How to get a blurry background

Photograher : Danny Graham

Three ways

• Shoot wide open on your aperture

• Use a longer focal length

• Bring the subject closer to the lens

• (optional: fake it in post!)

Using these 3 methods you can get a shallow depth of field and make your back ground blurry. You can also use these methods to do the Brenizer Method which involves sticking multiple photos together like a panorama to create the illusion of a shallow depth of field on a wide shot.

Gear Lust PSA

Gear lust is a serious problem. It can lead to you not appreciating the gear that you have and overly focusing on getting new gear to fix your problems.

Symptoms Include:

• Impulsively wanting to punch-in in post

• Feeling like you don’t have enough resolution

• Feeling unhappy coloring 8-bit footage in Davinci Resolve

• Feeling uncomfortable with your camera’s compression

• Needing to move your camera around excessively and not having a way to do it buttery smooth

• Impatiently wanting more clients to appreciate the quality of your work

• Problems sleeping

• Dehydration

• Difficulty concentrating on story writing

• Loss of interest in shooting with your old camera

If you or a love one is struggling with Gear Lust, Gear Envy or Gear Accusation Syndrome (GAS) seek help immediately.

Remember 1080p is usually all you need.

Resources:

Healthline : Shopping Addiction

Shopping Addiction Treatment: Know Your Options

If you suffer from gear lust, leave a comment below and share your experience.

Reminder - Timeline Visuals is not responsible for any gear lust it may cause in the making of these articles. Any purchases made after reading, are at the readers discretion and sole responsibility. Should you find your self drooling over a Sony FX6 , a7siii, crane 3s, or any piece of gear and do not have the financial stability to purchase those items, seek help immediately. Your wallet is not safe.

This page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to purchase one of these products, we will be compensated and at no cost to you. This helps us to continue writing quality content for readers like you. Thank you for reading!

Thank You

For taking time to read this post. I hope you found some of this information valuable and look forward to post future articles for you in the future!

Shutter Speed, Whats that?

What is Shutter Speed?

I just took your photo, wanna see me do it again? Wanna see me do it in slow-motion?

Photographer : Danny Graham -Engagement session at Raymond skills falls in PA, using a faster shutter speed to preserve a frozen moment.

Photographer : Danny Graham - Using flash and a relatively fast shutter to preserve the bride’s cousin’s dance moves, at her wedding at Casa Bianca in New Jersey.

The camera’s shutter is a mechanical (sometimes digital) device, that opens and closes for a predetermined amount of time. (There is also an open shutter for long exposure shots.)

Shutter is measured in parts of a second. Examples are 1/10,1/15, 1/30,1/60, 1/120, 1/240, but also in full seconds 1s , 5s ,10s.

Photographer Danny Graham, captures spark using a fast shutter during bride and grooms first dance at Casa Bianca in New Jersey.

The amount of time that the shutter is open or that the sensor is accepting light, determines the exposure of the image. It also determines how much motion blur the image gets or doesn't get.

Photographer : Danny Graham - Model Seana, stands in front of a moving train. Here we’re using a slow enough shutter to capture the motion of the train, but it’s still fast enough to preserve the model’s details.

Before you go cranking your shutter up to 1/8000, keep in mind that there are times when the motion blur from a slower shutter can be desirable. You can show a fast moving object, with a still world to emphasize the contrast of energy.

Photographer : Danny Graham - Entrance sparklers captured with some motion blur.

A fast moving subject can be followed as it passes, producing a clear crisp subject and it can emphasize the motion in a single image. Or you can always use a flash to preserve your subject and blur the background, using a process called Shutter Drag. Common examples are often used in motorcycle photography.

Photographer : Danny Graham - Capturing friends and motion blur on the dance floor. Wedding/Event @ Casa Bianca in Oak Ridge, NJ

Photographer : Danny Graham - Using shutter drag with a flash and a slower shutter speed. Wedding/Event @ Casa Bianca in Oak Ridge, NJ.

Contrast to using motion blur, you can always crank up the shutter and freeze motion. This can be awesome when capturing moments that are typically too quick to appreciate all of the fine details. Like someone or something frozen in mid air, or the spray of water, dirt or dust.

Photographer : Danny Graham - Shooting pigeons in a NYC park. The birds are frozen in time, using a faster shutter speed.

For video : Typically, you double or divide your shutter in half, in order to move up and down full stops of light. For video, it's often advised to follow the 180 rule. This is the perceived cinematic “normal”, in which you are doubling the frame rate to identify the shutter. Using the 180 rule, if you shoot in 24p as a frame rate, than your shutter should be set to 1/48 or 1/50. This is not so much a rule, but more of a guide. I encourage you to experiment with different frame rates and faster shutters, to produce crisper motion with less motion blur.

Photographer : Danny Graham - Captures a drummer playing mid-beat.

Photographer : Danny Graham - Capturing some entrance sparklers, while balancing the exposure and also timing the moment for the Bride and Grooms exit at Crystal Springs Ballyowen Golf Club in Hamburg, NJ.

Hopefully this helps you to better understand shutter speed and how it works. It’s used as a lot more than just a way to control the exposure, so I hope that this knowledge can help your photography grow. Thank you for reading!

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How much should a video cost?

Most people don’t ask us this directly. However, I think it’s safe to assume that most business owners are always cost conscious. And if you are throwing an event, then you may be thinking about your own budget as well.

When factoring the costs, you’ve likely already determined the importance of video and how much you should plan to budget for. You might also be worried that it might cost too much and that your marketing plan will fall apart and leave you empty handed.

I’m going to give you a rough idea of what you can do to minimize costs overall, and hopefully enlighten you as to where these costs are established from.

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DIY - Free

Yes, I’m starting with the freebie. Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook and plenty more are all flooded with videos that are super successful. This is primarily because of cell phones, and what we associate the quality with. When a cellphone video is relatable, the content’s success is almost directly a result of the story or the information that it tells. The quality of the video is not what sells this kind of video. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to make great content on your phone. Timing, aesthetics and tone all have a huge influence in how relatable your content is. If you can make your audience/ideal clientele feel connected to your brand, then this part will be easy.

Have a plan - We’re not necessarily making a Hollywood blockbuster, but you do need to have an idea for your video. First, decide your goal, then think creatively. What in life reminds you of this goal’s outcome? And what may remind others of it too?

Don’t drag it out - Cut to the chase! Only show the important parts of your video. Don’t make viewers watch the extra 6-7 seconds that you took to cut the ending of your Instagram story. If you bore the audience for even a brief second, you lose the effectiveness of your video.

Be patient - Don’t rush to post your newly created content immediately. I know you’re probably thinking, “Holy HubSpot Batman! We’ll never have time to make all of this content!”. And while that might be true, the important thing here is to not panic. Focus on quality of your content, and not necessarily on the quantity. If you need to, try posting less frequently.

Edit, edit, EDIT! - There are plenty of free programs out there like Davinci Resolve, iMovie and Wondershare’s Filmora. And unless you are telling stories that are carefully planned and timed out, you’ll likely benefit from cutting it in post. Acting requires lots of practice, and not everyone is going to nail their take on the first try. You can easily run the risk of either spending way too much time on your video, or compromising with an inferior product.

Put your video together with a few simple cuts, that are timed to tell your story. There’s an illusion of time you can create using cutting and lots of other little tricks can progress a day, months or years into even a 15 second video. If the idea of sitting at a computer for a few hours and developing severe nerd neck seems dreadful, you can always hire a video editor to help out with some of the heavy lifting.

Record Clean Audio - My audio buddies are most likely smiling while reading this. Audio plays a massive roll in video. Bad audio can ruin a good video, as much as a bad video can ruin good audio. Make sure that your audience hears what you want them to hear, and don’t become too distracted by the background fuzz or any passing cars. Practice yelling “QUIET ON SET! “ at your neighbor mowing his lawn and then record yourself clearly telling your dog that they’re a good boy. Because then people will know who’s a good boy.. he is. But it is always worth investing in a decent microphone, if you plan on doing this alone.

Add Music - Unless it’s a montage, the music should be mixed into your video, in order to not drown out any dialogue. Music can be extremely moving, so make sure that it’s moving people in the right direction. Hopefully that direction doesn’t result in hard work being removed, for copy right infringement or worse, penalties and fines. Be sure to purchase or acquire royalty free music, with an appropriate license whenever necessary.

Bonus - Beef up the video quality with a DSLR or Mirrorless camera and a decent lens. Below are some good entry level options.

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Hire A Team

Be a video producer and create a team. Be sure to have a plan fleshed out for your content. Ultimately you, or your marketing specialist should be guiding the content that you need efficiently. If you just need to make engaging content for your businesses’ social media page. It may be most efficient to do most of this yourself, and hire professionals to fill in the gap. All of these positions can be learned by yourself, but the key take away here should be that you are in the business of your industry. So focus on your industry and not necessarily learning a new one. However, it’s always helpful to have the knowledge needed in order to guide the team efficiently.

I reccomend using Fiver if you are looking for affordable services. It’s a gamble to use people without a trusted referral, but you can search for services that compliment potentially existing strengths.

Timeline Visuals - Video Editing “Battle-Station”

Video Editors

Editors can cost between $75 - $150 per hour or more. The amount of time that they take depends greatly on the direction you’ve given them. If you want to cut costs, try to give good direction. Write out a paper edit, with what clips you want included, how long you want them and in what order. Pick the music ahead of time. The less that the editor needs to think, the faster they can turn around. But also consider the rendering and exporting times. If you deliver massive video files to your editor, it will take them a lot longer to render them, compared to a simple 30 second video from your cell phone. Though the mp4 files probably look pretty sweet from your new a7III, any experienced editor is likely going to transcode them to an editing format. And depending on your resolution, this process and the amount of time that it takes to export can vary. It’s likely going to add an hour or two by default.

Production Behind the Scenes by Timeline Visuals

Videographers / Cinematographers

A good video guy is going to cost between $100-$150. But they may also want to book a guaranteed 2-3 hours, to ensure the time was worth lugging all their expensive gear to the shoot location. Be considerate that this is their profession, and they often invest a large amount of money into quality gear. If you are looking for cheap work, than you’re likely going to have a lot of hit or miss projects. If that’s okay with you, then ask away. Personally, I believe that paying people a fair wage and being considerate is the best way to bring quality help. Be collaborative, and form strong working relationships. You will find that it will go a long way in the quality of your content.

Yves - production sound guy - for Timeline Visuals production company

Sound Op - This is often a dedicated person. Like cameras, there is a lot of complex functions of microphones and recorders. Hiring a good sound guy helps ensure that there are no missed sound bites, just because the camera guy was to busy pulling focus to notice that the levels were peaking. Or while fixing their lighting setup, they didn’t notice that the lav mic battery was low and ended up missing a whole take. Do yourself a favor and avoid putting too much pressure on a single professional. It will eventually burn them out.

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Hire a Production Company

This is more of a premium concept. It might only be worth hiring a production company, when you need a premium video. Like a branded video, that needs to stand the test of time demonstrating your company values for your website. Or when you’ve grown your company to the point that you want to leverage your business as being of higher value, through beautifully crafted videos. Investing in your image, is investing in your brand. Hiring a production company, giving them a goal, allowing them to a source write and handing off creative control, can give you the freedom to focus on your business. Or even on just enjoying your personal life. Allow an experienced team like us at Timeline Visuals handle the production end of things, so that you can sit back and relax!

Timeline Visuals Production Company

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What is Aperture?

Photo By: Danny Graham (Wantage , New Jersey , 07461)

Image credit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture

In photography and video, a lens’s aperture is a set of blades that open and close to control the amount of light passing through the lens. It is part of the Three Elements of Exposure.

The way that the number is represented is called an F-stop, and it’s labeled as “f/” followed by a number like 1, 1.4 ,2, 2.8 , 4 , 5.6 , 8 , 11 ,16 , 22. These are all full stops, but you may also see numbers like 1.2, 1.8, 3.2, 4.5 , ect. These examples instead follow a 1/3 stop.

This article has a great chart of the different measured stops

Similarly you may find T stops on cinema lenses, which are measured more extensively for motion picture. More on T stops here.

Summary

Aperture has a large play in the DOF (Depth of Field). Depending on your subject, you may want to open or close your aperture in order to create a greater depth of field. For example, if you are shooting landscape photography, then you may want a greater depth. And with portraits, you might want isolate your subject from other details in the frame. If you are just starting out, a great option to learn DOF is a 50 1.8 (Nifty-50). These are typically inexpensive, and you’ll be able to see the specific changes in DOF (more specifically on the shallow end).

The following image was taken several years ago with my old Canon 60D and Canon 50mm F/1.8. this camera and lens can likely be found together used for sub $200

Image by Danny Graham: Taken with Canon 50mm F/1.8 and Canon 60D

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Photographer: Danny Graham

Photographer: Danny Graham

One lens cap to save them all

Losing lens caps is a pain. There are many alternatives like keeping a leash attached to your lens or creating a system of placing the cap in your pocket or bag that you religiously repeat. My method is to make all of my lenses the same filter thread, using step up rings.

Make a list of all of your lenses and their filter sizes and then determine the largest lens you have. The thread is typically determined by a number near the filter thread, that looks like Ø67. It will be a number and this symbol “Ø” If you cannot find the thread size, google your specific lens and you should find the correct size. *For some vintage lenses, I would look them up on Ebay to ensure the lens is the same*

This page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to purchase one of these products, we will be compensated and at no cost to you. This helps us to continue writing quality content for readers like you. Thank you for reading!

My largest filter thread is 72mm. Next, I purchase the step up rings for each lens.

I typically make them a little bigger then my largest lens to future proof my filters. Then, I purchase a bunch of lens caps at my specified size and keep a few extra in my bag. 3 Pack Lens caps

This method is also great if you want to only use one filter for all your lenses. Instead of buying multiple, you can focus on getting quality filters.

For details on buying filters click below.

A Guide to Filters for Lenses

Universal lens caps are a great alternative to this practice. Universal Lens Caps

Step Up Rings

Thank You

For taking time to read this post. I hope you found some of this information valuable and look forward to post future articles for you in the future!