A big addition to this site: The Educational Resources Page

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With this post I am introducing something to this blog that I have been wanting to do for a very long time: the "The Educational Resources" section that organizes 4 years of instructional material from this blog.   To date, the "Gear Page" has been the single most popular destination of this site – that section contains detailed information on every single lens, camera, accessory, light, monitor (you name it it’s there!)  that I have owned/used/ or rented and that I would recommend to others.   I believe that the combination of these two sections offers up a significant amount of information for people of all levels interested in Cinema, HDSLR Video, and still photography – there are few resources like it anywhere on the web that I know of.

This week marks the 4 year anniversary of this blog.   This blog was launched during the 2008 Beijing Olympics where I was asked to blog about my experience photographing the Olympics (see the bottom of this page if you are interested in an interesting read and perspective on covering the summer games.)    

Little did I know that a few months after the 2008 Summer Olympics,  I would get a chance to be the first person to shoot with the Canon 5D MKII and that my career and life would take a wild and exciting turn after I launched the first 1080p HDSLR video, "Reverie" on this blog.

I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since this blog began and that we are about to have our 10 millionth visitor since its launch (and 27 million video loads on Vimeo!)  This blog has always been a passion project and has grown into something pretty special.   I really want to thank you all for your readership,  your feedback and your contributions into making this blog into what it is today.  

With 4 years of content, comes a new challenge:   making sure that you can find everything easily.    For example: while I may know that I did a video about the best way to setup your Canon HDSLR – most people visiting this site may not yet know it exists, let alone where to find it….   In comes The The Educational Resources section of this site.    Within it, you will find dozens of hours of video tutorials, dozens of articles and slideshows,  that include shooting tips, cinema camera configurations, as well as workflow and software tutorials.    You will also find a number of interviews that I took part in that cover a variety of issues, trends, and gear – both in the cinema and still photography worlds.

BREAKDOWN:  To keep it simple, you will find two main sections within The Educational Resources  page.  This first is the Filmmaking section – as that is really what this blog has come to focus on over the past four years of its existence.  There are multiple categories within the filmmaking section, including:

– BEHIND THE SCENES – A collection of all of the Behind The Scenes (BTS) content that I have posted on this blog.  There are full BTS pieces, complete with interviews and in depth coverage of production, as well as short videos that show a single piece of or technique in use on set.    If you want to see how "Mobius" was shot, what gear we used to shoot and light the short and how we moved the camera- this is the place for you.

– TUTORIALS & TIPS – This is perhaps the most immediately useful information available on the education page, as there are a variety of full length tutorials, as well as technical tips for shooting.  This content is broken down into two categories, Production and Post-Production.    If you want to see an introductory video on transitioning to Adobe’s Premiere or an advanced compositing tutorial in After Effects – this is the place.

– PRODUCT REVIEWS & DEMOS – This is a collection of articles and videos posts of gear previews, reviews and demos.  The gear in this section is broken down into Cameras & Lenses, Support & Accessories, Media & Computing, and Software & Apps.

– PANELS & INTERVIEWS – There is a ton to learn from this section as I have included videos of some of the more interesting interviews and panels that I have been a part of over the past couple years.   Some date as far back as 2004.   This is one of the hidden gems of the section as I had the chance to be interviewed by, and with a very interesting collection of people.

– FILMMAKING BOOKS – This is a comprehensive list of filmmaking books which I have read and think provide an excellent resource on a variety of filmmaking topics.  Nothing beats a good book (or eBook!)

– CreativeLIVE COURSES – Here you will find links to the two online courses I did with creativeLIVE.

 

The second section on this page is the Photography Section. This section is a bit leaner than the Video section – but there is still a lot to learn from the articles and information that I have compiled here.  Categories include:

– BEHIND THE SCENES – A behind the scenes look at many of my aerial shoots, as well as my accounts of shooting the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

– PANELS & INTERVIEWS – Panels and Interviews that I have been a part of which relate to photography and the photography industry.

– "VISUALS" iApp – This is perhaps the most extensive educational piece that I have done on photography.  Here you will find information on my "Visuals" App, which breaks down collections of my photography and explains the backstory and technical information of each image in an accompanying video.

– VISUAL STORIES – This is my first solo book on photography that delves into the stories and techniques behind many of my images.   It has become one of the more popular books in Photography since its release last year,  notably amongst books that talk about the psychology and decision making process behind each photograph and large news and sporting events.   If you want a glimpse on what truly goes on inside this strange mind of mine (and many professional photographers out there) – this is a good place to start.