detroit video shoot

 A couple weeks ago, I was in Detroit for a joint video shoot with InterVarsity and World Vision act:s.  Our assignment was to shoot York Moore talking about the biblical basis for seeking Justice.  World Vision act:s will be creating a curriculum for students on college campuses for one of their most important campaigns yet.  More to come as things develop.

My job was to make the video work visual.  I had ideas of different compositions but the main location that I scouted 3 weeks earlier nudged me to seek a very symmetrically centered composition for York; the banks of the Detroit river, looking across to Windsor, Canada...the view slaves had as they swam to freedom (one of the visual themes of the video.)  Below are photos of the 5 locations (starting with the riverfront) as well as screen shots of the actual Video.

facepainting for fireworks

More photos from this night.
Sarah has some hidden talent with face paint, She was constantly mobbed by children wanting to be transformed into tigers, frogs of lions. Every time her response was "Oh yeah, I can do that."

fireworks on the 5th

For some reason, here in Madison we like to have firework displays that are NOT on the 4th of July. Maybe it is so that they will not compete with each other, but a rumor is that security is cheaper on non-holidays. Anyway, our local park (Elver Park, right around the corner from us) shot off a great display on the 5th of July. It is also pretty cool that the church that we go to shares a property line with Elver Park. We opened up our back lawn for free parking, bounce houses, snow cones, and even face painting. More on that later but my goal was to get a couple shots that showed the space and the fireworks above. In doing so I needed to actually overexpose the fireworks a bit to get the right ambient levels to show the grass and whatnot. I also experimented with covering the sky with my hand for the first 10 seconds of the shot and then uncovered the sky for the second 15 seconds or so, that way the grass would burn in a little more than the sky and fireworks.

It seemed that this year the fireworks were a bit brighter when they exploded; cool for seeing bright lights but not cool for the camera. These shots of just the fireworks below we timed to start after the initial burst of light to just capture the trails of color.

I wanted to show the church in the foreground, but it was a bit dark and too big to paint with light, but the sign works. I opened my shutter for the exposure (turned out to be only 10 seconds of so here) and then fired off my flash to light the sign. It took a couple tries to get the flash at the right brightness to match the fireworks.

camera button friday: how to shoot fireworks

There are a lot of posts on the internet on how to photograph fireworks.  They can get complicated and can involve cable releases, stop watches, black cards to cover your lens during long exposures, tethering software to see the image instantly on your computer, and other specialist equipment.  I don't get that complicated because I like to enjoy the fireworks a little too.  (I just take my camera and a tripod.)  You can search all you want for more informative posts but let this be mostly a reminder to take your camera and tripod out for any fireworks you may encounter this 4th of July.

Take a Tripod...even if you have one of the fancy cameras that can shoot in the dark.  You will WANT a long shutter speed to show the motion of fireworks, like 15-30 seconds!  Unless you are superhuman and have no heart beat, you can't hand hold it.

Know how to use Manual Mode on your camera.  You will want to change the settings the camera thinks are the exposure.  (If you don't have a manual mode, play with night mode or see if you have a 'fireworks mode')  The great thing about digital is that you can play and check.  The hard part is that we only have one, maybe two, nights of practice.  Looking back at some images from the last couple years, I usually shoot at ISO 100, f8 and a 30 second exposure.  That can all change of course, but it is a starting point.

*Keep in mind that your LCD screen will look brighter than is actually is because it is so dark outside...so if it looks perfect, it may not be bright enough of an exposure.*

Once you get things down, think also how you can take photos that may be different than others, or that show context or another element of interest. (The last two have a flash off camera to add in some light.)  Search the internet for other images to see how other people shoot..then try something different.

Oh, and don't forget to have fun...not just with your camera but with other people that you may be sitting with.  Don't ignore them TOO much.

recent intervarsity photo projects

Things have been a bit crazy around here.

I am juggling 3 major video projects at this time, but every once in a while I get to play with a smaller photo project.  Here are two.

Gary, one of the graphic designers, is updating a handout for campus along the topic of injustice and oppression under the question, "How does evil invade your space?".  His concept was stolen borrowed (all ideas are modified ideas by the way, nothing is ever really new) from another campaign that wrote words on a photo of a face, his idea was to actually write those words onto his daughters face.

Camera Geekout:  I lit it in front of both white and a black background so that Gary would have options.  Key light on axis and a kicker on both sides for some glow.  With the white backdrop I also had a light on the background to make it over exposed and a reflector on the floor to bounce light into the face more.

Final product, a 5x7 flier with info and questions on the back.

My second fun project has to do with a secret Video that we are doing.  All I can show you is the movie poster that was created.  You will have to follow twentyonehundred productions on facebook for all the release info.

Camera Geekout: I tried something different with the lighting.  I put both a hard and a soft light to camera left.  The hard light is providing most of the light and the 'dramatic' feel but the soft light is just adding in a little light for the eyes.

Final Product...........

happy fathers day

Last year, a co-worker and I created a video essay as a personal side project.  David told the story of fatherhood in his life.  Coming along side David and creating the video side of his essay was a privilege and a joy.  A great added bonus is that I came to appreciate my Dad quite a lot more.  Thanks Dad, for being that loving Father that you are.  I know I am one of the luck ones in today's culture.  I love you.


Father's Day from David Hui on Vimeo.

camera button friday: blue hour

'When' you take a photo is just as important as 'How'. 

Lighting is one of the most important elements in photography (ummm, you are taking a photo of light remember) so choosing the right light is key.  And yes, I used the word Choosing because you do have a choice, choosing not to take a photo is just as important as choosing to take a photo...but that is another post, we were talking about light.  There are many great times durring the day to take photos in great light; this one is called Blue Hour.  Why they call it an hour is a little silly because if feels like only a couple minutes, but it is a couple minutes durring the 'hour' after sunset where they sky turns blue.  This is really cool when you want to mix artificail light with the fading night sky...but you have to wait for the levels to be the same.

before sunset....

after sunset durring 'blue hour' but to soon.....

just about right......

This is great when you want to show the photo was taken at night, but when you don't wnat the sky to be black.  I just think it creates a fun mood, especialy for those fun summer nights.

Depending on the amount of artificial light (a single street light produces a lot less light than a stadium full) you need to wait until the light levels in the sky (lets call that ambient) drop to the light levels that are created by man.  The hard part is that this will only last for a couple moments.  Then it is gone.

I guess it is called the Blue Hour because there is about an hour where the sky is still blue...but depending on how much artificial light you have to match it to, you will only have a couple minutes when those light levels cross in intensity.