Last weekend I attended the Nikon School: HD-SLR Video Multimedia Workshop and it proved to great weekend of learning and an eye-opening experience. This was a two-day workshop covering the basics;  capturing video and audio including, using different types of microphones, interview techniques,  and the basics of video editing.

The most eye-opening part of the weekend for me was exactly how hard shooting video really is. It has to do with two different aspects; the first is that with video you have to pre-plan the action and where and when you are going to capture it. I am used to pulling a still image from the action, not capturing the whole event so I tended to start shooting too late instead of letting the action unfold. The second aspect that was difficult to deal with was the actual controls on the camera. I know my camera and I know where every button, knob and dial is and what they do. With video, I was a little lost and kept resetting the focus point.

As for the class, the most amazing thing is the passion that the instructors bring. For the class in San Diego, the instructors were Mark Suban, Mark Kettenhofen and Scott Diussa and these guys really know their stuff. They are passionate about video and audio and that passion is contagious.

The following clip exemplifies the problem I had with video. I saw the scene as a still photographer and not as a videographer. The pink parasols looked interesting to me and as a still image would have been fine, as a video clip is terrible since NOTHING HAPPENS.

first_try

Seriously, this is not as easy as it looks.