Still Vs. Video

I've been silent for some time. Reality is, we suffered an internet outage at home which lasted 10 days (and was compounded by the snowy weather) :/ You realize how internet-dependent we've become when you're suddenly deprived of connectivity...

Anyhoo...

Last January I had 4 shoots. I will post about 3 of them later, but one of them was peculiar for me in that it was a video shoot :)

I always said I am a still photographer at heart. I am. But a friend invited me to assist him as second videographer to make a video for NYFW. I was available and I couldn't resist the expensive toys he lined up :)

It was a 2-days (full weekend) madness in a Russian Restaurant in midtown Manhattan, with the largest team I've ever had to deal with. Like more than 20 people total, including more than 10 models.

Both days, the biggest portion of the time was spent with make-up, hair and styling while me and the main videographer spent time setting up lights and tripods and cages and whatnots.

We had a Red and a Black Magic camera. I was using the BM. Both had mounts that can take EF (Canon) lenses and therefore we used some of my lenses.

Things I've learnt from this experience (all lists in no special order):

• It's better to shoot a lot of different things in small clips rather than long clips with panning (unless you have rails etc.) - see editing
• Costs: pro video cameras and lenses and accessories cost an awful lot - now I don't feel like complaining about the costs of still photography anymore :)
• There's no substitute for dedicated video cameras. DSLR and mirrorless cameras have come a long way with their video capabilities and especially for some specific brands (Sony, Panasonic and to a lesser extent Canon), but there are a far cry from dedicated video cameras
• Shooting RAW video is much less common than shooting RAW stills (post processing requirements are much higher for RAW video)... so do check you white balance especially if you're used to shoot RAW stills and fix colors in post (like me :) )
• I can shoot video! :) Although I was the second videographer there are a lot of my bits in the final video

Some similarities with still shooting:

• Talent / styling / location still rule and will make a bigger difference than better toys
• The madness is the same: herding cats comes to mind
• The ratio of preparation time to shooting time is not that different: expect to spend most of the time waiting for models to get ready
• Lightning strategies (e.g. soft light vs. harsh light) are similar and the same principles apply

... and some differences

• Costs are higher if you want professional tools
• Framing: you don't usually have the luxury of a lot of megapixels, so cropping ability is constrained (and needs to apply the same way for the full length of a clip)
• Complexity of setup is potentially higher with issues such as balancing cages, etc.
• You can do a lot of still photography hand-held. Not so much video where tripods / cages / harnesses become a fact of life unless you like shaky videos
• Continuous lightning required different lights from strobes. All the lightning you may have for stills is not something you can use for video
• Focusing is mostly manual but ergonomically much easier than on modern DSLRs: I was in love with pullers
• Crop factor: apart from super high-end ones, most video cameras have often severe crop factors... meaning you need really wide lenses most of the times
• Post processing / editing is even more key than in still shoots: it's not so much about fixing flaws as it is about mixing clips and adding sound... some people complain about Photoshop "trickery" with stills, but believe me, the difference between raw video footage and the end results is quite another level

Will I morph into a videographer? Not likely because I still like stills more and also because I can't afford the toys I'd like :/
Will I do more video in the future? Probably yes if I can worm myself into interesting productions.

Here is the video - NSFW (not safe for work) warning... it's more risqué than the things I am used to do

And here are some outtakes to show the madness :)