YFJ: Filming With a DSLR

Eric Lee is here weekly to write to you about DIY photography and cinematography. Straight out of high school, Eric is sharing his ways hoping to learn from his readers as well, only in search to get better.

A picture says a thousand words, but a video says 30 or 60 times that, literally. Nowadays, every photographers entry DSLR comes with live-view (when you’re able to see on the LCD screen) and video capability. Even Pro-Level gear like, Canon 5D Mark IV’s and Nikon D3s’s come with 720p or higher quality video. Canon seems to have taken the video DSLR era by storm, with cameras capable of shooting 60fps at 1080p resolution, it makes motion seem so suave. Nikon has been an unworthy competitor till last couple of months releasing the Nikon D5100, an upgrade of the Nikon D5000. It shoots 30fps at 1080p with external mic capabilities, great for DSLR movie makers. Do you ever watch youtube and see those lesser known rappers? or the people who make shooting movies like freddiew? Or even people on vimeo climbing parkour? They are all filmed with DSLR’s because they are mostly lesser in price, and have more capabilities, especially being both a camera and camcorder. With the interchangeable lenses, the DSLR can change it’s bokeh level and Depth of Field. More DSLR’s are coming out with external mic jacks, I love it. Let’s see the cons of DSLRs. I filmed this video for vimeo: Angels in America.

This adaption features my friend Arif, who also writes his own movies and scripts. I filmed the movie mostly in a single take, besides the beginning. This video was taken on my roof, during a sunny summer day, testing out my new camera. I wanted to utilize the background of buildings, from my first post, because the architectural detailed work in the contours of the building were amazing. One problem I ran into while shooting, is battling the glare of the sun on the LCD screen. A way to fix that kind of problem is get a viewfinder for the back of your camera. This viewfinder will create a small eye piece so someone can see only the screen. The next problem with DSLR’s is that their bodies are smaller than big camcorders, thus people will shake in their footage. This shake can be eliminated with an IS (image stabilization) or VR (vibration reduction) lenses. They are great for low light and will cut out handheld shake. What’s great is that many kit lenses like the 18mm-55mm come with the VR or IS. Another way to make sure you don’t have too much movement in your shot, is shooting with a prime lens. Often shooting out further, 50mm or more, it’s harder to stabilize if not on a tripod. You sometimes will get a jelly sensation in your shot too. Shooting lower is easier. But I also find focusing can be tough with DSLR’s, because you have to watch where you are going and what your subject is doing. So I look at my focus ring and metering on the lens to balance where I need my focus to be. Another problem is sound. What I did was buy a Rode Videomic.This mic fits right onto where the external flash would be, or the hot shoe. BUT BEFORE YOU BUY ONE, MAKE SURE YOUR CAMERA HAS THAT ABILITY TO ATTACH THE MIC JACK!  the Nikon D5100 is the only Nikon DSLR to support this feature!


Free Things I use:

Digital Rev is my favorite youtube channel with tips and reviews!

Loving this from vimeo, they teach about everything for DSLR

Artist of the Week is my friend Damiane Nickles. He took AP Studio Art this year. His paintings and visuals are amazing. He turned his four walls of his room into canvases, and painted masterpieces. Please check out his work and comment! This is his flickr.

Secret Assignment #3:

Film a short, take a portrait, let me see what you can create using a DSLR. It can be light painting or a time-lapse. Show me the goods!

Eric Lee is a young Brooklyn based artist. Fresh from high school and moving on to college, Eric is writing about his experiences as the young cinematographer and photographer he is today.

Young Filmmakers Journal: Behind the Lens

What makes a shot well spoken? Is it the color, contrast, lighting, or the subject itself? I would agree all those factors make shots interesting and thoughtful, but for me composition in a shot is the most important. Composition is essentially how the picture, movie, or visual piece of art is made up. It’s the components of what makes the image. But each various way of looking at something has a different connotation. Camera angles, and shots pull an audience into or away from characters. Along using composition, lenses are a photographers tool to create this image he or she imagines. The lens is like a painters brush tip, or a knights blade. Though it’s not what controls the photographer or the camera, it empowers the artist to ignite their imagination.

Each lens has a different purpose; speaking from my end, I consider myself an amateur/enthusiast. For my Nikon DSLR’s I have a couple different lenses; I use primarily my “nifty fifty” (http://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalRevCom i love these guys) 0r 50mm f/1.4(normal lens), I also have a 28mm f/2.8 (wide angle), an 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6. You may ask, “hey Eric, since you have an 18-200mm zoom lens, why not just use that and save money?” Well each lens has its own purpose like I said. A 50mm lens is a great portrait lens because it usually has a low F stop number, meaning a bigger aperture, meaning more light. It also increases the amount of bokeh, or background blur. A great portrait lens is usually 50mm to a 105mm. It gets up close and personal with the subject.  Just like this!

Photography by Eric Lee

I wont lie, I saved the photo by converting it to black and white; I originally over exposed it. But the shallow depth of field is great, making Ittai’s face the focus. The power of a 50mm is great; it seems to be the most convenient lens. I do get a little bit annoyed that it’s not a “full” frame lens on my DX (crop sensor dslr) camera, but it’s fast and takes nice sharp images. The slight tilt of my subject adds character to his personality, which he truly is bubbly and happy. I shot a little bit below him, giving him the slightest edge over the viewer. Instead of having Ittai square to me, I went on an angle.

I like keeping my subject within the frame, not using the edges very much. I don’t like cutting peoples arms and pieces of the forehead out either. I, frankly, don’t like those “just face” shots in movies or photos, it’s too much. I like to stick to horizontals or verticals that keep enough head room around the subject. Sometimes I’ll keep the camera horizontal and shoot the head, leaving a nice bokeh effect in the background with such a large aperture. I’ll be shooting an hopefully soon, video that is, and I’ll need to keep the part I’m capturing in focus and within frame. I don’t want to miss anything. But since video and photography on the go is so different (like sports photography and concert photography), don’t worry too much about not getting the right crop or composition. Shoot a bit further out, depending on where you sit, 35mm-100mm should be enough for a concert, unless you’re going for a nice close up of a member of the band. This way you can crop out  what you don’t need and focus in on what you want. It’s a safe proof way, unless your camera is pretty bad and doesn’t have enough megapixels or resolution to compensate; but don’t worry about that, because every camera now a days is of great quality.

Both 28mm or a 35mm are considered wide angle lenses. They perform decently in low light and capture everything without lens distortion. Composing a photo with these kind of lenses seems easier to me. It captures everything all in one image. It feels a bit pulled back, distanced from your subjects. These types of lenses are great for landscape photos and interior photos. Though bokeh is not a wide angle lenses’ forte, it makes up for the great level of detail and vibrant colors.

Photography by Eric Lee

This was taken in Times Square with my 28mm f/2.8 lens. I positioned myself near the sidewalk of Broadway and aimed forward. I was able to capture all the signs and board, which illuminated with great colors and contrast. The photo splits into two directions in the background. I really enjoyed editing the photo a little bit, adding contrast and saturation. It did not need to be cropped because I felt the photo was able to depict Times Square well enough.

Photography by Eric Lee

I set this image on a ledge under the Brooklyn Bridge. It was at my friends new apartment building, that his family has been working on for years. I set this long time exposure with my 28mm.

I don’t really want to talk about my telephoto zoom lens. It’s honestly, a piece of crap. Even though the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 has vibration reduction, the lens just doesn’t have sharp images or good color. It seems good until you shoot all the way out. I even took a video with it, in my last post you can see the video I made (see if you can find the section I used a 200mm to shoot with!).

Composing is an art. Frame your shots with some though, even if it requires taking an extra step back or some lateral movement. Remember, it doesn’t matter as much if your camera shoots 60fps or 24fps, nor does it matter if its 30mp or 12.3mp, it’s more about the archer than it is the arrow (I don’t quite remember where I heard that from). If you want to see what I’m also talking about, watch this link where Jared Polin talks about composition for photographers.

10mm-18mm ultra wide angles, great for fisheye skate and action sports, and to fool around in tight spaces.

20mm-35mm wide angles, good for interior and low light events, such as parties and even weddings, when on the dance floor.

50mm-85mm normal lenses are usually fast and let in enormous amounts of light. This is great for portrait and just every day use.

105mm-200mm are good portrait lenses, but I don’t see a need to use those for portraits as much as sports and far away needs

300mm+ telephoto lenses are great for sports. capture a moment from a distance.

These are just my opinions, don’t go and quote on these purposes, but from my experience, these groups work. And I promise, I’ll do a blog about video next week.

This weeks artist of the week is my friend Alex Lordahl. A photographer and gadget geek, this kid keeps it real. He even figured out how to use black and white film to create nice color images. check that out here

He has great experience in dark room photography and even took a class at the school of Visual Arts here in NYC. Check out these pieces to his AP Art Studio Breadth

Secret Assignment #2

go out and take a shot or video; film or take a picture of someone or something. Tell me your meta data, let me know what lens you used and all! I want to see different angles and interesting shots.

Eric Lee is a young Brooklyn based artist. Fresh from high school and moving on to college, Eric is writing about his experiences as the young cinematographer and photographer he is today.