Photog Bites Off Video (and chews)

Making the transition from still photography to videography is bloody hard. There are no short cuts.  But rarely has someone made the transition so convincingly as Chinese based photographer Sean Gallagher. Armed with a grant from the Pulitzer Centre he’s been investigating the plight of the Chinese alligator.

Watch his short film and then read Sean in his own words about how he trained himself to become a film-maker. Hats off to you Sean, you did a great job.

As China continues its rapid economic development, the wetlands of the country are increasingly coming under threat.

Many of the species that inhabit these wetlands are being pushed to the brink of extinction, including the Chinese Alligator. Only 120 individuals are now estimated to be left in the wild, as a result of wetlands reclamation since the 1950’s.

Photographer and Videographer Sean Gallagher travels to Anhui Province in central China to document the crisis facing this species, for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

http://www.threatenedwaters.com (Coming Oct 2010)

“My first experience with video came when working on assignment in North Korea in August 2009. At that time I could only use a touristy camcorder because of the restrictions we were under and the fact I was posing as a tourist, however after producing three short videos for The Globe & Mail (Canada’s national newspaper), I became hooked on the possibilities video could give me for new ways in visual storytelling.

I was very excited to see video come out in Canon DSLRs in late 2009 and was blown away by the quality of the footage. Rather than rushing out to buy one however, I actually headed to Amazon and bought a bunch of books about how to shoot, edit and produce documentary films. I knew I had a lot to learn, so rather than rushing into it, I decided to take my time and try to learn the fundamentals of video to try to give myself a solid base from which to build on.

I think by taking this approach, it has facilitated a smoother transition for me to shooting video. Video really is a whole different world compared to stills, so rather than being overtaken by my initial enthusiasm and trying to ‘learn on the job’ say, I forced myself to take a little more of a planned approach to learning this new skill.

In terms of books, I highly recommend “Directing the Documentary by Michael Rabiger.  It’s a bit of a tome but is my ‘go to’ reference book. With regards to websites, I think DSLR News Shooter has been very useful to in terms of the technical side and seeing what has worked (and what hasn’t) for other professionals, in these teething stages we are in with DSLR video.”