Charlotte Gets Secrets of Video Production for Photographers

Secrets of Video Production for Photographers is coming to Charlotte on June 18 and 19. I’m looking forward to my first visit to what promises to be a charming city.

Friday night is going to be the APA evening presentation from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at Paradox Film & digital where I give a basic outline of the process of video production. I do this keeping in mind video is an additional component to a still production. I will discuss the techniques and tools needed to do video production. See http://charlotte.apanational.com for more details.

Saturday’s workshop is always fun and informative as I have more time to really get into video production. In the morning, we look at the basics from a different point of view and then build on those basics including when to call in a post house like Rawworks to help. In the early afternoon we do some lighting and camera techniques followed by a short commercial shoot with the latest equipment from Manfrotto, Panasonic, Ziess, Marshall Electronics, Redrock Micro, Beachtek, Sennhieser, K-Tek, Hoodman, and LaCie. I then take that video into Final Cut Studio, edit it and output it for various distribution methods. The day gives anyone interested in video production a good outline to follow in video productions. See www.tiny.cc/june18 for more details.

Video production is changing by the day and can be confusing to photographers just getting into motion. Having a working understanding of the overall picture, helps give the photographer getting into video production an understanding of how to judge what equipment and software to use.

Christopher Lozano www.tlsHollywood.com did this time lapse click (MOVIE) of the LA evening presentation.

Atlanta “Secrets of Video Production for Photographers”

There was another big turn out for my Atlanta “Secrets of Video Production for Photographers” given for APA Atlanta.  Along with gear I had from my sponsors Apple, Manfrotto, Zeiss, Panasonic, SmartSound, RedRock Micro, Beachtek, Marshall Electronics, Sennheiser, LaCie and Hoodman, Apple was there showing Final Cut Studio and gave away a $1000.00 Final Cut Studio suite of video editing software.  The Zeiss representative showed their special Canon and Nikon mount lenses with long focus barrels and color-matched glass.

Showcase camera store of Atlanta, a beautiful fully stocked professional camera store, also supplied additional gear from the above mentioned sponsors to give attendees a chance to see the various pieces of equipment up close and personal.

Big Studio, 404-874-6111, was a wonderful host of both the Thursday evening event and Saturday workshop.  It is a great studio to work in and Megan the studio manager was both gracious and professional.

Below are pictures Lindsay Lewis the director of APA Atlanta took during my evening presentation.  The first is me talking about the false color filter of Marshall Electronics V-LCD70P-HDMI monitor.  The second is me talking about the Sonicfire Pro program and five royalty-free multi music tracks.   I have arranged for every attendee to either of my events to get the music tracks for free.

Lee White with Marshall Electronic false color filter

The Saturday workshop was especially interesting for me, as I got to really delve into shooting video with stills then editing.   We talked about planning and equipment in the morning and after the lunch I provided from a tasty deli nearby, we got into the gear.

Everyone had a chance to try some hands on using a complete video rig.  I did a couple of lighting demos and shot a short commercial.  The picture below shows me shooting the commercial using a Reckrock Micro rig with a microFollowFocus geared to a Zeiss ZE 50mm F1.4 lens, on Manfrotto  sticks (tripod) and fluid head with a Beachtek 5d audio adapter cabled to a Sennheiser ME66 microphone.  On top of the rig, you can see the Marshall monitor showing the camera feed.  In the foreground is a Litepanels MicroPro LED light and in the background a medium Lastolite Skylite diffuser.

After shooting the video, I took it into Apple’s Final Cut Studio and showed how to transcode the files into a more edit friendly format using Compressor onto a LaCie rugged drive.  A step you can bypass when using video cameras from Panasonic.   Then I show everyone how to get the files into Final cut Pro, edit them into a commercial and output several distribution formats.  I ended the workshop by showing how easy it is to match music from SmartSound’s Sonicfire Pro with video or pictures.

Denver’s Video Production for Photographers

Denver had a great turn out for my “Secrets of Video Production for Photographers” an APA-LA event that is a first step in building the APA Denver chapter. One photographer drove six hours through the snow, literally it snowed, I’m here, I saw it, to attend. First let me say the people in Denver are great, especially the folks at Denver Pro Photo who helped put on both last night’s Thursday APA event and the upcoming Saturday workshop.

If you are in Denver and need equipment, supplies or rental, Denver Pro Photo is the place to go. Beyond the well- stocked store, they also have a number of different size stages including a huge one, football field huge, plus a complete grip room.

Some of the sponsors like Zeiss with their long focus pull lenses, Marshall Electronics with their video monitors and SmartSound with royalty music, were there to answer specific questions on their video solutions. I understand a lot of this is completely new to photographers so it is good to have experienced resources to answer the large variety of questions photographers have.

I had a chance to meet some of the attendees and once again heard some unfortunate stories of jobs lost because the video component could not be handled. Some were as simple as snips for the web but it was smart of the photographers not to get into something they knew little about. It is much harder to get a client back after messing up a job than truthfully saying, presently, part of their needs cannot be met.

During the presentation there was lot’sa interaction and after the presentation, I had a chance to answer some questions about challenges some of the photographers were facing with learning video production.

I want to thank the nice lady who won the complete Final Cut Studio program that I personally provided for the raffle for giving me a hug. She was so excited.

SECRETS OF VIDEO PRODUCTION FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

In the last year, the idea of photographers producing video has exploded and photographers are now gearing up to take advantage of this interest. As advertisers and magazines turn to video on the web, cable and mobile devices to get out their message, there are more opportunities than ever for you to do video in tandem with your photography to capture new clients and sell video services to existing clients.

Producing video creates a fundamental change in your workflow, so you need new tools and techniques to take the step from photography to video. You need to learn what the new technologies mean to you from a photographer’s point of view. This is why Lee White has created two events to help guide you into video. The first is a two–hour evening event that will go over the steps you as a photographer need to know to create video productions. The second is a one-day workshop that will go in-depth about each step so you can start producing your own video.

The Thursday evening will include:

Companies showing the latest in video equipment and software for video suitable for photographers getting into video.

A raffle for a copy of Apple’s Final Cut Studio editing software

FREE SOFTWARE: SmartSound will give each attendee a free copy of their Sonicfire Pro 5 software along with free royalty-free music.

A presentation that covers:

- The photographer’s unique position for this new market

- The creative planning stage and new concepts photographers need to think about

- Pre-production considerations when planning a video shoot

- Understanding lighting, filming and sound techniques for video

- Post-production in the photographer’s studio

The Saturday workshop will include:

- How photographers can apply their present skills to video

- The importance of workflow including recording formats

- Estimating and planning combined photography and video productions

- Tools and techniques of video production

- Camera, lighting and grip equipment demonstrations

- Editing demonstrations

For more information on the workshop visit: Video Workshop

LEE WHITE is presently instructing two college classes on HD video production for photographers at Santa Monica College. One is an intensive six-week class for professionals and the other is a sixteen-week class for photography students at the college. Lee has been a professional advertising photographer for more than thirty years. While still a student at Art Center, College of Design, he shot images for movie posters for Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount. Shortly after starting his professional career, he became involved with photomatics for companies such as Mattel plus shooting on set and so began his career-long adventure with narrative imaging. Over a decade ago, Lee started shooting digital video for clients and has experienced video production on all levels from feature films to simple web content.

Los Angeles events:

Thursday, January 14 evening presentation

6pm-9pm

5th and Sunset Studios

12322 Exposition Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 900064

Saturday, January 16 workshop

10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Helms Daylight Studio

3221 Hutchin Ave #E,

Los Angeles, CA 90034

For more information on the workshop visit: Video Workshop

Denver events:

Thursday, January 28 evening presentation

6 pm – 9 pm

Saturday, January 30 workshop

10 am – 5 pm

Sponsored by: