How to: Film Underwater

Probably the hardest thing someone wanting to film nature can do is go underwater. Filming underwater presents a multitude of challenges that do not appear when filming on land. Managing the lighting, and focusing on what you want to focus on are two big issues that appear underwater. There are some tips I have in order to help you film underwater better.

The first thing you need to do to film underwater is to have the right equipment. Make sure that you have waterproof equipment, and that it will be able to withstand the water you plan to film in. Water can damage electronics, so choosing the wrong camera to bring underwater can lead to utter devastation. Make sure to bring a waterproof camera that has been tested to prevent any mishaps. GoPros nowadays have fantastic quality and are very durable cameras. Look into different makes and models if you plan on being adventurous with your camera.

When filming underwater, making your shots look good can be tricky. It may be tempting to edit your shots to make them look perfect, but the clarity of the water makes the editing seem more noticeable. When editing an underwater film, less is more. Know when and where to use lights and filters when editing, to ensure that your film still looks completely natural, and not edited. It is best to stay in shallow waters, where light can reach. And the light rays shining throw the surface can be breathtaking! This is one of few circumstances where golden hour doesn’t do you any favors, plan to shoot when the sun is directly above.

Sometimes our footage underwater can come out in a way we don’t intend. Sometimes we take a video that we think looks good, only to get back home and edit it and see how it really looks. It is important especially when underwater filming to check your footage since it is so difficult to go back underwater to get more film. Pay attention to the colors, all the blue can drown out its opposite colors which are oranges/reds. Using a filter which enhances these colors can make your video pop more. Checking your film while in the process can minimize the risk of having to go back and refilm. 

Filming underwater is very tedious. It really is not something that you can just pick up and be good at. The most important aspect of improving your underwater film skills is to practice! The more you film underwater the better you will get at capturing picture-perfect moments. Try different things and find what works and what doesn’t, and your shots will naturally improve over time!

Have you ever tried filming underwater? Did it go well?

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Tips To Film Sunsets/Sunrises

Getting the perfect shot of a sunrise or sunset is one of the most gratifying moments in a photographer’s career. The timing must be absolutely perfect, and the picture must be flawless as well to make sure you get that once in a lifetime shot. Sunsets and sunrises are some of the most popular, and gorgeous photos that one can take. There are several tips and tricks that I can offer in order to help make capturing these magical moments easier.

One of the hardest things you have to do in order to film a sunset/sunrise perfectly is to be there on time! Check your weather app and make sure you are at least 15-20 minutes early to your shoot destination, in order to ensure you have ample time to set up. The weather app will tell you at what time the sun is supposed to rise and set during the day, making it easier. Set the alarm a little earlier, to ensure that you don’t miss the perfect moment because sunrises and sunsets come and go quickly!

The image of a sunset or sunrise can easily become cluttered due to the sheer magnitude of the horizon. In order to help combat this problem, start by filming the scene in the widest mode your camera has to offer, in order to ensure that you get the entire scene. By starting off wide, you can then zoom in the perfect amount to get the shot you are looking for and make sure that the sunset/sunrise is the focal point of your work. 

If you really want to make your film pop during a sunrise or sunset, placing something in front of the whole scene may be a good idea. Flowers are a fantastic thing to add to your sunset/sunrise shot since they are just as colorful as the sky. Even doing something as silhouetting the plant in front of the setting/rising sun can lead to a gorgeous blend of colors. By doing this, you can make your shots looks more unique and stand out more. 

Another absolutely vital thing to remember when filming the sunset and sunrise is to remember where the sun rises and sets! It sounds simple, but the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. Sometimes in certain locations, the entire scene is not visible, so make sure that the corresponding direction is visible from where you intend to shoot. By doing this, you can save yourself the heartache of planning to go somewhere, only to realize you can’t even see the sunset/rise!

Do you have a preference as to filming either sunrises or sunsets? If so, why?

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Tips for Using Natural Lighting Outside

You should always be thinking about how to use light to enhance your video. Lighting is super important in giving your film a certain mood. Unlike changing lights to how you want them in a studio, you have to work with what mother nature is providing that day. Depending on what you are filming outside, the time of day and weather are very important to note to give your video the best feel overall.

Be sure to plan ahead! Look at the upcoming weather and see what day is best to film your video. For example, if you want snow on the ground, make sure to be ready as snow may not last very long. Film all those scenes in one day if possible since so can come and go overnight. Weather can be unpredictable, always give yourself another day to film. Just because the news says it will be sunny does not mean it will. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket or you may end up with nothing to show.

The most sought after lighting is the famous golden hour. This is the period of time shortly after sunrise or before sunset. This lighting will make everything look stunning. Be sure to use this to your advantage if time permits it. It can completely transform the look and tone of a shot.

For the other hours of the day, be mindful of where the sun is located. The sun during the middle of the day shining down can cast some shadows that can either look fantastic or ruin your shot. In contrast, having the sun beam directly onto what you are filming can make the whole shot washed out or feel bland. Use clouds as a natural filter to diffuse flashy lighting. Having the subject be directly in the sunlight can work for great lighting, but use angles to your advantage. Turn around and have the sun behind, this can give everything in your shot a warm glow, perfect if you want the mood to be happy and uplifting.

Natural lighting can be your best friend or your enemy. Make it your friend, play around with different lighting and angles outside. There are many ways you can utilize the sun and nature around you. Shadows cast from trees or other objects can add a lot of dimension. 

Do you think golden hour is overused in film and photos?

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Tips For Filming Animals

Shooting animals is one of the most difficult things that a videographer or photographer can do. Animals can be unpredictable, and obviously don’t cooperate with you at all. Wildlife can be counterproductive with you unless you know how to work with wildlife, There are a lot of things that you can do in order to help you successfully work with wildlife. 

For starters, whenever you’re planning to shoot animals, pack a lunch. You will likely be filming for a very long time since the perfect moment only comes along every once in a while. Plan to be at your filming location for a while, as animals ultimately will not entirely cooperate with you, and you will likely end up being there for a while. 

If you are having trouble finding animals to film, a simple thing that you can do is bring them to you! For example, if you want to film deer, bring some food for the deer to eat. Place the food in the spot you want to film at, and the animals will likely come to you. Finding the animals can be difficult, so by attracting them to you, you can eliminate this issue. 

One of the most difficult things to do when filming wildlife is getting them to look good in your shots. Finding the right place on the animal to focus that makes the animal look natural is important when filming. Focusing on the eyes of animals is a good rule of thumb when filming, and will help your subjects seem more natural and look better.

When filming wildlife, it’s important to always be ready. Even if you take a 5-minute lunch break you could miss a once in a lifetime shot. A simple yet effective trick while filming is to always keep the camera running. You never know when a deer might run out of the bushes and do something crazy on film. Always keep your camera running while filming wildlife since they are unpredictable!

What is your favorite animal to film and why?

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Tips On Filming With Wind

As we discovered, filming outside is a great way to express your artistic ability. And we also know there are many challenges that come along with it that make it harder than filming indoors or in a studio. One being the wind. Wind has the power to make audio completely unusable. You may not even realize it until you listen to it while editing. Luckily for us, there are some ways to overcome this obstacle.

A lavalier mic is a great option for windy days. This mic is the one you clip somewhere near your collar. Already, your body and clothing may block a lot of wind noise. Additionally, you can add a tiny wind muff to stop further unnecessary noise. There are tons of options for lavalier mics out there, ones for professional cameras and even ones that connect to your iPhone. They can range anywhere from $10 to $150 and is worth the investment to reduce the stress of how are you going to capture sound.

Another viable option is to add sound in post. You can still speak normally during the normal shoot to use as a reference. There are multiple ways to do this. You can try to carefully dub over yourself, this is not the ideal way to do it, but when it’s your only option, it will do. The main problem with this is it will not sound live and it will be hard to perfectly match your voice to your lips. A better way, if possible, is to do a voiceover. Grab all your extra B-roll and do any talking parts as a voice-over. Your project may turn out differently than you were expecting but at least you will have quality sound.

Luckily, if all else fails, many editing software can reduce noise. However, I would use this as a last resort. On the effects page on most software, there is a sound panel with different audio effects. Use one that is called “DeNoiser”, this will do its best to get rid of all background noise but at a price. If the sound is intense, it will leave your voice sounding like it is underwater. Not ideal but could be better than a harsh wind sound blowing out your speaker.

Outdoor filming takes a lot of patience. Waiting for the wind to settle down and filming during that break would be the best option, but time is not always on your side. Use the weather app to see how fast the wind is moving. Anything below 7mph can result in decent audio if you take precautions with your microphone. Anything higher will be difficult to get a clear sound.

What was the worst weather you ever tried to film in and how did you overcome it?

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How To Film While On the Go

A good videographer is constantly on the go, following the beauty of nature in order to get beautiful things to film. While this allows for more content to shoot, it presents a new challenge; figuring out what to bring. If you are away from home filming, there are several things you cannot go without. But, there are some tips I have that make filming on the go easier and less of a hassle. 

When traveling to film, it can be a real problem transporting your equipment. In this case, bringing less is more! If you bring too much unnecessary equipment to your filming location, it can lead to the headache of transporting it to and from. In order to combat this, plan in your head what you plan to film, and what you will need and what you likely won’t. This helps reduce the amount of stuff you have to lug around. 

Having recording equipment with their main purpose being for filming on the go is a good idea in order to reduce the amount of stuff you have to bring while traveling. Having something like a GoPro can really reduce the amount of equipment you bring. GoPros aren’t crazily expensive and run around the same prices as regular videography grade cameras. Having one gives you the option to film at good quality on the go, without bringing a massive camera.

When traveling, it’s important to keep in mind that you always have a fantastic camera in your pocket- your phone! As I’ve mentioned before, iPhones have fantastic filming capabilities and can be used in many situations to film. Videos on the newer iPhones are of good quality, so if the subject allows, shooting from your iPhone may be a good idea while on the go, in order to limit the amount of equipment you have to bring!

One of the best ways to completely ruin a trip to shoot in a different location is not knowing what you’re going to be shooting. When on the go, make sure you have plenty of ideas of what you want to shoot before you go, and what is in the area. If you have no game plan in place beforehand, you may not know where the good shooting locations are at where you’re going, and potentially miss out on fantastic filming opportunities. 

Where is your favorite place you have traveled to shoot?

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How to Effectively Film a Stop Motion Video

Stop motion videos are one of the most basic ways to film. The principle is simple, capture images of a moving subject and string them together to make a video. This seems like a very easy thing to do on the surface, but making a truly great stop motion video can be a real challenge, and be very tedious. In order to help you in filming your stop motion videos, I have lined up several tips for you.

When taking a stop motion video, you want to keep your camera steady. If you just shoot your stop motion from your own hand, it is very likely that the film will be noticeably shaky and not as professional looking. In order to combat this issue, getting a tripod is a fantastic idea to keep your phone secure. As mentioned previously, tripods can be found for fairly cheap in most stores, such as Amazon. 

A good stop motion video is all about seeing your subject change and move, while nothing else changes. When taking a stop motion, sometimes the exposure and focus can change as you’re filming. This can lead to your video looking less natural and professional. In order to combat this, set your camera’s focus and exposure settings to manual, and set them up yourself. This will help your video be smoother in the end. 

Make sure when shooting a stop motion video, you shoot in an area where the light is controllable. If you use something simple like sheer daylight in your video, the angle of light might change as you film. In order to combat this, bring equipment in order to make the lighting be the way you want it. Something like a mirror or a large umbrella can really help whenever shooting a stop motion outside since they can easily manipulate sunlight. 

Stop motion videos require a significant amount of captures in order to be somewhat lengthy. Make sure to calculate how long you want your video to be before filming if possible, so you know how many captures you will need. For example, if you plan to play your stop motion back at 30 frames per second, and want it to be 10 seconds, you will need 300 shots in order to achieve this. Knowing how many captures you need beforehand can really help eliminate the hassle of not knowing when you have enough captures.

Have you ever made a stop motion video? Of what?

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How To Effectively Film the Night Sky

The night sky is one of the most breathtaking and polarizing things that can be filmed in nature. Something about the stars and colors in the night sky radiate mystery and curiosity and the night sky is one of the most popular things to film. In order to film though, one must have the right equipment in order to capture the entire shot and to make the stars really stand out. Here are some tips on filming the starts and night sky effectively. 

When choosing what camera to use, the best option is a wide lens camera naturally. The night sky stretches as far as one can see, and using a wide lens can really help express the magnitude of the sky in film. If a wide lens camera is not available to you, the regular picture will likely capture the night sky just fine, it may just not address the issue of capturing the sheer size of the sky. Using a wide lens will go a long way in making the night sky look good in your film. 

Editing the shots you get of the night sky is very important. Since in the grand scheme of things, there isn’t much to the night sky but darkness and light spots, editing the light spots to make them look good is very important. Making sure that the stars are bright and really are the focal point of your shot is imperative in taking a gorgeous shot of the stars. By brightening the stars, the contrast between the light of the stars and the darkness of the sky will radiate mystery and beauty. 

One of the most forgotten aspects of capturing the stars is capturing set star systems and constellations. Many photographers will just take what they deem to be good shots of the stars, and completely disregard the order of constellations. Filming set constellations can really add an artistic aspect to your shots. For example, adding the big and little dipper in your film can not only be beautiful but draw a picture in your shots. This helps the issue of shots of the stars seeming random. 

Messing with the temperature of your filming of the sky is one of the best ways to make the shots really pop. Temperature can change the entire look of the sky, and make the night sky seem like it has a color to it. Using the temperature to edit your film can really address the issue of the night sky is very black and white. Editing with temperature adds a dimension to the shots of the night sky that make your shots look gorgeous. 

When was the latest you ever stayed up to film/photograph something in your life? 

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Tips for Filming Streams/Rivers

Simply just exploring nature will inevitably lead you towards rivers and streams. Where water is, life follows. When filming rivers and streams, a few problems present themselves. There is always a lot going on around these rivers and streams, and getting your video to not be overwhelming to the audience can be challenging. 

Around rivers and streams, there tend to be lots of life and things going on. Animals running around and drinking, fish swimming, mud, and leaves and ground clutter. All of these things are great, but too much outside action can lead to the focus shifting away from the river and stream, and towards the outside commotion. Reducing the amount of outside commotion can help the audience be more engaged in the moving stream and river. 

The best way to capture the best angle of a river is to get in. Bring water shoes with you to filming and get in! By getting in, you can address the issue of finding the best angle. Getting in and getting your hands a little dirty won’t hurt, and can really help you find that perfect angle that you can’t see from the side. 

A safe bet when filming streams is to avoid the sky. Having too much sky in your shot will likely leave it blown out, and there will be too much going on in the shot. The sky can also mess up the color of your river or stream, either by being too bright or too dull. Avoiding the sky is a good way to help avoid the problem of your film of a river being blown out. 

Watching the weather is important when filming rivers and streams is a good idea. Usually, partially cloudy days are the best for filming rivers since the clouds will weave the sun in and out of the shot. This prevents your shots from being too bright, or too dull. Partially cloudy days are the perfect mix of light and dark in order to make sure your video pops.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in order to get a good shot?

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