Why high resolution in video works.

Here's a great example of where high resolution works, especially in combination with time lapse photography.

I talked my way into a restricted private apartment building to be able get this shot and am particularly pleased with the composition, light, the colors and detail. Everything falls into place here. I also made a 4K video recording of this scene but it adds a crop factor. Only in photo mode do you get this super wide view- and the action. Shot this with the Panasonic GH4 and the 12-35 f2.8. View full screen on a 5K monitor! Or better even: buy it on Pond5 or contact me directly for a discount price.

To shoot a mouse (The Decisive Moment)

I shot a mouse. We've been plagued by mice, lately. Actually, ever since our cat was more or less compelled to move after the arrival of our dog a few years ago, the mice have returned to claim this house at night. Our dog is useless as a mousecatcher. To illustrate her worthlessness as a mouse-repellant: I've seen a mouse go into her feedingbowl and steal six kibbles of dryfood while she was sleeping 3 feet away. She didn't even flinch an eye.
These mice are more brazen by the week and I decided to shoot them. At night, using my camera. I made a timelapse of a mousetrap and grabbed the best frame. The mouse never did take the food. She was an inch away from death.
The great French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson coined the famous photo-expression 'The Decisive Moment' to characterize a great picture. I guess he meant there is only one moment in photography that captures the essence of a scene. If you're a fraction of a second too late or too early, you missed it.

That quote was made for this still. The Decisive Moment takes on an extra, existential meaning here. To bite or not to bite. A choice between life and death. The Ultimate Decisive Moment.

Eat your heart out, Philip Bloom!

Cameraman/DOP Philip Bloom is arguably one of the best timelapse photographers out there (at least from what I've seen...) but in this case the problem was that he actually wasn't out there... Somebody beat him to this one. This is timelapse photography at a higher level...
I feel humbled in many ways: by the power of these pictures, the fact that I feel like a sub-level atom after viewing this and by the knowledge that I cannot produce anything even close as impressive as this marvelous footage.

GH2 airport timelapse

I love the activity in this timelapse, shot at Philadelphia airport on my Panasonic GH2. The window we were looking out at was the perfect frame. My Slik tripod was checked in so I placed the camera on the radiator on the wall. A very nice timelapse except for two frames that went nearly black and I have no idea why...
Since I don't have Quicktime 7 Pro installed on my Macbook Pro, I had to find an alternative to make quick 'n easy timelapses. Well, in no time I found Time Lapse Assembler, a completely free, very simple program that makes timelapsing a breeze! I love it. Who needs Quicktime 7..?

GH2 Airport Timelapse from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

No sleep, no shot

Yesterday I had a job shooting a timelapse of a huge party tent being set up. I had to be somewhere 130 kilometers away at 7 AM. Which meant that I had to leave the house at 5.30 AM. Not my best time of the day...
So I go to bed early and at 11.45 PM, just after I fall asleep, I am awakened by a phonecall. The tent guy calls to say things are moving faster than expected. Could I be there at 5 AM?
So suddenly I have only 3,5 hours of sleep left and that idea keeps me wide awake. The more I look at the clock, the more awake I become. This stresses me out so much that sleep is completely out of the question. At 3.15 I get up and arrive at the place at exactly 5.01 AM. And what do I see? A big white, nearly completed tent! They started at 4 but didn't bother to tell me... All I can do is set up my camera and film them raising the last post of the tent. I feel utterly useless and am cold and hungry. And just as I think it can't get any worse than this, a giant shower pours from the sky over me and my camera. I have arrived in videoproduction hell...

ALL THAT'S LEFT FOR MY TIMELAPSE

The biggest yardsale in the world (timelapse)

April 30 is Koninginnedag (Queensday) in the Netherlands, birthdate of the belated queen Juliana. It has evolved into a massive national party.
People sing, dance, perform, buy and sell. Half of Holland buys the crap that the other half wants to get rid of. Literally millions of people empty out their attics, basements, storages and closets to sit out on the street and make a few bucks.
The Vondelpark in Amsterdam is the place for kids to buy and sell toys, play instruments and do their thing, whatever it is. Like streetperformers they place a hat in which you can throw a few coins.

Shot on a Canon 550D/T2i and a Sony EX1-R

Queens Day: the biggest yardsale in the world from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

San Francisco to Paris in 2500 photo's

With the proper gear aboard, you never get bored:

SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.

Timelapse of the tree-choppers

Ik heb een timelapse gemaakt van het snoeien van de boom in de achtertuin van de buren. Onmogelijk om de hele boom -en het snoeien- in één shot te krijgen dus het is een heel rommelige timelapse geworden. Bovendien was een gedeelte van de boom en de achtergrond fel zonverlicht en de rest in de schaduw. Verre van ideaal dus. Maar het blijft toch een mooi document van zo'n proces. Ik voel me altijd een beetje Idéfix, het hondje van Obelix, als er een boom te lijf wordt gegaan. Maar hij is niet gekapt, gelukkig, hij heeft alleen even een grondige knipbeurt gehad.

Timelapse of pruning a tree from Filmersblog.nl on Vimeo.

The tree-choppers have arrived

De boom in de achtertuin van mijn buren wordt 'gecandelabreerd'. Ik kende het woord niet maar meende wel gelijk een verband te zien met het woord 'kandelaar'. Dat klopt ook wel zo'n beetje want van een brede, volle boom met uitwaaierende takken is er over een paar uur nog een rechte stam over. De es wordt gekort, afgekapt, tot totempaal gedegradeerd. Zoiets zal ik niet vaker meemaken in mijn leven, tenminste niet van zo dichtbij. Dus dan heb je als filmer weinig keus: dit moet vastgelegd worden. Timelapsen die handel. Mijn EX1 R op het dak, mijn 550 aan de Magic Arm uit het raam, twee verdiepingen lager. Lastig framen omdat ik vanaf het dak net niet de hele boom in het frame krijg.... Fel zonlicht en schaduw... niet ideaal. De Magic Arm is weer 'magic' voor dit soort gelegenheden. De EX1 heb ik gelukkig met een touw dat ik op het dak vond, kunnen 'zekeren'. (ik was helemaal extra alert nadat ik net op Philip Bloom's blog had gelezen dat z'n GH2 van de brug af was gewaaid, hop het water in...)