My first 7D footage

[iplaysnowboards]

First DSLR ever and first footage from my 7D. Super pleased so far, but still have a lot to learn.
-All handheld
-Tamron 17-50
-No CC

Tell me what you think.

 

[Jordan Scott Price]

Not sure what kind of feedback you are looking for here.

It's a loooooooooot of shallow depth of field, which looks cool but gets tiresome after a while.

And Spanish homework looks boring.

 

[Alex H.]

It's a loooooooooot of shallow depth of field, which looks cool but gets tiresome after a while.

+1

Shallow DOF and rack focus are two great tools that can make some very interesting images... but when it is every shot, or every other shot, they just lose their impact.

Also, some shots went on way too long. The most extreme case is at :52, where you dwell on a shot for over :30 (yikes!), cut away briefly, and then return to that shot. Good footage needs a good edit, so keep it tight.

For the subject matter that you had, the story could have been told in a minute or so. This piece drags because of shots that are too long, and things that are just too repetitive. Again, keep the edit tighter.

Also, white balance was way off. Were you using auto, a preset, or custom? And hand-held DSLR without some sort of support rig is not a good idea. Lots of wobble and instability.

 

[iplaysnowboards]

I know some of the shots were pretty long only reason being my buddy wanted to see test shots so I pretty much threw this together in less than an hour.

As far as white balance I used the tungsten preset, the AWB didn't look quite right and I hadn't figured out how to do a manual white balance as this was literally the first thing I have ever shot with a DSLR.

I didn't trust myself judging the kelvin right either so I just stayed with tungsten.

I also did not have any sort of tripod available seeing as it was late at night and I was in my girlfriends room and don't own a shoulder rig or steady cam. I thought for the most part the handheld wasn't god awful expect for the one medium shot where you could see her on the bed and my computer was in frame,

But thank you for some of the feedback and yes I was a little DOF happy seeing as it is my first DSLR.

Any recomendations on setting WB? Do you generally use AWB or manually take a picture of a white object and set the white balance off of that? Thank you

 

[Alex H.]

Any recomendations on setting WB? Do you generally use AWB or manually take a picture of a white object and set the white balance off of that? Thank you

I will almost always set manual WB. I may check it against presets, and may end up going with a preset, but I almost always set manual. Never, ever, ever use AWB. It will create weird strobing and other unsightly effects in your video.

 

[iplaysnowboards]

I will almost always set manual WB. I may check it against presets, and may end up going with a preset, but I almost always set manual. Never, ever, ever use AWB. It will create weird strobing and other unsightly effects in your video.

Yea i figured AWB would be pointless I just wanted to see what people were using more. Manual WB or setting white balance using kelvin.