As always, what would uwol challenge be without a place to talk about the experiences we encounter during the making of the uwol entries.

What goes well, not so well, the bad and everything in between.
Don't be afraid to share...

Remember the important Rule 11 - Have fun!

I think I have my idea!

Doesn't have anything to do with light and in fact I could probably film some of it at night!

Need to make some calls to see if it's possible. Will be different than probably anything else I've done.
Need to shelve this for a day or two and think of a Plan B just in case.

I wish you good luck Kevin, my curiosity is tingling already.
I also have a plan in the works.
The plan involves a lot of traveling in the district, so I hope time permits.
Good luck to you all.

This is a good theme, Trond. I will be experimenting with the audio on this one, and also trying to play the music myself. Will be interesting.

So what disaster will befall me this challenge?

Came up with my idea, almost finished with the script and am working on the title.
Even put in a few shots I'd like to get. All before even listening to any music for this challenge.

I only have two days off this month so those are my only opportunities to film anything with morning light.
Wanna bet they will be cloudy, gloomy?:)

Thankfully we're setting the clocks ahead Sunday so that will give me an extra hour of daylight after work!

I think I have my story - will depend on what I find as to what evolves but at least I have a plan.

If you guys don't already have it, I can highly recommend the Photopills cell phone app to help with this topic. I have used it for quite a while now and I have found it fantastic for working out the times etc. of the golden hour (and lots more) in order to plan ahead of time where best to shoot from at a location. It is easy to use and their tutorials are very simple to follow.

Of course the weather and the camera settings are another thing altogether to try and get that perfect shot! Maybe some of you have some general camera settings tips you don't mind sharing.

This theme reminds me of the Night theme back in 2007. No specific subject but shooting the chosen subject in a different light and time of day.

I normally keep my camera settings pretty neutral to capture things as close as possible to how my eyes see it.
But sometimes I adjust the white balance to a slightly warmer setting, or bump up the saturation or contrast a little. Color editing is mostly done in post, so I can have the "original neutral" raw video and the edited if I regret the edits or change my mind.

Thanks Trond. White balance is probably the most important consideration - trying to push the warm colours. I know one can set the camera WB on 'shade' or 'cloudy' but can one use a slightly blue board instead of a white board to achieve the same thing manually?

Yes, or as I sometimes have had good success with: Use clouds as white card.
But yes, a slightly blueish card should help you get a warmer image.

I shoot the same camera settings for everything. Haven't changed them in years. They seem to work for me.

I just pump up the chroma a bit, drop the master ped down about 15 or 20 points and shoot on the 5600k preset.

Everything I've shot on UWOL has been with those settings.

Maybe I'll do a custom white balance every now and then but the preset works fine for me on my camera.

Marj, this link will tell you more about warm cards WarmCards - White Balance Reference System (http://www.warmcards.com/WC1.html) Mick

Thanks Mick. Like Kevin I have my favourite settings but to achieve the warm look of golden light these warm/blue cards or similar would be most useful.

Thanks for all the settings tips so far.

I'm getting up at 04h00 (groan) on Saturday morning to get to my location before the sun does - UWOL certainly challenges us.

I shoot the same camera settings for everything. Haven't changed them in years. They seem to work for me.

I just pump up the chroma a bit, drop the master ped down about 15 or 20 points and shoot on the 5600k preset.

Everything I've shot on UWOL has been with those settings.

Maybe I'll do a custom white balance every now and then but the preset works fine for me on my camera.

That's amazing. I will never forget your award-winning 'River' film - its is a stunning example of the golden hour from beginning to end!

Marj,

It's funny in that I carry a set of Warm Cards with me in my camera bag but I almost never use them.

If the sun is below the horizon and I'm getting a lot of blue cast in the image with the 5600k preset I'll break out a white card or maybe a 1/2 or 1 Warm Card but only if I don't want the blueish cast.

During the winter, it really helps sell the cold so I tend to just leave the preset on and let it go blue.

Iowa has so much corn fog in the summer. Yep, corn fog is an actual thing. The cord grows so fast and expires so much water that it actually creates a fog layer and adds to the humidity in the air.

But anyway, the corn fog and haze make for great golden hour light because of the sunlight being scattered through all the particulates. So the light naturally tends to be more towards the red end of the spectrum which is why I can get away with the 5600k preset here.

After thinking of this topic a lot i am getting more and more confused as to what should be the outcome.

I can think of beautiful shots that are clicked in the golden hours and i can probably make them given the time, however i am currently struggling with a story line, just not able to think of a rythm to this stint.

Music is far off as till the time i don't have the story and shots i will not be getting into music as i did last time.

As here in India we have time where the winters are ending and summers will begin the golden light is there ( leave aside the rains that ruined the starting day)

Guess i need to go for a long walk to think of what i want to put together.

cheers
vishal

Vishal,

There doesn't have to be a story, just a common thread.

Like Marj said, the theme would lend itself to a music video. There doesn't even have to be narration.

If you wanted to interpret the theme literally you could do something about golden hour in a certain location or an abstract piece of how the golden sun dances on the water of a stream or river.

Don't over think it. Put on some relaxing music, close your eyes and think about something magical.

Thanks Kevin

Magical is something that i want to produce, let me try a new approach here, start to shoot and then make a sequence as i get the shots and lastly come up with music that can make it flow.

vishal

Ok, i think i am starting to put a bit of a plan together. This theme certainly is going to produce some stunning results i think. One of those themes that inspires.
Again, i am going to try to make my submission like a sequence from my UWOL long form project that started way back when, & am still working on. Hopefully i will be finished with it by the end of this year.
Good luck to everyone.
Bryce

Hopped out of bed at 04h00 this morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (hmm) to get to my location before the sunrise - which I did. Didn't find anything particularly interesting in terms of subject matter at that time of the morning but I did get a few things and at least I could test my settings. Had a lovely day out birding!

At least you were able to get out Marj.
As I was walking into work this morning I saw an incredible sunrise unfolding in the distance.
Had amazing clouds with some low hanging clouds that were like golden cotton candy.

My only chances for sunrise footage is on my two days off this month the 21st and 22nd.
Having only two days off a month really cramps my morning shooting. :)

i now have a idea, decided to use the footage i did from 1-3rd of this month.


To make it flow have written down a few shots that i need to make, will be trying those in next week. Just that how i want to define the Golden hours is something i still find tricky.

Let me have Plan A executed next week, if its successful nothing like it , if not i am in trouble .

Music - isn't that my weak point every time, going to put together the film and then work on the music.

vishal

Good to see some of you already have ideas and been out working on your projects.
Here the "golden hour" and the rest of the days has been all dark grey and very wet, so far this month.

Good luck, everyone!

Then the script is finished and I have picked out locations for filming.
It includes a lot of traveling around the district, and I need that the weather gods are on my side.
At this time the toads begin their annual march towards their mating pond, which I hope to get on tape (read: "memory card"). They walk/jump in the evening, night and toward dawn, so it will be very exciting to see if I hit the jackpot when it comes to Scandinavia's largest toad colony.
Now I must find warm clothes for several night missions.

I understand that many of you are busy out there, working on your project and wish everyone good luck.

I'm still figuring out the plan. Have ideas about animals that may be relevant - but which ones if any I can get on camera is a different issue. Have to make a plan to get out early and see what I find. The sunrise is happening later now for us which should make it easier. Maybe I should see if the male Lyrebirds are starting to do their mourning displays yet... Summer was not typical this year so lots of plants and animals are probably confused about the season.

At this time the toads begin their annual march towards their mating pond, which I hope to get on tape (read: "memory card"). They walk/jump in the evening, night and toward dawn, so it will be very exciting to see if I hit the jackpot when it comes to Scandinavia's largest toad colony.
Now I must find warm clothes for several night missions.

It would be fantastic if you could capture this Geir. Hope so - really looking forward to seeing this!

Then the script is finished and I have picked out locations for filming.
It includes a lot of traveling around the district, and I need that the weather gods are on my side.
At this time the toads begin their annual march towards their mating pond, which I hope to get on tape (read: "memory card"). They walk/jump in the evening, night and toward dawn, so it will be very exciting to see if I hit the jackpot when it comes to Scandinavia's largest toad colony.
Now I must find warm clothes for several night missions.

I understand that many of you are busy out there, working on your project and wish everyone good luck.

Geir the idea looks interesting and if you get the shots you wish to it would be a amazing one to watch.

Toads in here are underground will be out when the rains get here in June or so but there is a impressive spectacle that we get when they come out as they would do amazing calling, the males turn bright yellow in their breeding season and the colour lasts for some days only, making it a wonderful time to watch in the night when they start singing.
This year i will give it a try provided i get together decent equipment to shoot at night.

I shot some desert fox for 3 days, ( its a sub species of the red fox) found in the Indian desert areas. first time i went shooting those. Now to shoot some scenes to make the sequence interesting to watch, made a time lapse or 2 there which i intend to use.

All said tomorrow i am off to shoot something else all together , Plan B this is gonna be just in case i land up with a problem in Plan A end i need to have something on hand. So its getting up early again and getting busy .
All the best folks , its gonna be a interesting round this one as the light in all the different countries would be on view,
cheers
vishal

That also sounds very interesting Vishal - look forward to seeing your entry on the desert foxes.

I did a series of tests yesterday around my neighbourhood during sunrise and sunset and for anyone who may be interested the two WB settings that worked best as far as I am concerned were manual white balance and Kevin’s 5500K.

For my test I used a constant shutter speed of 100 and set the ISO to 100 - adjusted the aperture accordingly. The blue card worked well to create a warm orange cast but it removed all blue from the sky and allowed little leeway in post.

I remember now why I don't ever do a script or really plan much of anything.

Wrote the script when it was -15F and now we are in the 60's!
Need so ice on the creeks? Nope, all melted.

Oh well, still having fun being out in nature. That's all that really matters.

Oh well, still having fun being out in nature. That's all that really matters.
Exactly! And maybe you even experience something new.

Plan B - Flopped
Its raining in here and the evening golden light hours all but gone.

Needed few shots to complete my film and rains have played spoil sport and now me getting worried.

Kevin,
I too had a script in mind which i wanted to edit to and now with the rains, i am just looking at the skies :)
with untimely rains there are number of issues that happen in nature and i am encountering them now. One of my favorite spot to see the Steppe Eagles is where i visited today to find 6 adult eagles dead , due to some odd poisoning that may happen when rains decay some of the food that these eagles tend to pick . Did happen some years back with other birds this time the eagles had to pay the price.

Now thinking how to approach this edit .

cheers
vishal

One day short of three weeks still to go Vishal. Don't give up hope yet. You may get a break in the weather before then!

Wow I can't get over this. I have just found some music that I rather liked and put it together with footage I shot yesterday at sunrise in a nature reserve not too far from my home. I am really chuffed - plan B is now in the bag! Going to find my Plan A subject at the weekend but at least I have a music video if the weather doesn't play nice! This has to be a record for me - fastest I have ever put together a movie!


Addendum: Just as well I went out when I did - woke up this morning to find it dark and cloudy unlike the past week. Unfortunately this is one topic that is directly affected by the weather.

Plenty time until deadline.
Good luck with your plan A, Marj! Hope the weekend will be good for you.

Haven't really got a plan A or any other letter for myself yet, but I'm going out to film something this weekend, regardless of what I find. For a change it is actually forecasted sunshine (or at least no rain) for a couple days in a row. Last time that happend was months ago.

Hope all of you do well!

Weather is clearing up and thinking of what can be done, untimely rains have rendered the previously planned shots un achievable . Still have some shots missing from plan A . Plan B is kinda dead by now.
Now going to rethink how to get the missing shots or a new plan.
Trond nice to see ur weather improving.

Tomorrow is another day and new opportunity will present itself :)

Vishal

A interesting day yesterday,

Morning got me some shots in the golden hour it was a perfect sky that gave me the shots.

Come evening, i was busy shooting Lightning :) now thats what we call a great day.

I am very fascinated by Lightning and not been able to click it for a long long time, so it was a great idea to see lightning and me able to shoot some .

Climate change has totally screwed my Plan A.

Seventy degree weather is not something we have here in Iowa at the beginning of March.

Trying to think of what I can do for Plan B that doesn't involve golden hour light.

I guess the nice thing is that I have a script and shot list I can tuck away for next year and shoot that when the weather cooperates a little more.

Time to put on my thinking cap.

Keep up the good faith Kevin.
I'm sure you will come up with some crazy good eye candy. You always do.
I myself think of a plan as a path and as I walk along it sometimes change and then I have to change the plan so it fits the path :)
Today I was a little to late to get as much that I wanted of the sunset.
I just keep changing my story so it fits my plan ;)

Beautiful Geir!!

Nice, Geir Inge!

I finally got some footage, yay! Didn't exactly work out as planned, but as Geir says, the path changes the plans as we go along.

Vishal, I look forward to the lightning footage you got. That's always fascinating.

still trying to make a good image of the lightning

THis one is with a gopro hero 3+ black

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t31.0-8/10856569_10153300506804050_7129117894378576105_o.jpg

its a composition with nearly 50 odd frames

About the Golden hour, i started editing and just lost my way so taking a break, may resume today.

vishal

Very cool image, Vishal!

80 degrees here in Eastern Iowa today. That's just insane!!

Good news and bad news for me. Good in that I have picked up a number of new contracts (these are all bird surveys and bat counts). Bad in that, although I will be in the field until well past deadline, I won’t have the chance to make video. I hope everything is going well for the rest of us. I look forward to seeing the product of your golden hours. Best wishes, all.

Sorry to hear you're out, Mike. Hope you complete one next round.
But well done with the new contracts!

Please notice that the sharks are waiting for you in the tank.

Thanks, Trond. Good thing those sharks are old friends... I am determined to participate in the feedback this round and I hope any other "swimmers" will too!

I just want to add a comment (and I hope it won’t turn out to be controversial- I’m not trawling here) about some things which were said earlier concerning what I would call “nature music videos”. In general, I don’t care much for them. I find myself trying to watch quite a few of them (both on dvinfo and elsewhere) and, even if they are quite short, it seems that I rarely make it all the way to the end. When I do it is often because I have turned the audio off and am just trying to analyze composition and exposure etc. Many people seem to feel that this type of video requires no sort of story whatsoever. I disagree. It is entirely possible to tell a story- and a very good one- with no words at all! There is a good deal written about nonverbal storytelling. Some people are quite good at it. I am not; I strongly feel, however, that this type of video not only needs to have a story it needs to have an exceptionally strong one to keep my interest.

I am not saying that if you enjoy making this type of video- without any type of story- that you should stop making them. Not at all. It is quite obvious that many- many people do enjoy watching them. [One of my friends and his wife get up an hour-and-a-half early each day to sit and drink coffee while watching a certain program on their cable- I forget its name. The hour-long show consists of a single locked down shot, each day in a different picturesque location, with nothing but music and occasional canned birdsong. They love it. I get bored to tears in about a minute and start looking out the window.] The point I am hoping to make here is that I suspect that I am not alone in my opinion and that, if you are planning to make this type of video for the Challenge, perhaps you might want to take this into consideration.

I tried hard not to make this into a rant. I’m sure someone will kindly point out if I completely muffed that!

Mike,

I too feel that a good story is needed and yes i am still struggling to form one which will make the viewers follow the story that is intended and yes to draw a reaction.
Being so new to this film making i enjoyed making my first video i submitted here however in this round i wanted to make a story and have attempted it. Just finished putting it together some hours back its now with my friend to compose music as i feel for a story specific musical treatment is necessary, let us hope he would be able to compose the music for it.
With all this new world , music is my weakest quadrant .
Now trying to prepare for Plan B of my music, in case my friend is not able to do it in time.

i am struggling currently with decent export settings. as i am not convinced with the quality i am able to output.
Some days in hand still, now travelling again not to shoot for this one but just to find a project .

vishal

I can't remember any winning uwol film without a story. Maybe except for the very first challenges.
(Yes, I'm "guilty" of submitting music video style films myself in the past.)

I think what Mike is trying to say and is something I alluded to a while back that is making a captivating video/film relying on music alone is a very skilled art that is difficult to perfect.The pictures must reflect the mood of the music and be acuratly cut to the beat. You are in effect telling a story without words. Very skillful!

Well, Mick got it in one. I’m trying to warn against falling into the trap of thinking that it is easy. I find it anything but so. I’m also trying to Challenge those thinking about doing this to try and take it to the next level.

Vishal- I think export settings are something we all struggle with every time. It can be very frustrating to see your precious footage at native resolution (and see it over and over again in editing) and then view it “degraded” by the compression. You know it should look better. One trick I have figured out is to follow the Vimeo compression guidelines for a 720p project but substitute the bandwidth recommendations for a 1080p project. Instead of 5Mb/s use 10Mb/s (they now even allow 20Mb/s). The resulting file will be much larger and take much longer to upload but it gives the Vimeo compression routine much more to work with. I think it looks better than just following the recommendations as stated for either a 720p project or a 1080p project. I urge those of you with your own Vimeo accounts to replicate my experiments and report back here whether you have similar results or not.

Trond- We are all guilty of that! :)