Ian Furniss Photography » Blog Archive » Vision in Motion – a photographers introduction to digital video

Vision in Motion – a photographers introduction to digital video

Video is one of those contentious subjects for photographers that tends to bring about debate in the same way as HDR or the iPad. Everyone has an opinion and even those of us who profess to indifference on the matter often find ourselves secretly whispering ‘I wish they’d leave it off the camera so we can save a few hundred quid!’ . Since that’s unlikely to happen in any significant way we’re left with two choices, embrace it, or get left behind by those who do. That’s not to say I think we should all go out and try to become the next Steven Spielberg, I am and will always be a photographer, but I do believe that whatever your position in the debate is, there’s a place for video either in your portfolio, your website, marketing your brand, whatever.

I’m no expert but I can confidently say that learning to master video is a huge undertaking that i’d hazard a guess will take anyone venturing towards it, equally as long as it took them to learn photography. Sure, anyone can make a movie or record their friends wedding, but shooting video as a creative process takes more than pointing and shooting in the same way that being a photographer requires more than picking up an instamatic. Now, no book is going to teach you all that is required and thankfully this e-book doesn’t set out to do that, what it does do though, is give you an introduction and help you to understand some of the theories and processes that you’ll need to get started and how to take things further should you wish to.

Coming from Craft and Vision this e-book is always going to be about more than pressing buttons and geeking out on equipment. Vision in Motion takes you on a journey of thought and understanding which allows you to relate this new world to your own in a way that makes the daunting prospect of video a comfortable step. This is visual storytelling that whilst being different to traditional ‘photography’ in many ways, can also be related to from some similar standpoints. For that reason this e-book has value for everyone whether you want to use video directly in your work, or even just to use it as a promotional tool in showcasing your workshops, lectures, or branding.

When I began reading this e-book I was prepared or rather I expected to give a straightforward opinion along the lines of “If you want to get more from the video facility on your dSlr, do/don’t buy this”. Having read it through, that would be an injustice. What the author gives you transcends the medium and whilst it’s opened my eyes to many possibilities for incorporating video in my existing work, it’s also helped me to look at that existing work in new and exciting ways as well. For that reason i’ll say that if you want to look at ways to include video in the future, this e-book comes out as ‘highly recommended’. If you don’t, I give it a ‘recommended’ because there is still something in there that makes for a fascinating read and insight.

And, like you didn’t know… OF COURSE there’s a special offer:
For the first few days only, if buyers use the promotional code MOTION4 when they checkout, they can have the latest ebook for only $4 OR they can use the code MOTION20 to get 20% off when they buy 5 or more books from the Craft and Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST June 27, 2010.

As with all my reviews there are two links here, one is affiliated (you get to contribute to this site) and one takes you direct to Craft and Vision (you don’t) and the choice is yours for whichever you use, the price stays the same.

Vision in Motion – a photographers introduction to digital video by Trevor Meier *Affiliated Link

Vision in Motion – a photographers introduction to digital video by Trevor Meier*Non-Affiliated Link