In an earlier article I talked about music as one of the three things tha caused former Indian Creek Nature Center director Rich Patterson to say ""I like yours because they are outstanding and very much set a mood." The second thing I think that helps my films stand out and set a mood is [...]
I don't know what it's like where you live, but whenever I thought about filming nature and wildlife, my home turf in Eastern Iowa was usually pretty far down the list of locations where I wanted to plant my tripod and hit the record button. However on the last couple of years I've spent a lot of time [...]
It's no secret that one of my greatest passions is filming nature and wildlife. I've been taking photographs or shooting video since I was about eight years old. No matter what my day is like there's something almost medicinal when I get behind a camera and take in what nature decides to share with me. [...]
It's something that every wildlife filmmaker will face more than once in their career. The choice they make can make or break a filmmaking session. I'm talking about staying with a subject or leaving in hopes of finding better wildlife to film. We've All Been There You know what I'm talking about. That nagging feeling [...]
The world we live in is rich with beauty and these five spots provide exceptional opportunities to capture it. The next time you are ready for some adventure, grab your favorite video camera and get ready to get wild! Denali National Park, Alaska The landscape here is among the grandest in the United States, [...]
When it comes to the process of wildlife and nature filmmaking I think of it as a three-legged stool. Two of the legs I've already talked about, patience and practice. The third leg of the stool is persistence. It takes all three legs to make the stool stand. Take away any one of them and [...]
The saying goes once you learn how to ride a bike you'll never forget. Well, that may be true but I can tell you from experience that doesn't mean you'll be any good at it. I'm a firm believer that there are three things every nature cinematographer must work on if they want to reach [...]
When Panasonic released the Panasonic AG-HPX250 P2 HD Handheld Camcorder it was the camera I had been waiting for. Full raster HD, a monster 22X zoom lens and AVC-Intra codec. The peaking feature made it a snap to see when a subject was in critical focus. But in the run and gun world we live [...]
Depth of field is defined simply the distance between the nearest and farthest object that is in acceptable focus in your shot. Now with small chip cameras, getting deep depth of field is pretty easy. In fact, it's a given. But what is a bit harder to achieve is what is called shallow depth of [...]
As a nature and wildlife cameraman, I want to share one of my best tips for shooting better nature and wildlife video. But before I tell you what it is I want to tell you how this one single tip has worked for me. It has allowed me to win several awards in film festivals, [...]
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