Travel Videography Tips for Ardent Beginners
If you want to share your globetrotting experiences with the world, these 6 travel videography tips will certainly come in handy.
They say adventures are the best way to learn, and travel videography is no exception. Whether you’re a seasoned blogger or a travel buff, the format we’ll be talking about today will finally help you shape your experiences and share them with the world. Pack your bags and hold onto your tickets: there’s a whole new adventure ahead.
1. The Only Equipment You’ll Need
Though capturing motion has never been easier, “expert” videographers claim that we cannot do it without pricey equipment. From lenses to gyro rigs, they recommend a whole arsenal of professional tools, when in fact the only thing you actually need is a smartphone with a neat camera.
The rest is pretty circumstantial. Time lapse footage asks for stability, so make some space for a cheap tripod. To make the sound clear, use a mini video mic. Have an HD backup in your backpack at all times. Focus on manual creativity while you’re still a beginner – there’ll be plenty of time (and money) for expensive solutions later.
2. Choosing Location
Feeling spontaneous? Don’t let anyone tell you that a travel video requires mindful preparation. Just grab your camera and go. It’s true that planning beforehand can save you some time, but where’s the fun in that? Head wherever the road takes you, and always have your gear ready.
3. How to Tell a Travel Story
Now, here’s something to ponder upon. You can develop the story behind your travel video as you go, but it’s always better to have at least an idea of it before you start filming. Will it be a tale of serene landscapes or an anecdote taken from urban life? Will there be any narration at all, or will you let nature and buildings tell their own story?
Experienced travel videographers usually start with a motif and build a narrative around it. Take Matt Harding of where in the Heck is Matt video fame, for instance. He’s been dancing around exotic locations for more than a decade now, inspiring thousands of amateur video makers to follow his lead. Find your signature style and stick to it, since uniqueness and consistency matter the most.
4. Keeping It Bright
Just like in photography, or even more so, proper lighting is crucial for shooting videos of great quality. The rule is a pretty simple one, whether it comes to motionless or moving pictures: be the first one to seize the day, and the last one to see the sunset. Film early in the morning and later in the afternoon – the point is to avoid harsh or artificial lighting, and catch the natural daylight.
5. How Many Frames per Second?
Until a couple of years ago, HD travel videos were pretty costly. Luckily, high-end digital cameras have now been fully replaced by smartphones, at least when it comes to their fps possibilities. Fps, or the number of frames per second, can be easily adjusted to 1080p HD even in inexpensive cameras, and the only concern is memory space.
That’s exactly why we’ve included an HD backup to the list of essentials – a 60 fps video takes up around 200 MB of memory space, so you’ll certainly need one if you’re going to film a lot of material. Why not lower it down to 720p HD at 30 fps, even though it doesn’t consume more than 60 MB? Because the time of blurry movements has finally passed! Once you go 60 fps, you can hardly ever go back.
6. Editing
Forget everything you might have heard about creative editing! Yes, it’s a bit tricky, but it’s also extremely fun! Most novice videographers enjoy the post-process as much as professionals do since it’s in this creative phase that all those piles of incoherent footage finally come together into a story worth telling.
Keep in mind that the most acceptable length for travel video genre doesn’t go above 2 minutes. Being so, you’ll have plenty of chopping to do, transition styles to think about, and audio files to fine-tune. In case you want to focus on filming for the time being, that’s fine too – just outsource the material to professionals.
Finally, enjoy the adventure! Whichever camera, location, and style you pick, travel videography is all about recording all those tiny, yet life-altering moments.