Last year while Sarah and I were filming and photographing around Dublin, Ireland, I stopped and said, “Y’know if we were tourists in New York, we would never stop taking pictures of the city, but we live nearby and take it for granted.”
So, it was at that moment that we decided to start filming around Manhattan. There is an endless amount of amazing imagery in New York City. All you have to do is pick a spot and look around. Of course, in New York you have to look up, as well.
As luck would have it, a few months later my friend Maurice Linnane was directing a small indie feature and asked if I would shoot some additional imagery around the city to be used in his film. There wasn’t a whole lot in the budget, but gathering the additional stock footage of Manhattan would certainly be worth the time invested. And to make the filming more fun and interesting I added a few more items to my kit.
The first new accessory is an adaptor from Mike Tapas in the UK that allows me to use my longer Nikon lenses on my Sony EX3. Using a lens this long in the city creates an entirely new world of images. Taxis and traffic lights compress and seem to stack on top of each other. Details on tall and distant buildings become visible and the tiniest details will be isolated from their background.
Another item in my bag is a Nikon 180mm 2.8 lens. When using the adaptor on the Sony the combination increases the lens focal length by a factor of 5.4, which in essence, turns my 180mm 2.8 into a 1000mm 2.8
The depth is usually shallow at 180mm but at 1000mm it is extremely brief, helping to create absolutely stunning images, but requiring a decent fluid head on a steady set of sticks as the slightest vibration will be extremely noticeable at this range. Even busses and trucks rumbling past can affect your shots. So, although it might be a pain to carry the extra weight, it will pay off in the end product.
A solid platform is also helpful when I’m shooting NYC from across the river in Weehawken or Hoboken. The breeze off the river can be fairly brisk and a great shot-like a time lapse of a full moon rising over Manhattan-will be ruined if your camera shakes.
Of course, as soon as you put a long lens on your camera, the “wide angle shot of a lifetime” shows up just to satisfy Murphy’s Law. This is why I always bring the EX3’s zoom lens, as well.
I have to be extremely careful changing lenses and adjusting matte boxes and filters while standing on a corner in a busy town like New York. I usually carry a small, “comfortable” Porta Brace bag leaving enough room to swap lenses and lens caps easily. Also a decent lens cleaning cloth and emergency plastic bags are a must.
Most important:
1. Always turn off the camera when changing lenses.
2. Never put your bag down on the sidewalk or even leave it unzipped while you’re filming in NYC. Not for a single second.
www.duckyou.com
www.duckyou.com
No comments:
Post a Comment