Greetings, fans!  I'm here to announce that in the coming weeks/months I will be making some (hopefully) regular posts, covering some of the really cool people I get to hang out with and go flying with throughout the year.  We have a really awesome community of photographers and pilots, always working together to have a great time, and share our love of aviation with those around us, and what I want to do is provide some interviews of these folks to truly show that anyone with an interest in planes can make their goals come true. 

So, here's the plan:  I'm starting a program I call "Pacific Northwest Aviation Profiles" where I will interview folks (both on "paper" and on video) having anything to do with aviation.  I want to have pilots, mechanics, engineers, air traffic controllers, photographers, and everyone else who is involved in aviation in some way.    As I mentioned, I will post the written version of the interview here first, and then at a later time I will conduct a video interview of that same person, asking similar questions to what you see in the, but with more in-depth follow ups.  I will create a new Playlist called "Aviation Profiles" on my Channel.

There you have it, that's the tentative plan.  If you have any questions you would like to see answered, please leave a comment either here or on my Facebook Page.

And as always, thank you for stopping by and visiting!  Be sure to visit my Fund Raising Page to stay up to date on my funding efforts for a new and improved video camera!

Jason

Ok, so I'm not so great...

OK, so I'm not so great at the whole blogging thing!  Sorry!  From time to time I will try to keep this thing updated with projects I'm doing.  It's been a very FUN, and BUSY summer and fall and now it's time to start preparing for the next year.  I've officially made video my primary medium now, and am actually trying to "crowd-fund" a fancy new camera to help improve the quality of the videos I provide.  Being practically unemployed (substitute teaching) there is no way right now that I could afford a brand new professional-quality camera.  So far folks have been incredibly generous, and I am encouraged that I can actually meet my goal by next summer!

At any rate, I've been reading, and watching tutorials and trying to learn everything I possibly can about film making.  I'm hoping I can start enough projects to keep me busy throughout the summer months. 

Anyway, I've added some "widgets" to the blog here so folks can donate to my new-camera fund.  If you don't want to donate, you can still help support me buy clicking on all of the ads in my YouTube videos! :-)  Also, check out my Photoshelter website.  That money also goes toward the new camera, and that way you also get a beautiful photo! Win-win!

Thanks for your time!

Jason

http://www.gofundme.com/Fight2Fly
http://www.facebook.com/Fight2Fly
http://www.youtube.com/user/fight2flyphoto
http://fight2fly.photoshelter.com/

Shooting Lessons pt. II: When in Doubt, Zoom out!!

     Now that I have trained myself to wait for my subject to be closer before recording and follow the previous rules, I have yet another bad habit to fix: zooming in too far. I am not quite sure why it is, but for some reason every time I see an aircraft approaching through my viewfinder/screen I zoom all the way in. Once I get home and see the video I am again disappointed that the video quality is less than what I remember when shooting.  Just like time compression in my previous post (Norm, you know what I'm talking about!).  The plane jumps all around the frame in a blurry mass if metal. Ever been there? Again, taking notes from my still photography, it took me a while to back off when I first got my Sigma 50-500mm lens. I wanted to be able to see the look on the pilots face as they passed by. Several years later that amusement has warn off for better things such as framing. Same should be done with my video. I need to back it off.
     Today, as a matter of fact, I applied this very rule, with very good results.  I can't see the pilots faces, but I can see the entire aircraft and its proximity to the ground.  This, I believe, makes for a much more pleasing clip.  Extreme closeups have their time and place but should be used sparingly.

     Just like in still photography, there is an exception.  Extreme closeups can be very cool, and add a lot of energy to your video.  However, it must be done with great consideration!  Here are some rules that I follow with my still photography and am trying to apply to video.
1.  Make it look intentional!  Clipping just the very end of the nose, tail, or wingtip looks sloppy.  If you want it full frame, zoom out a bit.  If you want it cropped, zoom in so as your viewer knows you are trying to focus on one particular aspect of the aircraft.

2.  Make it look smooth!  At least, as smooth as possible.  You never know if you don't try, right?  Try to find a zoom range that works for you and your equipment and make a mental note for yourself to NEVER go beyond that range.  Make a small mark on your camera if you need to. 

3.  Just like real life pilots, make yourself some personal minimums.  Go practice shooting and determine the amount of zoom that you like for those shots you MUST keep in the future.  But, be sure that when the moment counts, you don't press your luck and assume you'll be "just fine" this time out.  I've ruined too many amazing photo opportunities because of this.  Some photographers will tell you to take the risk, I tend to say err on the conservative side.  I'd rather have a clip that leaves me wanting more, than one that leaves me wanting less.

Equipment Consideration:

Not all image stabilization is created equal, and none are perfect!

Again, consider your focus points.  I know I mentioned this in the last post, but you must be aware of the focus point(s) in the camera you are using.  I cannot tell you how many times I wanted have nice 1/3 framing, only to find my camera kept trying to focus on a blank background, which ruined the shot.  In this case, what I should have done is zoom out more so I can still keep my subject in the center (focus point) and the ground on the bottom portion of the screen.

I hope these tips help in some way, either in shooting video or still photography!  Please comment below and share with your friends!

Blue skies and happy shooting!!

Jason

Shooting Lessons: Pt. I - Patience

This lesson is about patience, waiting for that perfect moment to start recording your video.  

I'm finding that learning to shoot video is much the same as learning to shoot still photographs.  Though I have been photographing airplanes for ten years now, I feel as though I'm starting from the beginning when it comes to video.  A perfect example of this is wanting to shoot everything I see, even when the aircraft/subject is waaaaaay off in the distance.  To the naked eye it "looks cool" and sometimes even through the view-finder/display screen it may look especially cool, since I can zoom in on the subject.  However, once I get home and sit down at the computer and review it, I realize I wasted 40 seconds of video which I could have used later in the day, on a subject I can hardly even see.

Lesson I - Patience:  Only shoot when your subject can fill 1/3 of the frame or more. 
Think of each clip you shoot as an individual photograph.  Would you want to sit and look at a speck of an airplane against a solid blue sky for 30-seconds?  Probably not.  Once that aircraft/subject fills at least 1/3 of the frame, you will be able to make out greater detail.

The other thing to take into consideration is that you will probably be at full zoom.  As we all know, trying to keep any camera rock-steady at full zoom is very, very difficult.  As a result, this video will be very shaky. That is, unless, you have a nice tripod setup.  In that case, I find it even more tempting to record when the subject is far away.  Remember to be patient, and keep your finger off the trigger until you can get a decent, interesting shot.

With every rule of photography there is an exception.  With this, the exception would be if you're trying to catch an interesting background or you're trying to capture the motion of the subject.  If you're at an airshow you may want to show an aircraft making an exceptionally tight turn, or rounding off the top of a loop or other aerobatic maneuver.  If you're at an airport spotting, you may want to show aircraft in the traffic pattern turning base to final.  For this to be successful, in my opinion, you must have a background other than solid blue sky.  Clouds, ground references, or maybe even airshow smoke must be visible to show motion.  This follows a lesson I will discuss at a later time, when in doubt, zoom out.

Equipment Consideration:  Focus point

With my Canon VIXIA HG20 I find it extremely challenging to record an interesting scene due to the fact this camera only has one focus point, and it is dead center.  As a result, this unfortunately means most of the time I cannot follow the rule of thirds.  If I want the subject in focus, it has to be in the middle.  Otherwise I get continuous focus searching, or a blurry subject.  If you have an older piece of equipment or one with limited functions, be aware of that and shoot accordingly.  Sure, in PP I can zoom and pan the scene, but this will result in a generally degraded image quality due to pixelation and increased noise.