Pro photographer, videographer and aerial drone pilot, co-owner of Outdoor Video & Photographic, 2014 SA Best Photographic Blog Winner, 2015 and 2016 Runner Up.
Hand Held Ronin Gimbal

How We Shoot The Lights Out

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In the last three years hi-tech drones have become an integral part of our video and photographic offering, and our clients love the new perspectives these amazing machines allow us to create. One of the most important requirements from a drone filming or photographic platform is to achieve rock steady video and pin sharp stills. The secret to that, apart from using experienced and creative pilots, is a 3 axis electronic gimbal system that holds the camera’s position incredibly stable and allows the camera operator to compose and shoot beautiful, crisp, pin sharp detail from the latest in camera technology. Continue reading “How We Shoot The Lights Out” →

Sheer Guard Staff

How to Etch for Success

Posted by Dave on

Depending on the objectives you have for your staff portfolio, etching may offer an unmatched option that provides you with great versatility in terms of backgrounds and applications. As an example, we recently had the pleasure of photographing the Sheer Guard team in our studio. This innovative business provides premium quality transparent burglar bars and security doors; a brilliant solution for everything from residential to retail installations (including a local police station). By contrast, with security being such a high priority here in South Africa, many of us compromise heavily in terms of aesthetics, living with otherwise lovely views marred by unsightly bars. Continue reading “How to Etch for Success” →

Green Screen Video

Posted by Dave on

Entrepreneur and inventor Ricky Walton put our green screen video skills to the test in our studio last month. This was to capture the interactive script for Touchcomm’s leading edge Virtual Sales Assistant (VSA) product, which exemplifies the company mission to “create effective and entertaining ways of integrating brand personality onto self-service digital technology platforms”.

This technical video shoot involved filming talented leading actress Hlube Mboya, who excelled in her professional role on behalf of Barclays ABSA Capital’s compelling campaign. Her job entailed complying with strict parameters to ensure exact alignment of her image with the perspex cut-out that it would ultimately be projected onto. The photo above offers a little insight into our setup that utilised our green screen backdrop. Its specific colour facilitates optimal post production whereby your subject can be etched out of the background in order to drop it independently onto another one.

Of course effective lighting and sound is crucial to creating an excellent end result for video. For this shoot we used a discreet lapel microphone and balanced lighting from just in front of Hlube and to each side of her. Being the pro that she is, little editing was required to mitigate any movement but this was seamlessly achieved in Final Cut Pro X by using keyframing where required, to keep her image consistent within the tailor-made shape of the VSA.

Ricky is passionate about “bringing life to concepts, firstly by understanding the brand message to the consumer and secondly by pushing the boundaries of visual, audio and sensory stimuli to deliver an accurate and effective communication solution”. Videography provides a powerful, instinctive channel to achieve these objectives, and it is particularly fulfilling to deliver dynamic solutions via this medium, as well as a range of photography, for our clients.

To find out more about Touchcomm’s innovative offerings, visit their website at www.touchcomm.co.za and for any video related enquiries, feel free to contact us today. We will gladly discuss how best we can help you to maximise the power of your own visual marketing and brand promotion.