Auto Mode vs Manual Mode

So you just purchased your new DSLR camera and everyone keeps pressuring you to take it off of manual mode. All the "professionals" you know almost exclusively shoot in manual mode, and since imitation is the best form of flattery, you should also shoot in manual mode, right?

Photo by Alex Banakas

Well... maybe. I like to think of it like this. Your camera is basically just a tool, and that tool has some preset knowledge (modes) on it that makes it easier for the photographer. If you were going to make a new dish and had the recipe for it, would you steer away from it and add your own random ingredients, or stick to what's been done? I think that until you've made it a few times, or unless you've had some experience, sticking to what you know is the best policy.

Auto mode is your camera deciding what would work best in each situation, so you don't have to. Manual mode, is a little different, and gives YOU total control instead of the camera. There's also a few modes like AV (Aperture Priority) and TV (Shutter Priority) that allow for some manual control, but not total control that you can try out as well. What I would recommend is practicing on auto mode and trying to figure out what the camera is doing. 

Now by all means, don't stay on auto mode forever (what's the point of spending all that money if you're going to use your DSLR as a point and shoot?). But I do think that you should experiment with taking photos/video and trying out the different modes so you can become aware of what they do. Once you feel more confident and comfortable, you can surely switch to manual mode. Remember that you're only as good as your tool, so make sure you take the time to know how to use it!

Turning Videos Into Still Photos

Freeze Frame!

Have you ever been at an event and had to choose between snapping that one perfect photo and taking video of it? If yes, and you decided on taking some video, you may be able to have the best of both worlds. Here's a short 3-step guide on turning your footage into photos using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Step One: Import footage into Adobe Premiere Pro and double click on it to bring it up in the Source Panel.

Step Two: In the Source Panel, drag the playhead to the frame that you want to freeze, in other words, the photo you want to export.

Step Three: In the bottom right corner of the Source Panel click on the button that looks like a camera. This is the Export Frame button, and it does exactly what it says. Choose what format you want your new photo to be in and export! 

Tip: If you can't see the Export Frame button, you can either expand your window by dragging the sides out (pictured above), or click on the double arrows to show a drop down menu with Export Frame as an option (pictured below).

So there you have it, this is a quick and easy way that you can have your cake and eat it too! Enjoy your photos, and remember to stay creative!

GoPro or GoEveryone?

Recently all the video buzz has been about GoPros. Around the holidays last year I saw commercial after commercial about what you can do with a GoPro, and suddenly everyone and their mother owns one. But I'm no exception... I have the GoPro Hero3 White version. It's the cheapest version with the most limited features, but hey, I'm a student and I just wanted to try it out.

Overall though, I'm impressed. Impressed with the GoPro itself, the brand, even the convenience of the app and new editing software, that are both free. I think it's pretty impressive that GoPro has made a name for itself in the homes of beginner videographers as well as the non-techy type. Sports enthusiasts rave about GoPro, and I can definitely see why. Shots with the GoPro are easy, especially if you mount it properly, or have something exciting already prepared to shoot.

Last summer I used a coworker's GoPro to shoot some pool scenes for a commercial. I literally just had to throw it into the water and tell the kids to play around with it. It was amazing! I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can do with my GoPro. View my commercial below, and stay tuned for next week's post on the difference between auto and manual modes for your DSLR camera.

DSLR Camera Basics

First off, some important things to understand. Photography is all about light. Without light there could be no photos. So how do you make sure that you're capturing just the right amount of light? Well, you've got to understand these three things: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.

Aperture: Basically the aperture controls the amount of light that gets to enter the camera. Aperture is specified as an f stop, or sometimes called an f-number. So how do you calculate what f stop to use? Well, unfortunately it involves a little bit of math. Your f stop is calculated by taking your lens length divided by the aperture size. So if you had a 200mm lens and the aperture diameter was 10mm, then you'd need an f stop of f20 or (200/10). This can get pretty confusing, but just remember that the smaller the f-number, the bigger the opening, and the more light you're letting into the camera.

Shutter Speed: The shutter speed is important for determining how much time the light is exposed or let into the camera. This can vary from a couple of seconds to a couple of hours. Shutter speed can be changed to produce a variety of different effects. A fast shutter speed can freeze moving objects, while a slow shutter speed will cause movements to blur. 

ISO: The ISO is your camera's sensitivity to light. A low ISO is around 100 and is common for outdoors, where there's already a lot of natural light. A high ISO would be 3200, and could be used indoors, where situations may be darker and need more sensitivity to light.


So that's the very basics. I've found that reading several beginner DSLR blogs really helped paint a much better picture for me as I was just getting used to my camera. My favorite article is on Point2.com, and I'd encourage you to check out the photos to get a better understanding of what I'm talking about. That's it for now! Stay creative, everyone! 

We Need More Learning About Things

Image from Google Images

If you haven't seen the 2003 movie, Daddy Day Care, you definitely should give it a chance. It's a funny, quirky movie about a couple of dads running a day care for kids while they run into endless shenanigans. One of my favorite scenes from the movie is when Becca, a smart little 5 year-old is asked how the dads could improve the day care. Her response: 
Becca: We need more learning about things!
Dad: We need more learning about things?
Becca: Yes. We're at a very critical age. You have to feed our minds!

It's true that it's important to engage young kids with learning while they're at that "critical age," however, there's never a time in your life when you stop learning. I've always been someone who is passionate about learning, and I don't think that eagerness or drive to learn something new will ever fade away. I love learning a new skill, especially one that I can apply in both my professional and personal endeavors. With technology changing so quickly today, I feel like it's nearly impossible to be an expert on anything. It used to be that you were required to be skilled in only one thing and know it inside and out, but now you basically need to know a little about everything. It makes you more marketable and essentially more beneficial in group situations where collaboration is key.

So how do you go about knowing a little bit about everything? Well, for starters you should read…. a lot. Pick up the newspaper and get familiar with the current events, and while you're at it read a magazine that relates to what you want to do professionally. My favorite magazines to read are Wired and Smashing. Just taking a few minutes out of my day to read an article helps me feel more informed about what's going on in the industry. How else am I going to find out what's happening? 

As for actually picking up some skills, do a few tutorials in your free time. I'm one of those nerds that stays inside on a Friday night, because I'm sure that I could learn just a few more techniques in Photoshop to make my projects better. I'm not saying don't have a social life, but if you want to get better at something you have to find the time to do it. Remember that your time is valuable so make sure that you're spending it wisely when you're just starting out.

My absolute favorite video tutorial site to use is Lynda.com. You have to have a subscription to access all of the content, but some full length videos can be found on their YouTube channel. The service is wonderful though. You can make playlists of videos that you want to watch, see your progress, and even download exercise files so you can work along with the videos. All the transcripts for the videos are there too, so if you watch something and then forget how to do it later, you can refer to the transcript.

Another tutorial site is Tuts+. I haven't used this site as much, but there's a lot of pages with various how-to articles and videos that I immediately wanted to learn how to do. Some were really specific and unique, like this tutorial that teaches you how to make a commercial print advertisement using 3D splashes. I'm pretty sure Tuts+ is a lot like Lynda, and you probably have to pay to access all of the content. However, you can view some video tutorials on their YouTube channel.

So that's my advice. Try to learn something every day. Sacrificing even 10 minutes can make you so much more knowledgeable. Stay creative my friends!

Photoshop Actions: Your New Best Friend

I love Photoshop. I mean I really, really love it. Every time I take a new picture I have to put it in Photoshop to see what enhancements I can make to it. I might be a little obsessed, but it's mainly due to my newly discovered best friend: my actions. Before I heard about actions I was adding numerous adjustment layers on top of each other trying to get the effect I wanted. It took lots of time and lots of trial and error. Now I let my actions do all of the work.

So what is an action? Basically it's a bunch of steps in Photoshop that you can record and then save so that with a push of a button all those steps are performed for you and you don't have to painstakingly remember all the little details each time you want to edit a photo. You can make your own actions, use the few that are already in Photoshop, or you can download more. To access your actions go up to the top navigation bar in Photoshop, click on Window, and check Actions.

I was first introduced to actions when I discovered a deal for Amanda's Collision Action Set on one of my favorite online shopping sites. Normally it's priced at $128 but I got it at a steal for way less than that, and wow, it's been totally worth it. Combining actions is my favorite thing to do when editing photos. Here's a couple of examples of pictures I took with my DSLR and the actions I applied to them from my Collisions Action Set.

                    
Actions used: Crem De La Crem, Sweet Honey, Punch, Turnin Up The Heat, Sunbeam, and Flush Cheeks and Lips.

Actions used: Velveteen, Wowza, Simply Splendid, Cool It Off, and Start Off Right.



Now I realize that not everyone has $128 laying around to spend on Photoshop actions or any other camera/accessory so here's another alternative. If you create an account on Envato, you'll have access to a marketplace filled with tons of interesting downloadable content, including actions. Just go to the graphicriver tab and search for "Add On files Included Photoshop Atn." From there you can choose from lots of different packs that are pretty reasonably priced. I just purchased a set of 65 actions for $10 and it had some really great basics in it. Here's some more examples of what actions can do for you. On the left is the original photo (complete with lots of blurriness from my phone). Below are three different actions I applied to the photo. HDR-Gamma, Camera Holga-Color, and Toning Split-Warm.

So check it out, and see what actions can do for you! Comment below with your favorites and let me know if you find any really great deals on action sets! Stay creative my friends!

Top 4 Sites To Find Free Music

Like the perfect background, finding the right audio bed for your video can be tricky too. You could use your own voice if you feel comfortable enough, but unless you're in a band, going solo can only last for so long. It also might be easy to find short sound effects, but searching for longer mp3 files that are free and actually fit your project can seem like trying to find a needle in a haystack. So to help you out, I've put together a list of the websites that I've found most helpful. They might not have exactly what you're looking for, but hey, at least it's a start… and it's free. Not everyone can buy those fancy compilation albums that have thousands of songs with different cuts on them. One can only dream.



Jamendo: I use this site the most, as the Creative Commons license applies to many of the soundtracks. I think it's got a good variety of music and like Free Music Archive, you can search by genre, instruments, mood, and even what type of CC license you're looking for. The best part is that everything is free and easily downloadable!

PartnersInRhyme: Here's a site that's got a lot going on. I mean, visually I'm not sure how many more words they can stick on a page, but the site does do what it offers and gives  users access to tons of sound effects and longer mp3's. The organization is pretty nice too, so hopefully you'll be able to find what you're looking for quickly. Simply download with a click of a button and provide a link back to the site for attribution. 

YouTube Audio Library: This actually surprised me when I found out that YouTube had music that I could use for my videos. YouTube's audio library doesn't have a whole lot in terms of selection, and I think you have to have a Google account to access the page. Those things aside, it does work pretty well. I've downloaded a couple of songs to use in my projects and haven't had any problems. 

Free Music Archive: I haven't used this site as much as the others, but it appears to be really user friendly and the about section was pretty informative on who they were and what you can hope to do with the music. I love that you can search by curator, genre, or even sign in and add your own music to the mix for others to use. Very cool!


So that's it. I'm sure there's more out there, but these are my favorites If you're lucky you can find music in other places, such as your school or friends. Remember that your audio is very important, and can definitely make or break a video, so don't just shrug it off like it won't matter what you do. It does, and trust me, your audience will know.

I hope you've enjoyed my list! If you know of other sites that offer free music downloads to use in creative projects comment below and share! Follow me on Twitter for updates and stay creative!