Camera Extender

Over a year ago, I wrote about Andy Ihnatko filming himself as he walked. It didn't look like he was holding the camera at arms length, yet he was able to keep his face in frame. It was a neat effect. He described how he was using a modified tripod. I was reminded of his device when I saw this tripod on the web today. The QuikPod Handheld Convertible Tripod is built to do the same thing that Andy did for $17 (Amazon price). Ihnatko says he built his from parts of other tripods for about $5.

While surfing Amazon I saw another similar product called the QuickPod DSLR Handheld Convertible Tripod. It also works as a monopod and includes an angle mirror to help you see what you are shooting. This one will set you back $49.95 (Amazon price). Both are made by the same company, QuickPod. Do a search on Amazon for tripods, monopods and/or camera extenders and you will see a few more of these setups.

I had the idea that you could use the garage built camera mount that I linked to in a previous post, and hook it to a painters pole. As I also suspected, my idea was not original and after a little searching found several web posts about doing this very thing. Here is a shot of a rig shown at Photography for Real Estate. The author uses a bracket to mount his camera to a pole which lets him take some shots of his houses with a different perspective.












Lots of plans out there for some cool do-it-yourself projects. Don't think I will be buying the Quickpod model just yet. At least not until I bloody my thumb on a few home made attempts first.

[Image: QuikPod Handheld Convertible Tripod: Image captured from Amazon.com]
[Image: Pole Camera Bracket: Captured from http://photographyforrealestate.net/2008/03/12/shooting-pap-with-minimum-equipment-and-effort/]

Camera Mount on the Cheap

Here is the latest find in my quest to find inexpensive ways to build a functioning, complete studio for our video students. It's a simple idea. Create a camera mount that would allow you to use a mic stand. They won't give you the same flexibility as a tripod, but I'm thinking in some cases a camera mounted on a sturdy, single pole might come in handy.

It has also got me to thinking about other things I might attach to a mic stand. Lights? Reflectors? Wind guards? Might have to brave the cold in my garage to see what I can create.
[via Make]
[Image captured from Make: Mic Stand Camera Mount: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/diy_mic_stand_camera_mount.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890]

DiveCam

Here is a Wall Street Journal article, Now Diving: Sir Isaac Newton, describing the camera setup used to film the divers at the Olympics. Basically, they drop the camera at the same time the diver jumps and the two fall at the same speed.

"When you stand up there," he says, "it makes you marvel at what these athletes will do. We were thinking: What must it be like to plummet from that height? How can we capture the sensation?"

The falling camera rides a rail on the inside of the pipe. A glass strip runs along the pipe's full length; the camera takes its picture through the glass. From the diving platform to the water line, the glass is smoky. Below the line, it's clear, so the camera need not adjust its exposure as it streaks into underwater darkness.

They have a little flash movie demoing how the camera moves here.

[Image: Captured from "Beijing's Diving Eye": http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-flash08.html?project=DIVECAM08]

DIY Photo Studio Product Lighting

Sweet little video from Make on how to set up your own product lighting for a photo shoot. Say you have a small object like a purse or a set of headphones or your action figurine of the Hulk. Here is a way to light it with no shadows on the cheap.



[Image captured from "Episode 2, DIY Photo Studio Product Lighting"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zARqGgHjNc&eurl=http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/04/ diy_photo_studio_product.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890]

One man, One camera, One long arm

I was watching a piece by Andy Ihnatko the other day and I enjoyed the video, he is a funny guy, but what really caught my eye was his camera technique. He was able to pan the camera from each side with out any apparent movement from his arms while he was walking through Central Park. I figured he either has really long, ape like arms or was using some kind of rig. I wasn't the only one who was curious and there were several comments asking how he did it. He responded:

I used the same tabletop telescoping tripod that I used for the first video, and held the thing as a stick. Shooting that way is a lot of fun; I shot a third video in which I slowly spun in place and that was a cool effect (me rock-solid, Central Park swooshing behind me nonstop). But I got a bit dizzy doing it, and watching it later.

When I got back home I was happy to find that I had all the raw materials necessary to build a better version of this stick. I just broke apart another tabletop tripod ($5 from the MIT Flea), liberated the metal adjustable tripod head from it, and screwed it into a monopod. Works a treat, gives me a lot more range, and the finished stick looks as though I have an actual budget for these things.

I once saw an episode of Survivorman, where they drop Les Stroud into the middle of nowhere with some supplies and a few video cameras. Sometimes he was walking along holding his camera hooked to his tripod (I think) which let him get the camera little further from his face and shoot while he walked. I didn't really think about it much until I saw the Ihnatko footage and it got me to thinking that this would be an interesting addition to my bag of tricks.

Cool! I'm going to be experimenting with this soon. Anybody know a site that discusses using a video camera this way?

[Image: Captured from "Andy Ihnatko 02 "The Kindle Constitutional"; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaY91FqM40E&eurl=http://ihnatko.com/]

If you outlaw cameras only outlaws will have cameras.

Right after writing about cameras being everywhere and the difficulty in stopping people from taking photographs in a concert venue, I read this article on BoingBoing; UK mall bans grandparents for trying to photo their grandkids. The article describes a couples experience in a shopping mall in the UK. They were stopped using their camera because taking photos was banned due to a "security risk."

"Oh but that could only happen in the UK. It wouldn't ever happen in the US," you say. How about Silver Springs, MD where a photographer was recently stopped from taking pictures.

Lots of bandwidth on this issue and it is only going to get more intense as cameras get smaller and more pervasive. This might be a good classroom discussion starter. I know it has me thinking.

[Image Source: Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/ Sony-DSCU10-1-3MP-Digital-Camera/dp/B00006JHTQ/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199397124&sr=8-3 : Found this on Amazon after doing a search for "tiny camera".]

Cameras Everywhere

I didn't ever think that I would ever have a post about Paris Hilton on my blog.

Never say never.

This isn't going to be any deep think piece on her, her contribution to society, the role of the celebrity in today's world or even a fashion critique. I ran across a photo of her at a party and it wasn't Paris that caught my eye, it was all the cameras in the audience. (OK...so maybe I am getting old....but really, it was the cameras that caught my eye!) They weren't the usual big paparazzi style cameras. These were all small hand helds similar to the one I carry with me most of the time.




I grabbed the picture and messed around with it in Photoshop and was able to find 19 cameras being held up. The four in the back I guessed on. There were a few more that were just too blurry to call. But, in this snapshot of Ms. Hilton, there were at least 19 people in the crowd taking pictures. Probably a few professionals, but my assumption is that most of them are just regular folks who had their camera's with them.


I am also guessing that at an event like this, people come partly to see Paris Hilton. The management probably doesn't discourage their taking pictures. I posted earlier this month about an experience at a concert watching folks take pictures during the event with their cameras. I didn't mention that there was an announcement first thing asking patrons not to take pictures or record the performance. That didn't stop a large number of people from still doing it. I remember a time in my younger years when a camera or recording equipment would be confiscated if observed by any of the concert staff. What's a concert venue to do when pretty much every one coming into the theater now has the ability to record sound and pictures?

How do we define fair use and copyright in a world where what I see and what I hear can be saved so easily on my electronic devices?

[Image Source: FoxNews: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319810,00.html]