Getting a Canon 5DmkII really made me love shooting stills again, something I had not really done much of since my late teens. It’s an amazing camera and with it’s auto focus and amazing low light it’s been a joy to shoot stills with. The one thing though is it does a lot of the hard work for you, it’s hard to take a bad photo! Now that’s good of course and the images I have gotten have been wonderful, best I have ever taken…but I wanted to feel connected to photography like I used to in my teens with my first Pentax…

It was not until I used Rick McCallum’s Leica M9 that I suddenly felt a rush of excitement and even a wee bit of nostalgia. There was something about the feel of the camera, the manual controls, the handling and of course the images that made me feel way more connected to shooting stills than I have done with my Canons. It felt like I was taking the photo…sounds strange I know but if you try one you will know what I mean…

Rangefinders are so much harder to use, focusing is different, framing is very hard and often obscured by the lens as this is not an SLR, what you see in the viewfinder is not what the lens sees!! But it’s so rewarding when you get it right…

Of course this comes at a price, a crazy expensive price, especially if you want the Leica glass. So for the past 8 months I have been saving up to get myself an M9, 3 Voigtlander lenses and 1 Leica lens. The all Leica glass will come in time when I win the lottery! They are an investment, they hold their value so well. But the Voigtlander lenses are pretty damn good for the money, there is a lot of snobbery out there but honestly I am amazed at the quality, especially the 50mm F1.1 and 35mm F1.2. The 50mm F1.1 is around $900. The Leica F.95 50mm is around $10,000!! Now that lens is in a class of it’s own and I have used it and the bokeh is so buttery it melts in your mouth, but for the cash the F1.1 is stupendously good too, great build quality and sharp and smooth…though if Leica read this and want to help me out I will be VERY grateful!!!!

Voitglander F1.1 50mm

My first M9 from Adorama arrived this week and had a nasty big old crack in the sensor, heartbreaking as I had been waiting ages for this camera. Thankfully I was able to source a replacement as Adorama had no more in stock, this camera is pretty hard to get hold of…

Shot on the 50mm F1.1

The size, the discreetness of the camera and the ability to shoot at really low shutter speeds without shake due to no mirror has been so much fun, a lot of the shots I took tonight were at around 1/6th to 1/8th of a second!

Yes, it’s ludicrously overpriced and it’s certainly not going to make me any money. I am an amateur photographer but a pro cinematographer…My Canons bring in the dough and I love them to bits. But I want to really take my photography sideline to a new level and concentrate on that when I am not filming. This is an investment in learning a new skill and feeling great when it works out! It’s also fulfilling a life long dream…

I took the camera out for the first time properly tonight in Palm Springs to get the weekly Thursday night street thingy…I took just one lens the 50mm (I also have the 35mm F1.2, 15m F4.5 and Leica 28mm F2.8 (although that has not arrived yet), I bought a second hand Leica Leitz 90mm off of ebay and that should arrive soon. The 15mm is not great on the M9, it’s better on the film ones as it does weird stuff with colours in the bottom left and right of the image as you can see below as it’s too close to the sensor…shame as its super wide and super sharp and damn good price!

It was damn hard shooting with this, getting focus was hard and framing is tough too but when it worked I felt so rewarded. There is something SO nice about going out with just a smallish camera and one lens and seeing what you can get. The Leica M9 has a full frame 35mm sensor like the 5DmkII a HUGE plus. The M8 had many issues, this is a much better camera

If you want to try one out, the only place that rents them is Photo Village in NY, I bought 3 lenses there and a bag. Great service and nice people.

But to be honest if you have a T2i or any other DSLR that is just great anyway, I know this is out of the budget of a lot of people, it took a lot of saving up for me to realise my Leica dream. The Canons take amazing photos, I am just trying something new and challenging myself…any camera is better than none, after all I take an enormous amount of photos with my iphone 4 and love it so much, especially the instant ability to tweak the images and share, nothing like it!

Click to see the set on Flickr

Anyway below is my first few photos taken with the camera in Palm Springs tonight…far from perfect but I enjoyed it and that is what is important, I got real pleasure in taking these photos even though I know I can do a lot better…and I will…this camera will always be with me. My new best friend

You can see my first attempt on flickr or watch the slideshow below…

Do check out my lens blog for more info but I had to share this very simple video that really shows just how MASSIVE the difference is between a full frame sensor on the 5DmkII and the one in the 7D/ T2i…I did not make this. Mike Collins did. I should have done as it really is useful! Thanks to Mike for letting me use this on my blog…

Please do not look at this as an aesthetic test as it seems the cameras don’t quite match, just use it to see the difference in the field of view…

5Dmk2/7D lens comparison test from Mike Collins on Vimeo.

This is a short test with the tripod in the same spot switching between prime lenses to show how the crop affects the 7D.

We go from 20mm all the way to 100mm.

Thanks to Mike Collins for this video.

In New York on the 8th and 9th of October? Well you should be! It’s the first ever Vimeo Awards, celebrating filming in all it’s forms with talks, workshops, screenings and of course awards.

I will be there and doing 2 DSLR masterclasses. One for total beginners and one for intermediate users. To come you need to buy tickets to the whole event. It’s just $175 for most of us, $135 for students. To be honest am not totally sure once you have your ticket how you reserve your spot, I assume it’s a first come first served basis. I will check and get back to you. The website is slightly ambiguous so I will ask for clarification…but either way you get to come to the whole event for that and there is so much happening that to be honest I would rather not be doing the workshops and just be there as a punter!

On Friday at 1230, myself and VIncent LaForet will be talking DSLR cinema and what it has done to the industry and where it is taking us. Should be a very interesting panel. It’s moderated by the not to keen on DSLRs David Leitner! I am really looking forward to this as I know both myself and Vincent have similar but also different views on this topic!

I wanted to get you to introduce sync into your films to show how important good sound. Obviously some were better than others…the ones were the subjects wore mics or had a boom on them obviously sounded way better and made the films more professional. But every single one had something good in them. Some people even made their first film here…an incredible achievement…

As long as there is interest I will continue to do these ad hoc weekend challenged. I won’t say when next one will be, they will be short notice as that will spur your creativity rather than spend too long pondering what to do!

Here are a few of the 28 films, I encourage you to watch them all if you get a chance! Click here to go to Vimeo page where they all are.

Joe TheVisualist from Jeff Arnold on Vimeo.

Shot on Sept 6 2010 @9:00 CT as a peice for Philip Bloom’s Weekend Challenge “A Character Study”.
Shot on the Southside building rooftop in Dallas, Tx. Light provided by the giant southside sign. The wind and the ac units on top of the building were a little hurdle but it turned out ok.

Camera: Canon 5d
Lenses: Zeiss 21, 35, 50
Audio: Sound devices 702T and a Sanken shotgun
Red rock shoulder rig and Kessler pocket dolly

Shot by Jeff Arnold of JAFilm
Music by Artic Monkeys

Walk Like A Warrior from Anders Meisner on Vimeo.

A character study for Philip Bloom.

This is my dear friend Fredrik who after his lungs collapsed two years ago decided that he wouldn’t be a scrawny guy, prone to sickness any longer. And in two years he gained 26 kilos and a lot of self esteem.
Filmed during the 2nd – 4th of September. Shot on a Canon 5d Mark II with a 24-70mm 2.8 Canon lens as well as a 50mm 1.4, sound by Zoom H4N, support by Zacuto Z-Finder Pro.

Meet Capt. Thornpike from Artwerk Media on Vimeo.

Little interview put together for Philip Bloom’s Weekend Challenge 2 – “A Character Study”.

Filmed and Edited by Jean Brosseau
Music by Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts II

Filmed with my new 7d. Decided to leave my trusty 5d at home and give this one a try. Wish I had ND filters but I still haven’t decided which ones to get yet.

Also, this is my second project edited in Premiere Pro CS5. No transcoding. Edited in native H.264. Love it!

Equipment Used:

17-40L
24-105L
50 1.4
70-200L 2.8 IS
Zacuto rapid fire
Zacuto z-finder (with fog upgrade)
Zoom H4n (which I sold right after the shoot!)
Sennheiser Wireless Lav.
Dental floss in case the z-finder wanted to go for a swim (lanyard provided by Zacuto broke after 5 mins of use…)

Murder, She Watched – Meghan Marvin Character Study from Samuel Hall on Vimeo.

Meghan loves ‘Murder, She Wrote’ and is proud of it.

Created for Philip Bloom’s Weekend Challenge 2.

Shot with a Canon 7D, Sigma 30mm f1.4, Canon 50mm f1.8 & Canon 85mm f1.8.

Sound recorded with Zoom H4N.

Music is Koolen by Eric Serra from The Fifth Element.

http://gutenbergrevision.blogspot.com/2010/09/murder-she-watched.html

MIA – Character Study – Philip Blooms Challenge 2 from Sim Warren on Vimeo.

An insight into the thoughts of Mia Xerri from Brighton’s favourite place to be.

The idea behind the green wall for the interview was to show a contrast between her exterior blue beachy escapism side – to the interior daily routine working side.

Camera – Canon 7D
Audio – Zoom H4N and Senheisser ME-66.
Lenses – OM mount – Olympus 50mm F1.8 & Vivitar 28-210mm F4.

Music – Yann Tierson – Comptine d’un autre été: L’après-mid (amellie soundtrack)

Would love to hear your feedback.

Sim Warren

Confessions of a Barber from wandervoyeur on Vimeo.

One thing in life is a fact, our hair projects our personality. And personality is one quality Perry Knuth has plenty of. I met Perry only two short weeks ago when I walked in to his shop on State Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. I watched anxiously as patrons leaned back into the vintage barber chairs and talked about sports, muscle cars, motorcycles and all manner of manly exploits. Memorabilia spanning the 1940′s through the 1960′s plastered the sixteen foot high walls. I knew I was on hallowed ground, I had discovered a man cave to rival all man caves.

An elderly customer in Jerry’s chair—Perry’s older brother—wore a white beard down to his belly and the most wicked pompadour I’ve witnessed in years. I instantly imagined him in a Robert Rodriguez film slashing down fools with a machete spraying blood everywhere whilst riding a gnarly hog spewing flames from it’s tail-pipes. This badass of a man told me his daughter was a pinup girl—not surprisingly—after I had mentioned that I like to take photos. He also wanted me to take her photo… we’ll see what happens there. Needless to say I could tell that this barber shop was my kind of place.

Perry and Jerry specialize in mens haircuts. A haircut at Perry’s consists of three overall steps. First on the list is the haircut itself, of which I must say really is “good.” Up next is a hot shave with a freshly stropped straight razor to get that perfectly smooth neck. And to top it all off a relaxing shoulder rub to send you on your way. What salon does that praytell?

While some women—and men—may not agree with Perry’s opinion I for one will be returning to his shop for many more haircuts.

If you happen to be in the Salt Lake area and you need a quick shave & cut for a very affordable price walk into Perry’s.

The audio is quite frankly, horrific. Please forgive us our trespasses as this is our first short. We’re learning the ropes here.

Cameras – Canon 7D & Canon T2i
Audio – Rode Stereo Mic & Rode Videomic
Lenses – Canon 50mm 1.4, 70-200mm 2.8, Tokina 11-16mm
Music – Ball and Biscut – The White Stripes

Enjoy.

- wandervoyeur.com

Uncle Gene: For Peace from Ryan Neil Postas on Vimeo.

A Prayer by Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Performed by my Uncle Gene

For Peace

This was improvised last week while I was back east visiting my family.

Panasonic Lumix GH1 with Canon EF Adapter.
Canon 14mm f2.8
Canon 16-35mm f2.8
Canon 50mm f1.2 **favorite**

AUDIO
Tascam DR-100 Professional Portable Digital Audio Recorder
Sennheiser ME66 Super-Cardioid Shotgun Condenser Microphone

DIRECTED BY RYAN POSTAS
AN ELEVATED EVENT

SPECIAL THANKS TO
MY UNCLE GENE
MY FAMILY
RAYCHEL ADIUTORI
SEAN MORPHY

MUSIC BY JOSEPH MIGEL GONZALEZ

Guitar Man from Simon Clark & Alison Farmer on Vimeo.

This is the first (I hope) in a series I call Hands On. Its a personal series of short web video portraits on people who work with skilled hands. Something to keep me interested and to learn how to work fluently with DSLR.

I have been wanting to do a personal video series of ‘Portraits’ or character studies for a while. I had even made a couple of contacts. So when I saw this challenge on your blog I desided there was no better time to try one.

I spent a couple of hours with the subject as he worked.

It is shot Canon 5d Mark II. Sound is recorded on a Zoom H4n. I used a Sennheiser wireless mic on the subject and a Rode Videomic on the camera.

Most of it was hand held, however there are a couple of shots on a home made slider (dreaming of a Kessler).

It is edited in Premiere Pro CS5 and manually syncing the audio files.

I am a professional photographer in real life but I have fallen for the moving image.

I hope you enjoy, Simon. www.farmerclark.com

Meet Tatjana from Chris Winter on Vimeo.

Hi guys!

My name’s Chris Winter and I’m 20 years old and from Australia and this is my first video made on the T2i.

I recently (yesterday in fact) returned home from a vacation in Spain with my former girlfriend Tatjana.

Tatjana is simply stunning. Not only is she a model and a university student, but she can also speak English, Russian, German, Spanish, Ukranian and French fluently.

While I was in Tossa de Mar on the Costa Brava, Philip Bloom posted his weekend challenge, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Originally I was just going to take some photos of Tatjana (see below right) for her modeling portfolio, but then decided to do some video as well. It turned out great.

—
Editing
—

As I had a 14 hour plane ride home, I decided it would be a perfect time to edit the clips together. In the end, it only took about 4 hours to cut together.

As I’m on a budget, I actually edited this in screenflow. Yeah I know, it’s a screencasting software, but it’s actually bloody good for the price! It renders the hd clips instantly and is a real pleasure to work with.

Colors are only graded slightly (kind of limited with screenflow). Saturation and contrast were boosted to bring out the colour of the ocean and surroundings.

—
Setup
—

Shot completely handheld. No rig, no tripod, no viewfinder, no follow focus. Just the canon t2i/550d and a 50mm 1.8 lens.

As much as I would have loved to have tested out my new Zoom H1 (it arrived yesterday in Aus), I unfortunately didn’t have it in Spain with me so the audio is from the internal mic. It did pick up the sound of Tatjana, but unfortunately also the sound of the ocean in the background … oh well, c’est la vie … first try!

In a way it was good she was speaking different languages so sound wasn’t so important.

—
Style
—

The video isn’t deep, nor is it moving. It’s fun and shows the personality of Tatjana and this is how I wanted it. I think it’s my style. Sort of like an ad for Roxy or H&M. One day I’d love to shoot a spot for them.

—

That’s it. I’d just like to say a BIG THANKYOU to Philip Bloom for getting me inspired to shoot on the HDSLR. This guy doesn’t get enough credit for what he does for everyone for free. Thanks mate!

I’d love some comments … all feedback is welcome

—

Music Credit:
Around the bend
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Jack from ilia djondric on Vimeo.

a quick interview of my nephew Jack after his soccer game had finished.

shot with the Canon 7d.

for the Philip Bloom weekend challenge #2
“A Character Study”

Sticks and Stones from neen0brown on Vimeo.

Short created for the Weekend Challenge 2

Meet Joe from Darryl Gregory on Vimeo.

This is my submission for Philip Blooms weekend challenge #2 “A Character Study”

Re-uploaded after accidental deletion.

Tip of the day!
Never let your ex get on your computer when she is mad at you.

I had over 1100 views, and 13 likes and a few comments.
I would love for all those who liked my video before it was deleted
To “like it again” I don’t want to be that video with Zero likes

I would appreciate it,
Thank you

It was all shot with one lens, easily one of my favourites. The 100mm Canon F2.8L IS Marco and a 7D. So my equivalent 35mm focal length is about 160mm, so a nice long macro. The 60p was conformed to 24p to give perfect slow motion. I rarely use the 60p of the 7D due to the hideous aliasing, as long as you avoid fine detail and deep depth of field you are ok with it. The slow motion helped with the fast moving fish and added an graceful air to everything.

Music is by the great John Williams from the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha”. This film is just a personal film so the music is not licensed which I do for all paid work.

I have to say Eric’s tank is stunning, the coral is so beautiful and when seen close up with the macro it’s simply incredible. One thing though when shooting a fish tank, shoot straight on, if you shoot at an angle then the distortion of the glass is quite apparent…I also sharpened in post using the built in sharpen tool set to 9% and it is graded with Magic Bullet looks. 20% off at checkout for that with code bloom20.

I have made this piece available under the new Vimeo creative commons licence. You can download it and use it but only for non commercial purposes and with full credit.. Read below for more.

As the water… from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Very simple short film of a fish tank that I had to shoot when I saw it as it was so beautiful.

It’s not as sharp as it could be simply due to me shooting through the tank…but it still looks pretty good. That lens is sweet…

All shot at 60p conformed to 24p and using the Canon 100mm F2.8L IS macro using a 7D.

Music is by John Williams from “Memoirs of a Geisha”

Picture courtesy of HD Magazine

Edit: it seems there has been a bit of a backtrack. The beeb called HD magazine last night and have now clarified it is on a case by case basis. Which is what i thought anyway...

But if you are in uk check out a new children’s sitcom for the BBC shot entirely on the 5D. This from Dom Bridges…Click the below link for more info…

“I recently shot and directed a 6 episode childrens sitcom for the BBC called shelfstackers
it airs this saturday at 12.50 on BBC 2

I shot it in an open supermaket using the 5D and i think im right in saying its the first complete half hour tv show shot entirely on the 5D”

Original blog:

This is kind of a big deal…the BBC have just about the toughest demands for what they will accept for 100% programme acquisition for an HD show. When the 5DmkII was first tested by the BBC it was dismissed straight away due to it’s moire/ aliasing issues and like any format that doesn’t qualify for them it is limited to just 25% of the programme.

Well according to this article in HD Magazine (article now gone), the beeb were so impressed with what they saw from the initial shots that they greenlit the whole thing to be shot on the 5DmkII as opposed to the 25% and the rest of an HD CAM 750 with a pro35 adaptor. Interestingly they are using Nikon lenses for this…

“Obviously the BBC were very unwilling to sign off on something like that because it wasn’t on their approved list and initially they were saying that for an HD programme they could only support 25% of the programme shot on a non ‘so called’ HD camera.

“We shot a lot of tests which looked wonderful but the engineers at the BBC were saying that there was aliasing and moiré patterns that would make them fail the use of the camera for HD broadcast.

“However we’d done a lot of independent research and shot more tests and shown them to people. When the tests came back from the BBC they said there was aliasing but they suggested that we shoot more tests in a type of scenario that the production would encounter, like a scene with actors looking backwards and forwards with mid-shots and close ups.

“The head of technology at the BBC, Ian Potts, who was very supportive in our early days saying ‘You have these technical issues that would fail our broadcast tests but it’s very interesting what you’re doing and please do some more tests because we’d love to see what you do’. After seeing the four day’s worth of rushes he was so completely smitten with it and said it was some of the best material they’d ever had, ‘finish the film on it’. It went from nought to 60 in half a second.”

Honestly this is such a big turning point as I know so many people who have been struggling to get the BBC to say yes even for SD projects.

Yes, we know there are issues with the camera but in the right hands and knowing these issues you can make these cameras sing and blow the socks off the doubters as has been proven here…

Onwards and upwards now…!

EDIT: With the slight backtrack it changes this blog a little, but it really should be on a case by case basis anyway. What we do not want is everyone shooting everything on these cameras as we all know they are not perfect and there are certain things which are clearly not the best use of DSLRs…but it’s great that we are seeing more and more stuff..the funny thing is I can’t watch BBC HD at home on my Sky HD Box. It looks so awful, artefacts galore and hideous over sharpening that I just wait for the blu-rays!

Nice seeing my Prague film up in the middle of the hall...

Day one was the press/ VIP preview of the once every five years Canon Expo. Basically everything Canon makes and what lies ahead. All photos apart from the fish eye were taken on the iphone 4 so I could blog as I went along…

Lots of cools things to see but nothing really new DSLR wise unfortunately, no 1DSmkiV yet…the 60D was on display and looks good. I like the flip out screen, what they all need really and the build quality was sturdy. It felt well made. Do I need one? Not really, but it’s a really nice camera and certainly a better bet than the T2i, but not the 7D…

One of the most interesting things was the Canon 4k concept camera and 4k monitor! It’s only 2/3rd inch but it’s still interesting and a sign of where they are going? I must emphasise this camera will never come out. It’s a concept camera showing the technology. Are they planning to take on RED? No idea but it will be interesting to see where this path will take us…it’s no Epic that is for sure…which is real and being tested out in the field…how long though before Canon bring something like this out for real? Ideally for me in an APS-C minimum sized chip but I talk more about this further down the post. The 4K monitor was great as you can imagine, 32″ and sharp as hell. It’s one of those things of course that you need to see in person…

I was actually the first one in...

I REALLY like the XF 105. It’s tiny and has amazing specs. 422 50mbs hd sdi and genlock. The XF 100 is the same but without the SDI/ Genlock. Both record onto CF cards. I guess it is a direct competitor to the JVC 100. Size wise it looks identical, almost…but spec wise it is simply really impressive. It’s the first camcorder in recent memory that I have actually wanted. It has all the facial tracking auto focus that the Vixia has but in a much much better cameras.

XF 105 3D rig

As you can see, it's tiny.

This is the Canon 4K concept camera.It was actually working and was crisp as hell…This concept camera had  a fixed 2/3″ 20x Zoom lens as the chip itself is 2/3″. I am not sure what the idea of it is, they mentioned something about medical something or other. It’s obviously not a cinema concept camera due to the fixed lens. The image out of it was actually really really nice. As I have said and I and am sure you all want to,  is to see an APS-C chip in camera like this and use all the current Canon glass or PL lenses…but Canon have a different marketing strategy to someone like RED. RED announce their road map and make it very public. Canon keep things close to their chest. If there is a cinema camera coming out or a new improved DSLR for video there is no way they would show a concept camera of it and show the competition what they have up their sleeve. Canon do not give much away and of course that is probably from a business stand point the best thing to do. That is why this camera really is to show what they are capable of more than anything, not what they plan to do…I would put money down that we won’t know until pretty close to release of any big developments with regards to video in DSLR or the next evolution of that.

There was also no word of any firmware or other lenses, they were all announced last week. I expect the much rumoured and much expected 1DSmkiV will make it’s debut at Photokina in Cologne later this month. I will be watching this very closely as it MAY have improved video functions, again, pure speculation but I can be positive and hope can’t i?

Sam Nicholson, ASC. Owner of Stargate studios who do astonishing work DSLRs...

The huge sensor is also very cool. Check out the image below which shows two monitors. Image on right represents what human eye can see. Image on left is image from the huge sensor.

The F*** off sensor next to the 5DmkII sensor!!

if you look closely on monitor on the right you can just about make the woman out...

Also on display is the stabilised broadcast lenses. Something which we currently don’t have. A nice feature that we are very used to on cheap cameras and on IS lenses. Finally some 2/3″ broadcast lenses get this much needed feature. Their display was cool as it showed with and without with the cameras mounted on a car bouncing up and down.

They also had a lens for an 8K camera…a BEAST…

Don’t get excited by this DSLR body. Out of context it’s like WOW…what is this…it is simply the prototype for the 7D on display…

Prototype 7D

The multi band camera is impressive, it literally can see more than the human eye can…am not talking latitude, but detail and colours that we simply cannot make out…impressive but needs to be seen in person, much like most things here.

One of my favourite things there was the new 8-14mm F2.8L . Circular fish eye at the wide end, it’s enormous fun. Its not out yet and no idea of pricing but both myself and Vincent LaForet below fell in love with it. It’s a special effect lens and certainly should not be on anyone’s list of priority lenses to buy. It’s so bloody wide I seriously had to suck it in so as not to get my belly in shot on the 8mm. WTF!? You can just about make it out and my feet in the circular shot…!

I am here with Lucasfilm’s Rick McCallum who it seems is rather light fingered as you can see below! A bit of fun!! Pics of Rick by Sam Nicholson.

The Canon 60D was on display too…as mentioned, it felt way better than i expected. Image wise I have no clue as not shot with it!

If you are in town I will be there tomorrow too…hope to see you! Hopefully this blog gave you a taste of what there is there. It’s so massive I barely scratched the surface but I have focused on the stuff that interested me the most and I hope you…

This is a once every five years epic event, almost like an NAB just for Canon products. We are talking more than cameras here, printers, photocopiers, broadcast products etc..of course it’s the cameras why I am going. Will there be big new announcements? A 5Dmk4? A 3DMkII? New firmware? A Flip competitor with a full frame chip in it? I haven’t a clue, but I will be at the show at the preview day on the 1st September and on the 2nd. As long as I am allowed to I will be doing mini posts on my TUMBLR blog throughout the day. I haven’t used it for over a year but it’s perfect for this and I don’t want to clog up my blog with loads of mini posts…

It’s on this Tumblr blog that I will also be posting interesting stuff about the trip, where I am, what I am doing. A lot of it purely for fun. I am doing a workshop in Santa Monica the weekend after next (there are some places left) and I am also shooting the new season of “Critics”…

So keep up to date and bookmark the TUMBLR blog!

Find someone, anyone and do a character study of them. Last time you did a study of an inanimate object. This time make a person but I want to hear from them, learn something about them. A great way of practicing your dual system sound or even in camera sound…

Here are the rules: It has to specifically shot for this challenge and say so in the credits at end. If it’s old where is the challenge in that? Secondly, it MUST have sync, not voiceover…sync. I can have voiceover but there must be some sync sound of the character speaking. Thirdly, one character per film only!

Length is totally up to you, but don’t let the video overstay it’s welcome is all I can say!

You have until next Sunday to do this, get it uploaded by 2359 Pacific USA time Sunday. Below is a great example of one of the entrants. Great visuals and great sound. PLEASE do not forget about how important sound is. People will forgive average or even bad images if the sound is clear and crisp. Shoot the most beautiful footage but if we cannot hear the person clearly we will stop watching!

Good luck to all!

Upload your videos to the Challenges 2 Vimeo group page!

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Guitar Man from Simon Clark & Alison Farmer on Vimeo.

Although this is my first post, I have been following Philip’s blog for several years and it has been instrumental in helping me choose a direction and equipment to shoot with, so thank you.

This is the first (I hope) in a series I call Hands On. Its a personal series of short web video portraits on people who work with skilled hands. Something to keep me interested and to learn how to work fluently with DSLR.

I have been wanting to do a personal video series of ‘Portraits’ or character studies for a while. I had even made a couple of contacts. So when I saw this challenge on your blog I desided there was no better time to try one.

I spent a couple of hours with the subject as he worked.

It is shot Canon 5d Mark II. Sound is recorded on a Zoom H4n. I used a Sennheiser wireless mic on the subject and a Rode Videomic on the camera.

Most of it was hand held, however there are a couple of shots on a home made slider (dreaming of a Kessler).

It is edited in Premiere Pro CS5 and I have been testing a trial version of PlurylEyes for Premiere Pro as Philip has given it glowing reviews in the past. Unfortunately, it proved useless in this instance and I reverted to manually syncing the files. I will try it again with an interview before I reject it as to much hassle. I’m guessing it’s best on a Mac.

I am a professional photographer in real life but I have fallen for the moving image so I’m attempting to follow in Philips footsteps with my partner Alison (a real film maker).

I hope you enjoy, Simon. www.farmerclark.com