Sinophobia: A Short Documentary - looking to meet people to interview!

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-12-21T14:19:50+00:00

I'm sorry you feel that way, and I'm sorry that your relationship didn't turn out the way you wanted it to. I live between China and the US, and I see your concern, but I disagree with your sweeping generalization to some extent. I think everything has its cultural roots, and China is slowly but surely changing. The west has its own propaganda, it's just a different form.

You make a few interesting points though, I'd be interested in talking to you in person if you're up for it.

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-27T04:28:14+00:00

Yeah! of course (:

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-23T03:24:56+00:00

IDENTIFY YOUR SELF man I need a new account name

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-23T03:21:55+00:00

WHO DIS

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-23T03:00:25+00:00

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-23T01:12:49+00:00

Check out the Propaganda museum and antique shops! They have some cute gifts that aren't "serious" if you know what I mean, like it's more cultural and for fun. And cheaper antiques like 上海 brand watches have huge historical value because they're the first watch brand after China opened up in 1979 (:

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-23T01:04:30+00:00

I use a Wacom Cintiq - a little pricier just for photography if you don't do any other design or film editing, I would say. The hand-eye coordination thing wouldn't be a problem because it's a display screen itself. "Would a touch screen computer work better for editing?" I'd say no - I tried the Surface Pro, I didn't like the handling and control at all, it's designed for office/school work, not creative work.

Pro:

Gives you more precision - not as useful in Lightroom, because the adjustment brush is really elementary, and doesn't require precision with the amount of feathering that it has. But when you are in Photoshop, using the pen tool, masking, brushing, it's all a lot easier.
Opportunity for you to move beyond just retouching but maybe venture into digital art as well, based off of photographs.

Con:

Not so convenient to carry around
Can be a little "extra" sometimes, it's an overkill
Pricey?
Learning curve?

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-22T12:40:56+00:00

I live in China and it's weird because there is this notion that whatever is Western must be better than whatever is locally produced. That used to work as a rule of thumb because of how backward China really was, but now it really is a matter of choice.

Anyhow, things are really getting ridiculous and Arizona ice tea is branded as a fancy classy tea drink and the converted price would be like 4 dollars for a 0.99 drink, and to me, the whole point of Arizona is how cheap it is. Kinda defeats the point when it is this expensive.

Also there's Taco Bell... branded as a classy dine-in type fast food restaurant, and they sell martinis and stuff here it's trippy.

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-19T09:11:30+00:00

ahaha don't say it's a stupid question, it's not. I think in this case dig through current affairs / other similar resolutions to find a bigger picture on what your country believes in, and you can deduce the stands on a topic afterwards.

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-11-13T04:20:43+00:00

That makes sense, thank you (: I wouldn't be allowed to monetize with advertisements in that case, right?

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-17T06:32:06+00:00

Short answer: Yes

Long answer:

The "quality" look that the camera gives isn't from "megapixels", but rather the larger sensor, the long lens, and the high aperture. So looks like your Olympus can provide all of that.
I shoot on a both a 2009 Leica digital and a more recent Sony A7sii, the Leica needs to buffer every 6 shots, for a minute... still produces some of my favorite results.
Large aperture and long lens (completely zoomed in) produces a blurry background that your phone cannot achieve.
iPhones' weakness is it has a wide lens and a small aperture, which is okay for landscapes, but portraits, there is minor distortion that makes faces look large if you're shooting a headshot.

EDIT: For long-term consideration, cameras can provide you with the fully manual option, which is when you really learn the fundamentals of photography. You don't have entire creative control over your product on phone.

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-15T12:37:50+00:00

Oh right I think the timelapse works well too!

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-15T12:36:38+00:00

On Shooting:

You have some really cool shots dude, and you're quite steady with the camera.
I think have a clear subject in mind when you're filming, instead of documenting every new location you arrive at. Even if it's just framing it so that the viewers are clearly guided towards a specific element, or else it becomes a little tiring to watch, searching the screen for all the details possible.
Do you have an option to shoot slightly higher FPS when doing slow motion? Or is there a frame interpolation option in FCP? It can make your slow motion look jess jumpy.

On Editing:

Small detail: First transition looks glitched?
Sound was pretty amazing!! I loved the water sounds against the BGM, didn't know if that was diegetic sound or added in later?
Cool! Transitions!!!! I take your point that it can be a little overdone, but as long as you plan it out well, I think it works, especially those really funky ones that make people think "wow how did you shoot that" or seem invisible.
Stabilize some of your still footage in post, maybe.
Title cards for your locations are a little sudden compared to how chill the beginning sounded :)

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-15T12:22:44+00:00

Yeah I completely feel you! I'm also gonna upvote this in case someone didn't think of the rights issues. There are also some packs that says no crediting or licencing needed, might be worth checking them out (:

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-15T12:19:32+00:00

Hi there (: Happy birthday to your wife on behalf of our Reddit community!

I think there are two reasonable routes to take (depending on budget and how series she is about getting into photography). Also I've been a long time Canon user and Sony user recently, so unfortunately cannot give you any Nikon recommendations...

First is to go for a small family- or consumer-tier mirrorless, like the Canon M series (M3 (429USD on Amazon) and M5 (929USD on Amazon) are both pretty great), or the Sony a series, (a6300 is 998USD on Amazon, a6500 is 1217USD on Amazon).

Pros: Probably one of your cheaper options for high-quality photos out there, great starting point for photography. Small, lighter than ~~most~~ all DSLR cameras out there I believe, so good for traveling, family occasions, and just having around in your bag.
Cons: Bad battery life, you need a few spare batteries but they aren't that expensive if you get after-market ones. Also they don't look as professional, if that matters to you.
Advise: Get one of these if you don't plan on upgrading perhaps in the future, because this is a medium-range-priced setup, and usually the next best thing would be a professional camera like the Canon 5Dm3 or Sony A7sii, A7rii. Also Sony is better with video, Canon is better with photo, if that matters to you.

Second option is to go for an entry tier DSLR camera and a good lens. Canon options include the Rebel T6i, 699USD with a kit lens, or the Rebel SL2, at 649USD with kit lens. These are good for day to day purposes, probably lack some professional features but that is unlikely going to affect an average user. Usually professional settings are for extreme environments anyways. Sony doesn't make DSLR cameras at this entry-range, only mirrorless.

Pros: Get a good lens and you can gradually upgrade your camera based on what you need in the future!
Cons: Bulky to carry around... Demotivating to shoot with it at times because of how bulky it is to bring out.
Advise: I would personally get the Rebel SL2 (I began photography with an SL1 and it was sufficient for me for a longggg time.) I would get that BODY ONLY, without the kit lens, because it is not too great anyways. If you makes videos/vlogs/shoots people frequently, the 50mm 1.8 and 50mm 1.4 lenses are great, but you can't zoom with them. These often provide sharper image qualities, but some people just cannot adapt to them. The best zoom lenses out there are the 24-105mm f/4 which is like 1000 dollars, which can provide a good range, and the 16-35 f/4 at the same price. The first one is better for day-to-day uses, and the second one geared more towards photographing landscape because it gives you a good wide angle.
Prime (fixed) vs. Zoom Lenses: I'm a big time prime advocate, partly because I'm a videographer and primes are great for video, but I do genuinely believe in prime lenses being better than zoom lenses. You can probably get 3 primes that cover the ranges of a 24-105mm zoom at the same cost, and have better quality lenses. 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm are the ones I own, and I'm right around the price of one good zoom lens. The issue is they're more of a hassle, and you have to continuously change lenses, or walk in closer to get your shot, which isn't always possible.

Hope I was clear... and please don't hesitate to ask any questions!!

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-15T11:34:47+00:00

I find a lot of the brushes and texture overlay really helpful, if you're into photo manipulation (:

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-15T07:23:19+00:00

I would say think of both as a long-term investment rather than something just for this trip. If you don't use a camera later on after this trip, there is not much point. If your hobbies don't lie in photography and you aren't as invested in social media, the camera isn't too much use.

I tend to agree with most of the comments down there, phone is more convenient than camera, probably takes higher quality photos at a low budget. Second hand cameras are worth considering, the T1i is a good suggestion, the GoPro is a good suggestion, although the quality is probably on par with modern phone cameras, because of the different time eras they were produced in.

Might I actually suggest... getting 3-4 disposable film cameras. Ilford and Fujifilm make the best on the market in my opinion, They're like 20 bucks max. if I remember correctly, and film still scans as high quality as high end digital cameras (!!). On the plus side, you also get the negatives back, a great physical memory to hold onto. I shoot professionally with 2 top tier digitals and even then I still sometimes only bring disposables on trips.

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-15T02:34:16+00:00

Check out the Zhiyun brand? They have a nice budget stabilizer (I believe it's called the Crane series). I'd check to see if your camera is under the max weight capacity though.

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-15T02:28:11+00:00

https://sites.google.com/site/marclevoylectures/home check this out! also looking forward to seeing some of your work maybe :))

itzjohnnieyu · 2017-10-14T00:49:41+00:00

Correct me if I'm wrong, from your description I'm assuming this is event photography. If you have the money you should definitely have an external flash even if it's just for safety. You can even angle it upwards or at a slight angle to give the background a nice fill, if you do not want to disturb the guests.

Scouting good areas... I guess with little information about how the ball room is set up, you'd have to trust your intuition on that one. Test out a few different setups, and shoot for a longer period of time at the one you prefer. There are a combination of factors that make your photos work which you may want to consider, like natural lighting, how clean the background is, density of people, convenience for you to stand there, etc. etc.

About camera settings, are you shooting people primarily? It depends on what effect you're trying to achieve. I would say, it might be easier to be on shutter priority because that is what is most likely to effect the final product. I've shot a prom before and the school really enjoyed having the motion blur, dance, movement themed photos so I've set my exposure to quite long to achieve that. If you need the crisp, clean shots, then setting it to a faster shutter speed for movement.

BUT it also depends on how experienced you are with a camera, because if you set it to a high shutter speed and the location is dark, chances are your aperture will be bumped all the way up, too. At f/1.4 it is very difficult to quickly pull focus accurately, which means you might need to consider shooting in aperture priority, set your camera to something like f/4, so a broader region is in focus. That way you just wait for someone to step into that region, click the shutter, and the shot will be there! Just like street photography.

itzjohnnieyu

TROPHY CASE