Well in my opinion anyhow
By Bruce Dorn
Edited by Cadu Medina
Between them they came up with this very clever but beautiful way of showing off the C300.
Simple
But quite brilliant
Good job guys.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Friday, 6 January 2012
Something for the Weekend
For all of you who follow my blog who's primary interest is stills photography, I appreciate your patience, be assured more stills on the way very soon.
But all of my Canon C300 posting made me recall another rather smart little Canon video camera the X100, the tiny brother of the XF305 which also shoots at 50mbs, and shares the excellent MXF file format.
I used it to shot the BTS of this stills shoot I was doing with the Phase One Acromatic back.
Why the XF100 camera and not my XF305?
Well it is so small it let's me keep a very low profile, but the main reason was that it shoots in infra red at the flick of a switch, no filters required.
Fitting the spirit of the Phase One Acromatic perfectly.
The Palms from drew gardner on Vimeo.
You can read the whole post I put together here.
Forgive me if you have seen the movie before.
But all of my Canon C300 posting made me recall another rather smart little Canon video camera the X100, the tiny brother of the XF305 which also shoots at 50mbs, and shares the excellent MXF file format.
I used it to shot the BTS of this stills shoot I was doing with the Phase One Acromatic back.
Why the XF100 camera and not my XF305?
Well it is so small it let's me keep a very low profile, but the main reason was that it shoots in infra red at the flick of a switch, no filters required.
Fitting the spirit of the Phase One Acromatic perfectly.
The Palms from drew gardner on Vimeo.
You can read the whole post I put together here.
Forgive me if you have seen the movie before.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
How the C300 affects Hollywood and what it means to us.
New Year's start no better than this.
After eating the Turbot we picked up at Billingsgate and seeing in the New Year, we persuaded Rodney Charters, DP of '24' (not that he needed persuading) to have a chat on camera to talk about the Canon C300 and what the implications will be.
When watching the footage back I was struck by Rodney's candour and how this interview style chat has implications for all of us no matter what we shoot on.
As Bill Clinton once said 'Its the economy, stupid' this is a case of 'Its the story, stupid'
This video is the first of three.
Prepare to be inspired, and work out what your next project will be with your DSLR.
And why 8 bit with the Canon C300 is no handicap.....
Why you no longer need tons of lights to shoot a TV programme...
And much, much more.
I hope you enjoy watching this controversial video as much as we enjoyed making it.
After eating the Turbot we picked up at Billingsgate and seeing in the New Year, we persuaded Rodney Charters, DP of '24' (not that he needed persuading) to have a chat on camera to talk about the Canon C300 and what the implications will be.
When watching the footage back I was struck by Rodney's candour and how this interview style chat has implications for all of us no matter what we shoot on.
As Bill Clinton once said 'Its the economy, stupid' this is a case of 'Its the story, stupid'
This video is the first of three.
Prepare to be inspired, and work out what your next project will be with your DSLR.
And why 8 bit with the Canon C300 is no handicap.....
Why you no longer need tons of lights to shoot a TV programme...
And much, much more.
I hope you enjoy watching this controversial video as much as we enjoyed making it.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Canon C300 - Shooting in Canon Log
I must admit I was daunted when it was recommended by some people in the know that we should shoot with the C300 in Canon's high dynamic range, flat image quality, Canon Log Mode, if we truly wanted to get the best out of the camera.
In Canon's Log game mode it allows you to retain more image information for colour correction and post processing.
Jem Schofield on the Canon USA website has written an excellent and illuminating article on the subject.
It is well worth reading even if you do not intend to buy a C300 as it will give you a good understanding of the subject.(check out the section on 'View assist' where you can set the LCD to give you a predicted display of how the Canon Log will look after post production, sounds a bit bonkers but in practice this works VERY well)
I have to admit I have read it a couple of times.
But why was I daunted?
I was fearful of getting bogged down in post but actually I was surprised how easy basic post processing and colour correction was in FCP X.
When I take delivery of my C300 one of my first tasks will be to have a stab at adjusting the Gamma curve on my Canon XF305 to get somewhere in the same ball park so it will cut in OK.
It may seem an unusual combination to some, as they are very different camera's.
Crucially they both shoot the MXF format at 50mbs
But picture this, a talking head interview much like the one Lan Bui and I did of Dr Heather Whitney
Imagine we had only one operator you could use the C300 as the 'A' camera with the XF305 as a 'B' camera set on a tripod with no operator but with the very smart IAF (Intelligent AF) tracking the subjects face as they move in the frame.
Not ideal, but a solution to a situation that many of us face on a regular basis.
I'm really looking forward to getting my C300 as there are a couple of jobs it will prove very useful for in the very near future.
Stay tuned for avery special video which Lan and I will be posting tomorrow where Rodney Charters give an insight as to how he see's the C300 changing the game in Hollywood.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
The Ultimate low light test with a Canon C300? perhaps not, but a real eye opener as my eyes were starting to close
Picture this.
Rodney Charters, DP of '24' and DSLR guru Lan Bui round the Gardner house on New Years Eve.
It was a fun day, but by close to 2AM on the 1st January I was fading FAST.
At this point after much, much rambling about life the universe and everything Rodney suggested we do a low light test shot with the Canon C300.
With an iPad
Yes, an iPad as a light source.
Madness?
Perhaps
Or perhaps not.
You decide
I'm sure you in no way at all will find it amusing that I am falling asleep....
Rodney Charters, DP of '24' and DSLR guru Lan Bui round the Gardner house on New Years Eve.
It was a fun day, but by close to 2AM on the 1st January I was fading FAST.
At this point after much, much rambling about life the universe and everything Rodney suggested we do a low light test shot with the Canon C300.
With an iPad
Yes, an iPad as a light source.
Madness?
Perhaps
Or perhaps not.
You decide
I'm sure you in no way at all will find it amusing that I am falling asleep....
Monday, 2 January 2012
Food Glorious food
Readers of this blog will now have gathered that I love cooking.
Even down to the Michaelmas Goose filmed on the Canon C300 by Lan Bui.
Here is a still of the recipe which I shot for the book 'Loose Birds and Game' by Andrew Pern of the the Star Inn, Harome, North Yorkshire (if you are ever anywhere even remotely close to the Star inn, do pay them a visit, a treat awaits)
I shot this at the chef's table with my Phase One P45+ and 120mm macro lens, supported by my Gitzo GT5660SGT and super precise variable ratio geared Manfrotto 405 head, using available light.
As I say often in my blog, the key to great photography is 'Shoot what you Love' and I cannot think of anything I Love to shoot more than this simply wonderful food.
In the run up to Christmas I was commissioned by the John Lewis partnership to shoot environmental portraits in the the kitchen where they develop new dishes.
It was an eye opener, not for food 'tricks' but for the sheer passion of the team who work so hard to come up with different and divine dishes which grace the shelves of Waitrose.
If you like me, were one of the many unlucky people who failed to get hold of one of Heston Blumental's Christmas puddings with an Orange inside you might take some sort of twisted solace in this shot I did of it.
I think this was one of the mini puddings for one with a tangerine, not an orange inside.
Again I shot this with available light (THE trick when shooting food)
But this time with my Canon 5d MkII and the silly-super-sharp Canon EF 'L' series 100mm Macro lens which feature a very clever hybrid optical image stabilisation system which really works very effectively. Just the job for on-the-fly macro work in rapidly evolving situations.
Coming back to the book 'Loose birds and Game' in which I shot all the main photography, it has collected a bevy of awards.
For a very limited period of time I will be offering the book at the special price of £15.99 plus postage.
The book has an RRP of £39.99
In the unlikely event that you want the book signing I'm very happy to do so.
Even down to the Michaelmas Goose filmed on the Canon C300 by Lan Bui.
Here is a still of the recipe which I shot for the book 'Loose Birds and Game' by Andrew Pern of the the Star Inn, Harome, North Yorkshire (if you are ever anywhere even remotely close to the Star inn, do pay them a visit, a treat awaits)
As I say often in my blog, the key to great photography is 'Shoot what you Love' and I cannot think of anything I Love to shoot more than this simply wonderful food.
In the run up to Christmas I was commissioned by the John Lewis partnership to shoot environmental portraits in the the kitchen where they develop new dishes.
It was an eye opener, not for food 'tricks' but for the sheer passion of the team who work so hard to come up with different and divine dishes which grace the shelves of Waitrose.
If you like me, were one of the many unlucky people who failed to get hold of one of Heston Blumental's Christmas puddings with an Orange inside you might take some sort of twisted solace in this shot I did of it.
I think this was one of the mini puddings for one with a tangerine, not an orange inside.
Again I shot this with available light (THE trick when shooting food)
But this time with my Canon 5d MkII and the silly-super-sharp Canon EF 'L' series 100mm Macro lens which feature a very clever hybrid optical image stabilisation system which really works very effectively. Just the job for on-the-fly macro work in rapidly evolving situations.
Coming back to the book 'Loose birds and Game' in which I shot all the main photography, it has collected a bevy of awards.
For a very limited period of time I will be offering the book at the special price of £15.99 plus postage.
The book has an RRP of £39.99
In the unlikely event that you want the book signing I'm very happy to do so.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Farewell 2011
2011 was a very tough year for many people.
It was a mixed bag for me too.
A birth, a death in the family, two house moves and plans for a wedding.
So, the gamut of emotions.
More than anything for me it was a year of sowing seed which will start bearing fruit early in 2012.
The documentary is still in post production, Lucinda and I have a major exhibition in early March in a GREAT Location(more of that in the very near future)
So often in any creative endeavour you feel that you are not getting anywhere at all, even when you are, and through 2011 was no exception.
The best things are worth striving and fighting for.
Success does not come overnight.
In December I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Canon C300, it was a truly a great way to end the year (Quite a few more posts to come on this, as you might imagine.
2012 Will be a very tough year for many of us no matter what we do for a living.
To that end in January I will be launching another digital download titled 'Turning Pro' to arm photographers and would be photographers, with information to advance their careers.
More to the point though I will be sharing my own formula which has bought me success as a Pro photographer for more than 30 years.
It was a mixed bag for me too.
A birth, a death in the family, two house moves and plans for a wedding.
So, the gamut of emotions.
More than anything for me it was a year of sowing seed which will start bearing fruit early in 2012.
The documentary is still in post production, Lucinda and I have a major exhibition in early March in a GREAT Location(more of that in the very near future)
So often in any creative endeavour you feel that you are not getting anywhere at all, even when you are, and through 2011 was no exception.
The best things are worth striving and fighting for.
Success does not come overnight.
In December I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Canon C300, it was a truly a great way to end the year (Quite a few more posts to come on this, as you might imagine.
2012 Will be a very tough year for many of us no matter what we do for a living.
To that end in January I will be launching another digital download titled 'Turning Pro' to arm photographers and would be photographers, with information to advance their careers.
More to the point though I will be sharing my own formula which has bought me success as a Pro photographer for more than 30 years.
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