I've had my 7D for months now, but I haven't been able to work with the supreme video features because of the limited capabilities of my computer... until now.
Fellow lifeguard and photographer, John Hanacek and I are working on the next San Clemente State Junior Lifeguard video. John has the computing power and photography skills to help this project leap to the HD level, which sets us up to create something substantial.
I spent all last week working on several problems I'll face at the beach while filming. I bought a shotgun mic and fuzzy windscreen to overcome the wind and crashing waves competing with the voices I want to record.
A Hoodman was purchased to overcome the bright sun that washes out the LCD screen used during recording. I also purchased a bunch of rubber bands to attach the Hoodman to the camera.
I already had a flash bracket to attach the mic off to the side of the lens to keep it out of the field of view.
I purchased extra neutral density filters to take advantage of the large apertures available on my Canon 50mm 1.4 lens.
I tried a couple of DIY stabalization systems, but in the end I decided to use a monopod along with an Opteka X-Grip I bought from Amazon.
Day 1 - I downloaded some picture profiles that were supposed to create a cinematic effect with the 7D. John and I reviewed the footage at the end of the day and noticed everything looked brown and soft. We decided to go with the Standard picture profile for the rest of the shooting.
Day 2 - The new picture profile is working great, and I'm getting better at manually focusing. The shotgun mic works better than expected (Azden SMG-1X), I was able to capture audio from distances beyond what I was able to hear during recording.
Day 3 - I plan to return to shooting this Friday where the Junior Guards will be watching a rescue demonstration. That should be lots of fun.
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