Xt2

The Margaret River Video

Sugarloaf Rock, WA

Sugarloaf Rock, WA

Creativity comes in all forms. From the stroke of a paintbrush, to the voice of a singer or to the click of a shutter on a camera. All these skills are internally linked to one another through a creative mindset and bounce off one another in a beautiful, constructive way. 

Since the beginning of this year I have photographed a number of creatives in a variety of fields including graphic designers and painters. We all share a passion for what we love however face many similar obstacles and challenges to overcome. Throughout the year I have explored other areas of the creative profession and discovered profound results in the way i think and act in my own creative endeavours and I urge you to give it a try!

 

A big push from myself is to explore the world of videography. I am a big consumer of video and its quite closely linked to the world of photography and I thought why not! how hard can it be?!

Turns out I was so very wrong but so right in a number of ways. To begin lets dive into the good stuff.

 

Firstly I found it a great way to pre visualise my shots as well as understand the story I want to tell. The biggest aspect missing from modern day photography is the story that exists in every image. We can say its the result of an over saturation of the market or that all the stories have been told, but I think we are just not trying hard enough. For most videos you have to tell a story because it isn’t just one moment in time, it is a collection of moving images to show a broader picture. This is when I begin to realise the greatest training you can do in your creative field is to explore other methods of expressing your creativity because it all helps out!

Gnarabup, WA

Gnarabup, WA

 

Though making a 3 minute movie is damn hard work and takes a lot of time! more than I ever realised. Leading up to the week of filming I had just got my hands on the new Fuji Xt2 which had taken some major upgrades in the filming department. Even now I don’t believe I have failed in the perfect settings but it still produces some amazing results from a company that has never taken video overly seriously. And what a great place to start shooting with the camera, the beautiful Margaret River Region so at the very least I had that on my side.

 

Crash course In shooting Video on the fujifilm Xt2

 

Film simulations for me are a lifesaver at the moment, built into the software of the camera is film emulations that save a tonne of time in colour correction later on and provide promising feedback when looking over the footage in the viewfinder. While shooting I was using 1080 @ 60fps just about all the time and I presumed that would be the best way to go. Since then I have corrected my settings because I began to realise the large number of 1080+ monitors that are out their and replaying the footage I noticed a lack of quality. Thankfully 4k @ 30fps in an option and a much better way to go for most of my style of shooting.

 

Audio also plays a big role in film production and the in built microphone is a great way to start off with to provide your videos with a bit of background noise. Though I picked up a directional microphone that could pinpoint very focused noises like the birds in the trees or waves crashing on the ocean. Sitting on the hot shoe and connected to the camera through a 3.5mm audio jack on the side it was a really cheap and easy way to up the level of this production and also helped create a much clearer storyline when imagining the background audio for each shot. 

 

 

The Result

 

So after a number of days of filming I had started to put together the ground work for my short film. Visiting locations like Sugarloaf Rock, Boranup Forrest and even inside some of the limestone caves that dot their way up the coastline. A sequence of shots started to play out in my head and once returning from the trip I loaded them all on the computer and set to work. Below are some images from those locations;



I am hugely proud of the video I accomplished,  it has been a huge learning curve but I loved every minute and I now thrive to create higher quality content in the future whilst delving deeper into what I know about the world of photography. Experimentation keeps us young and our minds open to new ideas, and this light bulb moment for me has reinvigorated my motivation to keep on creating. I hope that gives you all something to think about

 

Michael (ps. if you havent seen the vid watch it below)