool stands before we left on Tuesday afternoon.

We visited the Ross Video stand, to interview Pete Ross for The IABM annual conference, it was interesting to hear about how the company developed the first vision mixers and lead the way for broadcast production throughout the 20th century, definitely worth recognition.

Well, what an incredible time it has been.. We captured over 400Gb of footage and audio, combined with hours of graphics produced before the show. We delivered (and are continuing to deliver) over 55 videos online for The IABM. What a show, what a success! My huge thanks go to the other half of the team, Glen Symes for his help and dedication to getting the videos out, and dealing with my stresses of production and post throughout! Also thanks to The IABM for giving me the opportunity to cover The IBC Show 2014 for you.

Ooh, I almost forgot I stopped by the Vitec Videocom stand to say hi to the Manfrotto reps and return the tripods and grip we borrowed for filming. While we were there I asked Sofia for a short piece to camera on the new Manfrotto tripods and kit; I was over the moon to hear a new follow focus has been developed to go with the SYMPLA rig!

Check out the video with Manfrotto here -

I've met up with old friends, and made many new ones. My experience has been overwhelming this year, now I cannot wait to do it all again at The IABM Annual Conference and hopefully IBC 2015! If you have any questions about how we produced the videos, or IBC then drop me a tweet @Plowman91 or comment!

I'm still editing and uploading more videos, so keep updated by checking out The IABM website for more videos and content, and I will have an IBC 2014 wrap up video coming soon. UNTIL NEXT YEAR!

Summer Update!

It has been a very wild summer for me, lots of productions and shooting and plenty of editing! Going back to the end of July/beginning of August, I was deep into the wedding season with JHWF, filming weddings from Ashford, Kent to St Johns College Cambridge. I also got to fly the companies DJI Phantom II Drone with a GoPro Hero 3 and Zenmuse 2D gimball, it was incredible fun (for a first timer)!! [embed]https://vimeo.com/103891840[/embed]

Wedding at Eastwell Manor (Kent) via JHWF.

I also did the Ice Bucket Challenge;

[embed]https://vimeo.com/104416562[/embed]

I spent most weekends out filming weddings, where I got to try out my new Pro Media Gear Duo slider; it is simply a 2ft straight slider with a curved track on the reverse side. Honestly, it is so simple I don't know how companies didn't think of it before! It is extremely easy to use and is lightweight, my 5D and Sigma 70-200mm smoothly slides along the track. It sits on a removable carriage (so you can flip the slider over) with four plastic castors. 100% recommended, I purchased directly from them in the USA, it came within the delivery time (3 days) and is cost effective in comparison to similar track based sliders out there.

[embed]https://vimeo.com/103717010[/embed]

I mount the slider onto my Manfrotto 755Pro-B tripod (without a video head) using the clamp accessory which holds it firmly in place. This is on my IBC kit list!

I also helped out director HaZ Dulull on the production of his new short film 'SYNC', it took place in an underground car park in Southend with a bunch of SWAT guys, two massive SUV's, Blackmagic Cinema Cameras and a Production camera. It was a great day shooting, operating the camera and jib for some shots was awesome!

Crew pic!

Going back a couple of weeks, I was editing the Epsom and Ewell Borough Council Health and Wellbeing videos which involved writing up captions and mastering the audio levels as I'm quite near completion. I was offered the opportunity to get some more footage of the activities that the Wellbeing Centre offers for those that suffer with dementia including tennis and Japanese mind games. I took up the offer to get some more footage for future council projects.

It was a hot and bright couple of days, so I used variable ND filters on my lenses to bring down the exposure without reducing the 5D's electronic shutter; a great tip for keeping motion blur realistic. I shot mostly on the Sigma 70-200 F/2.8 OS as it does a wonderful job of isolating subjects from the background. A great lens choice if you don't have red ring fever!

I was also working on the graphics and animation for the EEBC Telecare video; I designed the graphics in Illustrator and Photoshop, then animated in After Effects in a hipstery style using shape layers, pastel tones and lots of easing!

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/105682233]

I got some fantastic news towards the end of August, The IABM decided to go for me as their event videographer for the IBC Show and annual conference! Leading up to IBC I have been preparing a number of videos and graphics to be used and shown throughout the show and at a variety of awards, such as The IABM Design & Innovation Award.

I can't show you much at the moment as everything is under wraps until the events at the conference, but I can show you the title sequence for the videos. It's made in AE using some of the pics I took around the expo last year and other general press images from IBC.

[embed]https://vimeo.com/105437241[/embed]

After being WOW'd by the Canon 100mm F/2.8L Macro lens at my Manfrotto Takeover day, the thought of owning one has been rattling around my head since.. I was hopeful with the Sigma 105mm, but the Canon provided the next step up in terms of stabilization, auto focusing, and personally I just preferred the feel of it. I will be using the lens throughout IBC so keep checking for dedicated pics, videos and more!

(The above photos of Schneider Kreuznach Xenon Cine Lenses taken on the Canon 100mm F/2.8L Macro by Adam Plowden).

I also booked my first wedding for January next year, so I met up with the couple 'Sarah and Matt' for a pre-shoot at their venue with Ash (who recommended me, thanks!!). I got some beautiful footage of them in the setting sun, here is a tiny teaser :)

[embed]https://vimeo.com/103859376[/embed]

One day to go until Glen and I leave for Amsterdam to film the IBC Show for The IABM, I did a quick vlog for you, an update on the kit, what we'll be covering. I will be releasing videos most days, blogging and tweeting lots to share the news from the conference, so remember the keep checking for updates! I'm hoping to catch up with PB and Nino Leitner too :)

[embed]https://vimeo.com/105643719[/embed]

Here's the low down on my kit list:

Canon 5D mkIII

2 x Canon 60D

Tamron 24-70mm F/2.8

Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8

Canon 100mm F/2.8L

Samyang 14mm T/3.1

Samyang 35mm T/1.5

Samyang 85mm T/1.5

Canon 50mm F/1.8

Nikkor 50mm F/1.4

Manfrotto SPECTRA Bi-colour 900FT

Manfrotto SPECTRA 500F

Zoom H6

Pro Media Gear Duo arc slider

Roto-mic

Sennheiser Wireless ENG-100 Rx-Tx

I'm picking up some tripods, heads and a magic arm-super clamp from the Vitec team tomorrow, they are doing me a huuuge favor so thank you Dave, Mark and Siobhann from Manfrotto/Vitec!!

Here is something I've been checking out; If you love motion graphics and After Effects, then definitely check out The School Of Motion '30 Days of AE' tutorials, a range of in depth tuts ranging from objects to typography; check it out to learn something! http://www.schoolofmotion.com/

Right, I'm up at 3am to fly at 6. You will be reading the waffle of a very tired Adam tomorrow! Keep on following for more;

@Plowman91

Adam's Videos

Adam on Facebook

Oh and I made this for a mate too:

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/105450445]

New 'Waterhouse' video is up!

Working with the new Panasonic GH4

We had another toying test day yesterday, with new glass too; the Panasonic/Leica 25mm F/1.4 (equivalent to 50mm F/1.4) and the Panasonic 100-300mm F/2.8 (equivalent to 200-600mm F/2.8). We keep finding great features and little things that make this camera wow us!  

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We were out filming and testing out the capabilities of the camera at Epsom's Thai festival taster, we used the 14-140mm F/3.5-5.6 OIS lens recording in 4K. The video will be uploaded and shared soon!

Gettin' Hitched?

A quick still from the wedding I shot with John Harris Wedding Films yesterday at Wotton House in Surrey. Awesome day, and Harry and Sammi are a lovely couple!

It's always a blast working with John and Ashleigh, especially when I get to shoot on a 5D with a Glidetrack slider! John shot some awesome footage from his areal camera too!

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I have been doing a bit of touristing around the city of Amsterdam today, doing some filming here and there, will do more tomorrow morning, which is also when the camera rig I designed is going to arrive at the hotel!! Over 1 and a half years of work and patience! Will of course post photos when I can!