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Five tips to get the best video results from low budget 8-bit cameras

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We all have to start somewhere and for those who wish to learn how to shoot video, that usually means some pretty low-budget (and often old) equipment. Those newcomers are often teased on social media for not having the latest and greatest gear and made to feel bad about what they own, but don’t let those types of people get to you. You can do some great stuff with some very inexpensive equipment!

Sure, the older and low-budget gear may have some limitations that more expensive or newer gear might not, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get the shot. You just maybe have to work a little harder for it. And in this video, Nigel Barros walks us through his five gotcha mistakes that often trip up new filmmakers and how to avoid them to get the best video you can from low-budget cameras.

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Turn one light into many and create fake window light sources using mirrors and gaffer tape

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Mirrors are… well, they’re not really a modifier but they can certainly be used as one, so that’s what I’m going to refer to them as here. Mirrors are probably one of the most misunderstood and underused modifiers out there when it comes to lighting, but they can be extremely helpful.

I’ve been using mirrors for my own photography, especially small product stuff, for quite a while now and they’ve been excellent for throwing a little extra light in places. This video from Nate’s Film Tutorials shows us how we can use them for larger subjects to turn one light source into many and even to create the look of things like fake window light, complete with frames and blinds.

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How to create and fake a realistic tilt-shift look without using a tilt-shift lens

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When it comes to lenses that present a unique look none really stand out more than the tilt-shift lens. Largely the domain of architectural or product photographers, tilt-shift lenses shift the plane of focus and the centre point of the lens to be able to correct things like perspective and focus shifts and produce looks that are otherwise virtually impossible to achieve unless you’re shooting large format.

But tilt-shift lenses have another quirky use, too, and that’s making things look miniature. It’s a look often imitated in post but usually, the effect is a little too strong and unrealistic. In this video, Pye Jirsa from SLR Lounge walks us through the process of creating tilt-shift images in photoshop that actually look like they were shot by a real tilt-shift lens for very subtle but effective results.

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How to shoot a clean and simple coloured fill portrait in the studio

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Sometimes you just want a clean and quick setup to start a shoot off the right way. Sure, you may have a ton of creative ideas in store for later on in the day, but they may be new ideas you’ve never tried before or they may be more experimental. If that’s the case, I always find it smart to start a shoot with a tried and true setup that’s not too tricky to do, quick to set up and provides great shots each and every time.

That way, the team knows that whatever happens from here on out with the more experimental work, we’ve already bagged some killer images and everybody is positive about the setups to come.

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How to shoot and edit professional interior photography

Shooting interiors can be a lot of fun but also an extremely difficult challenge. Most rooms aren’t designed to be photographed. They’re often laid out all wrong for it, there’s stuff in the way of the shot, the colours and patterns don’t really match and it can be tricky to find the right angle to shoot from. Even if all those things do fall into line, interior lighting isn’t usually geared toward photography. It’s designed to light the space for people within it.

There are some things over which you don’t have much control when photographing a room but there are plenty of things that you do. In this video from Becki and Chris, we learn a variety of tips and techniques that allow us to shoot interiors that we can be pleased with. Everything is covered from the gear to the composition with lots of great advice in between.

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Confused by colour grading? Watch this complete guide to the basic concepts and tools

Dealing with colour in video is a two-part process. First, you’ve got colour correction. This is the process where you tweak your footage to get things as accurate to real life as you can. It’s also used to match footage shot with multiple cameras to give them all the same standard starting point for the second part of the process, which is colour grading. This is giving the footage your own creative aesthetic spin.

We grade to impart mood or feeling into our sequences. It’s a visual aid to help guide the viewer and put them in the mindset we want them to have while watching. And sometimes it’s just because they look cool. Whatever you’re reasons for doing it, if you’ve never done it before, it can feel a little intimidating, so the guys at Film Riot put together this “Color Grading 101” video to teach you all of the basic concepts of grading.

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10 tips for filming miniatures to make them look larger than life to the camera

Miniatures have been a part of filmmaking pretty much since filmmaking began. They’re typically used when building a full-sized set or prop would be impractical or just flat out impossible. Sometimes they’re used to create forced perspective shots to make a miniature look like it’s part of the real world or to be able to blow something up that they couldn’t blow up in real life or to create something that could just never really exist in the real world.

Whatever your reasons for using them, they’re a lot of fun and can be very effective when done right. But how do you do them right? Well, you can start by watching this video from Steve Ramsden where he goes over his top 10 filmmaking tips for filming miniatures to make them look (and act) like they’re a part of the full-sized real world.

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How to shoot dynamic waterscapes and take your long exposure photography to the next level

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Long exposures, particularly of water, are something that almost all of us either have tried at some point or will try and some point in the future. Sometimes we might get lucky and nail it on our very first attempt but often we’ll find ourselves struggling to get the image we see in our head. The image we’d like to create. This is because it’s not usually as simple as just sticking an ND over your lens and increasing your shutter speed. There’s a little more to it than that.

In this video, photographer Andy Mumford walks us through the elements of creating long exposure waterscapes to add dynamism to our scene. He gives us the reasoning behind the decisions made when shooting one so that when you face potential problems in your shots or aren’t happy with what you’re getting, you’ve got some idea of what you can change and how they’ll affect your photography.

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Watch this complete guide to shooting subjects on white seamless backgrounds

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White seamless background photography has been a staple of both portraits and products, amongst other things, for decades. It’s one of those things that almost all photographers (at least the ones who end up doing it for money) will probably learn to do at some point, just so that if they’re asked for it, they know how to do it. But it’s a style that I’ve seen so many photographers struggle with.

The concepts involved in photographing a well-lit subject in front of a pure white background are fairly straightforward, but there are lots of different things that come into play when you try it and things to think about that can easily catch you out while you’re learning. In this video, Ed Verosky walks us through not only the process of shooting on white seamless but the potential problems that can come up, too.

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These video editing mistakes are probably what’s stalling your YouTube channel growth

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No matter how experienced we might get with editing video, it’s easy to get complacent, especially if you’re creating video content regularly for platforms like YouTube and other social media. We start to get sloppy, make mistakes, and our videos suddenly aren’t as popular as they once were. And for those just starting out, you might still be trying to figure out how you can get your videos seen and shared in the first place.

Well, Matti Haapoja is here to help. In this video, he walks us through five of the biggest mistakes that you can make when video editing, particularly for social media. I have to admit, I’m guilty of making a few of these mistakes myself and they can creep up on you without you even realising you’re doing it.

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