Luke's Personal Development Blog

iPhoneography - Which blogging platform is best?

2009-12-31T14:09:00.001Z

So tomorrow I will be launching my new iPhoneography blog

My preference for a name is still iSeeLeeds however I have also thought if I want to establish myself as the 1st and premier iPhoneographer of Leeds perhaps the name theiphoneographerleeds would be a good name, but is it possible a little too long and wordy for a URL?

My next challenge is to decide on which blogging platform to use. I want as many people to be able to follow this blog in a way that is simple and easy for them. I need to select a platform that the majority of people use. From personal experience of people I have met in the Yorkshire Digital Community I believe this to be blogspot. However I think if I take the Yorkshire Digital Community out of the equation a larger number of (photographic / arts) people use tumblr.

There is always the possibility to cross posting using a desktop blogging application, but then this would make it harder for me to go back and respond to comments. (Would I be possibly be spreading myself (and my work) to thinly)

As previously mentioned I wish to bring this blog to the attention of people in Leeds and possible develop an iPhone Photography Community in the Leeds / West Yorkshire / Yorkshire area.

I am aware that on my own that I will not be able to reach many people, therefore a plan to approach other bloggers with interests in photography, digital media and technology to write about my project. I could also ask people who cover art projects with in the Leeds area to write about my project with the aim of gaining more publicity for the project.

If I want this project to be taken seriously by other media outlets I feel I will also need to work with other people to help me design and create skins for my chosen blogging platform. If you would like to help me out with this part of the project then please leave a comment below. In the bio of the iPhoneography project I will give you credit for your work and link back to you.

So that is where the project currently stands but ….

The question still remains, what is your favourite blogging platform? Let me know in the comments. Also suggest ways in which I can build up followers and a community around iPhoneography

Mobile Phone Photography Blog

2009-12-29T23:47:00.003Z

I am hoping to purchase a new phone before the 1st of January

This has presented me the opportunity to start a new Internet blog about my unique discoveries.

When considering a new mobile device, camera capabilities are the most prevalent player in my decision making process.

Previously I have owned a Nokia N80 (with a 3 megapixel camera) and a Nokia N95 (with a 5 megapixel camera). This time around I am considering the iPhone 3G S. The iPhone 3G S' camera is 3 megapixels, but people with a knowledge of digital cameras will know megapixels only equate to how big you can print the picture and not image quality. It is the camera sensor that that gives the image it's quality and with that said I believe the sensor in the iPhone 3GS's camera is very capable of producing good images for online distribution and sharing. [See images taken with iPhone 3GS]

I have previous dabble in mobile phone photography and more recently learnt how to competently use a digital SLR camera. With this in mind I am planning on setting up a blog around the subject of mobile phone photography.

Blog Outline

Initially I am going to aim to take one interesting or unique picture a day and post it on this new blog

Initial Goals

My aim for this blog is not only to interest and entertain people by documenting the world around me, I also wish to generate a steady flow of traffic to this new project.

Further Challenges that may be posed

A personal goal I wish to achieve is to use a service such as Ad-Sense to generate relevant adverts on the blog. I hope to make my 1st online revenue stream in 2010!

Finally

If I can find the time I may also write articles about camera phone photography. I would also like to invite users to submit their iPhone pictures to also be posted (just to add some variety to the blog)

An initial starting point with any new blog is coming up with a suitable name

Here are some initial thoughts I have had to help me formulate a name

Living in the city of Leeds the majority of pictures will taken in Leeds

I will be using an iPhone to take these pictures

My current favourite name I have generated is 'iseeleeds'

Other names I have come up with include iphotoleeds & iphoneographyleeds

I am not sure if these names are a little too specific as pictures may not always be taken in Leeds. My reasons for having such a specific name is that I envision the initial community for this blog will be built up around people in Leeds (as this is where the majority of pictures will be taken) then through social media and "word of mouth" more people will discover the blog.

If you can think of any further ideas or inspiration for the name of this blog then please leave them in the comments of this post.

Further 3 point lighting investigation and research

2009-12-17T14:06:00.003Z

I have previously mentioned I performed a 3 point lighting test run

(See pictures of my three point lighting test run)

As I researched into various lighting techniques I learnt about 3-point lighting. I choose to use this lighting, as I wanted to light my subject evenly while giving some definition from the background.

While researching in to lighting I became aware of variations of three point lighting, what effects can be achieved with these variations as well as how and where it may be used.

Below are Wikipedia links containing more information about high and low key lighting. I have chose not to reword Wikipedia’s description as I feel they have adequately described these two variations of three point lighting in a way which I understand and can not improve.

High Key

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-key_lighting

Low Key

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-key_lighting

Testing Microphones

2009-12-17T15:36:00.002Z

Having previous worked with video at a home / diy level I was aware that audio would be an important factor in giving this video a professional edge.

I wanted to test out the different microphones (directional, lapel and the built in camera microphone)

I shot some test footage using various microphones in locations of varying noise. One location was the college canteen at lunch time.

When watching the footage back I found that the built in camera microphone picked up noise from the whole canteen and my voice appeared muffled and somewhat in audible.

The directional microphone provided better results, but I found it some what inhibitive when presenting and talking to the camera.

The conclusion of this research was that a lapel mic would best suit my podcast I wished to create. The lapel mic gave me a freedom to not "fidget" while holding a directional microphone and was just a personal preference.

Unfortunately I accidently managed to destroy the video results of these microphone tests. All I have to evidence this work is a picture of myself in college with a lapel mic that I took to post on a social networking website.

LINK TO IMAGE

Location Development

2009-12-17T15:20:00.002Z

Feed back I got at the 1st crit was that my location was somewhat bland and not visually stimulating or engaging for my target audience.

I did some further research into alternative locations and recorded my results in to a power point file which I have embeded below

Alternative Locations

View more presentations from lukeb3000.

Geek Brief Credits

2009-12-17T14:57:00.002Z

After my initial test of recording in a studio environment I became highly aware of how difficult is to control each and every element of video production when working on my own.

Problems I incurred included

Set up your own lighting and make sure it is even on the subject

Focusing a camera on a subject

Recording and present to a camera at the same time

Moveingequipment such as lights, video camera, tripods, and microphones.

Making tiny adjustments to things and not have a second pair of eyes to verify that what you see is the same as other people may see or perceive something.

Previously I had thought that most 3-minute video podcasts were made by one person controlling and operating everything. Most video podcasts I watch do not contain any credits. However while watching GeekBrief I noticed there were credits at the end of the show, this made me aware that some of these podcasts are operating with a small team of people

GeekBrief.tv crew and cast is as follows

Producers, Writers, Editors Shooters, Janitors – Cali Lewis & Neal Campbell

Exectutive Producers – Adam Curry & Ron Bloom

Opening Graphics - Jude Ng

Back Ground Image – Trey Rattcliff

My immediate thoughts on the trial run of setting up my lighting was

“This would be a lot easier if I had a small crew / team to assist me. I found it hard to be able to evenly focus the light on myself.

To check the light was even I used a camera as my second pair of eyes (Pictures can be seen on my Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukeb3000) and while this over came the problem it was a large time drain.

On reflection I know my work could have been better had I of had a small crew to assist me and in future projects I will look to assemble a small team of people to work with.

Pronunciation and Speech

2009-12-17T14:42:00.003Z

Once I had developed the script I had to think about the manor in which I would deliver it.

This video required me to verbalise my understanding of technology, I am aware that the Internet in its nature is global and therefore is watched by an extremely wide audience.
As well as having a comprehensive script. I also needed to deliver this in a way that could easily be understood aurally.
I am aware that I have a Yorkshire and that I sometimes drop my “H’s” when speaking.
To make the way I spoke in the video more understandable to a wider range of people I looked at pronunciation and speech
I also looked at speech having rhythm and fluency, similar that that of music.

I used YouTube as a tool to learn more speech and pronunciation.
I found these videos particularly useful.

Voice, Articulation & Fluency.

Vocal Warm Ups for Public Speaking : Articulation Drill for Public Speaking: Uh & Ah

http://www.youtube.com/user/English4All#p/u - Is a YouTube Channel that has a number of pronunciation and speech videos that I found useful.

Scripting – The use of powerful language.

2009-12-17T14:23:00.004Z

I am not a scriptwriter and therefore I had to teach myself how to convey the information I knew about technology in a verbal manor that would maintain peoples attention.

At this particular time I was reading the book “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs”

Side Note: At the time I was reading this book, as I am interested in doing consultancy work. I have been to a lot of conferences recently and have become aware that a lot of consultants give talks at conferences about their practice. In the future I would like to give a talk about the relevance of digital video on the web at a conference. I was using this book to educate myself on how to put a good presentation together. (I also used this book as a reference for putting together my presentation for crit)

It struck me that the ideas and concepts I was learning from this book, e.g. Creating a Story & Deliver an Experience could fundamentally be used in creating a script for my video.

Talking directly to a camera can be a nerve racking experience for some people. I related the experience of talking to a camera to that of public speaking (in some ways you can can consider your audience is at the other end of the camera and therefore this exercise was not to dissimilar to public speaking.)

As well as reading The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and adapting the ideas in the book to create a script I also looked at other public speakers who I considered are influential at this current time.

I looked at Barack Obama and also more relevant to social media I studied how Tommy Fishback (a 14 year old) delivered a speech at izea fest. (Video can be seen here)

Crew Roles

2009-12-17T14:12:00.008Z

While undertaking this project I have been reading the book Directing The Documentary by Michael Rabiger (Read a description of Directing the Documentary).

As mentioned I struggled not having a crew. One section I found particularly interested in this book was the section that defined crew roles.

Having read this section I am a lot more clearer in my mind of what roles I would be able to delegate to people when making videos in the future. As well as helping me focus roles I am interested in filling and perusing as a career path.

This is my understanding of each role in my own words

Producer

The producer is involved more with the business aspects of the film. A producer manages budgets, hires equipment and people, and liaise with other people to market the film and get it to distribution

Director

A director’s role is to lead what the look and feel of the film will be. They must also be able direct any crew or actors with technical* and non technical aspects of creating the film

*technical – lighting, camera angles, lenses, set,

The director also has a role to play in post production, advising on colour grading and sound mixing.

Director of Photography and/or Camera Operator

The DP is responsible for ordering cameras and lenses, they would be expected to test all equipment before it arrives for the shoot to make sure that it is full operational. Camera operators are also often responsible for lighting, finding locations to access light and electricity supplies and supervising the set up of lighting equipment.

Sound Recordist

The sound recordist is responsible for hiring and testing any sound equipment that will be used on the shoot before it is on set. The sound recordist must liaise with the people in charge of cameras and lighting to find a suitable position to place microphones that will not interfere with the rest of the equipment.

Lyndia Tutorials (Learning to navigate the Final Cut Interface)

2009-12-17T13:57:00.006Z

For this project I wished to advance my editing skills. Previously I have worked in iMovie but I felt I was now being limited by this app as there were certain things I wished to achieve that I could not create or execute with this app.

Having an awareness of digital video I knew that I needed to progress to using Final Cut Pro (not only to achieve good results for this project but also to make employable as a video editor in the future.)

I had previously used final cut but felt somewhat unfimilair with it’s interface. I knew I need to improve if I wished to use this to edit my final piece of video.

The tool I used to help me learn to navigate and use the various features available in Final Cut was Lynda Final Cut Pro Training. After watching this video I felt much more comfortable with the interface and controlling various features.

Final Cut has now my editing tool of choice as it allows me to have great control creatively over any footage that I have shot

Self Reflection from last years feed back -

2009-12-17T13:36:00.002Z

It has previously been mentioned to me that when I have handed in work I have not provided enough documentation. On self-reflection this is because I have been under the false understanding that my final product demonstrates the knowledge I have learnt.

However on this occasion and I am aiming to divulge as much information as possible regarding various topics I have read into to help me create my final product.

They will appear in subsequent blog posts to this one.

Bradford BarCamp

2009-11-14T21:15:00.009Z

On Saturday the 14th of November (2009) I attended Bradford BarCamp with the intentions to shoot a video to be edited in to content that would be put online

To shoot the video I took with me a Sony HDR-FX7

For those of you who have not been to a BarCamp before they tend to be quite small informal events, where speakers and presentations are give by people from the audience.

There is nothing discrete about pointing a Sony HDR-FX7 at someone, and I felt somewhat awkward, bustling in to a room wiith my large peli case

to then start unpacking the camera and point it at someone who perhaps hadn't had that much experience at public speak.

This is in stark contrast to when I attended PhotoCamp Bradford and took my Canon Mini DV MD205 with me

This camera seemed to provide the perfect balance of portability and discretion for filming. So although I captured no footage today I learnt the following

I need to use a camera that is appropriate to the event I will be filming.

A camera assistant would be a useful asset. While at BarCamp I found it awkward to have to move from room to room. After setting up the camera I then need to move the peli case somewhere where people would not trip over it. These required me to leave the camera on the tripod (another potential trip hazard for people) while I moved the case. Another problem I encounter was having to open large heavy doors. Not an easy task when you have a camera in one hand and a tripod in the other.

Working with video at this higher level (rather than just producing short clips from my bedroom) has made me realise that if I want to improve my work, I need to work with other people, I am now looking to use a noded network of people interested in creating video around similar topics and subjects as I wish to create video around.

Radio Plus (A new kind of interactive radio?)

2009-11-25T08:43:00.008Z

During research into making my video podcast I have also been investigating Internet Radio (somewhat of a dead / old format now) However I have been using services such as blogtv.com and ustream allowing listeners to interact with me as the show is broadcast (I guess you could call it Radio+ or Interactive Radio ?)

Hear are some screen shots

The challenge for me is to give the show a context.

One idea that I particularly like is to extend the communications between people that happen after conferences.

Recently I have been attending lots of BarCamps, Open Coffee and Tech conferences, perhaps a follow up Radio Plus show where people from the conference can come and meet up virtually, to further discuss their thoughts once they have digested ideas from the conference would be of use. (I think this is an idea I can develop further, I would need to speak to each speak at the event and ask them if they would like to be part of the Radio Plus show. Then it would just be a case of routing their audio into the stream (which I believe I could do via skype)) If any one would be interested in developing this idea with me then please get in touch with me. There is a link at the top of this page with my contact details

2009-11-11T22:21:00.007Z

As I continue to teach myself to use video software at a much higher level than I have ever done before, I have now started to continue to build my knowledge of After Effects.

This is something small and rough I have put together just to help me get a feel and idea for a title sequence.

(At this inital stage there has been no thought put in to colour or typography, it was just a small exercise which enabled me to investigate the posibilities of using this software for creating titles)

Three Point Lighting Test Run

2009-11-09T18:59:00.002Z

I rented out some studio space in college. This video podcast project is the first time I have worked with a professional lighting setup and I wanted to get some experience before shooting the final piece.

Above is my view as I faced the camera to present my podcast. Even though the lights were not particularly close to me I could still feel the extreme heat they were giving off. After about 10 seconds of standing in font of the lights I quickly became blind, which help relieve my awkwardness of being in a large room talking to a camera

The Final Set Up

After adjusting the lights a number of times, I was able to evenly light the backdrop.

This was my 1st attempted at lighting myself and the background with 3 point lighting. After taking this picture and reviewing it was evident that I had created a harsh highlight on my right hand cheek. My initial thoughts was that this was from the Key Light

In the above picture I have moved the Key Light further away from myself and opened up the barn doors on the light. I still have a highlight on my right hand cheek, and have also lost a lot of detail on the rest of my face.

After reviewing the pictures again I realised the light creating the highlight on my face was coming from behind me and was caused by the back light. I fully opened the barn doors on the back light and opened up the barn doors on the other lights to create a nice even light on the whole set, as demonstrated in the picture above.

I am very pleased with the final result I achieved. Although I have always been aware that lighting is very important when using video, this exercise has made me realise what a vast difference lighting can make to the over look and feel to a piece of video. I think it is also important to note, when I imported the video into Final Cut, and attempted to white balance and colour correct the footage, I could not improve on what I had already created. This will be a big time saver for anyone who has limited time in post production.

LS:TV

2009-10-29T14:34:00.002Z

A lot of the research I am doing for my video podcast is to get myself hands on experience in the field of video production. I feel I learn best by partaking in practical work to see how things work in the really world.

Yesterday I went over to see the students at LS:TV

The LS:TV website describes the station as

"Leeds Student Television is a University society at the University of Leeds Students' Union.

Our members work together to produce television programmes for the students of the University of Leeds. These programmes are broadcast on screens around the Student Union and online."

I am going to be working with them on a regular basis to help produce shows for the station. I am hoping this will give me an opportunity to demonstrate my editing skills as well as get more experience as a camera operator and possible diversify in to vision mixing too should the opportunity arise.

AT the first meeting with LS:TV they asked me to camera operate which I now have pervious experience of after working at a BBC event with JayJay Media in Hull.

I have been working more with live video lately and my knowledge and confidence in this area has grown vastly.

I am now able to rig a talk back system and rig cameras into a vision mixer.

Working with live video has also made me question how I go about producing my video podcast for the DMD brief, Originally the plan was to use one camera and deliver my lines using a mid shot. However I am now thinking it would be beneficial to use two cameras. One at a mid shot and the other at a close up shot, this would give me more footage to work with in the final edit and would also all me to provide more entertainment and maintain the interest of the viewer.

I have a room booked out to work in I now need to check with Matt that I can hire two cameras at the same time. This will give me the opportunity to use the dual camera set up for some initial experimentation work.

Lighting considerations for video podcasts

2009-10-21T19:59:00.004+01:00

Three Point Lighting

Interview Lighting

Sourcing Some Kit

2009-10-19T12:58:00.006+01:00

I am hoping as part of the DMD brief I will be able to build some contacts and get my hands on some kit to review and test

One are of emerging tech that interests me is 3D. It currently seems we have pushed the limited of picture quality and sound and the next logical move is to take video in a 3d direction.

I have enjoyed watched a couple of 3D films recently and having the extra dimension did lend some extra interest to the film. It is particularly interesting to see that the PlayStation devision of Sony have also been investigating the possible use of 3D for future video games release.

As I continue to follow the use of 3D I would really enjoy finding out and experimenting with some consumer 3D product that all "the man on the street" to be able to produce his own 3D media

Cue the Fuji FinePix REAL 3D W1 (see below)

Today through the power of twitter I managed to speak to Tom Dunmore of Stuff Magazing

I am hoping that using my contacts within my social networks someone somewhere will be able to point me in the right direction with regards to getting my hands on test kit

Export Settings

2009-10-17T13:52:00.004+01:00

These are the export settings I have always used and to export video for web.

These are setting that I have found to be recommended by a number of video bloggers.

As I endeavor to give me work (and portfolio that I am building up) a professional edge I think it is high time I did some more research in to rendering video for the web.

*MENTAL NOTE* Use the college Library and photo copy relevant pages from a Final Cut book, on rendering video for web!

Subtitle Strip (Final Cut)

2009-10-17T13:36:00.002+01:00

Just found a great tutorial for creating a subtitle in Final Cut, which is perfect to introduce an audience to who is speaking on screen

For anyone wanting a basic on screen subtitle check out the link!

http://www.rippletraining.com/creating_subtitle_templates.html

Open Ended Questions

2009-10-17T11:51:00.004+01:00

I have just been refreshing my mind on what is and how to ask open ended questions, as I prepare to gather some primary research for my dissertation

I found this video from bnet

Asking good questions gets good answers

This information will also put me at an advantage as I prepare to film and interview more people at up and coming technology conferences.

iPhone supports growth of online video growth.

2009-10-05T11:16:00.002+01:00

I have been collecting research to support the fact online video is continuously growing

In part of my brief I have wrote

"I also believe as many phone networks upgrade to the 3G standard, a standard that has been designed “to allow simultaneous use of speech and data services” data services such as streaming video, coupled with the fact more people buying mobile phone handsets such as the iPhone and the Google Android based devices that come with access to the Internet as standard this will encourage more users to consume more video content"

I have just found some evidence to support this fact

"Following the launch of the iPhone 3G S, YouTube saw an increase in uploads of 400%"

Stuff.tv Accessed on 5th October 2009

http://stuff.tv/News/iPhone-3G-S-boosts-YouTube-uploads-by-400/12640/

Critical Analysis

2009-09-24T17:00:00.008+01:00

As I undertake my third year of a B.A Design for Digital Media degree a lot of the marks will be gained form critical analysis of other peoples and my own work. I found this video that examines what it means to be a critical student, which I thought was worth sharing and would make a very good first blog post.

I would be interested to hear what other people definition of being a critical student is, and what methods they use to analysis and be critical of their own and others work.

Evidence / Research FMP

2009-05-14T09:03:00.006+01:00

Before I could undertake this project I needed to teach myself to code in CSS, to do this I first borrowed the lynda DVD tutorials from the library

Using the lynda DVD's gave me a better understanding of what it is possible to achieve with CSS

I next need to put in to practice what I had learned in the lynda DVD's. Having never wrote any CSS before, I looked for some templates where I would be able to edit lines of code, to enable to learn, what the various parts of the code control.

I found a brilliant CSS layout template website named csseasy.com Using this website allowed be to configure certain design element of the code with out having to learn to script every thing

As I started editing code to change design elements it quickly became clear how a CSS website is structured.

From learning this I was able to put together some simple websites

By this point I was confident enough to try to skin a blog, after a failed attempt with both wordpress and tumblr, I decided to use blogger, as I have used this platform before.

Photography and Photoshop

2009-04-19T21:19:00.004+01:00

My friend is studying for a degree in Art and Design.

This weekend he requested my help in Photoshop. He wanted to mock up a design for a piece of clothing he is going to make for a project

I enjoyed getting to do the photography for the piece (photography is an area I would like to increase my skill in) While editing the piece I realized how much I have improved in Photoshop.

I would really enjoy a job in photo-retouching (I am actually starting to think post production is my kind of thing, I really enjoy Photoshop and I have started to use After Effects)