|
Here in New England spring is finally here, the snow is all melted the weather is clearing up, the schedule is getting VERY BUSY. Last week was my busiest week of the year so far for shooting real estate, despite all thats going on right now. Houses are still moving, the economy will be fine, things will work out like they always do and it’ll be a great year for all of us. Like I mentioned spring is just a few days away and for creatives this is when we need to be grinding. It's the busiest time for videographers because we’re finally able to get out there and really apply what we learned after spending all that time inside editing all winter, as well as the things that we improved on last year. Obviously once fall comes we’re all pretty mentally exhausted and we’ve been creating non stop for a few months, and then winter comes and we’re catching up on all the things we didn’t finish throughout the year. So spring is really the first time that we actually get out there and apply the things we’ve learned, we’re all fresh, ready to go and ready to make things happen.  All the businesses are in a similar boat, you always hear “once the weather breaks”, or once spring gets here, this is when they really start making things happen. Things are always on hold, changes are always being made to really dial what the plan is and everybody is just ready to go.
With that being said I think spring is when you need to be making the most, going all in, doing as much as you can and applying everything that you learned. It’s when we are the most focused in my opinion. Everybody is feeling good because it’s finally starting to get nice out, we’re starting to see the sun again and everything just starts moving. So instead of living in fear for the next few weeks, better yourself in some way that you’ve been putting off for awhile. Me personally, I’m going to be catching up on editing and writing scripts for new videos. Whatever it is use your time wisely. Winter is for planning, spring is for action, so let’s get to it.
0 Comments
So I was recently designing my new website and I was trying to research what would be the best platform to build it on. I’ve been using weebly for five years now with three different websites because of how easy it is to use, but there are a lot of downfalls to it. Most creatives have been using Squarespace and at first glance they’re very similar. They’re both drag and drop website builders with a large amount of visual first themes. As a videographer I really wanted to put an emphasis on video and images and with Weebly I haven’t been TOTALLY happy over the years. To me, my websites have always just been missing those few details that separate it from an amateur looking site to a professional, crisp looking gallery. So keep in mind, I am looking at this from a creative standpoint. That might not be the most important to you for your needs. Let’s take a quick look at some of the pros and cons for each.  Weebly is extremely easy to use and enables you a lot of SEO options because of the large amount of apps in the marketplace. Weebly also is a bit cheaper with starter websites coming in at just $8 a month. I’ve been using the Pro option for several years, which is $12 a month. On the other hand, Weebly has some design limitations and editor isn’t the most in depth. For one, and this is is one of the biggest pains to me. Weebly doesn’t have an undo button if you make a mistake or want to undo a change. Yes that’s right, the most basic of command is not even an option. Say your page gets deleted or changed completely, which has happened to me many times due to bugs. You’re out of luck. Your only option is to completely redesign your page. That is INSANE. My girlfriend, who manages website builds recently watched me editing a page and could not believe how clunky and unintitutive it seemed. Being a long time weebly user I just looked right past most of it and just accepted it and said that’s just how it is. Until I started using squarespace a few weeks ago.  Squarespace is known for its beautifully designed websites, which is the biggest thing for me as a videographer. However, they are slightly more expensive and do not feature an app store. To me, it was very minimally harder to use at first but after a day or two it’s just as easy as weebly, and it even has ground breaking features like an UNDO option. I could just tell right away that my website was going to look more like I’ve I've always wanted it to; more professional, more visual and overall better laid out. There isn’t an app store, but it seemed like most of the important stuff that I was looking for was already included and the apps in the weebly store all cost extra money anyways. One thing that I was slightly disappointed to find out was that Squarespace does not offer phone support, while weebly does - this was one of the things that I liked the most about them. Their support is great and is extremely easy to access. With plans starting at $12 a month, I opted for the $18 a month business option which is about $216 a year. For the first year that includes your domain, and a professional email which were also both a necessity. However, with the Honey add on, I was able to find a 20% off coupon which took over $43 off my order bringing it to a grand total of just $172.80 which is about $14 a month. Overall, they’re both very close and weebly is slightly easier to use but it leaves more room for error if you aren’t a web designer. Minor mistakes can be made that leave your site looking very amateur and unrefined. It’s also more cost effective, that includes a free option, which Squarespace does not. If you’re just creating a website for general use then weebly might be your best option. But if you work in any creative industry, or need a more refined website for your portfolio then Squarespace is worth the extra money. Hope this helps a bit when making your decision of what site builder to use.  There's always lot of new mirrorless cameras coming out, so why now in Spring 2020 is the Canon 5D Mark IV still my go to every day camera? When this camera first came out it got a lot of hate and most people thought that it was extremely overpriced at $3,499, the specs were lacking and that Canon had killed the 5D line. Now I admit at first I was one of these people because it’s really easy to get caught up in the specs of a camera, but there’s a few things that make so much more of a real world difference than any outrageous specs can. Number one is the ease of use. This camera is so easy to use, the autofocus is some of the best around, the menus are extremely easy to navigate and the straight out of camera colors usually look great and take hardly any post processing to get the look that you’re going for. When you’re shooting on a camera that doesn’t have great autofocus there's a lot of shots that just aren’t possible without reliable autofocus and you have to really know how to work with manual focusing. Which is totally fine, but sometimes you just don’t want to, or you’re looking for a gimbal shot that doesn’t allow for it.  Number two that’s the build quality. In my opinion there aren’t many tougher cameras out there than the 5D Mark IV. I use this camera every day so it is in my hand a lot and it just feels so solid in the hand. You know you're holding a quality piece of gear that can take the everyday wear and tear of working photographers. I’ve dropped this thing, it’s tipped over and fallen down lens first on the tripod, its got scratches all over it, I’ve even taken some falls with it in my hand down on some wet ocean rocks in the rain and it never stops. The cold is never an issue, I live in New Hampshire so sometimes I’m using it in negative degree weather and it never freezes up, my Panasonic freezes up all the time especially in the cold. Even in normal weather there’s also been quite a few instances where the camera will just stop working, I’ll have to actually take the battery out and restart the camera and I have to completely re-do the previous shot, this is one of my biggest complaints about the S1. That really can’t happen especially in run n gun situations. But this, it starts right up in a couple of seconds and it’s ready to go. One of the other most important things to me is the Dual-Card slots. I know I hear it all the time people saying that it’s 2020 you don’t need dual card slots because they’re all pretty good now and they “hardly ever” fail. And that’s not really something that I’m okay with. People say “I’ve been shooting for X amount of years and I’ve never had a problem.” Which is great for them, but let’s be honest. Cards do sometimes fail, certain files do get corrupted and lost. If I’m using my camera for any type of professional work, dual card slots are non negotiable for me.  If you’re shooting weddings, you’re shooting events, are you willing to say “sorry I just lost some of the most important moments from your wedding, or I know you paid me to take pictures of your important event but the card actually broke so I don’t have them." This one I won’t even argue with people. It’s like saying, I’ve been wearing a seatbelt for X amount of years and I’ve never needed it yet. You don’t need it, until you need it. This has been the biggest thing that's kept me from buying an EOS R. They’re already so close as it is, but to me this puts it in a completely different category. I personally would not use a camera that only has one card slot on a job that I’m being paid for. Now with that all being said, every camera has it’s drawbacks. Would I recommend this camera in 2020? Yes but it depends on what you intend to use it for. I think its a little bit different if this is a camera you use every day vs something that you maybe just use once a week. You just have to make some tradeoffs and find the one that works best for what you need it for. If dual card slots aren’t an issue then buy the EOS R. It’s essentially the same camera for a much greater value at this point. I use this mostly for real estate, some people would say it is a little overkill for real estate but I love the images that come out of it and I’ve actually been using it on a lot more commercial video shoots for gimbal work because of the autofocus and everyday photography because i love the way the images look, and I love the straight out of camera look from the video. To me, I still love the look and feel of a DSLR the solid click of the shutter is unmatched by mirrorless cameras. The 5D Series typically comes out every four years so we could be seeing a new one this year which will be interesting to see how it compares to the rumored EOS R5 and 1DX Mark III. Those specs seem a little too good to be true, but we will see soon! This was just a reminder not to get too caught up on specs and realize that sometimes the simplest things go overlooked. Let me know what your go-to “everyday” camera is and why down in the comments.   Amazon and Google are arguably the two biggest names on the internet today. Things had been quiet for years until just last year when tension started heating up between the two. Now, it appears that Amazon may be planning to launch it's own free video streaming website.
The feud originated back in back in September of 2017 when Google abruptly blocked the Amazon Echo Show from streaming YouTube videos. Since then, they have also extended this to the Amazon Fire TV bringing this statement from a Google spokesperson. "We've been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other's products and services," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. "But Amazon doesn't carry Google products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn't make Prime Video available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nest's latest products. Given this lack of reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and FireTV. We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon." Recently, Amazon filed two trademark requests with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for two names: Amazontube and Opentube as reported by TV Answer Man. While they would most likely face legal issues from Google with names like this, the description of these requests is what is much more interesting. Amazon's possible streaming services would provide “non-downloadable pre-recorded audio, visual and audiovisual works via wireless networks on a variety of topics.” Also included that the services would offer “online network services that enable users to share content, photos videos, text, data, images and other electronic works relating to entertainment.” These services would obviously be tied very closely with Amazon's Alexa and just in December Amazon registered three new domain names, as reported by Domain Name Wire: AlexaOpenTube.com, AmazonAlexaTube.com, and AmazonOpenTube.com. Since then, Amazon has started selling Chromecasts again, and Amazon and Google are in “productive talks” about keeping access on the Fire TV, but as of today YouTube remains unavailable on the Echo Show and Echo Spot. Personally, I would prefer it if Amazon stopped getting any bigger than it already has. But I'll save that for another article. -Devin LaBrie Hey everybody, I'm Devin LaBrie. I'd like to thank you for taking the time for visiting my website and checking out what my blog has to offer. I'm a 25 year old that provides a variety of media related work to businesses along the Seacoast of New Hampshire.
I capture a wide variety of creative media, including real estate, weddings, commercials, product videos, travel and more. I am an extremely motivated, friendly, hard-working guy with a passion for producing Digital Media Content in video form. I've been creating videos half of my life. I absolutely love every minute of what I do and have no question that it is what I will do for the rest of my life.  Reading Seth Godin’s daily blog recently it dawned on me. We all have the same software. The market doesn’t care what kind of laptop or smartphone you own. It doesn’t care if you aren’t a big time publisher. It doesn’t care if you have one million followers or ten. It doesn’t care what kind of education you have. Because we all have the same software. No matter where you are, what you own, or what you do, you have the tools. The very same tools that are used by the top professionals. Some of the biggest names in today’s market start off with nothing but the internet and a talent. Stars are made every single day due to the possibility of virality for any piece of content that you post, at any given moment. Social media has made this an accessible reality for anyone in the world that possesses a talent or skill. The biggest stars are now coming out of nowhere into the spotlight from utilizing their strengths and creating content regularly. Social media has made that possible. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, it doesn’t take an expensive degree, a fancy studio, a large following, a well connected distributor, or even an expensive computer. We all have the same software.
One piece of content is all it takes. “The very same software” “Something rare is happening, and it might not last long. Today, right now, anyone with a $300 laptop can use the very same tools as the people at the top of just about any industry. If you want to write, you have the same writing tools available to you as the most successful writers in the world. If you want to join a social network, well, the software that connects the titans of your industry is the very same software you can use. If you want to learn, do research, make a ruckus… your local library has access to the same tools as you’ll find in a skyscraper in a big company. Of course, we haven’t democratized access to closed off circles, we haven’t changed the inherent and unstated biases of those in traditional seats in power. But we’ve definitely given you the tools. If you can, pick yourself.” Posted by Seth Godin on July 19, 2016 http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ It’s always your turn. |
AuthorDevin LaBrie is a videographer, photographer and creative on the NH Seacoast. Archives
March 2020
Categories |
RSS Feed