Still photographers intro to video, Still photographer intro to video, Focus & exposure bracketing – RED SURVIVAL GUIDE User Manual

Page 33: Discussion

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BACK-FOCUSED FRAME

CORRECTLY FOCUSED

FRAME

FOCUS & EXPOSURE BRACKETING

Misfocus and improper exposure can also cause still

photographs to become unusable. As insurance, one

can effectively bracket their stills by varying the lens

aperture during the shoot, or by slowly rocking the

focus with a razor-thin depth of field.

Alternatively, HDRx™ can provide extra-protection

with high-contrast scenes, such as weddings,

where subjects are wearing both light dresses and

dark tuxedos. Since the regular and under-exposed

versions are taken in rapid succession, one has the

flexibility of either combining these or using one of the

individual frames.

A side-benefit is that HDRx stores two versions of

motion blur for each frame. One version could be the

standard cinematic motion blur (180° shutter at 24

fps, giving 1/48 of a second shutter), whereas the

second version could use a faster shutter to ensure

sharper stills (such as 45° shutter at 24 fps, giving

1/192 of a second shutter). The greater the exposure

protection used for HDRx, the greater the reduction

in motion blur with the second frame. However,

pushing the HDRx setting beyond 2-3 stops can also

visibly increase image noise if the second frame is

substantially brightened in post-production.

DARKER EXPOSURE

LIGHTER EXPOSURE

COMPOSITE PHOTO

DISCUSSION

The advent of high resolution video has the potential to transform the visual arts, and is beginning to merge the

roles of photographer and videographer. Artists are gaining the flexibility to output to multiple visual media, and

since the skill sets are very similar, the transition between each often comes naturally.

All the fundamental exposure and sharpness trade-offs continue to apply as they did with stills photography.

For example, one could achieve a more expansive depth of field by narrowing the lens aperture, but this comes

at the expense of more image noise in low-light. Alternatively, one could compensate for this by using a slower

shutter speed, but this comes at the expense of more blur with moving subjects. Shooting video for stills

therefore closely parallels thinking about traditional photography – the results are just more flexible.

STILL PHOTOGRAPHER

INTRO TO VIDEO

WITH THE ADVENT OF DIGITAL CINEMATOGRAPHY, MANY
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE BEGINNING TO EXPLORE THE
POSSIBILITIES OF MOTION CAPTURE.

Although the fundamentals remain

similar, other aspects are likely unfamiliar. This article gives an overview of the key differences in
order to make the “cinephotography” transition as straightforward as possible.

RED

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