DSLR Cinematography

When it comes to filming with a camera, there are two main types of cameras you can use- either a stills or video camera. A stills camera is simply not designed for movie making! You cannot use this camera to make movies because it has integrated into it special lenses that are only used for capturing very in depth close up images. These include portrait mode lenses, macro lenses, and more.

A video camera, on the other hand, is able to capture moving pictures due to the fact that it has additional sensors and equipment that allow it to connect to external sources like computers or generators. This allows it to add some extra features such as stabilizers, gimbals, and motors so that the footage looks smoother than without them.

Some people may refer to these as ‘lens’ but they are wrong! The lens does not really have anything unique about it except for maybe its focal length. A sensor is what actually captures light to create an image, and most modern day digital cameras have one! Therefore, those terms are incorrect.

This article will talk about how to shoot cinematographic style videos using your own camera by investing in some basic gear! It is important to do research before buying new pieces of camera equipment as different brands process their film differently. Some develop in labs while others be done within the body of the camera itself. Make sure you know which ones each item is before spending money on it.

Difference between DSLR and mirrorless cameras

A difference that many people get confused about is whether or not you need to use a tripod with a DSLR camera. This comes down to how your film/video is shot!

The way most professional cinematographers shoot films is by using a tripod, even though they have very sophisticated gear that allows them to handhold their camera almost all of the time. This is because they are trained in filming this style.

Film has a much higher level of quality than video, which is why we still enjoy watching movies years later!

Many amateur filmmakers choose to use handheld shooting as their technique due to the fact that it seems more intimate. Some like to say that it creates more suspense, but this isn’t always true.

Filmmakers who know what they are doing will be able to create a movie story that works for their narrative, not the other way around.

Camera settings that affect quality

A major part of good film-quality photography is having enough light to capture your subject. Your camera needs to be able to access all parts of the scene you want to shoot!

If your photo has a very dark background, then it’s hard for people to see what was going on in the picture. If everyone and everything is totally obscured, then no one can tell who or what the photograph is about!

By creating a sense of darkness, you have to use lots of lights to really make the image work. This could be natural sunlight, studio lighting, or even using flash if needed.

Another element of bad pictures is when there are too many bright areas in the frame. These overbright bits of light take away from the intensity of the rest of the image. Sometimes this is due to the photographer leaving some parts of the shot empty, but sometimes not!

This article will go into more detail on how different camera settings relate to overall image quality.

Avoiding blurry photos

When it comes to taking pictures with your DSLR camera, one of the biggest things is avoiding blurry or out-of-focus images. This can be done by using a tripod, ensuring good exposure before capturing your image, or getting closer to your subject!

When shooting outside, protecting your lens from rain or snow will prevent blurred photographs due to moisture. If you are planning on moving around a lot, then checking the horizon line and establishing an internal frame of reference for measuring distances can help ensure your photo does not become too wide or short.

Using a neutral background that does not draw attention away from your main focus can also help avoid blurry photos.

Learning to use your shutter speed

A good starting point is learning how to use your shutter speed. This will depend on the length of the shot you want to take, as well as the available light. By adding more exposure time, your image can be made brighter or heavier depending on what effect you desire.

By using longer exposures, you are able to “freeze” action in your photo. For example, if someone is running down the street, you could expose for one second to show only their feet moving before they disappear into the darkness. Or, if there is no one else around, you could leave the room dark with just their body silhouetted.

Learning to use your ISO

When shooting video with still photos, one of the most important things is increasing your shutter speed. This allows you to capture more light when filming, which then you can increase your exposure or iso (for example, if it was set at 100, you could make it 200, etc.).

One thing about digital cameras that people get mixed up is how the camera adjusts its internal settings for exposure. Some do not! The first rule is never change an f-stop outside of a bracket!

By changing the aperture size, you are able to have longer exposures, but this also means less light will enter the lens, making the image darker. By using a faster shutter speed, you allow in more light, but may need to reduce the amount of film exposed to create a sharper picture.

The second part of adjusting your ISO is switching from auto to manual mode. In automatic mode, your camera decides what iso to use depending on what setting you have chosen before. For instance, if you choose medium format, it may automatically decrease the iso so that it does not run out of space too quickly.

However, some professionals find this difficult to control completely, thus limiting their ability to achieve very crisp pictures. Using manual mode, you can pick your own iso, ensuring better quality images.

Understanding white balance

When capturing stills or video, setting your camera to use a specific color temperature is called white-balancing your image. There are many ways to do this with your dSLR, but one of the most common is using an off-the-shelf gel pack.

A gel pack is a light source that comes in various colors. By mixing these different colors together, you can create any number of neutral shades. For instance, if you have red skin, you could mix some strong yellow gels next to it to get more natural looking shadows. If your skin has a tendency to look pinkish, you could add some blue gels to even out those tones.

There are several brands of gel packs that contain all of these neutrals. One such brand is BSN, which has their Neutral Balance Sets. You can find yours by searching for “DSLR neutral balance” on Amazon or anywhere other sets are sold.

After doing this, make sure to switch between grayscale and live mode before taking photos! This will test how the gel set affects the overall tone of the photo.

Another way to achieve neutrality is through your computer monitor. Most laptops now come equipped with either a built-in backlit LCD screen or USB connected display.

Understanding gain

Another important term to know when it comes down to capturing engaging photos is `gain`.

`Gain` refers to how much camera exposure (or light) you have. A higher amount of gain means more light in the photo, thus enhancing the quality of the picture.

When shooting with a smartphone or very low-end dSLRs, there are two ways to achieve this. You can either use a fast shutter speed to reduce blur caused by motion or increase the ISO, which allows for lower levels of light.

However, both of these things are limited by design. With mobile phones, space is an issue so achieving that slow shutter speed may be impossible. And increasing the ISO too high will result in noise, something we do not want.

For DSLRs, lowering the f-stop or using longer exposures will also cause a loss of detail due to overexposure. This is why people often say digital photography has no true exposure!

By using a mode called `Bump Mode`, photogrammers can add exposure by bouncing light off of objects. For example, if someone was walking away from you, they could bounce off the wall and into your lens, giving them and the scene slightly extra exposure.

This is what makes photos like sunrise pictures possible. The sun does not fully illuminate the whole scene, instead creating a beautiful silhouette. It is similar to how some photographers take night photographs where nothing but headlights show.

Learning to use your A/C settings

Changing your exposure is one of the most fundamental ways to take better pictures with you, even if you are not a professional photographer!

One of the things that new photographers often struggle with is using their auto-exposure (AE) feature correctly.

By experimenting with different exposures, you will learn how to achieve different looks and effects.

In this article we will talk about some easy ways to use your camera’s automatic exposure features so that you can give yourself more creative freedom.