2 Minute Film: Northern Arizona

Grand Canyon and Sedona – 2 Minute Film

This short film is filled with highlights from a recent trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. I absolutely love the Southwest and wish I had more time there to shoot.

I filmed the area using a Canon 5DMKII and a Canon 7D DSLR. I also also filmed using the Glidetrack Shooter SD, a portable dolly, for many of the shots in order to add movement to what would otherwise be static scenes. When filming I am a big believer that in either the scene should provide some movement or the camera should. Without movement you might as well just snap a photograph.

Lenses used included the Sigma 20mm, Canon 24-105mm, Canon 50mm, and Canon 70-200mm.

Time-lapse sequences were captured using an intervalometer with the Canon 7D and 5DMKII and then animated inside of Adobe After Effects CS5. The final film was edited inside Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.

If you have any questions about the film, the gear, or anything please feel free to leave a comment.

Enjoy!

Ron

Using JOIN in MySQL Update statement | Coldfusion

Along with a photographer and cinematographer I also use the other part of my brain for programming. I design web applications using Adobe’s Coldfusion and SQL apps such as MySQL.

I recently had to figure out how to update a field in one database table, based on information in another database table. To do this I was going to need to use a JOIN statement in order to JOIN the two database tables together based on a common field. For those who are looking to do this here is the process:

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Update
Table_A as A JOIN Table_B as B on A.field = B.field
Set A.fieldname = ‘value’
where b.field = xxx
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Star Gazing – Seacoast Photographers Group Meetup

This short time-lapse was captured during the Seacoast Photographers Group meetup at the University of New Hampshire’s Observatory. Approx. 300 long exposures combined to re-create the movement of the sky.

A Year of Time-Lapses

This compilation contains time-lapses captured in southern Maine, the seacoast of NH, Groton, MA, and Boston, MA. Most of the time-lapses in this compilation were taken as individual still-frames shot over a period of time, then combined to create motion video.

It takes 30 still images to create 1 second of video, which is why most time-lapse sequences are usually less than 20 seconds in length. When shooting time-lapses of fast action (cloud or people movement) you can usually have the camera take a still frame every few seconds. If capturing 10 frames per minute it would take about 3 minutes to create 1 second of motion video (10 frames x 3 minutes = 30 frames. 30 frames = 1 second of video).

At night, in order for the camera to see all the little stars in the sky each exposure might take 30-40 seconds, which means to capture the required 30 frames (for 1 second of video) it would take about 30 minutes, assuming a 15-20 second delay between exposures. So when you see an 8 second time-lapse of stars moving across the sky you’ll know that the photographer or cinematographer spent at least 3 hours outdoors to capture enough still frames to turn into the 8-second video. Often times I’ll spend 6-9 hours capturing stars and then only use the best 3-4 seconds of footage from the 12-15 seconds that I captured.

You can also capture daylight time-lapse sequences by recording video (instead of taking still frames) and then speeding up the video during the editing process. There is a time and place for this type of time-lapse though there are some effects that are more difficult, if not impossible to capture, using this technique. Both methods have their time and place.

Time-lapses are time consuming to create, especially star lapses.

Trailer: Film About a Girls Love for Horses and Horse Jumping

This is a short 4 minute trailer for a film I worked on this week leading up to the Jumper Classic. The story is focused on 17 year old Equestrian rider, Victoria Birdsall, as she shares her love of horses and for the sport of horse jumping.

If you are interested in having us capture and share their story, whether an athlete, business, or individual please contact me. We living in a world where we are often overwhelmed with information and choices, making it is so important to share your story and let the world know what makes you or your company unique.
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Follow me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/risman
Contact me directly at: cinematicstories@gmail.com
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The Blue Angels – Portsmouth Air Show 2010 at Pease

This past Friday I was fortunate enough to have filmed a couple of hours of the ‘dress rehearsal’ for the weekends Boston – Portsmouth 2010 Air Show. I have only been to a couple of air shows in my lifetime but this was the closest I have ever been to the aerobatics. At one point one of the F/A-18 Hornets flew so low that the smoke left behind filled the area at ground level. Their precision in the air is unbelievable.

Soweto Gospel Choir – Capital Center for the Arts

I had the privilege of filming the Grammy Award Winning Soweto Gospel Choir when they performed at the Capital Center of Arts in Concord, NH. I filmed the event with the help of Photographer Elizabeth Harvey using multiple high-definition dSLR’s for superior low-light capability and a more filmic look. While I am cannot show the performance I have created this promotional ‘trailer’ for your enjoyment.

The two-time Grammy Award Winning Soweto Gospel Choir was formed to celebrate the unique and inspirational power of African Gospel music. The 26-strong choir draws on the best talent from the many churches in and around Soweto and is dedicated to sharing the joy of faith through music with audiences around the world.

If you get the opportunity to see them perform live I would highly recommend it. You can check out their tour schedule on their website:
http://www.sowetogospelchoir.com

Behind the Scenes Model Shoot with Lionfish Photography

As photographers we rarely get a chance to be in front of the camera, but if you want to set yourself apart in this new world of online networking, it’s important to do so. When a potential customer is trying to choose between you and a couple of other photographers, allowing them to see what you do and how you do can give you a big edge.

This past week I had the opportunity to create a behind-the-scenes promotional video from Larry Oberlander, a very talented fashion / portrait photographer, and owner of Lionfish Photography. The shoot took place in the mill building where Larry’s new studio is located. This location has tons of great space for shooting – even with all the renovations going on around the building.

The end of the video highlights some of Larry’s images from the shoot. Enjoy!

Ron Risman
ronrisman@gmail.com

Short Film: New England Time lapse

Over the past couple of months I have been busy capturing sunrises, sunsets, and star movements around New England. Each of these time lapse segments are captured using hundreds of very high-resolution still images that are then combined in order to speed up time. This gives the viewer the ability to see cloud or star movement that would not normally be possible.

This film includes time lapses from Durham, NH; Cape Neddick, Maine; Rye, NH; and Groton, MA. If you have any questions regarding time lapse photography please leave a comment and I would respond within 24 hours.

Photo Shoot with Amy Morrill

I had photographed Amy about a year ago and was thrilled when I had the opportunity to shoot with her again. This time we got together at Wagon Hill Farm in Durham, NH and spent a few hours shooting into the evening to make use of the beautiful late day sun. The location and sunset were both perfect and Amy looked fantastic – a truly naturally beautiful woman.

Here are some images from the photo shoot. I was hoping to do add some beautiful creative portraits of Amy with the full moon as it rose above the horizon, but mother nature had other plans. About 20 minutes before the moon rise, the warm westerly winds (temps around 90) quickly changed direction and started to blow in from the East, over the ocean. Along with it came the fog and quickly falling temperatures (around 60 by the end of the shoot). Unfortunately, the fog ruined any hope of capturing the moon rise. Despite the fog, the shoot went perfectly, and I just loved the results. I hope you do as well.

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