What a few months it has been!

Blimey, my last post was a while ago.. Honestly, since then work has got heavy and much of my time is either spent behind the camera or the screen. One exception was the Manfrotto Pro Backpack50 review, shot by Glen Symes for me where I actually appear in a video!

Some of the things I've been up to range from filming quite a few weddings [embed]https://vimeo.com/98328657[/embed] to filming and editing for a series of videos on health and wellbeing.

On the side, I've talked at EEHS about going through uni and starting a business, am preparing for my Manfrotto Tour videography seminar and other bits and bobs.. I'm sure if you follow me on twitter or facebook you'll have an idea of the things!

Going back a few weeks, my main projects have been the EEBC Health and Wellbeing video series, and an animation on Telecare. This is a predominantly piece to camera series, with additional b-roll shots to add to the videos messages which range from stopping smoking, to eating a healthy and balanced diet. The standard production of information videos ensued, editing down from around 45-50 minutes to a concise 2 minutes providing the relevant facts and summaries on prevention. Editing in Premiere Pro, I used the very good Luma Corrector tool for exposure changes and a simple RGB curves adjustment for the colour temperature.

I find the Luma Corrector better to work with, as by adjusting the Gamma control slightly, it removes the washed grey look to push out the prominent shadows and highlights meaning that it is very simple to correct/match shots; especially as I filmed using daylight as my key.

As per the clients request I have also added subtitles, which I created using the dynamic link into After Effects (noting at this point that if you're doing several stages of an edit, to duplicate the sequence you are working on before you start the next stage as Premiere and AE require you to save your work for updates to take place, meaning no Ctrl-Z/Command-Z to get back to a timeline with the clips rather than your 'replace in AE linked composition').

I was also out photographing flowers for a wedding, for the florist Madeleine Pink a few weeks ago too! Taken on a range of lenses with the Canon 5D mkIII (Tamron 24-70mm, Sigma 70-200mm, Samyang 14, 35, 85mm cine, and Nikkor 50mm).

Since then, I ventured into using Lightroom to edit the photos as well, still learning bits and bobs but found a range of fantastic presets here that create some great looks. I'd appreciate your thoughts on the photos and the looks as well, as it's mostly stab in the dark/emotive based :P

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A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of filming Dan and Kelly's wedding in Ashford + Foxhills where I met the awesome Ash; a unique wedding photographer! Check out the wedding film here [embed]https://vimeo.com/97953644[/embed], and definitely check out Ash's work over at Ash Darling Photography! Highly recommended by me :D and I believe I'll be working with Ash soon on an up coming wedding, really looking forward to it!

Believe it or not, I have been doing some videography too! In between editing the health and wellbeing videos, and on the pre-production sketches of the telecare animation I spent a couple of afternoons in The Woodland Garden in Bushy Park; one of my favorite places to go to switch off work mode, relax and shoot some video for personal projects. I've named this one 'Waterhouse', it's the name of the part of the garden where a balcony looks over a pond with a waterhouse to the left. It poses interesting thoughts to its original function, the bricks and foundations holding strong throughout years of use and bad weather. Virginia Creepers pursue to edge up its sides, gripping on to reach the sunlight through the tree canopy.

The edit is complete, but I am now working on a quirky hipster logo/title animation for the beginning of the video so as soon as it has been animated and comped into the footage I will upload!

The kit I used for the 'Waterhouse' video include; Manfrotto 755Cx-3 tripod, Edelkrone Slider+ v2, Canon 5D mkIII, Canon 100mm F/2.8 macro (hence why the shake on the slider is slightly more visible than without IS/OS, but I have used Warp Stabilizer where I can). Tamron 24-70mm, Sigma 70-200mm, Samyang 14, 35, 85mm cine, Nikkor 50mm. After using the Canon macro lens, I have totally decided to purchase the Sigma 105mm F/2.8 OS macro lens; firstly because of future video productions where a small minimum focus distance is necessary (product, people, detail shots), also it has optical stabilization which I found was needed when moving the camera and lens on the slider, and lastly its around £400.. Bargain!

Things I've learned so far from doing this kind of work;

• Shoot with a widespread histogram (unless I wish to isolate the subject from shadows behind).
• Lightroom is awesome, try playing with the presets I linked to work on the developer tools.
• Regardless if it has been a long day filming, if you want to talk to someone, always, always, always do it!
• I want a macro lens for intricate detailed shots, as my current range does not let me get close enough to the subject.
• Take some hand held lights for kicks and fills; the venue room where the table decorations were photographed was very dark. With a tripod and a couple of lights I would have had much more control over the lighting composition.
• Dabble in a variety of work types, to keep it interesting and different!
• I need a slider for cinematic moving shots; I have made my choice; not the Edelkrone! There will be a whole blog post on this coming soon.

Floral Photography for Madeleine Pink

In an earlier post I mentioned that I am not a photographer, apart from the odd dabble in flowers. Last Saturday I was at Box Hill School for their summer Copacabana Ball, for Madeleine Pink florist Margaret Alldridge to take some photos of the displays for her portfolio and website, my goodness what a display it was! I prepped all of my photo kit that afternoon, taking with me the Canon 5D mkIII and a range of lenses, but I predominantly used the Samyang 35mm T/1.5 cine as its minimum focus distance is similar to that of a macro lens, the old Nikkor 50m F/1.4 and Saymang 85mm T/1.5. The Tamron 24-70mm is constantly attached to my camera as my main go to lens so that was with me too.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and very hot too! Here is a selection from the photos I took;

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I took the photos in RAW, then post processed in Photoshop for small adjustments like exposure and a kick of contrast. Most of the photos had to have the saturation reduced as the vibrant colours were so punchy! Photo's copyright Adam Plowden Videography 2014.

Change of discipline today; photographer!

Madeleine Pink table centre piece at Epsom RAC (Canon 5D mkIII, Samyang 14mm @T/3.1, 1/60's, ISO 1600). I am not a yes man. I will never say yes to doing something I haven't had experience in, as it can just cause anger, frustration and disappointment from both myself and the client, especially if I don't deliver what is expected.

Photography for me is one of those disciplines. Personally I am not a photographer, I don't have an education or background in still photography apart from graphics and VFX, so I go against one of my own rules here purely because of the following reasons, that may be applicable to you too!

1) I learned videography and production on broadcast video cameras, transitioning to DSLR through the wedding film job I do; I was heavily trained and now 3 years on my 5D mkIII is my port of call. Many will be in the same position as me here and will follow the exposure triangle (aperture, shutter speed, ISO).

2) While at university, and still now I study cinematic and storytelling techniques (it wasn't included in my Television and Video Technology BSc. course). Whether it be moving the camera or with a static shot, the composition of storytelling is a present and constant thought in my work.

3) I have prepared myself heavily with the correct equipment and research to use; high speed lenses, a range of lights to compose the image, building mood boards and finding out the clients requirements (as well as any inspiration they have that will add).

4) My client is very happy with what I produce, and if they weren't they wouldn't ask me to work with them again.

Note: I never advertise myself as a photographer.

That makes me confident to go out and take some photos of flowers for a florist, which I am doing today!

Madeleine Pink table centre piece at Epsom RAC (Canon 5D mkIII, Tamron 24-70mm @F/3.2, 1/50's, ISO 3200).

Transferring the skills from DSLR videography to photography have been easier for me, probably because I always shoot in manual, I love taking my camera out with me wherever I go, and the storytelling techniques of composing images are still present in photos like they are in video.

If however you find it a little more difficult, consult the exposure triangle, and keep a couple of things in mind;

Aperture - Wide open allows lots of light to enter, shallow depth of field. A narrow aperture reduces the light making the image darker, and creating a deep depth of field. Using focus and blur is one of the main tools the director uses to concentrate the audiences attention onto specific details.

Shutter speed - Controls the motion due to how long the sensor is exposed to the light. A fast shutter captures fast motion with minimal blur (sports and outdoor), a slow shutter means the sensor is exposed for longer, allowing the subjects to move in the frame while it is open, creating blur.

ISO - Digital noise added to increase the image exposure. Low ISO results in low noise, crisp images but with no added exposure, where high ISO will increase your exposure but will introduce digital noise that is more visible in dark situations.

Other key points to remember: White Balance/Colour Temperature - make sure your whites are white and your blacks are black. This depends on what light you are using, daylight for example is 5600K, but Tungsten is 3200K.

Make sure your camera is set to capture RAW and JPEG images to allow for greater definition when editing the pictures afterwards!

Madeleine Pink table centre piece at Epsom RAC (Canon 5D mkIII, Nikkor 50mm @F/1.8, 1/50's, ISO 1600).

It is worth a go if you are confident you can produce the images your potential client is looking for. Being a videographer not a photographer, I do not charge a standard fee to have me out for an hour and to post process the images later. This is for two reasons; I am a new business, and so is my client. Why out price your skills and make it a hard decision for your potential client to use you? Secondly, like I keep mentioning I am not a photographer and although I have rates and targets to meet financially, I see this more of getting out with the camera to be creative for an afternoon rather than a job.

Some points to consider if you are ever approached by someone who requires something different from your usual line of work! Do not forget to do your research though. Unfortunately I have had a number of experiences of photographers embarking on video without understanding the full production process, where I've been asked by their client to correct the mistakes.. So if you're a photographer doing video, again have confidence in that you will be able to produce exactly what is expected, and with the internet being the biggest learning and education network, there really is no excuse nowadays!