Check out this cool event where I taught participants how to use small cameras with professional accessories to achieve a filmatic look.  We got to shoot on the Sony Backlot in Culver City with a cast of fairies and a confused young lady who thinks she is going crazy because she is being haunted by the colorful creatures of magic. 

Thanks to all the sponsors and participants for making this a wonderful event.  A special thanks to Aisha Lomax for helping write the script and being the confused lady.

Snehal Patel
Director/Cinematographer

"The Eggie Files," an original web series I wrote & directed has been selected for the 2011 TriMedia Film Festival which runs from Sept. 9th through 11th in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Snehal Patel
Director, Writer (and a whole lot more...) of The Eggie Files

I was prepping for a video shoot with DSLRs.  Zeiss provided the awesome ZE primes, F-Stop Gear sent over the cool Internal Camera Unit (or ICU for short) which holds the lenses nicely and works with the F-Stop backpack I'm evaluating.

Snehal Patel
DP/Director
www.FearlessProductions.tv

Thanks to Miguel Yatco for this cool graphic.  He also posted the following notes on his blog - "Living in the Stills."

Exposure

- The light meter is different from the exposure setting.

- Keeping your light meter at “0” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the perfect setting. Just don’t stray too far from the “0”. Adjust to your liking.

- Positive numbers on your exposure setting will make your photos brighter.

- Negative numbers make your photos darker. 

Aperture

- Small numbers (like f/1.4) have larger openings, which let in more light.

- Big numbers (like f/16) have smaller openings, which let in less light.

Shutter Speed

- Seeing 100, 250, 320, etc. on your viewfinder means “1/(number seen)”, like “1/100”.

- Try not to use 1/60 or less when handheld, that’s when you use a tripod or look for something steady.

- Using longer exposure (slow shutter speed) will let in more light.

- Using shorter exposure (fast shutter speed) will let in less light.

ISO

- ISO is the sensitivity of your camera to light

- Lower numbers are less sensitive to light, which give smoother photos.

- Higher numbers are very sensitive to light, which give very grainy and noisy photos.

I got a chance to meet Russell Carpenter, ASC recently.  I was helping him with some DSLR accessories by Arri.  It was really cool to interact with an Oscar winning Cinematographer and see his interest in DSLR technology.  I hope to do some cool things with him in the near future.

Snehal Patel