Some Useful Info for Wannabe Videographers
I've been a shooter (film and video) for over 30 years professionally. Occasionally I get a chance to pass along some tips for grabbing the best images under all sorts of circumstances, which usually means advising people to use a tripod.
Times are changing, you may have noticed, and some of the "rules of thumb" for good camerawork are changing. I found this article to be very useful and worth considering.

http://www.onlinevideo.net/2010/07/shooting-for-the-small-screen-do-the-old-rules-apply/

Canon T2i Footage Shows It Deserves It's Reputation Among Professionals:

Richard Berkvam of BerkvamProductions.com has joined the users of this amazing camera, the Canon T2i, for video production. Yep, I said video production. Using the huge array of Canon lenses available to still photographers, this camera can duplicate image quality in its video capture. Results are astounding; more and more commercials are being shot this way.
Here's a short test clip we did recently, to evaluate exposure modes. We couldn't afford any real talent so we made do....
Now, of course, we don't use the audio from the camera... we use an external audio recorder, in most cases a Tascam digital recorder, with built in mixer, and the sound is re-linked to the video footage in post production. We use Final Cut Pro Studio for most of our work.

First Flip Video

Hardly earth shattering but a good practice run to see what this camera (a Christmas present to Kay from work) could do. I am aware of its audio limitations and auto exposure issues, but these things take amazingly good HD images.. so here goes:

Inauguration in HD Amazing to Watch!











As of Jan 1, we had the new Dish Network Turbo HD upgrade working and have been thrilled watching the Panasonic monitor. And the football playoffs in HD makes the cost worth while, far as I am concerned.
Learned something important that I want to pass along. After going thru the hassle of getting a HDMI cord, on eBay at a good price, I discovered that using the component cables, the red-green-blue connections on the back of most monitors these days, provides a superior pic than using the HDMI, on our system anyway. Clearly a sharper image.
So you might save yourself some money, HDMI cables tend to be more expensive than the component RGB ones.

Bell'O TV stand finally assembled and in use!

Took several hours, working slowly to get it completely assembled. Instructions are competent but require careful reading. I recommend not using Phillips screw drivers except on the small stuff.
Smoked glass hides the components and speaker grill hides the center channel speaker. Well thought out unit. Now to catch up on movies that we had already seen on the small screen! The Panasonic plasma has lived up to its billing. Very sharp. Next step: real HDTV!!

Plasma TV forces tv stand upgrade, or, highlights of how I spent my weekend.

Based on this weekend's experience, there is a thriving market for TV stands and the like, now that so many people, like me, are switching to flat screen LCD or Plasma TVs. The wife and I finally made the decision to upgrade from our perfectly good SONY 25" Trinitron connected to the Dish Satellite and a perfectly good Sony DVD player, all happily ensconced in a custom made ash wood armoire.
After visiting the local Best Buy and Magnolia stores (where prices were much higher than I expected) we opted for Costco's deal on a Panasonic Viera 42" Plasma 1080p beauty. There goes the armoire... no way a 42" screen is gonna fit. So, back we go looking for something that looks good but also has AV requirements in mind; ventilation holes are good, openings for cables are nice.
So many new names: Sanus, Bush Furniture, Bello, Tech Craft, BDI, JSP and all sorts of other initials!! Kathy Ireland even has some models (pun intended). Whoa, who knew there were so many makers of this stuff. Prices all over the map.
Choosing is gonna be slow, I can tell, since there are several criteria that have to be satisfied, from the female and male view points.
Speaker cloth and glass doors are suddenly critical. Gotta find the spot to place the center channel speaker, very important in the home theater, surround sound environment. Just throwing it up on top of the armoire is not gonna get it anymore.

I'll be glad when this part is all over with. Then we can start the search for the perfect Blu-Ray dvd player.
Next installment on this blog: A discussion on the advantages of Plasma and 1080p. Just as soon as I learn what they are!!

And remember: No McCain; No Palin; No Way!!!