OUR LIFE
We have entered a new year and a new decade and with that in mind, I would like to share with you my little project which I am going to implement within my photography offering. I haven’t set myself any resolutions for the last few years as I was never managing to keep to them. However this year, I thought rather than creating a resolution I would set myself a new project – newborn videography is it and I am going to work extra hard to develop the skill.
Videography can be so creative and can test your ability to capture the right moments and follow the movement. As I’ve found in my early days experimenting, it’s quite a different process to photography. With photography, it is all about creating a moment, one smile, one kiss, one hug. With videography you want to create a beautiful story with a beginning and an end, so rather than capturing a still moment you are trying to capture an entire story.
The first video I created was during Christmas time. I took my camera for the first time when we were buying a Christmas tree with my girls. I’ve received such lovely feedback on my Instagram account and my Facebook page! Thank you to all my followers!
CHRISTMAS TREE SHOPPING
I have also recently completed my first client work where during my newborn photoshoot I was taking videos. At the time of the session, I had an idea of what I would like to capture and tried to think outside of the box in terms of my viewpoint and my positioning. My clients helped me a lot and were so lovely and easy to work with which I think it helped me with my nerves and gave me a right boost!
I know I have so much more to learn and understand but for now, I would like to share with you couple of mini tips which I have already found very useful with learning how to shoot videos and how to edit them. Maybe you will also discover a new passion with videography?
- Frames per second (fps) – Decide what frames per second you are going to shoot at. The standard to go for is 24fps, however, if you intend to slow down your videos with a slow-motion effect then you’ll want to shoot into higher frames per second e.g. 60fps.
- Viewpoint – when you shoot video you shoot in landscape mode and instead of looking through your viewfinder you will look through the screen and follow the object or point of interest. At first, I was finding it much more difficult to when I shoot normally however you can get used to it and you will soon find yourself trying to find new ways of engaging with your subject.
- Focusing – I am still working on my focusing and trying to find the best technique but as far as I have practised I would recommend practising with autofocus if your camera has this option and also switching it to manual focus. With manual focus, you can achieve that wonderful blur and add additional interest to your video by rack focusing during a shot i.e. bring a subject out of focus in focus (and vice versa).
- Stabilisation – with videography, stabilisation is a key to creating a professional, cinematic look. When doing this manually, this does take some practice and I’ve been researching the best camera holding tactics and you can find yourself giggling at some movements (imagine me as a ninja!). I have decided to go for a walk by which you hold your camera out with your arms stretched and tight and you are soft on your knees and slowly move with your camera. In the long run, if you will fall in love with your new passion, videography, then you might want to invest in a gimble. I have Ronin but there are many to chose from.
- Edit – editing videos takes a lot of practice(!) and if you haven’t done any before you might need to learn a whole new programme. I am currently learning Premiere Pro and trying to soak in as much information as I can. Watching Youtube videos helps enormously and you can find lots of good tips which will help you speed up your editing process.
I hope you have found this article useful and like myself, you will discover your new passion and start your own new project – newborn videography. I truly hope videography will be a part of my family photography, maternity photography and newborn photoshoot. I would love to capture those special family moments and keep them alive so that you can go back to them again, again and again.
Till next time
Ewa x
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