After three months of looking for work, which was limited to my injuries, I decided I needed to go to college and then decided to get into video production. I had purchased The Filmmaker's Handbook long before registering for classes and by the time I sat in the classroom, I had a headstart in understanding the concepts. During the time I was a student, others looked to me to have a top notch student video produced. However, I feel that the best video that came out of our class there was Scott Knisley's music video. It was a great concept and very well executed.
Eventually, and by eventually I mean three and a half years, I finally got a full time gig in broadcasting, which I continue to do at this moment. I direct newscasts at a local news station. It involves bringing together all the video, camera shots, graphics that a producer wants in his or her show and putting them on air. While most of the time, things go smoothly, there are times when things go haywire and you have to remain calm and really stay on your toes because there are thousands of people watching your work as it happens.
While I still love video and the production of creative works, there are two large obstacles. The first is that besides perhaps nature videos or the like, a production of a video takes numerous people working together. While I love the creative process of many people putting their own mark on a video or movie, it also leads to the second problem: money. Financing a project is not cheap. From buying not only a good quality camera, one must also buy or rent good lighting, editing equipment and pay for actors and anyone else involved in the production. While one may find volunteers, they're not as passionate about the project as you are.
While the Nikon D40 is an awesome camera, it is a basic entry level D-SLR. Since November, I have taken nearly 9,000 pictures with it. When I have had a few hours in a day, I easily shot 400 pictures. Sometimes after looking through them at the end of the day, I would be happy with nothing I shot, but if nothing else, I learn from the experience. One thing that photography gives me is the the freedom of not needing to rely on several other people to have this creativity outlet. However, I still watch television and movies with half my brain paying attention to the storyline while the other half is looking at how a scene was shot and if they used a fast lens to blur the background as I see constantly in one of my favorite shows, ABC's Lost.
Recently, I upgraded to a Nikon D200. It doesn't shoot better pictures than the D40 because that is the job of the photographer. So, don't be fooled when someone shows you the latest and greatest camera and tells you about the great pictures it takes. Because it isn't about the camera, it is all about what you see! The D200 only allows me to get to the controls much faster and easier than the D40. And it isn't the latest and greatest D-SLR either. The D300 was annouced on August 2007, nearly two years after Nikon announced the D200. Both cameras are similar with the D300 getting a couple of more megapixels and a larger LCD screen. However, it wasn't until recently that D200's really came down in price and I quickly bought mine from BestBuy.com. However, a couple days later, the price dropped again and I was able to save an extra $160, which brought the price of the camera down over a $1000 from its original released price in November 2005. See how patience pays off?
And what did could one purchase with that savings? A speedlight, tripod and head, camera bag and a couple of very good lenses. The lens, not the camera is the most important part of the system.
Below are several pictures I've taken. Click on them to go to their page in Flickr for a larger view.
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