Lost for words, i can only imagine how much time must have gone into the reel at the end.. we are not talking, days.. rather weeks and months.. along with the quality - simply stunning. Thanks for sharing and raising the enthusiasm.
Once again, great advice, particularly for those like myself who don't really have any knowledge of "movie" making as opposed to stills photography. And not just empty talk like some on RU-vid; all advice backed up by that superb show reel. Amazing stuff George. Best wishes.
@@GeorgeSBlonsky I would like to echo what Robert has said. As a beginner, I found this to be the most useful video I've ever seen on getting good wildlife filming shots. Just straight, direct, calmly delivered advice from someone who clearly knows what they're talking about. And when a pro, who doesn't have anything to gain by it himself, takes the time to help out struggling beginners like me, I really appreciate it. I can't thank you enough. I have written it all down and will be referring to it in the field as I practice. One comment on gear.... from a beginner's perspective I have found that using a high end camcorder has given me all the lens/evf options you've mentioned without needing to go down the "bolt on" route. For a top pro like yourself, I can see that having a big sensor necessitates the relative inconvence of bolt on bits. But for other beginers like me my own tip would be to consider a (quality!) camcorder because all the features are already onboard and the form factor lends itself well to long periods of filming, especially when outdoor light makes using an LCD screen difficult and it's necessary to rely on a good *angle-able* eyepiece viewfinder. It's just a thought that might work for some. I use a Panasonic HC-X20. I definitely need to upgrade my tripod though... All the best.
Thank you so much for your kind compliment.! You are of course right with your camcorder tip too. For any beginner coming into this field a camcorder will no doubt be the best entry point to start learning the skills necessary. I wish you all the best for the New Year and thanks again for taking the time to comment. cheers.. g
With the manfrotto video head, I've seen a few other people mention vibrations travelling up the handle, shaking the setup, and had it myself. Have you experienced this?
Maybe not up the handle per se but it is far from being a stable head.. I think it has more to do with how it fastens to the tripod which in turn magnifies any shake from the panning arm.
You are most welcome John..! Glad you found it of interest and thank you as always for taking the time to stop by and drop me a comment. all the best to you..g
@@GeorgeSBlonsky I had a cheap tripod and my vids were simply terribly shaky etc., because I didnt want to invest into it. And when you said - "you need a good tripod if you are serious" I realized you are completely right. I'd like to focus more on video content, Im serious and I took your word for it and ordered Kingjoy C86M + VT-3550M, I hope this will fit well with my R5 and 100-500 kit, thanks for the eye opener :)
@@johobirding ..man that’s serious..! 👍😃 I’m sure that’ll work great with your rig.. good luck with it and I look forward to seeing some of your work..! All the best to you Tomas. g
@@GeorgeSBlonsky Its maybe too much I know, but I spent so much money on a bad gear, trying to save money, in recent years that I rather go directly for "best" possibility. Im sure you understand. How happy are you with the Sigma 60-600 Sport? You dont do any workshops, do you?
@johobirding ..I’m with you Tomas..! I totally understand your action and agree with it. There’s no point having thousands of £££$$$ worth of kit sitting on a $100 tripod.. makes no sense.! I do make some workshops.. mostly photography though at the moment but I do intend on setting up some filming ones if I can raise enough interest.. have a look at my site if you like… www.georgesblonsky.com
Thank you so much for sharing all these valuable techniques and particularly the concept behind. O that I could have found your channel much earlier. And the showreel is awesome. Please keep it up and let us learn more from your experiences, that's if you have the time to spare of course. Many thanks again.
Great content, thank you! I see you film with a Pocket 6K (Pro), don’t you miss pre-recording/cache recording with that camera for wildlife filmmaking?
Thank you for your comment and I'm glad you enjoy the video..! I really do miss having pre-rec and as much as I would love to have a more advanced cinema camera more apporopriate for filming wildlife this is what my budget allows for the moment. Thankfully I usually do have access to a production camera when filming for work but I also wannt to show what you can achieve with more restricted kit.
WoW, WoW just WoW! I have been looking for a video like this one with little luck! Yours delivers plenty more! Looking forward to explore your other recorded video and future upcoming one! Thanks for sharing your knowledge! 🙏🏻
Really appreciated hearing how you think and shoot to supply the editor footage options. That's so helpful for the editor, even if you're editing the footage yourself. When shooting, how do you decide to shoot slow motion. What are you thinking about, and are you shooting interval or speeding up footage to compress time. Thanks! Great video!!
Hey John.. thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Good questions..! Re slow mo.. depends on the scene really and what the story is that production is trying to tell.. rule of thumb I go by is that the higher the action or the faster the animal then the slower I shoot.. the interest lies in the detail of the behaviour so it's only by shooting slow you can see things that you might otherwise miss. For example.. if it's a parent bird feeding its chick I most likely will shoot at standard rate.. no need for slowing things down.. if it's a snake striking prey then the slower the better to see every detail from the coil to release to teeth coming forward and hitting the prey etc.. I'll also shoot slow when the action is only fleeting to give editor those extra seconds to play with in the edit. Re time-lapse, for myself personally, I will 99% of the time do so intentionally.. so always interval.. always gives a better result. Hope that goes a little way to answering your questions.. many thanks again..! g
I forgot to mention that fps choice is sometimes dependent on light conditions so when shooting in very low light I might not have the option to shoot slow because every step up in speed loses me a stop in light.
@@GeorgeSBlonsky Thanks for both responses George. I know every situation is different, so I enjoy hearing other videographers process and the choices they make in the moment. Helps add to my awareness when I'm out. Thanks again!
Thank you FB and I'm happy you found it interesting.. the "training session" feel is what I was going for so I'm glad that came across.. all the best to you.. g
Thank you so much..! Not sure which of the two of you wrote this comment but thank you both.. I love your channel by the way (and your pups..!!) and dream of having similar adventures in the Canadian outback..! One day..!!! Best wishes to you both..! g
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and tips. I have been trying wildlife videography for a little while and enjoy trying to capture the beauty of nature in my small way. Your pro tips have helped a lot
Very insightful video with amazing footage, in a relaxing format and easy to listen to. I really appreciate the calm energy you have over the trendy, 'popular' and almost salesmen like style of many other tutorials. No clickbait, constant cuts between sentences and other nonsense, just good old content. And above all, free of charge. Nothing but credits from a starting wildlife videographer. I've learned more than a few new things from this. Thanks!
So happy you enjoyed the video and thank you for your kind words and taking the time to drop me a line.. I wish you all the best with your wildlife videography. g
Hi George, sorry for 2nd comment, but a quick request There are very few videos on the topic of filming wildlife, at least when compared to photography, so I decided to make my own one, from my perspective of starting out and I'm going to put section in it on videos Ive found useful, would it be OK to use a short clip of yours? I'm thinking a screen capture of it playing in for a few seconds in the window/not fullscreen, Ill obviously pit a link in the comments too!
It's no problem..! Please no need to apologise for commenting..!... and yes of course you can use the clip and thank you for asking..! all the best to you..g
Excellent tips , thank you very much. Today i was at Kerkini filming Pelicans. One question about lens/sensor stabilization and E-stabilization( i am using Lumix). what do you use? i found my self not using E-stablization cause at the lightest movement it introduce heavy jello effect especially at the longest focal lengths. Do you use only Lens panning stabilization when you are on the fluid head? or no OIS at all?. i am kinda new to this and i am testing everything. thx again
Hi Saki and thank you for taking the time to comment and for your question. In my experience it is better to turn off all stabilisation both in-camera and in-lens when shooting from a tripod or even if you are resting the camera on any kind of support like a bean-bag. Shooting handheld with a long lens is really difficult and even with all stabilisation turned on you have to shoot at over 120 fps to get any usable footage at all. Hope that helps.? Very best wishes to you. g
Hi XB.. thanks for the question.. there are two main reasons for doing this.. the first is that using the lens foot would make it more difficult to use a rail system for the rig and you need the rail system to attach more accessories such as the follow focus. It also means that both camera and lens can be supported so as not to put stress on the lens mount. The second reason is that it is also easier to find a balance point for mounting the rig on the tripod. As a bonus it also means you can use the lens foot as a carry handle. Hope that helps.
@@RickThibertHi Rick and thank you for your question... I use a 15mm Smallrig base plate, rails and lens support. I think I put some affiliated links in the video description.
Thank you ever so much. I will watch this again as I have learnt so much. I am trying to become a photographer (alongside my regular job) with the hope of becoming a full time photographer in later years. I have also been trying to do nature/relaxing videos and would love some day to film close to anything I have seen on RU-vid or on National Geographic, albeit that I may not have the professional equipment used by others. This video has whetted my appetite to learn more. Hopefully, my future videos on this platform will have improve. Thank you.
@@GeorgeSBlonsky Thank you, most kindly. May I ask one other question? Is it that one can only use a teleconverter successfully with a prime lens? I did some research to see which teleconverter would be best for my Nikon D780 paired with my Sigma lenses and made my purchase based upon the Sigma magazine's recommendation. To my surprise, images are rather soft and lack sharpness. Do they only work with prime lenses? Am I doing something wrong? It should be able to autofocus, but often times the focus is off. Should I only use it when I manually focus on my images? Recently, I was lucky to happen upon a troop of monkeys. The ideal shot which I hoped for presented itself. When I checked later, it was so soft. What should I do? Could you advise me? Sorry, it has turned out to be more than one question but ultimately I would like to know do extenders only work with prime glasses as well as should I only use it with manual focusing? Cheers, mate. Come to Japan some time.
Hello again my friend.. let me know your name as I don't want to just refer to you as Relax-pg6nz..! In regard to teleconverters I should firstly say that in my experience the 2x produces much softer results than the 1.4x ..which one do you have..? Though I have never tried them on tele-zooms I can only imagine that they will never produce as sharp results as with a tele-prime. When using my 1.4x with my 500 f4 I also sometimes (especially in hot or humid conditions) get softer images. What I have found to help a little is to stop down your aperture more.. for example, my 1.4 + 500mm gives me a minumum aperture of 5.6 but I have rarely been able to get great results unless I stop down to f8 or f11 as a minimum. Using manual focus with it may help but it depends on whether the softness is because of atmospheric conditions (the more magnification you use then the more pronounced becomes heat haze/distortion) or if the glass just cant focus as well. I also think (but I might be wrong) that auto-focus could be slower and not as accurate on non native glass. Hope that helps a little... and I would love to come to Japan.. one day maybe I will make it there..! best wishes my friend, g
@@GeorgeSBlonsky George, I thank you for your considerate response. I will go out and continue trying on weekends. As I said, photography is where my passion is but I am also interested in videography and have been shooting videos for my relaxation RU-vid channel. Kind regards my friend, Green.
Very interesting, this is the first time I've seen someone using BM6K for wildlife filmmaking, which happened to be very similar to my own gear (BM6K + 150-600, Samsung T5, Tilt mini follow focus, etc), and wondered how do you prefer the codecs. Do you use the BRAW or ProRes in general?, when it comes to long waits for the action to happen and that sort of thing, it can be very storage consuming, so I felt a bit more inclined to ProRes as I find it very nice image quality. Braw 8:1 just for specific things. And do you edit a bit yourself or always give the footage to editors. Nice content, love the fluid head with the big plate to balance, will go for one of those.
Hey Juan.. thx for taking the time to comment.! I've been thinking of making a video about this setup as my choice as a few people have asked now.. it has to be said that it's not the most obvious choice for wildlife but suffice to say it is the most economic setup for my current circumstances. I almost always shoot in BRAW (8:1) unless specifically asked by client for ProRes.. for myself I do it because firstly I love editing the raw files and secondly, for some reason, my laptop handles the files much more easily than ProRes.. I always get more dropped frames and sticking on playback when editing ProRes. Maybe because I use DaVinci and it likes it's own files more..? I'd say it was about 50/50 between shooting for myself and shooting for clients where someone else will edit. All the best to you.. g
@@GeorgeSBlonsky Great, so although Blackmagic it is not the most common camera to be seen in the wildlife and can have its downsides (size, weight, bulky), I can say that the image quality its just SO good. Im currently in Costa Rica filming the wildlife and being into the forest with hard lighting conditions, all I can say is wonderful results. Like it way better than my Sony alpha im carrying. Likewise, also got it for the budget and when the time comes another step can be given, but for now BM6K makes me feel very happy.. Anyways, ill be following your content, keep it up!
What great and unique information in one vide. I am getting into wildlife photography, using mt055cxpro4 Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod with 44lbs/20kg load capacity. My R5 with grip and 200-400mm lens + fluid video head weights around 9kg / 20 lbs. Do you think from your experience I would need more stable tripod? I guess the less telescopic parts the legs have the better stability. Whay load capacity would you recommend please? Thank you!!!
Hi and thank you for your comment..! Regarding your tripod question.. 20kgs load capacity is certainly plenty for your rig. When it comes to tripods for filming though rigidity is key and how your camera mounts to the head and the head to the tripod is key to avoid micro jitters. The tripod you mention is I think more of a photography tripod so it will never be as good as a video specific tripod. But I also use a photo tripod because it is so much lighter when carrying a ton of equipment... especially on a long hike.. plus they are much more affordable than good video legs. You just have to learn to deal with the shortcomings and find ways to work around them.. for example, many times I have to hang my backpack from the tripod just to add weight to give more stability. Hope that helps a little. all the best to you.. g
Thank you very much for your extensive answer, it is much appreciated. Also thank you for the tip with the extra weight (backpack let's say) to stabilize the tripod even more. I wish you all the best, thank you again!@@GeorgeSBlonsky
Thanks George for this great tutorial. I have began making short videos in Nature. I have a good tripod and fluid head. I have chosen to use a monitor, which helps me. The tips about the different camera shots will be very helpful in future videos. Thank you for your wonderful showreel. Peter
You are most welcome Peter.. I'm happy you enjoyed the video and thank you for taking the time to comment.. good luck with your video shorts..! cheers.. g
Thank you George for your encouragement. I want to make short Nature videos as meditative pieces for people to reflect on. So there will no speaking, some quotes intersperced and underscored by the local Nature sounds and some reflective music. Does the 4-6sec change of frame in the sequence still work here? Peter @@GeorgeSBlonsky
Hi again Peter.. it should do and in fact if you are going for a more meditative or "asmr" type feel to the videos, you can probably get away with longer clips as the purpose is different.
Binging on your channel! :) Great post mate! I have a couple of questions, hoe you don't mind... at 11:14, 12;00 7 14;15. (time codes). were those shots taken with the Black Magic 6k pro? They look stunning! thanks again!
Hey Gabriel..! Thank you again and I don't mind at all..! So.. the shot of the Coypu surfacing is on the Blackmagic Pocket 6K and the shots of the Pelicans are on the Sony FS7
@@GeorgeSBlonsky thanks! First of, the quality of Braw is superb! So smooth! Love it, almost in pair with Arri look... Regarding the pelicans I thought it was the FX6... due to the good quality slomo ;) cheers & thanks!
Fabulous video, thank you for sharing it with us George. Those Dalmatian (I think that’s what they are) Pelicans are incredible looking creatures, must be a real thrill to film them, may I ask what country that was please! Looking forward to seeing more of your films and learning heaps more. I’ve photographed(stills) wildlife mainly for 30+ years, recently video has got me very interested! Cheers👍😀
@@antonoat hey Anton.. thx again for your kind comment and I'm so pleased you are enjoying my videos..! They are indeed Dalmatian Pelicans and I film them on Lake Kerkini near where I live now in Northern Greece. Very best wishes to you.. g
i film a lot of wildlife in tv mode , and use 4k crop or 50fps on a canon 90d with a canon 20-200mm 2.8 lens and things always seem to come out ok for me , your thoughts on this please george
Hi Dave and thank you for your comment. To be honest with you I think too much is made of having to have the latest bit of kit these days... so if what you have works for you and you know your system inside and out and can work around any shortfalls then more power to your elbow.! The 90D is a great little camera and gives great results, your lens is fantastic though you might eventually think of getting something with a little more reach to get those lovely close-ups and detail shots that will add an extra dimension to your films. Shooting Tv allows you to prioritize your shutter speed so no probs there as long as you have leeway with your aperture and ISO. You might think also of adding a variable ND to your lens (if you haven't already got one) to allow you to shoot wide open in bright light. Hope of some help. All the best to you. g
@GeorgeSBlonsky thank you. I need a nd filter so it's easier to film in manual when it's really bright, that's why I shoot in tv mode it's much easier when bright. Thanks again
How do you rack in or out smoothly by hand or manually especially when it takes more than one rotation. Is that velcro strap on the lens some kind of help. On a video camera with a fixed zoom lens one obviously can use the zoom in or out button.
Hi and thanks for your questions. I tend not to use zoom ins & outs footage preferring to cut between a wide shot and a close shot so the smoothness is not really a factor for me.. more of a factor is to get the zoom done fast so that I can have good continuity between the cuts. If I do want to have a "push-in" or "pull-out" shot which I distinguish from zooms as being much slower and gentler then I mostly would do that in post in the edit. It's a little difficult to describe so I hope that makes sense.? I will be making a tutorial of this soon so hopefully I'll be able to show it better than I have been able to describe it. The velcro strap cinches the lens down on to the lens support and rails to make the rig more rigid.. it has helped a lot with camera vibration/shake.
@@GeorgeSBlonsky Thanks. I understand what you mean. I sometimes like to pan and push in or pull out at the same time and I find it difficult to do manually now that I m using a mirrorless camera rather than a video camera. I guess I could do that in post as you suggested. Do you capture audio especially of birds singing or calling with your setup?
That's a tough move to pull off to be sure and doing it in post might indeed make your life a little simpler. Regarding audio.. for my own work I have a couple of basic mics which I would love to upgrade. For the professional work there will either be a specialist on the crew or they just work from archive.
