Optimum Strategies for Shooting Stills and HD Video Simultaneously during Photoshoot?

majordslrmajordslr Registered Users Posts: 3 Beginner grinner
edited July 30, 2011 in Video
Greetings all,

I have been shooting photography and video for some time, and I am enrolled in a summer-school class where we are to come up with a brief business plan for our future photography/videography ventures.

Well, I am going to build a brand around shooting stills and video simultaneously, and I was wondeirng if anyone might have any recommendations as how best shoot hd video and stills at the same time throughout the shoot. Who are the leaders in this field?

Do any of you mount two cameras together (Such as a video camera and dslr), or set up dedicated video cameras or still cameras DSLRs on tripods? What brackets/systems/methods do you use for mounting stills and video cameras, and/or shooting stills and video together at the same time?

And of course, I will also be including a section on audio in my business plan, so any tips would rock!

Just looking for some ideas! & if I use your original idea, I'll be more than happy to provide you a reference!

Thanks in advance for the advice and insights! I will look forward to sharing the final plan with y'all.

MD

Comments

  • dogwooddogwood Registered Users Posts: 2,572 Major grins
    edited June 6, 2011
    You're not the only one wondering about this! This is the big question for all of us jumping into video in addition to stills.

    When I shoot stills and video, I usually shoot two cameras (one for stills, one for video) but it's still a challenge. You'll definitely get better results if you have someone other than you shooting video.

    The thing about video is it's often a collaborative project -- something us still shooters are not generally used to. I must admit that my main focus on the shoot remains with the stills. It's tricky to shoot video and stills with the same camera but definitely possible. You just have to change all your exposure settings whenever you switch back and forth.

    Didn't really answer your question but I think that's because all of us (and the industry itself) are trying to figure this out on the fly!

    Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
    website blog instagram facebook g+

  • majordslrmajordslr Registered Users Posts: 3 Beginner grinner
    edited June 7, 2011
    dogwood wrote: »
    You're not the only one wondering about this! This is the big question for all of us jumping into video in addition to stills.

    When I shoot stills and video, I usually shoot two cameras (one for stills, one for video) but it's still a challenge. You'll definitely get better results if you have someone other than you shooting video.

    The thing about video is it's often a collaborative project -- something us still shooters are not generally used to. I must admit that my main focus on the shoot remains with the stills. It's tricky to shoot video and stills with the same camera but definitely possible. You just have to change all your exposure settings whenever you switch back and forth.

    Didn't really answer your question but I think that's because all of us (and the industry itself) are trying to figure this out on the fly!

    Thanks!

    So far I have found two potential methods:

    http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/06/annaliza-savage/
    War Photog Blends Video, Stills for New Combat Views

    http://www.diyphotography.net/a-diy-9shooter-shooting-stills-video-simultaneously-audio-too
    A DIY 9Shooter: Shooting Stills & Video Simultaneously & Audio Too!

    What's your take on these methods?

    I agree that a dedicated video person is probably best, but sometimes one person can do both or add some video value even if you have a second person shooting video?
  • angevin1angevin1 Registered Users Posts: 3,403 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2011
    majordslr wrote: »
    Thanks!

    So far I have found two potential methods:

    http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/06/annaliza-savage/
    War Photog Blends Video, Stills for New Combat Views

    http://www.diyphotography.net/a-diy-9shooter-shooting-stills-video-simultaneously-audio-too
    A DIY 9Shooter: Shooting Stills & Video Simultaneously & Audio Too!

    What's your take on these methods?

    I agree that a dedicated video person is probably best, but sometimes one person can do both or add some video value even if you have a second person shooting video?

    Cool links! I'd venture to say any 'leaders' as you put it are definitely using more than one person to deal with whatever task is at hand: Video/Stills. I'd also say that for one person to do it all, and well will be a Chore, even to learn to do both will be a chore. And it will depend on what the photog wants as an outcome. Dogwood above is getting paid for stills and I suspect he wouldn't risk losing that precious time or concentration to pursue video within his Stills objective.

    I will say this. You can pull stills from video to use within video. They are often too small to stand on their own, but within the video, they can and do work just fine! Also, as an added and recently discovered method, upping Shutter speed to fast, ie: 500th second can improve the stills quality. Most of my frames due to shooting at 45th or 60th second depending are hit and miss due to action/movement. But I did a special effect scene and HAD to boost my shutter to accomplish it. here it is below, and according to my SM gallery it'll print up to 16x24, which is much higher than I thought~
    Still-JOE-1-of-1-M.jpg

    original link: http://www.tomwisephotos.com/Photography/Mega-Challenge/7422664_NdBkc#1326300798_73n75gK-O-LB
    tom wise
  • dogwooddogwood Registered Users Posts: 2,572 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2011
    majordslr wrote: »
    Thanks!

    So far I have found two potential methods:

    http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/06/annaliza-savage/
    War Photog Blends Video, Stills for New Combat Views

    http://www.diyphotography.net/a-diy-9shooter-shooting-stills-video-simultaneously-audio-too
    A DIY 9Shooter: Shooting Stills & Video Simultaneously & Audio Too!

    What's your take on these methods?

    I agree that a dedicated video person is probably best, but sometimes one person can do both or add some video value even if you have a second person shooting video?

    Well obviously the war photog has a dedicated editor which makes a tremendous difference. If you're determined to be a one-man-band, the editing is where you'll spend most of your time.

    That second method is interesting but don't forget, everyone loves the DSLR's for the cinematic quality of video they shoot. And the wide range of lenses available. In other words, you're sort of shorting yourself on the video capability of your DSLR if you're using a separate video only camera. Honestly, the video in that second link just looks cheap and has no element of story telling or movement or anything. Guess what I'm saying is you should be shooting video for a reason, not just the exact same shot as your stills are getting. Just my two-cents anyway.

    Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
    website blog instagram facebook g+

  • majordslrmajordslr Registered Users Posts: 3 Beginner grinner
    edited July 30, 2011
    Recently the NYT started shooting stills & video at the same time!

    http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/shooting-twice-at-once/

    Here's an article comparing their method with with others:
    http://blog.9shooter.com/2011/07/top-10-reasons-why-9shooter-bracket-is.html
    It's totally awesome to see the NYT shooting photographic stills and video at the same time, using a method we tried out a couple years back! In developing "9shooting" over the past few years in our high-tech, state-of-the-art research labs, we determined that when it comes to shooting stills and video simultaneously, the methods afforded by the 9shooter "Hero's Journey Mythology" bracket are far superior to the method recently used by Doug Mills of the New York Times, pictured below. We tried Doug's ball-socket-hotshoe-mount back in January 2010 out on the beach, but found it lacking when compared to the 9shooter--please see our pictures of our Doug-like "video camera mounted above the DSLR" below. Long story short,

    Thoughts, opinions on the NYT's/these methods?
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