CatchALightningBolt.com

Welcome to the Videography page of the CatchALightningBolt.com web site and thanks much for stopping by!

Here you will find tips and tricks I have learned to take better videos along with recommendations for camcorders and accessories, video editing software, etc., as well as some videos and links to videos.

Videography is one of the main things I am focusing on and always trying to improve so I am hoping I can pass along some of the things I have learned, am learning and, since learning never really ends, bring you new things I learn when the time comes.

For starters, I would recommend anybody who enjoys taking pictures and sharing them in various ways consider adding videography to your bag of tricks. Camcorders are so much cheaper now and take so much better video with the advent of HD that it just seems to make sense to combine photography and videography, at least to me.

I would say the advent of digital cameras was a revolution to photography. Digital cameras was a revolution in photography for me because it made an amateur like me, a photographer as a hobby rather than a profession, more able to take good pictures just by virtue of the fact that it enabled me to take lots of pictures rather than worrying about making each one perfect in order to not waste film.

With digital I was able to just take quite a few pictures of each subject and then simply take my pick of which was best later. For me at least that made me end up with some occasional great pictures.

In fact, that approach is partially what got me started trying to take pictures of lightning. The full story is on my home page.

Now that hard drives are cheap and huge and the whole process is much more accessible to the average person like me it is easy (in my opinion at least) to do much the same with videography.

In other words, even a beginner like me can take lots of video and then use video editing software to chop out the bits that are the best parts and actually have a video worth watching.

I wouldn’t say I am a professional videographer at this point but I would say I am a videographer and I have learned a lot so far and I am learning more fast. I don’t claim to be an expert but I do want to help others learn what I have learned and hopefully enjoy taking and editing videos as much as I have.

Look for much more to come on this and every other page.

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Some of my lightning videos:

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Fast moving lightning storm with time lapse and slow motion clips.

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Lockwood lightning.

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Cool looking (I thought) lightning strike with slow motion clip.

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Night lightning with slow motion and still.

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Anvil lightning (I believe that is what type it is, correct me if I am wrong) with slow motion.

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One of the first videos I captured of lightning. This was a very active lightning storm on 07/07/07.

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For these and more videos check out my YouTube channel here.

Coming soon:

Reviews and recommendations and links to more information and opportunities to buy camcorders and accessories.

My current favorite camcorder that I have owned is a Sony HandyCam HDR-SR11. That camcorder simply rocks.

When I started shopping for a camcorder I had wanted one for some time so I had my sights on several features including built in camera functionality. I also had my sights on HD and not just HD but 1080p or as close to it as I could get.

It turned out that full 1080p was mainly only available on the high end professional camcorders at that time and that was out of my price range so I settled on 1080i which is the same resolution but interlaced rather than interpolated if I remember correctly.

I will go into more detail on that later.

The camera I have my sights set on now is a Canon 5D Mark II (although the Mark III is coming soon and I would imagine it will be even better) which is a DSLR, or Digital Single-Lense Reflex, camera with built in video functionality.

So in many ways it is the opposite of the Sony but the main motivator is the fact that it is a professional level camera so I can start taking better pictures and the videos are clearly better quality as well.

I love the Sony but you just can’t get the kind of clarity and quality in pictures or videos without getting to the professional level cameras and camcorders.

In fact, I keep thinking nothing I have produced is anything all that special and I absolutely must have a better camera before it will be. It is probably some phobia or something but I always wish my pictures were more clearly in focus or more accurate colored or better framed etc.

I plan to include some links for more information and opportunities to buy that and other models of cameras and camcorders soon.

I am also hoping to add reviews and recommendations and links to more information and opportunities to buy video editing software to this site.

My current favorite video editing software is Pinnacle Studio 12. I also like Corel VideoStudio 12. I plan to have links for more information and opportunities to buy those and other varieties of video editing software soon.

Tips and tricks for taking better videos.

I am holding off on adding too many tips and tricks for just a bit because that is one of the areas of my hd video guide that I am currently fine tuning. I plan to have some here and all in the eBook essentially. I also plan to continually expand on this section as I learn more.

Ways to make money with videography.

My favorite way to try to make more money with my videos is of course my web sites where I am trying to use my videos to help add value to the site and show what I mean when giving tips and like my photography and I even use them to look back on and reminisce so it is not all about money.

I also like iStockPhoto. I plan to greatly expand this section soon.

Much much more to come!
Email Tom@CatchALightningBolt.com
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