Anton Bauer and Ki Pro Mini Visit Death Valley

Getting away from my duties as advertising and editorial photographer in Los Angeles, I spend a long weekend in Death Valley on a Photo Camping trip for Santa Monica College with 80 plus students. I spent the first day scouting locations as it has been awhile since I was last there shooting a series on skeleton images for my stock files.

Skeleton Death Valley by Lee White

This time I shot video as well as still images as I now do for most of my assignments. I had the chanced to fire up the Ki Pro Mini and Panasonic camera powered by the Anton Bauer Dionic 90 battery. I could have also powered an on-broad monitor like the Manhattan HD5 LCD monitor by splitting the feeds from the Anton Bauer. The nice thing about powering everything with the Anton Bauer Dionic 90 is I only have to keep track of one battery and it tells me the amount of power I have left on an easy to read scale on the side of the battery. It’s a real bummer to be dealing with three different sets of batteries.

Anton Bauer Dionic 90, Ki Pro Mini, Panasonic HMC40 supported by Redrock Micro and Manfrotto Photo/video head and MPRO 536 tripod in Death Valley

The Ki Pro Mini allowed me to record into PRORES right from the camera so no transcoding was needed to start editing.  I could unmount the CF card from the KI Pro Mini and bring the files right into any NLE for editing.

To hold everything I used Redrock Micro gear including their matte box with their 4.5 X6 Circular Pola filter to bring out the colors in the sky and ground. I lucked out by getting to the outlook to the valley just a day after a good rain so the colors were still brilliant. The problem with Death Valley is how dry the conditions are which often hide the mineral rich landscape under a layer of dust. There were also some clouds left over from the recent storm that cleared completely out by the early afternoon. The skies are also often clear of clouds and somewhat filled with dust from wind and the many visitors. I suggest waiting until a spring or fall storm if you can when visiting the valley.

I did get to use my favorite fluid head from Manfrotto their new photo/video head. It is the smoothest lightweight head I have used and it has the added bonus of multiple vertical positions as well as horizontal. You can get more information on all the equipment at www.antonbauer.com, www.aja.com, www.redrockmicro.com and www.manfrotto.com. Music from Smartsound a www.smartsound.com.

DV Expo Pasadena Bold, Fresh Ideas

Being a advertising photographer and videographer in Los Angeles, California, the DV Expo 11 from Sept. 20-22 in Pasadena is three days of new information about digital video following their log line of “Bold, Fresh Ideas to Inspire and Excite is a natural to attend.

Tuesday was a day of conference training where I was lucky enough to sit in on some of Diana Weynand’s Final Cut Pro X training.  I enjoyed the methods Diana used in explaining the intricacies of the paradigm change in the Final Cut Pro editing software.  She had several assistants that helped attendees follow Diana when they needed help which kept the class moving ahead while not leaving anyone behind.  A following blog post will discuss my impressions of Final Cut Pro X for professional  advertising and editorial photographers getting into video.

Wednesday was another day of training and the opening of the Expo exhibit.  I sat in on the Weynand training of Premiere Pro with another trainer.  Since Premiere Pro is very much like earlier versions of Final Cut Pro following the training was easy but exposed me to Adobe’s tools placement and short cuts. It might be a natural fit for the advertising and editorial photographers already familiar with other Adobe software.  Watch for a posting on my impressions of Premiere coming soon.  At noon the exhibit opened so during lunch and the breaks I got the opportunity to see the latest in gear.  Some of my favorite exhibits were there AJA, Carl Zeiss, Litepanels, Marshall Electronics, Panasonic, and SmartSound software.

Even if you don’t go to any of the conference training it is well worth the time to see the gear in the exhibits and attend the free hour-long sessions taking place around the exhibit floor.  You get to talk with manufacturer’s reps that really know their equipment and see the latest they have to offer plus sometimes even a peek into the future.   The hour long free sessions cover a wide variety of DV related topic and you might be amazed at how much many of these speakers fit into an hour.  On Thursday there is a free session at noon by Jan Livingston on the Panasonic AG-AF100 that will give you a detailed understanding of the features of the popular new camera.

For more information on attending go to www.dv.com.  They also publish some outstanding online and printed magazines covering digital video.

Secrets of Video for Photographers – New Jersey – Unique Photo

Secrets of video for photographers Friday seminar in New Jersey is more timely than ever for you if you want to have the skills most in demand today.  Saturday workshop info below.

Learn how to make videos that people want to watch. Whether you’re an amateur or professional, learn the techniques that every photographer shooting video should know even if you never take your camera off automatic.  Translate your photographic knowledge in to cinematic genius.  What equipment do you need and when do you need it.  Come and get inspired as well as educated.

The Friday evening seminar will include:

– Visual storytelling

– Basics of camera, sound and lighting techniques

– The latest in video equipment and software for video suitable for photographers getting into video.

– How photographers can apply their present skills to video

– How professional photographers can create new revenue streams

Sept 16, 2011 6 – 8pm

Unique Photo SuperStore
123 US Hwy 46 (West)
Fairfield, NJ 07004
Phone: 973-377-2007

For more information or to register go to http://university.uniquephoto.com/e/index.php/classes/lee-white-seminar-html.html

Sponsors: Panasonic, AJA, Apple, Manfrotto, Zeiss, Sennheiser, Smartsound, Redrock Micro, ManhattanLCD, Beachtek, Indisystems, Chimera, G-Technology, AntonBauer, Red Giant Software, Hoodman, and K-Tek

Secrets of video for photographers workshop in Atlanta on Saturday gives you a quick and thorough education in the tools and techniques every photographer should have when doing video.

Whether you are a beginning, advanced or professional photographer, you can advance your visual storytelling with video in exciting new ways. Don’t miss this opportunity to hit the ground running in your adventure into video.

Come join Lee White, professional photographer/videographer and college instructor as he guides you through the tools and techniques needed to help you make video without pulling your hair out.  Avoid the common mistakes that ruin most novice videography.  Learn what camera settings on your HDSLR for video mean and how best to set your camera for different situations.  Find out how to do good audio recordings. See what video gear can help you make better videos.  Find out what is involved with editing your video, adding music and getting it out for others to enjoy.

The Saturday workshop will include:

– Hands-on experience with camera, lighting and sound equipment

– A chance to direct and shoot talent and a table-top situation

– The importance of workflow including recording formats and camera settings

– How to edit video and output

– How photographers can market their new skill-set

August 27, 2011 9:30am – 4:30pm

Unique Photo SuperStore
123 US Hwy 46 (West)
Fairfield, NJ 07004
Phone: 973-377-2007

For more information or to register go to http://university.uniquephoto.com/e/index.php/classes/secrets-of-video-for-photographers-workshop-with-lee-white.html

Sponsors Panasonic, AJA, Apple, Manfrotto, Zeiss, Sennheiser, Smartsound, Redrock Micro, ManhattanLCD, Beachtek, Indisystems, Chimera, G-Technology, AntonBauer, Red Giant Software, Hoodman, and K-Tek.

Secrets of Video for Photographers in Portland Oregon

Newspace Center of Photography was the perfect setting for my Friday evening Secrets of Video for Photographers seminar.  We set up in the newly constructed main gallery surrounded by photography by local photographers.  There were an interesting variety of photographers from advertising, editorial, commercial, corporate, architectural, wedding and portraiture that attended my presentations. Today’s photographers realize the need to get into video from the many requests they get from clients.

Saturday’s workshop was a combination of studio owners and some employees from Pro Photo Supply.  The photographers were either getting into shooting video or sharpening their video skills by being introduced to new video techniques/products and their uses.  The Pro Photo Supply employees both helped out with support and educated themselves on how to better advise customers on the products available to make shooting video easier.

Lee White talking about video to photographers in Portland, OR by ©Daven Mathies