Video

Today’s moms are beyond cool. They rock DSLRs, iPads, and are fast becoming the largest growth segment in social networking. It’s not just kids listening to mom -- hundreds (and in some cases, thousands) of folks follow her tweets, Facebook updates, and blog entries. She’s got her own point of view backed up with boatloads of digital photos -- Isn’t it time she started posting video?

Summer break is almost here. You’ve fueled the car, packed the cooler, and programmed the GPS. It’s time for a well deserved vacation! Whether you’re headed to visit Grandma upstate or Mickey’s house down in Orlando, you don’t want to forget the sunscreen or a new HD camcorder. HD video is the gold standard for capturing all kinds of family fun. B&H’s exclusive on the new HF21 makes fun affordable.

Summer is almost here! Whether you’re interested in shooting first person video from the front of your surfboard, or maybe a friend’s wedding, or even a feature film, here’s the rundown of the latest and greatest camcorders for summer 2010. From shoot and shares to the latest ENG alternatives, there’s something here for everyone.

Garrett Brown is the inventor the Steadicam. He holds more than 50 patents, worldwide, for motion-picture and film camera stabilizing technology. His creative and successful inventing career has also included the Skycam, a robot camera that slides on wires during sporting events; Mobycam, a submarine tracking camera system; Divecam, a vertical tracking camera system that follows Olympic divers through a gravity-driven system; and the Flycam, a low-tension rigging system that follows athletes via a wired system.

Ever since the motion picture camera was invented in the late 19th Century, filmmakers have been trying to perfect their shooting techniques. For decades, camera operators were limited to stationary tripods to establish their shots. When silent movies became popular and film directors wanted to push the envelope and create more ways to tell the story without being limited to the single-shot setup, more mobile shooting techniques were required to enhance visual storytelling.

My background in filmmaking and animating keeps my focus on any editing and animation tools that become available. I've used Photoshop over the years to design textures for 3D objects or basic photo touchups required for the final video project. And although I have a collection of decent SLR cameras, still photography is more of a hobby for me, so I've limited my use with Photoshop to the video/animating worlds. Thus when Photoshop CS4 Extended came out a couple of years ago, I was already familiar with the basic animating tools included that may have eluded the amateur or pro photographer.

Just about everyone on the planet is familiar with clapper slates, but few people understand why they're used on set. Now that video-enabled DSLR cameras are at the top of many people's wish lists, the need for clapper slates has never been greater. In this post I'll test out the Pearstone SADC-711 clapboard slate, and let you know why it's an essential item for any serious video shoot. Lights, camera, blog post!