african Dream at DVinfo.net

John Dennis Robertson · July 25th, 2007, 06:32 AM

When I found this challenge, I had no pre conceived ideas, as I had only bought my camera about 3 weeks earlier. Being my first camera, I was just too keen to get out and film anything. Living in Africa I wanted to try capture how man and animals depend on water for survival, but also for recreation. I know I have a lot to learn,and I am having so much fun learning

Louis Mostert · July 25th, 2007, 06:43 AM

What camera are you using?

Dale Guthormsen · July 25th, 2007, 12:40 PM

Joh,

Thanks for participating!!

Everyone here is learning, just at different levels. go back through some of the prior compititions and see how individuals have improved sense January!!!

A couple thoughts: shorten up the clips and alter the music a bit more throughout.

shoot shoot shoot. practice makes perfect

I liked seeing the coot not much different than the ones up here.

Geir Inge · July 26th, 2007, 06:25 AM

Hi John.
I think you’ve put together a nice piece of work, I enjoyed watching birds I’ve never seen before. Nicely done and good luck in uwol.

Geir Inge

Catherine Russell · July 26th, 2007, 10:29 AM

Hi John!

Welcome to uwol! Nice job for a first attempt! Dale had good comments earlier so take advantage of those. You had really steady filming in this, no camera shakes or anything! I loved the birds. Next time try getting out and about a bit more to different areas. Africa is so exciting and unknown for most of us, we would love to see more of it.

Can't wait to see what you do for uwol5

Have fun!

Sincerely,

Cat Russell

Brian McKay · July 26th, 2007, 12:07 PM

good work john, i'm glad you climbed on board with the rest of us.

enjoyable film.

brian

John Dennis Robertson · July 26th, 2007, 01:08 PM

Thanks for the feed back everyone,Its an honour to have my video watched by all of you,and more of an honour to get your feed back and advise.I will be showing a whole lot more of my country and continent in future challenges.I was just so keen to get on with the filming once the theme was announced,that I just got out there and filmed.Had everything done 2 days later,no thinking about it or any planning.This was the third thing I have ever filmed,the first being my dog in our yard the day I bought my camera,and a BMX event that my nephew was racing in.Louis I am using a small consumer camera a Panasonic nv-gs75 3ccd.

David Gemmell · July 27th, 2007, 04:16 AM

Hi John,
I liked many of your shots - particularly at the end with the river bed just a trickle of water, followed by the water spraying in the swimming pool. I thought this conveyed where we are as a human race to some degree.

In terms of some hints, I would not film without a tripod in these situations and would discourage using zoom, unless it is real slow. Where you used a tripod, the shots came up beautifully. Probably best to use zoom just to compose the shot, then hit the record button.

Loved the water bird shots as I also like to see the bird life in other countries. Well done...

Per Johan Naesje · July 27th, 2007, 05:17 AM

Hi John and welcome onboard the uwol community!
Your entry was nice to watch, most have been said about it! I think you gonna improve throughout this challenge, don't hestate to ask if you got any questions. There are lots of expertice here. The most important is to use a tripod when you are in telephotoarea.

Good luck

John Dennis Robertson · July 27th, 2007, 02:26 PM

Thanks Per and David.Everything I have read about using zoom on the forum is "dont use zoom"..Having said that the temptation to just get that bit closer to the action is sometimes to great to resist.I still think using very slow zoom in the right situation could work,I just have not mastered it yet.thanks again for your comments will leave that zoom button out.

Jeff Hendricks · July 27th, 2007, 05:22 PM

John...you are in Africa so where is the big game? Hippos, Elephants and such, all frolicking in the water...just kidding of course.

Nice job on the video, my suggestion would be to try to stick to one subject matter weather that is birds, the water in Africa or it might have been fun to take us on a short journey with the folks in the small boat...

Fun little video

Jeff

Meryem Ersoz · July 28th, 2007, 10:40 AM

hi john: welcome to UWOL. i am so excited to see some footage from africa--you are our first entrant from that part of the world to complete a submission, so props to you. i'd like to see more participants from that enormous land mass climb on board.

UWOL is a great place to develop your skills and have fun doing it.

Trond Saetre · July 31st, 2007, 03:44 AM

Hi John, welcome to the UWOL family. Stay with us for the next challenges.

You made a nice film. I enjoyed watching it.
Nice music too.
A detail you might try to improve is the panning/tilting. Some of it could have been more smooth.

John Dennis Robertson · July 31st, 2007, 05:42 AM

Thanks for the comments Trond,cant wait for the next challenge to try out some of the new things I have learnd.As for the panning and tilting,I have a real el cheapo tripod and its about as smooth as sandpaper.I think it will be the first piece of equipment that I upgrade.

Ruth Happel · July 31st, 2007, 02:27 PM

This was fun to watch, I really enjoyed it. And I look forward to seeing more of Africa, a continent I've visited several times now.

Ruth

July 25th, 2007, 06:32 AM	#1
John Dennis Robertson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Johanesburg South Africa Posts: 217	african Dream When I found this challenge, I had no pre conceived ideas, as I had only bought my camera about 3 weeks earlier. Being my first camera, I was just too keen to get out and film anything. Living in Africa I wanted to try capture how man and animals depend on water for survival, but also for recreation. I know I have a lot to learn,and I am having so much fun learning

July 25th, 2007, 12:40 PM	#3
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Joh, Thanks for participating!! Everyone here is learning, just at different levels. go back through some of the prior compititions and see how individuals have improved sense January!!! A couple thoughts: shorten up the clips and alter the music a bit more throughout. shoot shoot shoot. practice makes perfect I liked seeing the coot not much different than the ones up here. __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

July 26th, 2007, 06:25 AM	#4
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,343	Hi John. I think you’ve put together a nice piece of work, I enjoyed watching birds I’ve never seen before. Nicely done and good luck in uwol. Geir Inge __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm

July 27th, 2007, 05:17 AM	#9
Per Johan Naesje Trustee Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Akershus, Norway Posts: 1,413	Hi John and welcome onboard the uwol community! Your entry was nice to watch, most have been said about it! I think you gonna improve throughout this challenge, don't hestate to ask if you got any questions. There are lots of expertice here. The most important is to use a tripod when you are in telephotoarea. Good luck __________________ - Per Johan

July 27th, 2007, 05:22 PM	#11
Jeff Hendricks Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: The Carson Valley, Nevada Posts: 248	John...you are in Africa so where is the big game? Hippos, Elephants and such, all frolicking in the water...just kidding of course. Nice job on the video, my suggestion would be to try to stick to one subject matter weather that is birds, the water in Africa or it might have been fun to take us on a short journey with the folks in the small boat... Fun little video Jeff __________________ www.tahoestarr.com

July 25th, 2007, 06:43 AM	#2
Louis Mostert Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: East London, South Africa Posts: 31	What camera are you using?

July 26th, 2007, 10:29 AM	#5
Catherine Russell Trustee Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Lyons, Colorado Posts: 1,224	Hi John! Welcome to uwol! Nice job for a first attempt! Dale had good comments earlier so take advantage of those. You had really steady filming in this, no camera shakes or anything! I loved the birds. Next time try getting out and about a bit more to different areas. Africa is so exciting and unknown for most of us, we would love to see more of it. Can't wait to see what you do for uwol5 Have fun! Sincerely, Cat Russell

July 26th, 2007, 12:07 PM	#6
Brian McKay Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Rankin Inlet, Nunavut Canada Posts: 289	good work john, i'm glad you climbed on board with the rest of us. enjoyable film. brian

July 26th, 2007, 01:08 PM	#7
John Dennis Robertson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Johanesburg South Africa Posts: 217	Thanks for the feed back everyone,Its an honour to have my video watched by all of you,and more of an honour to get your feed back and advise.I will be showing a whole lot more of my country and continent in future challenges.I was just so keen to get on with the filming once the theme was announced,that I just got out there and filmed.Had everything done 2 days later,no thinking about it or any planning.This was the third thing I have ever filmed,the first being my dog in our yard the day I bought my camera,and a BMX event that my nephew was racing in.Louis I am using a small consumer camera a Panasonic nv-gs75 3ccd.

July 27th, 2007, 04:16 AM	#8
David Gemmell Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Bendigo, Australia Posts: 234	Hi John, I liked many of your shots - particularly at the end with the river bed just a trickle of water, followed by the water spraying in the swimming pool. I thought this conveyed where we are as a human race to some degree. In terms of some hints, I would not film without a tripod in these situations and would discourage using zoom, unless it is real slow. Where you used a tripod, the shots came up beautifully. Probably best to use zoom just to compose the shot, then hit the record button. Loved the water bird shots as I also like to see the bird life in other countries. Well done...

July 27th, 2007, 02:26 PM	#10
John Dennis Robertson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Johanesburg South Africa Posts: 217	Thanks Per and David.Everything I have read about using zoom on the forum is "dont use zoom"..Having said that the temptation to just get that bit closer to the action is sometimes to great to resist.I still think using very slow zoom in the right situation could work,I just have not mastered it yet.thanks again for your comments will leave that zoom button out.

July 28th, 2007, 10:40 AM	#12
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	hi john: welcome to UWOL. i am so excited to see some footage from africa--you are our first entrant from that part of the world to complete a submission, so props to you. i'd like to see more participants from that enormous land mass climb on board. UWOL is a great place to develop your skills and have fun doing it.

July 31st, 2007, 03:44 AM	#13
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Hi John, welcome to the UWOL family. Stay with us for the next challenges. You made a nice film. I enjoyed watching it. Nice music too. A detail you might try to improve is the panning/tilting. Some of it could have been more smooth.

July 31st, 2007, 05:42 AM	#14
John Dennis Robertson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Johanesburg South Africa Posts: 217	Thanks for the comments Trond,cant wait for the next challenge to try out some of the new things I have learnd.As for the panning and tilting,I have a real el cheapo tripod and its about as smooth as sandpaper.I think it will be the first piece of equipment that I upgrade.

July 31st, 2007, 02:27 PM	#15
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	This was fun to watch, I really enjoyed it. And I look forward to seeing more of Africa, a continent I've visited several times now. Ruth