INSIGHTS
Ronald Turnbull describes what he learned
I was looking through my viewfinder at the
Aysgarth waterfall, and wondering whether
to go for 1/60 sec, for that unrealistic chunky
look, or set up the tripod and give it 1/2 sec for
that unrealistic silky-smooth look.
And then I realised: this camera has a red button,
I can record it as it is, movingly. Short videos are now
part of the armoury, essential for self promotion,
demanded by publishers, and above all, for every
Outdoor Writer and Photographer... a Whole New
Way of Wasting Time.
the machinery doesn’t matter
Effective video can be made on any camera with a
red video button, including smartphones. A tripod of
some sort is useful for providing some steadier shots
and for shooting yourself walking into the picture.
The first special purchase (several months down
the line) might be an external microphone. Sound
engineers call a microphone a mic instead of a mike.
This is one of the mysteries of filmography.
video isn’t still
Pointing the camera at a lovely picture and then
pressing the red button rather than the silver one:
this doesn’t make outstanding video. What it makes
is a still photo, slightly wobbly.
but: still photos can be video
Still photos can be slipped into a video. If they’re
made to move (the Ken Burns effect) by slow
tracking or zoom, and if they have some soundtrack
behind, the viewer won’t even spot it’s a still.
And this can introduce moments of stability into
hand held video footage. So hit that silver button
sometimes.
smartphones are actually quite smart
smartphones and tablets don’t do zoom - well,
they do digital zoom but that just gives unusable
low-resolution pics. However, they are better
than cameras for selfie shots, because you can see
whether you’re in the picture.
editing software isn’t an issue
Free editing software is available for most computers
and devices. For Mac users, iMovie does everything
you need for your first 50 videos. Andrew uses Vegas
Movie Studio on PC, which has a low-cost version at
www.vegascreativesoftware.com/gb/vegas-movie-studio .
8 Outdoor focus | spring 2018