Young and aspiring photographers/videographers can get sucked up in the whole madness of acquiring the coolest and latest gear and camera add-ons. Yes, photography and cinematography can almost suck up your life's earning yet you'll want to keep acquiring, there'll always be that new paraphernalia you're lacking. My advice to young photographers with a thousand and one question on what add-on to buy is -‘JUST STOP’, look no further from a good camera, a laptop and a 50mm, at the end of the day you don't want to be the kid with the gear that's got no game.
Hone your skill with a 50mm, If there's any lens you can't do without, it has to be a 50mm. It's everything you want in a lens, it efficient, handy, cheap and very versatile. As a young photographer it helps you shoot better, you don't have the benefit of a zoom function therefore, you're forced to get more physical with your shots.
The 50mm is a prime lens, prime or fixed focal length lenses are usually inherently sharper than zoom lenses as they have fewer and less moving parts inside the lens, it's a versatile lens in terms of performance and application, it can serve as a good lens for portraiture, travel and street photography, a very handy lens you can travel with, lightweight and fast with good aperture.
The 50mm helps you compose better shots, with no zoom feature it engages you with your subject by helping you get up-close or away in order to get the right composition, due to its size.
I find it easier to experiment with, it comes really handy when you're experimenting or trying out different techniques; reversing it for macro photography, lens whacking even for tilt-shift effects, you can't do this with any of the heavier and more expensive lens. Its very risky I wont advise you to try any of this technique except you're pretty good and losing a good lens wont rattle you.
For videographers and young filmmakers, a good 50mm f1.4 is a good addition to your tool kit especially if you have a full frame camera. With jaw dropping shallow depth of field, the bokehs are so sweet you can lick 'em. True confession, whatever excuse I have to give, I just must add a 50mm shot to the mix, it sort of like ties everything together for me. Call it my signature look.
Sample pictures of 50mm
courtesy Dagonite
courtesy Cainey
To our beloved clients, collaborators and partners we wish you a Happy Holiday and the very best of the season, despite the limited budget, impossible deadlines and in rare cases lack of direction :-D, you’ve made 2015 not just a beautiful year but a fulfilling one. We say a big 'Thank you'. On that note, not forgetting our followers and avid readers -what better way to celebrate the season than to share once more from our wealth of know-hows and the very best of the internet. We hope this lineup of offerings prove invaluable in the work that you do.
FILM MAKING
It's now stale news how Canon revolutionised film making with their top of range DSLR cameras and how that has helped a sizeable amount of people make a shift into film making, the DSLR Cinematography guide is a must have for young film makers starting out with a DSLR, this guide not only walks you through cinematography concepts but it also covers topics like camera add ons, post-production, sound, camera peripherals, firmwares and updates. Downloadthe DSLR Cinematography guide here
Also watch samples of stunning DSLR Cinematography here.
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Gone are the days when big studios control how you watch and when you watch content, youtube has democratise content creation by being the biggest depository site for your video content, you can now reach people more than ever before on whatever platform (mobile or desktop) Learn the rudimentary skills of publishing your creative work or your clients promo videos go toYoutube Creators Academy,Youtube Brand Studies helps you understand what goes on backend and how to optimise views on your channel, deepen engagement, drive conversions and ultimately generate leads for your clients.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Street photography is an aspect of photography I find really interesting but its most definitely not for the faint hearted, going into the street capturing moments, cultures, landscape and people isnt always an easy task, most especially when you are pointing your camera in peoples faces, most people find it rude and unpleasant. I stumbled on these two books from Thomas Leuthard available online, you can download for free.
Its an eye opener and a manual for anyone interested in street photography, it covers a number of topics like planning, equipment, composition, camera settings, ethics, the law, copyright and many more.
Download Going Candid pdf here and Collecting souls pdf here
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Graphic Design Referenced chronicles the trend, application and evolution of graphic design as it relates to branding and advertising. A voluminous read with rich illustrations. It also cover typography, print production, environmental design, conventional and new media. It's indeed an encyclopedia for the profession. Download Graphic Design Referenced here,
BROADCAST / MOTION DESIGN
I can't help but point you in the direction of the guy that really helped me as a young motion designer and effect artist, his site (videocopilot.net) covers Aftereffect the way no other tutorial site can. He is Andrew Kramer. For starters you might want to take a look at his basic tutorials, its a great start point for young motion artists who find Aftereffects a little daunting.
Not that I sat on my own minding my business and Deloitte called, I actually set some communication in motion and expected certain turn of event, but you know what? it did happen exactly how I imagined. I got the call.
The thrill isn’t so much of the huge payoff but the excitement of the 'chase' before the 'kill'. I must say, it was a huge payoff nonetheless. :)
In the course of our short but promising romance I stumbled on some interactive content from Deloitte New Zealand. That shit got me, it stopped me right in my tracks.
Apparently, recruiting talent in a number of fortune 500 companies now take a more creative twist. Deloitte has this ‘Will you fit into Deloitte’ gamified experience, which takes you through an interactive day-in-the-life experience of a Deloitte recruit, the idea is to see how well you fit into the culture and operations of Deloitte by putting you headlong in situations where you choose from a handful of options to make ‘timed’ decision, the beauty of the adventure is the non linear approach to storytelling and the possibilities of the various alternate endings.
That got me thinking. How about reinventing advertising? Yeah, thats one of the things we set out to do at Mode Media Lab. Instead of following the conventional linear storytelling, can we develop contents that entertain and delight; deepen engagement; drive conversions and ultimately generate leads for our beloved brands?
Enough said, back to the drawing board.
In the spirit of the season, see how well you fit into Deloitte here. You just might spend Christmas in Wellington, don’t forget to send me a postcard. LOL :)
Share your FIRST result here ;)
