Making the move from stills to video

Cliff Etzel wrote on 11/21/2005, 4:01 PM
After an extended sabbatical, I'm ready to jump back into the pro realm of shooting.

My background: in the late 80's-early 90's was a regional award winning photojournalist and was one of 99 accepted to the Eddie Adam's Workshop in 1992 for documentary projects I had created. I was fortunate while at the workshop to consult with many big names - National Geo, Newsweek, Time, Black Star Photo, etc. Had a standing position offered at Newsweek by Jimmy Colton - the Director Of Photography at Newsweek who was a team leader at the workshop - didn't take the offer due to family.

Been thru some major life changes over the course of the last 3 years and am now looking to go back to what I enjoyed doing the most - telling stories with images. Having been a still shooter, I am finding the idea of shooting moving images more compelling an idea.

My interests lie in shooting short form documentaries, special interest programming type work (mainly independent cable), etc. In addition, I am also a certified diver (currently awaiting my divemaster) and will want to shoot u/w - natural history type work, etc.

And now a whole new wrench has been thrown into the works - SD or HD.

I understand that HD is the future of the medium, but what about shooting SD? What about SD in 16x9? I really want to shoot video - but the cost of even low end HD gear is already straining my already tight budget to not being able to make it happen.

I was hoping to get some insight as to whether shooting SD for the time being will suffice. Is it worth looking at as a short term solution until HD becomes more mainstream (1-2 years)? I was looking at either the SONY TRV 950 or the Canon GL1/2 as my first initial camera to work with. I would add on an anamorphic lens to shoot true for 16x9 eventually

Any advice from working pro's would be greatly appreciated...

Cliff Etzel

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 11/21/2005, 4:04 PM
Of course shooting SD for the short term will suffice. But if you're looking at the GL2, for the same price you can get an A1u, so I sorta miss your point there. The A1 is an outstanding small cam, takes 2.1 megapixel stills, plus the 1.7mp of video. It's pretty amazing. Same with the HC1, lower cost, but big bang for buck.
There are lots of used GL's out there too, if that's what you're after.
Welcome to the land of moving pictures. :-) Sounds like you've got some serious chops, looking forward to reading your posts.
Bob Greaves wrote on 11/21/2005, 5:26 PM
Just in case it had not ocurred to you. Make sure you buy a new camera or the move from stills to video will wear out your finger.
BrianStanding wrote on 11/21/2005, 7:23 PM
On a more fundamental note, I found the move from still photography to motion photography to be quite challenging. In still photo work, you are taught to wait for the peak moment, then capture it QUICK! at the zenith of its action.

In motion pictures, you have to retrain yourself to slow down. The goal is to capture EVERYTHING from 5 seconds before the action starts, through the whole action, AND 5 seconds after the action is complete. Also, motion picture composition is very different, too. Instead of composing everything first, then capturing the "perfect frame" as you do in still photography, you must allow the action to move through the frame. It may be perfectly composed only for a few seconds before moving on.

It took me a long time to readjust to this slower, more patient way of working. On the other hand, I was always uncomfortable doing candid still photography, because I always felt sneaky... like I was capturing photos of people before they realized what I was doing. In video, it seems much more natural to approach someone and ask them to be on camera in a documentary setting. Because it's video, with sound, subjects have more of an opportunity to put themselves into context, to explain why they're there. Video feels more like a conversation with the subject, where still photos feel more like spying.

Have fun!
birdcat wrote on 11/22/2005, 7:17 AM
Hi Cliff -

Way OT with this response, but back in 1974 when I was a copy boy at the Associated Press, trying to break into the News Photography department through the back door (didn't have a huge amount of experience at the time) I did some freelance stuff for Jimmy, who was the color editor for the AP at the time (actually had a color front page shot appear in an Ohio Sunday paper due to him) - Really great guy who was very talented and just plain great to work with. I remember those days very fondly as I had access to the best photogs and photo editors that the AP had and leared a huge amount in a very short time.

I left those dreams of being a news photog behind to get a "real" job and feed my family in 1977, but always wanted to go back to my roots - May try to do that with video at some point as well.

Thanks for letting me know Jimmy did OK as I lost touch with everyone there when I left.
Cliff Etzel wrote on 11/22/2005, 5:49 PM
I am actually looking to buy used at first since I am having to abide by a very strict budget. Thankfully, the computer end is taken care of, but the cost of a new rig is outside of my budget - yet I want a 3 chip camera - so I am looking at a used Canon GL1 or Sony TRV900/950.

Anyone have experience with either of these units? I understand from a technology standpoint, they are a little out of date, but I am starting over and I was taught thru mentors and colleagues that it isn't the gear that makes the photograph what it is, it's the operator of the camera.

Cliff
Spot|DSE wrote on 11/22/2005, 6:39 PM
Lots of experience with the GL1, it's a very good cam in it's class. I've shot a lot of B roll with one of these, and some very good head corporate work as well.
The auto white balance is a bit of a PITA, but nothing you can't manage.
Cliff Etzel wrote on 11/23/2005, 2:51 PM
Thanks Spot for your input. I am currently playing with 16x9 aspect on a older Canon Vistura I found used for a couple hundred bucks to get a feel for the format. If all goes according to plan - within a couple of weeks, I will be using the GL1 to start working on my demo reel.

Could you elaborate on the white balance issue?