PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY
Tristan Sharman
Hello everybody! Having been recently brought on as an Editor-in-Chief, I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am a recent geography graduate from the University of St Andrews, albeit better known there for my involvement with the St Andrews theatre scene. As well as my two main gigs of geography and theatre, I have quietly been practicing my photography. Long-time readers of PRISMA may remember my article “On the Team of Senders FC” where I recounted the Sundays spent honing my sports photography.
What that article did not mention was that I already had several years of experience behind the camera, but not from taking photos. I came to be a photographer the long way around, by starting as a videographer first, and as a result I have some advice for anybody making the reverse journey. For context, I grew up surrounded by video cameras. When I was young, my dad would often bring a silver camcorder on family holidays, the tapes from which I still own to this day. Later he acquired an early GoPro, and later still I was allowed to operate it! I filmed everything from a game of Jenga in a Wye Valley hostel, to a day at the neighbours’ crushing apples into cider, and some embarrassing attempts at sketch comedy. Video became my medium of choice for capturing moments. I was at first motivated by documentary rather than artistic merit, but gradually I developed a sense of style, first from video editing but eventually after I obtained a DSLR, through shooting.
Then, after many hours operating one switch away from photo mode, I began to wonder what life on the other side of that was like. This may well be a familiar feeling to any photographers who want to get more into video. Whichever side of the fence you start, photo or video, it is appealing to be capable in the other. Composition rules such as the rule of thirds, leading lines, or bokeh all translate well. However, the technicalities of the two forms differ just enough to make doing both a really tough challenge. For example, a general rule of thumb for video is that shutter speed should be ‘double’ that of the frame rate to capture motion blur that looks natural to the eye. However, that means that each individual frame therefore contains an amount of blur that most photographers would reject a photo for on first sight, so taking video will disrupt your ability to take photos. Moreover, most DSLRs will momentarily freeze filming if the shutter is clicked, so taking a photo will disrupt your videos. Cameras are not really built for multitasking, a position I have begun to empathise with.
Take my recent interrailing trip in May, a completely recreational opportunity to bring my camera with me to some beautiful places. That said, with a packed itinerary, spontaneity was the key to capturing fleeting details – a classic car rolling past, a balconied alleyway on route to the bus stop you are racing to, or a scurrying piece of wildlife. Without the time to carefully set up for both photo and video, it is instinctual to fall back to what you know - photographers will snap a photo, videographers will hit record.
No wonder that most of my photos from my trip had architecture as their subject – you can take your time to photograph a building. Whereas, as I have been editing together a film of the trip, it is amongst over one thousand video clips that my more fleeting subjects were captured. I encourage people to learn both photo and video, but be warned that doing them simultaneously is challenging. I believe you will be far more satisfied if you set out to make a video, or to have a photoshoot, than you would by trying to blend the two into something to soften the task – especially if you are still learning.
Photography and videography are both incredible forms of media that are more accessible than ever, so which ever one you are thinking of trying, take the leap!
This article first appeared in PRISMA, Issue 7.