Strictly Business Blog

This photograph by Jamey Stillings of the Colorado River Bridge appeared in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine. I stubbled upon it over my morning coffee and it changed my day. A beautifully executed image and a fascinating subject coalesced and I craved more. I went to Jamey’s web site and viewed the entire portfolio. I know Jamey, he is an ASMP member living and working in Santa Fe. I asked him how this project happened…

Whether you’re doing a multimedia piece or a video you will no doubt be doing interviews.  So this entry will provide you with some tips for getting better interviews. Number one rule of course is that your audio capture must be good.  Make sure your microphone is no more than a foot from your subject.  Make sure you monitor the sound or at least your sound check by wearing headphones.  You might think you are…

I am often asked the question about the best way to prep still images for a “motion” project. Like anything else there are differences in opinion as to color space, size and type of file. With that said – here is how I prep my still photos in Photoshop. Size images between 2100 and 2600 pixels. Remember everything ends ups as a horizontal on a TV screen. So these dimensions are for images that are…

The biggest surprise (not that it should be) when still photographers start to shoot in a video format is how important audio is.  I can’t stress this enough.  Your audience can tolerate a poor visual – but never bad audio.  If they can’t hear and understand what someone is saying – they turn it off. So some tips and thoughts on getting good audio. Always use a camera that has the ability to accept external…

We are visual communicators.  We should choose the right “tool” for what it is we are trying to communicate. With the new hybrid cameras from Canon and Nikon on the market, still photographers tend to gravitate to them because they are seemingly fit into their comfort level.  Essentially, still cameras that shoot video. Indie filmmakers love these hybrids because they don’t like the traditional “look” of video and want limited depth of field.  So they…

Video is a medium ideal for collaboration. There’s a lot of talk these days about partnerships and collaboration. Basically building teams to better serve your client and your business.  Video production has historically been a collaborative effort because of the many facets of the craft – pre-production, shooting, sound, post production (editing) output etc. With that said, at the same time, technology has made it possible and affordable to create motion projects working individually. But…