I seem to have a developed a growing interest with video in recent months, not in a professional capacity but as a fun thing to do. Maybe I can use it to develop the blog over time also.
Having been a stills photographer for many years, I have an increasing interest in Video, both capture and post editing. While I am at a very basic point in my learning, I am really enjoying the learning process. I have recently done some makeup tip tutorials to compliment our makeover photography (coming soon) but used my DSLR for this.
Here are a couple of recent efforts (be kind) captured using a Go Pro Hero 3 and edited using Sony Vegas.
What’s the point?
The first video was done to learn how to speed up and slow down the footage using the editing software and was very easy to do in Sony Vegas.
The second was done to join different video sequences together and adjusting the volume between background music and the audio track from the original captured video. I was advised to keep the video capture sequence down to short bursts 30 seconds to 1 minute to make it easier to edit later, but having used Sony Vegas a few times now it is just as easy to split the video into shorter sequences later.
HD capture
The camera is also capable of capturing in HD, although I have not done so in the two examples above. I figured the lower resolution is ok while I am still playing around with it.
Portability
I love using the GoPro Hero 3 mainly because it is so handy to carry around with me being small enough to fit into my pocket. Unlike my Canon DSLR, which is also great to use for video capture (used in the makeup tips tutorial I mentioned earlier) but much harder to conveniently carry around.
Weatherproofed
The GoPro Hero also comes in a protective case which keeps it weather proof and water proof, so will be looking to put that to the test in future.
If you’ve been wondering what to wear for your upcoming photoshoot, there’s a couple of things to keep in mind. Make sure all those participating in the photoshoot are comfortable with what they are wearing.Being uncomfortable during the shoot will translate onto the photographs, so make sure clothing fits well.
Also if someone is particular conscious of a particular body part, say for instance they don’t want to show their arms off, then wear clothing that will cover the arms to aid the photographer. We won’t be able to cut your arms out of the photos, so covering is the best option in this scenario.
If there is a group of you having your photographs taken together, try to ensure you coordinate both the style and colours, so that they go together as a group. Having someone dressed formally, while someone else is dressed casually won’t look right on the final photographs. The same applies to colour, think about what you want to see on your walls. for instance bright greens mixed with dark purple will look odd visually. As a rule of thumb neutral colours look best, but rules are made to be broken sometimes.
We have a few ideas for you to look at below, if you have any additional questions regarding clothing, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’re enjoying the weather while we can, great to be able to sit out in the garden on a very warm and sunny August day. I just wish we had more of these kind of days in the UK. Hazel is a keen gardener and has certainly got green fingers. So while I sat in garden I thought I would capture some of the wonderful colours we have around us, hope you enjoy them too.
Making sure the light is coming from a direction other than from your camera position provides more interesting image, otherwise it can appear somewhat flat, which isn’t particularly appealing. A good rule of thumb is having the sun at between 45 – 80 degrees to your camera position and the subject you are photographing.
Get an interesting composition, I prefer close up shots myself as you can see. Using a shallow depth of field helps to blur the background, I was using f5.6 for this shot. This isn’t a macro lens so I couldn’t get particularly close to the flowers and achieve focus, but I used the zoom to fill the frame more.
I would love to know which image you prefer and why
Don’t fall into the trap of chasing more and more expensive camera equipment, instead spend time and money improving your camera skills and editing skills
“Most people think that upgrading their entry level DSLR and spending sometimes as much as $3000 for a new camera will bring their photography to “the next level”. Or they think that a $2000 pro lens will be the difference between amateur and professional looking photos.
The truth is…this is mostly a myth. Let’s take for example a Canon T4i(entry level DSLR) and a Canon 5D Mark III(Pro Level), put them on the same tripod and take the same photo (using 2 capable lenses with equivalent focal lengths) and in most situations, the majority of people you show the photo to won’t be able to see a noticeable difference. However (!), show people an expertly edited/color corrected/color graded photo and then the same photo that either came straight out of the camera or was poorly edited and people will IMMEDIATELY see a HUGE difference. If you don’t know already, most great photos you see out there have been skillfully post-processed and edited in softwares like Photoshop, Lightroom and Photomatix(HDR photos).
To me, it makes NO sense to buy more and more camera gear in the hope of taking better photos while neglecting what in the end will make the biggest difference – your photo editing know-how and skills!” www.learnphotoediting.net
There are many photo editing tutorials online, some are better explained than others, learnphotoediting.net allowed me to review their advanced photo editing tutorials. There are currently 9 tutorials to go through:
Combine the power of RAW photography, Tone Mapping and Color Grading!
Learn How To Create An Alien With Photo Manipulation Techniques!
Turn Your Photos Into Magazine Covers!
Extreme Color Grading
Retouch Your Portraits Like The Pros
Learn How To Create Vintage Photos!
Combine Photo Manipulation & Compositing To Create A Post-Apocalyptic Scene!
Combine HDR Photography & Color Grading And Get Stunning Results!
Color Grading For Wedding Photography!
I found the tutorials to be in-depth and easy to follow. All the images and effects are available to use for yourself and reproduce.
When you consider the price of magazines and the rather vague tutorials contained in some of them, then learnphotoediting.net’s offering is pretty good value for money, check out their sales page to see what you get for your money. It doesn’t cost anything to have a look at their sales page for more info. My communication with the site owner was very possible and very prompt. I only recommend sites that I feel have a good offering. See if the tutorials are of interest to you before you go ahead and purchase. Feel free to ask me any questions if you have any.
The links to learnphotoediting.net are affiliate links, if you buy the product I get a affiliate commission, although this is not why I have featured this product in this article, I have genuinely done so because I believe it adds value for my readers. Checking out the sales page on the end of these links will not incur a charge unless you go through the sites shopping cart. If you do click on the links and decide to purchase the product I would like to thank you for your support of this site via it’s affiliate sale commission, it helps us keep supplying free valuable information for you, many thanks
Having fun with your photographs has never been easier. Many of the effects we use in professional photography are done manually or with the use of plugins using photoshop. But more and more websites offer free photo editing effects, and we have had abit of a play with some of them, and to be honest they are quite fun.
Above are 3 effects taken from a site called http://funny.pho.to/, which has hundreds of options, many of them are alittle bit corny if I’m being honest but it’s all about having fun so I’m putting my professionalism to one side for a few hours. I thought the three effects used above on an image of Hazel looked pretty cool, and were the pick from this particular website. There are apps available for iphone and ipad and for Android smart phones, although I haven’t used them myself, I did the above effects from a laptop without any fuss at all. You can also send e-cards, fix photos, and put your face on animals, and different figures, well worth checking out if your into that kind of thing.
is another site I really like, it allows you to upload much bigger file sizes but offers less choice of photo effects then funny.pho.to, there are also some cool framing effects you can use, which I really like. It is less gimicky then the previous recommendation, which is why I probably like it more.
I will keep checking out sites I come across and add them to this post, so please keep checking back on the latest reviews. What kind of effects do you like to use on your photos?
One I did earlier, taken from one of the tutorials.. Great fun and really easy to do
Check out Evan Sharboneau’s trick photography tutorials regarding a vast amount of cool photography effects and tricks, well worth a further look. It doesn’t cost anything to have a look at the website which shows loads of possible effects, although the course that it is promoting is chargeable.
‘Please note in an attempt to remain as transparent as possible, I would like to disclose the trick photography links here are affiliate links, meaning that I get a commission if you purchase the product, but this is not why I have put the link here, I have done so, because I genuinely believe it provides valuable information for my readers interested in the subject matter and is one of the best resources available for the subject of trick photography. If you do click through and purchase, I would like to thank you for your support of this site via it’s sponsors links, it helps us to provide valuable information for our readers for free’.
Adobe offers a free, online version of Photoshop with scaled down features that include those needed for basic photo editing. You can crop and re-size, apply basic touch ups, work with color, or edit the photo by adjusting the sharpness, focus and more.
BeFunky includes 147 effects that can be done with one click. In addition to the one-click effects you can perform basic tasks like cropping and re-sizing. A premium account is available for $9.95 per month that allows for priority processing, photo storage and more. Befunky can be used via mobile using it’s app which is available on Google Play. You can easily access via your Facebook account and edit photos from your account to edit with ease.
While the other platforms reviewed on this page are great fun to use, Canva is more professional orientated. Now I don’t mean you have to be a professional to use it, but the end results are designed to look more professional. Canva is ideal if you have a blog where you want to use professional quality graphics or are doing a presentation at work, college or school. Many of the templates are free to use while others have a small charge of $1. You can use your own images within designs as well as the 1 million stock images on the platform. The interface is as easy as dragging and dropping elements into place, and you can try it without having to enter any personal details.
