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Category Archives: Tips and Tricks
The No. 2A Folding Pocket Brownie: still going strong after 105 years
I have most of my collection of 100-plus cameras on a couple of shelves made from old Indian doors whose multiple layers of paint was peeling. By collector standards it’s not many, but it’s enough so that they grab your attention … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Vintage cameras
Tagged 116 film, analog, Eastman, folding, Kodak, No. 2A, pocket, vintage camera
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Red Shutter Leica: To Repair or Not to Repair?
Hundreds of dollars spent on a collectible vintage Leica, and it doesn’t work. What to do? Naturally, take it apart! This is the camera I picked up on eBay. it’s a Leica IIIc, made in 1941. I thought I’d gotten … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Vintage cameras
Tagged damage, diagnose, disassembly, IIIc, Leica, pinhole, porous, red shutter, repair, wartime
6 Comments
Make Your Own 3-D Camera!
I was checking out the latest copy of Photo-Era Magazine (the latest I own, anyway) – dated April, 1929 – here’s the cover: It’s chock full of interesting articles on photography – and ads for the latest cameras, including this … Continue reading
Posted in Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff, Tips and Tricks, Vintage cameras
Tagged 3-D, 3D, hawk-eye, Kodak, No. 2, photo-era, stereoscopic, vintage magazine
1 Comment
Vintage: Testing the Houghton Folding Ensign 3 1/4A
If you’re at all interested in my occasional posts about trying to make old cameras work, read on – this one is the oldest one yet. The Houghton Folding Ensign 3 1/4A was manufactured in London around 1912, and is … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Vintage cameras
Tagged 122 film, Ensign, Folding Ensign 3 1/4A, Houghton, sheet film, test, vintage camera
1 Comment
Hack Your Brain: Mrs. McKinley in 3D
I have an old Holmes stereoscope that dates from around 1900 or so. What’s a stereoscope? It’s a device that allowed you to look at two side-by-side photographs in such a way that the image appeared to be in 3 … Continue reading
Testing the Agfa Silette Rapid F
When I’m considering vintage cameras for purchase, I specifically look for cameras that still appear to work, and for which film can still be acquired somehow. Then, periodically, I grab a couple and test them out. This week, it’s the … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Tips and Tricks, Vintage cameras
Tagged Agfa, camera, film, Photography, Rapid, Silette, test, vintage
2 Comments
Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 35 (522/24) Focusing Woes
The Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 35 (522/24) is a cleverly-designed little camera from the late 1940s and early 1950s that fits in your pocket and is easy and fun to use. In fact, after World War II, this German-manufactured camera became … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Vintage cameras
Tagged 522/24, collimation, focusing, Ikonta 35, Zeiss Ikon
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How to Get #CNN iReport to Feature Your Video
It’s kind of an ego thing when CNN – or any other real news outlet, chooses your video as its daily feature, from what are probably thousands of videos they receive every day. This creative videographer decided to enlist the … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Video Editing
Tagged CNN, ireport, peanuts, squirrels, TAZM Pictures
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Elgato Video Capture Solves the FireWire-USB Dilemma
I’ve got stacks of 8mm and “Hi8” video recordings going all the way back to 1990 when I bought my first camcorder to capture all the adventures my young wife and I were about to undertake. Locked somewhere in those … Continue reading
Posted in Gear, Tips and Tricks
Tagged analog to digital, Elgato, firewire, IEEE 1394, solution, transfer, USB, video capture
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Making Ordinary Photos Panoramic
Sometimes I wish I had one of those fancy panoramic photos where you can capture the full breadth of something – usually the horizon – don’t you? Well, it turns out that with today’s high-resolution digital cameras, you can easily … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, general, Tips and Tricks
Tagged panorama, panoramic, photo, Photography
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Photoshop Express Effects
I’ve been fooling around with the Photoshop Express App for the iPad – mostly because I’m not clever or patient enough to master the REAL Photoshop. Given the right photo, you can use the (relatively) limited effects available on the … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, general, Tips and Tricks
Tagged app, effects, iPad, photoshop express
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Wildlife through a Loupe – Micro goes Macro
For my latest video, I noticed I had gradually been collecting random footage of “micro-wildlife” I have come across while working in my new garden here in Windhoek. One of the creatures I had been continually running across is the … Continue reading
Posted in Gear, Macro Photography, Tips and Tricks, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged closeup, grasshopper, lizard, Macro Photography, millipede, Wildlife and Nature
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Music mashup using video editing software
So while it may appear obvious to others, it turns out you can use video editing software to create music mashups. I had noticed the similarity between certain tunes and wanted to give this a try, but couldn’t bring myself … Continue reading
Posted in Music for Video, Tips and Tricks
Tagged Da Da Da, editing, fair use, Grandmaster Flash, La Bamba, Los Lobos, mashup, Music for Video, remix, Trio
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Film Tricks: singing without singing in “Kind of a Funny Story”
I recently saw the film “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” in which the main character, Keir Gilchrist, plays an academically gifted (but parentally pressured) teen who inadvertently finds himself checked into an adult psychiatric ward as a result of … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks
Tagged "Kind of a Funny Story", "Under pressure", film, Gilchrist, Music for Video, singing, tricks
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Chroma Keying Made Easy Part 3 of 3
So in part 1 I talked about the basics and how you can “green screen” for very little money…and then in part 2, a couple of ways you could superimpose multiple “green screen” or “chroma key” elements on top of … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Video Editing
Tagged blue-screen, chroma key, green-screen, virtual blue screen
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Chroma-Keying Made Easy, part 2 of 3
The previous post talked about how to use chroma keying (blue-screen/green-screen) techniques in home video, relatively inexpensively. The question is, so now what can you do with that? Really, it’s up to you and your imagination. The most obvious use … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Video Editing
Tagged blue-screen, chroma key, editing, green-screen, lighting, tips
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“Green Screen” Cheap and Easy
Most people who dabble in home video editing know about “blue-screening” or “green-screening.” What they may not realize is that it doesn’t take a whole lot of money – or a great deal of know-how – to apply the technique … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Video Editing
Tagged blue-screen, chroma key, green-screen, inexpensive, lighting, tricks
1 Comment
Sky and Sea Videos – Pitfalls to Avoid
The other day I was working on a home video of a recent vacation to Egypt, and I invited my 12-year-old to a pre-screening of my near-final draft (a shorter version here), and she told me it was all wrong. … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Video Editing
Tagged avoid, glare, horizon, ocean, pitfalls, runday, sea, stop-motion, stopmotion, sunrise, sunset, video
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Kris Allen performs
American Idol winner Kris Allen came to town. Kinda cool – he’s supporting the USO, and he gave a performance in our small community in the Netherlands – for free – to support servicemen and women and their families. I … Continue reading
Posted in Good Causes, Tips and Tricks
Tagged audio, concert, footage, Kris Allen, live music, Netherlands, performance, Rode, Schinnen, USO, Videomic
16 Comments
Easy Ways to Improve Sound in Your Videos
You could go out and spend a wad of cash on all the latest high-tech sound recording equipment money can buy. Or you can do some easy things that will go a long way toward improving the sound quality of … Continue reading
Posted in Sound Effects for Video, Tips and Tricks
Tagged mic, microphone, quality, sound, sound quality, wind
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The Blackbirds Came Back – Wildlife Videography
I was pretty excited about the opportunity to do a little more “wildlife photography” in my back yard. The blackbird pair that I featured in the video “Learning to Fly” came back for another brood. I saw one of them … Continue reading
Telling a story in video
The cool thing about all this technology is that now anyone can create just about anything and share it with everyone else. Most of it goes unnoticed by the vast majority, but that’s not why most of us create. Most … Continue reading
Posted in Tips and Tricks, Video Editing
Tagged drama, elements, plot, story, storytelling, video
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