DIY DSLR Shoulder Rig

DIY DSLR Shoulder Rig from Andrew Kelly on Vimeo.
A quick video showing the DSLR shoulder rig I built for my 5D mark 2. I wanted to start shooting video with the camera and needed some extra stability, so rather than spend a hell of a lot of money on a well over priced pro one I decided to try and build my own. This is the result.

I had to use the mic on my camera to record this as my Zoom H1 is broke so the sound isn't great.

Click 'read more' to see images and more of the building process (Taken from my previous blog post on this rig)

Mum

I took this portrait a while ago, I think it was in the summer. I was having a look through my back catalog of images still to be processed and I found this. I was at home in the garden with my mum on a bright sunny day. Normally bright sunshine is horrible for portraits but luckily we have a huge hedge that in this specific spot diffused the harsh sun creating a lovely soft light that I knew would look great.

So when I stumbled across this image on my hard drive I was really pleased as I don't heave much 'Real' photographs of my family and this will be great photograph to have in the future. I think sometimes I'm looking around too much for something cool, weird and creative to photograph and overlook the simple things that actually mean something to me. I have a habit of losing myself in my mind while creating photographs, paintings or music and end up neglecting other things, only realising after the fact.

Anyway, seeing this image has opened up my eye's and from now on along with looking for weird and creative angles and subjects I will also remember to document the important things. This was a great sunny day at home, far away from the not so happy time I was having in London which I will now always remember and I will now always have this photo of my mum.

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andrew@drewportfolio.com

This caught my eye.

This sunset from my window was amazing. Full of colour but was really subtle and soft, I had to go get my camera. I love it when you find a picture by doing literally nothing. I just looked up and there it was, something so nice and organic about that.

Memory tree by Mike Kobal.

Another great movie clip shot with the 5d mk 2. I really like the use of depth of field in this and also the colour correction. It has an eerie feel to it.

Great work by Mike Kobal.

Watch full screen.

memory tree: Canon 5D, 50mm 1.2 from Mike Kobal on Vimeo.

New Camera (Canon 5D Mark 2)

Yesterday I purchased a 5D mark 2 and I could not be more excited. I had to sell my beloved 5D mark 1 to fund it but its worth it.

The 5D mark 2 has 21 megapixels and can out put huge files but I didn't buy it for this reason. I bought it for the movie mode (the great stills quality is just an amazing bonus). It has 1080p HD quality and you can achieve amazing depth of field
due to the full frame sensor. It has great low light qualities which is really important to me as I love the night and it's when I do a lot of my personal work.

I have always wanted to create visuals that can go with music. I have been a musician for around 10 years and always wanted to be a film maker so it was always my dream to get my hands on a camera like this that is so portable and stealthy. I love photography but there were times when a single image just won't cut it for me, I want more information, I wanted to see the other parts of the scene rather than the one still image. Sound and image are my passions and now I am capable of achieving this at a reasonable price.

I have many projects I want to pursue but for starters I am going to spend the next week getting to grips with shooting movies on this camera and researching the best camera stability and follow focus systems. I am looking into the red rock micro systems and the D-focus systems. I will write more on this at a later date once I have done more research. I will also do some reviews on the items that I do purchase in the future.

I am also looking to buy some new lenses to shoot both movies and stills. My first purchase will be the 24-70 f2.8 as it is the best a general lens to have in your kit, with its minimal distortion, great low light capabilities and outstanding image quality. I am also looking into a new prime, maybe the 85 f1.8 (would love the 1.2 but funds will not stretch for that right now) and also looking into a 70-200 f4IS or f2.8 but I will look further into that over the next few weeks. If anyone has any recommendations then leave a comment, I would really appreciate it.

Now its time to get playing with the camera and do a lot of research. Great blogs for movie making and gear reviews are:

Philip Bloom

Vincent Laforet

Chase Jarvis

There are many more that are escaping me just now.

These are some movies shot on the 5D Mark 2 that I found on youtube that I thought were pretty cool:





I will upload more later.

Time to get shooting.

www.drewportfolio.com
andrew@drewportfolio.com

Caught In The Storm

I was out exploring Sandend beach in Scotland (I grew up next to this beach)taking some pictures when all of a sudden the sky turned black and heavy rain and thunder followed. Needless to say I got soaked but managed to take this shot before the camera had to be thrown into the bag and I had to find some shelter.

I love the mood that Scotland weather can create, the getting soaked part not so much but its part of the package I suppose. Can't wait to go back.

Eye

A newish photograph I thought I would share. very different from most of my photos and a style I would like to explore in the future.



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andrew@drewportfolio.com

Light Experiments

I love to experiment with the camera and different ways of photographing light.

Light is the most important thing in photography and recently I have been challenging myself to photograph it in more different and creative ways. This is a long running project that I hope to produce a book on sometime in the future. Maybe it will be in a series or volumes(volume 1 , 2 etc) or years I'm not quite sure yet.

These are some of my more recent results.





www.drewportfolio.com
andrew@drewportfolio.com