I'm heading to Maui in a week and was interested to find out who all has been there and done some filming. I was wondering what settings would work well there given the sunny conditions and lots of green colors. Any advice?

Thanks
Dave

Filming? This is the DV forum, so I'm assuming you are shooting DV.

I shot BetaSP with a Polarizer, and a 1/4 Black Promist. For sky and ocean- you need the polarizer!

What other than scenics are you shooting? Standups?
Any people?

Jeff Patnaude

Sorry for using the word "filming."

I will be shooting mostly scenic and hopefully some birds or other wildlife. Maybe throw in a couple of people also.

I was definitely planning on using a polarizer. Not sure what other filters I will use. Maybe just a ND filter. I'm still not sure what settings would be best though. Should I use the manual white balance? Should I use aperture or shutter mode? If so what settings? Do I need to adjust the gain and to what extent?

I'm fairly new with this video stuff. Most of the video I have shot has been in easy mode. I would like to take it up a notch and start using some manual settings but I'm still learning. It seems digital video throws in some additional considerations over still photography. Anyways, I'm definitely trying to learn. Just wish I could find some literature out there that would cover the basics for a newbie. You know, something that explains all the settings, how they work, and when to use them.

No Problem Dave.
Didn't mean for it to sound like I was jumpin on ya for using the term "filming", but you will catch it in the field from pro's who definately want to differentiate.

What camera are you using? What are you editing with. Theere was a grea5 article about filters and DV cameras. It was suggested to use a 1/2 Black diffusion filter for most of the DV cams. I seem to remember that on these cameras the Black Promist didn't work as well.

You can manually white balance. If you shoot any animals in shadows they will be a little more on the "cooler" side. I would worry about exposure more than anything. If you have a built-in white balance for outdoors, that should be fine-as long as you are using the same setting. If you manually white balance a number of different times you could wind up with a number of very different looks and trouble matching shots in post.

The biggest thing is to take in the blue skies, aqua blue ocean. Good exposures will get you the greens and colors you want - within the confines of the gear you have. You can bring up colors in post as long as its within limits. Final Cuts Pro is great with this. Lock your iris.

Oh yeah. You could make a "French Flag. I use those a lot. Its a square piece of metal (or black card) that is on a bendable rod that clips on the top of the camera. The card sits on the top of the lense cover and helps block the sun from the lense. You can make something similar. Sun in the lense will wash out black levels and hurt the image. Hope this isnt confusing.

Other than that, the only thing I can think of is early morning and afternoon light. Oh- go up to Haleakala- AMAZING VIEW!

Jeese. This is scattered -hope there's a thread of useful stuff for ya.

Good Luck!
Jeff P

I will be using my GL-2 and have Adobe Premiere for editing. I will try some of the things you mentioned, but I'm definitely still learning. I'm guessing I will need to increase the exposure as compared to what the camera would do on automatic. I'm still experimenting so I could be wrong. By the way, when using a filter, do you white balance before or after you put the filter on?

Dave,
I think you are worrying too much. It sounds like you are on the way to getting some good stuff.
Put the polarizing filter on, switch the camera to "outdoors" and go for it. When shooting something point the camera at the brightest part, then take the iris out of auto.

The nice thing is you can stop and look at what you've just shot, and if it's too hot, or underexpsoed- just shoot it again.

Polarizing filters dont effect color. Put it on, point at the sky or ocean and rotate the filter. With the zebra stripes in the "on" position, you will see the exposure dip and the reflections off of he water will be mostly gone. The sky will also get a little darker when the polarizer is rotated to the right spot.

If you are unsure, shoot some quick tests before you get in a situation where you have to have it in one take.

Oooh- make sure to go to the north side of the island and get some of the surfers there. Huge curls and great shots from the cliff overlooking the beach. World-famous surf spot. Hanna is amazing and tranquil. Give yourself a lot of time.

Jeff

Do they have the same sun that we do? I know they might be a little closer to it than we are so it might be brighter.

Thanks Jeff.
I will definitely give your advice a try. I'm getting pretty pumped. Never been there and I'm looking forward to the opportunity. Should be fun. Let me know if you have any other advice for good video under those conditions. Thanks again!

Rob,
back off pal. Dave is a beginner asking questions.
Get over it.

Jeff

It was a joke, Jeff. But something to ponder, too.

Dave, you'll love Maui. I know it's changed but it was the best vacation I ever had. Take the Road to Hanna and don't be afraid to pull off once in a while and walk into the forest. It was raining and I didn't care. We wandered off and found a rushing stream of water that was just beautiful.

Thanks guys for the tips! I'll be sure to check out the surfers and take the road to Hanna.

Adios

Actually Dave...to Rob's point about the rain...the weather, especially on the East side of the Island around Hana is VERY changeable and can turn from bright sun to pouring rain in what seems to be a matter of seconds! Might want to think about some kind of protection for your Gl2 !