Video Tips from Krist: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Bob Krist, one of our fabulous photographers for Traveler, occasionally stops by to share his wisdom with us. Today, he shares his foray into video at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival.

The annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is one of the world's most photographed events. I had the opportunity to shoot it last week (for the second time----the first being way back in the film era), but this time, I decided to try it in video.

Thanks to the array of features of many of today's still cameras, I didn't need any special gear. Instead, I used the HD video capabilities of my Nikon D300s SLR and P7000 compact -- both have the ability to shoot in 720p HD video.

The balloon launching area is huge, so you need to be mobile. I carried three lenses for the D300s: a 10.5mm Fisheye, a 12-24mm wide angle zoom, and an 18-200mm zoom. And although I've been shooting stills professionally for over 30 years, I'm a video newbie, and every foray into the world of moving pictures brings a new lesson.  

At the Balloon Fiesta, that lesson was "learn to love your tripod." Yes, nothing says "I don't know what I'm doing" more than shaky video. So I had my tripod with me fulltime, and used it just about full time as well. In fact, my cameras probably spent more time on a tripod in those two days they have in the last year's worth of still shooting.

Admittedly, there are plenty of times when an experienced cameraman can use a moving the camera to create dynamic video shots, but for tyros like me, slow and steady wins the balloon race!

See more Photo and Video Tips From Krist from our blog, and visit Bob's blog for more info about his most recent shoots.  


Post originale: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/10/video-tips-from-krist-albuquer.html