Bright Sunny day filming

Joined
Jun 27, 2016
Messages
20
Reaction score
1
Age
78
I know that ND filters have been discussed a number of times. But I would like to ask those of you who film professionally a few questions. I have a set of ND filters up to ND16.

First, when would you use a ND16 over a ND 8, or a ND 32 over a ND16. Which is your "Go To" filter. It would help to know which you prefer on certain type of days, bright sun no clouds, mostly sunny, mostly cloudy, early morning, late afternoon, etc.

As one is creating a Real Estate video, it is from all angles and directions which seriously affects the exposure. Very difficult to control exposure when orbiting. What is the best way to keep exposure more consistent? I do use FCPX for editing.

Lastly, when doing the filming, 1080p or 4k? Auto vs. not. Or the use of "log"? It all gets very confusing and complicated. Thanks in advance for your insights.
 
I do quite a bit of filming but the 4k resolution is not too practical if you are using internet for uploads and emailing is not possible given file sizes. You could put into dropbox but best is to burn on DVR disk or a thumb drive. If you share on Youtube it reduces size for you in iMovie or other media handlers to make these practical. Regarding filters the ND provide a smooth transition for video work to make foreground object blur naturally when flying and filming. A good UV works for many applications but a ND8 or 16 will do the trick to get rid of the jello effects.
Flying homes for real estate is a skill requiring a little more art than just doing an orbital fly around and shooting. Time of day is critical for lighting properly all surfaces. You should walk the property a day ahead or do what i do which is use Google Earth to survey the orientation of the property location and its direction to light by time of day. Sometimes I fly early early morning and sometimes as dusk to get the shots to wow the customer. Depends on property value and how much you are charging. A multi-million dollar property is going to want a much higher quality shoot than a low end house or property. I have ofter gone back at different times of day to get light/angles that i edit into my shooting to pop the eye candy out of a project.
Best to practice with friends homes or open property to hone your skills. AND lastly please have your commercial 107 certificate and notify local FAA towers of your flight plans before flying to keep this industry protected from over regulation and red tape.
Hope other professional photogs will provide more insight as technique is always something we can all refine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JWH
I would pick a particular ND filter based on the ambient light, basing the selection of my ability to keep the ISO as low as possible (to minimize noise) and the shutter speed at about twice the selected frame rate (to minimize rolling shutter effect). I would then make sure I had a large enough mobile device screen to be able to judge the exposure during the flight and then I'd adjust it during the flight using the control wheel under my right index finger. If all else failed, I'd adjust exposure in post.

I output my video based on the device it's going to be displayed on. In a conference room with 4K monitors, I'd output 4K - it's really stunning. Otherwise, I'd output in 1080p. I save my output to Dropbox and/or a flash drive in 4K and 1080p so I can pull it down for display when I need it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JWH
I am headed outside right now to practice on my own house. I changed a few settings and am trying to get better at framing the shots.
 
Just one other quick thought. When I shoot homes I stay down so that my angle is around 25-30 degrees. This has a much more pleasing effect than flying too high. The exception is a large estate so you can do an overview flight from say 30 meters around property then come down approaching the homes front and then pop to your orbit. This also keeps the overall video sequence to less than 2 1/2 to 3 minutes which is about the right time frame. Also suggest adding some elevator music and titles to polish your shoot.
I agree with MacCool above regarding the ISO settings but practice trying lots of different settings until you have it refined so you get that really great shoot when you are charging $$$
 
Personally my go to filter is a NEEWER PL. This filter provides very good results in bright days.

I shot this video on an extremely bright day, using my go to filter NEEWER PL, there was a glare coming from the ocean waters.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JWH

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31