dp's from still photography

B

brianluce

Carbonite Member
out of desperation we hired a DP for a commercial with a background almost totally in still photography. We've had a few problems. he had a great portfolio for still but....

anyone had similar problems with DP's from the still world?
 
What were the problems? I've heard about a lot of good DPs that come from a still photography background. So I'm curious as to what kinds of problems your DP is having with the transition.
 
It seems to me the largest hurdle for a still photographer is dealing with a moving camera and moving people. When you take a still you can place eveything so it looks perfect in that one place, one moment. Most still photographers also don't tend to light as wide of range as D.P.s.
Closeups, full rooms, exteriors, nights, etc.
 
Hmm, you have a good point about the movement. Maybe a photojournalist would be a better hire rather than a still-life/ product photographer...?
 
A lot of Photojournalists don't do much lighting so that may not work either unless you're doing a documentary style project.
 
I'm trying to understand why you'd choose a "DP" with a "background almost totally in still photography" in the first place.
 
the reason we hired a dp from the still world is because we're in asia. it's the best we could do.

i think he's used to spending three days to set up one shot. multiple set ups are a huge problem. not to mention no clue how to operate a motion picture (video) cam. not to mention dealing with multi camera setups. not to mention things like dollys, cranes, handheld shots, dealing with moving subjects, angles suitable for dialog. angles period.
 
fire him!

j/k?

It sounds like he never should have accepted the job for pay, if he was volunteering his time than that would be a different story. It seems a bit cocky to me to that he thought he could go from one medium to another and still deliver.
 
Sorry, this isn't any help but . . . could you imagine a DP shooting formal wedding stills? Different tools, different dicipline, different craft.
 
man, what part of Asian are you at? The jungles of Cambodia? Dude, there's like a billion people in Asian and you can't find 1 DP. I'm sure I have a few cousins in all Asia that can shoot. Good luck!

PS: You guys shooting video correct?
 
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