Parrots and Cherry Blossoms at DVinfo.net

Jason Boyce · March 17th, 2007, 12:25 AM

This is some footage I took this afternoon of the cherry blossoms in San Francisco and the parrots that come in to feed on them.

http://www.jlboyce.com/video/2007031...y_Blossoms.mov

Andzei Matsukevits · March 17th, 2007, 01:29 AM

looks like you've crushed your whites

Jason Boyce · March 17th, 2007, 10:00 AM

Not crushed, blown out. In order to dial any colour out on the birds, I had to blow out the sky. Anytime you see blue in the background, you'll notice the colours on the birds get a lot more muted, so I just blew everything out and tried to stick buildings and branches in the background as much as I could.

Jon Wolding · March 17th, 2007, 03:29 PM

Did you try using a polarizer?

Jason Boyce · March 17th, 2007, 03:58 PM

No, all I had was the camera. Sometimes I bring a shoulder brace, but this time I just held it and ran around. I'm definitely looking at getting a polarizer though, I'd really love one. I run into the problem with blowing out the sky to preserve my colours a lot, so I want something that will help prevent that.

John Bosco Jr. · March 17th, 2007, 05:53 PM

What about the HVX's 1/64 ND filter? That probably would have helped.

Vince Curtis · March 17th, 2007, 06:47 PM

That's whose been eating my cherry blossoms !

Nice job, nice music. Bring a tripod with you with that camera. .you never know when you may need it. ie Aliens landing, big earthquake, etc.

Jason Boyce · March 18th, 2007, 01:46 PM

Thanks on the music, I made that last summer at a screenwriting camp. You're right on the tripod, but my only one is enormous, I bought a big one that can support a few hundred pounds (figured I'd rather have too much tripod than too little) but it's too bulky for casual travel. I should really buy a smaller one to carry.

John, I tried the 1/8 and 1/64 filters, which brought the background into colour, but the birds them darkened dramatically, almost becoming silhouettes. I think it was mostly the time of day that made the sky too hot, plus I was shooting up into the trees. I'd like to try again on a more overcast day.

Vince Curtis · March 19th, 2007, 09:42 AM

re: Tripod . I purchased an older MILLER tripod used, great price. I found with used tripods you can get a great value if you try it out ahead of time and see if you like it. I earlier bought a used tripod which looked brand new and 1/2 the price of it new. Most HVX users get tripods that have a max weight of 20 pounds, over that you dont need the extra weight.

Charles Hurley · March 20th, 2007, 02:32 AM

Nice work. Expose for the subject. If you want a blue sky pull a luma key and add it in post. Great work with the handheld too. I'm educated guessing you're at about 25 feet @ 45-55mm FL. That's ridiculously hard with a handheld like the HVX.

Jason Boyce · March 20th, 2007, 05:37 PM

Thanks Charles! I was generally 55mm on the zoom and between 2 - 30 feet from the birds, averaging about 10. They're not much bigger than tennis balls so most of the work to getting them to fill up the frame - like the 2nd shot, for example, the parrot was so close that the macro focus wouldn't go close enough, so I had to start backing out a little bit. Past that it was one hand through the miniDV door strap on the zoom control, one hand on the focus ring and iris control and just constantly adjusting.

I'll probably go back with a monopod or buy a light duty tripod and do better.

March 17th, 2007, 12:25 AM	#1
Jason Boyce Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 77	Parrots and Cherry Blossoms This is some footage I took this afternoon of the cherry blossoms in San Francisco and the parrots that come in to feed on them. http://www.jlboyce.com/video/2007031...y_Blossoms.mov

March 17th, 2007, 01:29 AM	#2
Andzei Matsukevits Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Tallinn, Estonia Posts: 300	looks like you've crushed your whites

March 17th, 2007, 10:00 AM	#3
Jason Boyce Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 77	Not crushed, blown out. In order to dial any colour out on the birds, I had to blow out the sky. Anytime you see blue in the background, you'll notice the colours on the birds get a lot more muted, so I just blew everything out and tried to stick buildings and branches in the background as much as I could.

March 17th, 2007, 03:29 PM	#4
Jon Wolding Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 195	Did you try using a polarizer?

March 17th, 2007, 03:58 PM	#5
Jason Boyce Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 77	No, all I had was the camera. Sometimes I bring a shoulder brace, but this time I just held it and ran around. I'm definitely looking at getting a polarizer though, I'd really love one. I run into the problem with blowing out the sky to preserve my colours a lot, so I want something that will help prevent that.

March 17th, 2007, 05:53 PM	#6
John Bosco Jr. Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Pinellas Park Posts: 232	What about the HVX's 1/64 ND filter? That probably would have helped.

March 17th, 2007, 06:47 PM	#7
Vince Curtis Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 69	That's whose been eating my cherry blossoms ! Nice job, nice music. Bring a tripod with you with that camera. .you never know when you may need it. ie Aliens landing, big earthquake, etc.

March 18th, 2007, 01:46 PM	#8
Jason Boyce Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 77	Thanks on the music, I made that last summer at a screenwriting camp. You're right on the tripod, but my only one is enormous, I bought a big one that can support a few hundred pounds (figured I'd rather have too much tripod than too little) but it's too bulky for casual travel. I should really buy a smaller one to carry. John, I tried the 1/8 and 1/64 filters, which brought the background into colour, but the birds them darkened dramatically, almost becoming silhouettes. I think it was mostly the time of day that made the sky too hot, plus I was shooting up into the trees. I'd like to try again on a more overcast day.

March 19th, 2007, 09:42 AM	#9
Vince Curtis Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 69	re: Tripod . I purchased an older MILLER tripod used, great price. I found with used tripods you can get a great value if you try it out ahead of time and see if you like it. I earlier bought a used tripod which looked brand new and 1/2 the price of it new. Most HVX users get tripods that have a max weight of 20 pounds, over that you dont need the extra weight.

March 20th, 2007, 02:32 AM	#10
Charles Hurley Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Brooklyn NY Posts: 128	Nice work. Expose for the subject. If you want a blue sky pull a luma key and add it in post. Great work with the handheld too. I'm educated guessing you're at about 25 feet @ 45-55mm FL. That's ridiculously hard with a handheld like the HVX.

March 20th, 2007, 05:37 PM	#11
Jason Boyce Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 77	Thanks Charles! I was generally 55mm on the zoom and between 2 - 30 feet from the birds, averaging about 10. They're not much bigger than tennis balls so most of the work to getting them to fill up the frame - like the 2nd shot, for example, the parrot was so close that the macro focus wouldn't go close enough, so I had to start backing out a little bit. Past that it was one hand through the miniDV door strap on the zoom control, one hand on the focus ring and iris control and just constantly adjusting. I'll probably go back with a monopod or buy a light duty tripod and do better.