The Memory of Christmas Past?

By Tom Sullivan, Video Guru and Penn Camera Partner

Its Christmas morning before all the kids are up, and you’ve set-up the camcorder and adjusted the lights. You get your second cup of coffee and wake-up the kids to start the magic of the day. The kids squeal with glee and immediate attached the presents that at one time where so strategically arranged under the tree. They perform present opening acrobatics that defy gravity. You’re about to record the best surprise face you have ever seen. You zoom in, adjust your focus and hit the record button. The viewfinder screams “Memory Full” and your camcorder will not record. The moment is over and you hit replay to see why your card is full, and there sits your daughter’s spring dance recital still on the memory card. You forgot to clear it, or worse, you forgot to upload your last great moviemaking adventure into the computer.

I hope my little drama has not happen to you, and if it has, here is a simple little trick to make the day of moments live on in family history. Have more then one memory card, and format your old memory cards after uploading your old footage to your computer. For you persons that have not reached geek level status; formatting is when you erase all the information on your memory card permanently; on purpose. I know it’s hard to remember to erase your memory cards after you transfer the video. You get mesmerize in your latest cinematic masterpiece and just plain forget. Even the pros forget, but the difference is they have extra cards ready to go, and they make it a habit of checking the camera to see if they have a clean card ready as part of their camera set-up regiment. Memory cards are cheap and the best part is you get to keep using them over and over again. Remember the film days when you had to wait to see your results and the cost of film, processing and prints were prohibitive? Now you can see your results in real-time, and guess what, there’s no cost beyond the price of the present days cheap memory cards. You got to love technology.

Not all memory cards are equal and the one the majority of pros use is SanDisk. I personally use only SanDisk, because I know they won’t fail, and they have a great mix of different sizes and speeds; yes, speeds. For you videographers that are using the new DSLR’s camera’s to shoot video; speed can be a critical factor. So pull out your manuals or check with your favorite Penn Camera associate. They can help you with the right cards for your type camera, speed and shooting style. If you need help in getting your video into your computer or other devices look for one of Penn’s video class in January and February. These classes will cover this element of video and other aspects of the complete video production workflow for amateurs and professional.

Remember, memory cards are cheap, but family memories are forever, so get that extra card.

Happy Holidays
Tom Sullivan

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Tom Sullivan is a photography and videography professional with 25-plus years of experience in all aspects of video production on a local, regional and national level. His work includes video production for such clients as the Moscow Ballet, the National Parks Service, ESPN Sports, and PBS. Tom’s background in both still and video photography makes him an ideal instructor for bridging the knowledge gap between the still and motion fields. Visit his website for more information: http://gravitymediapro.com/

Gallery: Gallery at Pikesville

Gallery: Gallery at Pikesville

Members of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Photographic Society of America
Friday, December 17, 2010

5:00pm - 8:00pm

Reflections from the photographers: The photographic image is a direct representation of the exposed eye and mind of the photographer. A photograph serves as the means of introduction between the photographer and the viewer. A photograph can illuminate the determination and intensity by the artist both in front of and behind the camera's lens. When a photographer exposes the finer detail within the subject they share a greater intimacy with that subject.

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Photographing Holiday Lights

By Brendan Keenan, Penn Camera Tysons Corner

Every year around this time, people are rushing around, busily preparing for the holidays. Traveling, shopping, and decorating all in preparation. For a photographer, the decoration offers a unique yearly opportunity to capture the spirit of the season; from a home Christmas tree, a large light display, like brightly-lit houses and more. These are the kind of pictures that can really evoke that once a year feeling, and take you back to that special time of year, at any time of year. Luckily, it is easy to get great photographs of holiday lights, as long as you follow a few simple rules.

Photographing holiday lights is no different than most low light photography. This means your best friend will be a tripod. You don't need anything large, just something that will keep the camera steady. This is especially important because for most outdoor photographs you will be shooting without a flash, and the camera will need a slow shutter speed to expose properly. This makes keeping the camera stationary critical. Another way to improve low light performance is to raise the ISO on your camera, though be careful, go too high and your pictures will get noisy(grainy), and lose quality. It is something you can fix with software later, but the lower the ISO, the better the quality. Aim for a slow shutter speed instead. If you have a camera that allows you to use faster lenses, or a point and shoot with a fast lens, like f1.8, you should try to shoot with the aperture wide open as well to help expose properly. If you are feeling really creative, you can try to move the camera slightly during the exposure, to purposely create a light blurring effect. Sometimes blur is a good thing, and done correctly you can create a colorful, abstract masterpiece.

You don't need a DSLR to make the necessary adjustments, most current point and shoot cameras have a dedicated low light mode, and it is easy to disable the flash, and even adjust the ISO if necessary. The important thing is observing the low light rules, not what kind of camera you are using. What about using flash? When should it be used? Usually flash use should be reserved for shooting indoors. For example, a Christmas tree. If you shoot the tree with the proper mix of flash and ambient light the result will be a clear photo of the decorations. Shoot without flash, and you risk getting lots of shadows, and a much lower level of detail. Detail is the key with smaller displays. Unless it is already lit almost perfectly, your best bet in this situation is to use a flash.

As far as composition goes, obviously that can be subjective. I like to use as wide an angle as I can get when shooting outdoor displays, even a little distortion can be so worth it for a single shot of a huge display. For shooting indoors, just use the space around you as best you can. That great "star" effect around lights can also be achieved by using a smaller f-stop. This is nice if you want to create that effect without a filter, but remember, you'll need a tripod and a long exposure outdoors, and a fill flash at least indoors. I also like to try to get my photographs scouted out before sunset, and I like to shoot during twilight, when the light is soft in the sky, and it is not completely dark yet. This will let you experiment more with exposures, and you can still create a nighttime look, without losing all the sky light.

Like everything in photography, practice makes perfect, and if you aren't very familiar with low light photography don't let a few blurry pictures discourage you. Keep shooting, and remember the simple rules I mentioned above. You'll end up with wonderful holiday pictures you can enjoy year round. Visit our Classes website for information about the upcoming holiday classes and special holiday photo safaris. Happy Holidays!

Three Tips to Shoot Better Holiday Video’s

By Tom Sullivan, Video Guru and Penn Camera Partner

Well it’s that time of year when our camcorders get a workout during the holiday season, but the reviews from the last year’s video still have the family critics judging your expertise. So, how can we improve our videos and turn them into award winning family moments. Easiest and quickest way is to add a few accessories to the old camcorder or add these accessories as stocking stuffers for the new camcorder being delivered by Santa this year. We have 3 accessories that are a most for all professional and should be a most for your video efforts. These items will help you get that professional look.

Item 1: One of the most important items you can add to make your videos look more professional is to use a tripod. Having steady video is the key to capture the attention of your viewer. The brain can only process so much information and when that information comes in small bites viewers can only concentrate on a few stimuli at a time. It’s a lot for a viewer to listen to the audio and try to relate it to the visuals on the screen. If the visual has the added issue of constantly moving, it disorients and confuses the viewer. There is a reason all movies and television show always use tripods or some type of stabilizing support. There are a few exceptions, but that for the pro’s to use in a specialized storytelling techniques. So get a tripod.

Item 2: The type of tripod head you use is critical to producing great video. There are two main types of tripod heads; still photography which is a mechanical action that is always locked into position. With video things move and you have to move with them. You can only do that with the second type on tripod head which is called a “Fluid Head”. As its name indicates this tripod head has a constant fluid motion making it easy to follow the action. If needed you can lockdown these tripod heads for non-movement situations. Again, all movies and television show use this type of tripod head to give you the best viewing experience. Penn carries combo tripod and fluid head for video.

Item 3: Audio is the element that pulls everything together. It is a documented fact that if people are watching the greatest looking visual video in the world, but the audio is indistinguishable they will turn off the video. If the video is visually terrible, but the audio is great, they will continue to watch. The built-in audio mic’s in today’s cameras are better then ever, but they pick-up to much ambient noise which can be very irritating. There are some great mic out that are excellent and very affordable. There are many different types of mic’s, and you need to select a mic that compliments the type of video you like to shoot. One of the best all around mic is called a “Shotgun Mic”; it captures a pinpoint area of sound based on where you point the mic. It still will pick-up a little ambient noise, but far less then the on-board mic’s in your camera. One of the best out there is called the “Rodie”, it has some great additional features. If you plan on recording the family history by interviewing your senior family members then you need a Lavaliere mic or Lapel mic. These can come in either a hard wired or a wireless configuration. I recommend using wireless. It is so cheap for wireless unites and they are easy to use and more importantly they are not tied to the camera allowing you to move freely with the camera.

Give these items a try to help improve your videos, and remember you can purchase all these items at Penn Camera. At Penn Camera not only get great pricing; you get great expertise after the sale.

Don’t forget that starting in January Penn camera will be providing several classes on video production, editing and more. Spielberg Lookout.

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Tom Sullivan is a photography and videography professional with 25-plus years of experience in all aspects of video production on a local, regional and national level. His work includes video production for such clients as the Moscow Ballet, the National Parks Service, ESPN Sports, and PBS. Tom’s background in both still and video photography makes him an ideal instructor for bridging the knowledge gap between the still and motion fields. Visit his website for more information: http://gravitymediapro.com/