A Little Video Never Hurt Anyone

Have you ever found a subject matter to be so intriguing that you can't seem to get enough and before you know it you have about 25 or more frames of what just took place. Well, if you said yes which I feel most of you did then let me bring up my next point. When looking through those frames you start to see how they come together to tell a story. Now the first thing I noticed was 'Damn, 2.5 frames per second? They were not kidding around.' As photographers we tend to dabble in other medias combining our images with multimedia or design. I like to do a little of both here and there depending on my mood.
On this particular day it was about 75 degrees and sunny. I was in Encinitas, California visiting family when I decided to meet up with a friend of mine and his brother to spend the day at the beach. We walked, of course, my friend Travis with his long board and me with my camera. I was taking pictures of homes, fruit trees and ducks behind fences. It wasn't until we approached an open fire hydrant when the "mood" struck me, "Now this could get interesting." I asked my friend Travis and his brother to go take a drink. Travis pondered for a minute but then jumped at the oppertunity. As I watched him through my lens (snapping at the speed of light) I began to realize how much of my life is dedicated to photography.
The way I see it is through my camera.
And once I have done that, it is as though I have been taught a new way to see without my camera. Ironic, huh?



After capturing both boys with the open fire hydrant I decided then to make it into a slideshow. I even knew what song I was going to use for it; "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" by Dana Fuchs. I was excited to put together a little 30 second video of what had taken place on our way to the beach and send it to them, hoping to get some laughs. When putting these videos together you can stick to simple programs like iPhoto or iMovie, like I did. Grab a music file and incorporate that too if you would like to add something extra. You save it as a .mov file so you can view it in Quicktime and you're all set to show off your stuff! Once I started incorporating pictures with video I found myself doing it more and more. It's different for everyone so take time to try everything out and get a feel for what you like and what you dont. Who knows, you might suprise yourself :]

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see. - Dorthea Lange

First Things First...

My name is Victoria Zegler and I am currently a Photojournalism major at Central Michigan University.

I grew up in San Diego, California with a crazy father who I believe inspired my creativity and abilities to perceive things happening right before my eyes. I started taking photographs when I was a very little girl and continued my passion all the way to high school. I carried around a Pentax K1000, my pride and joy. That camera followed me for five years until I became a senior in high school and realized that today is an era of auto focus and automatic exposure. I set my Pentax aside and bought a 35mm Canon EOS Rebel G. I remember my first thought being, "Thank God I don't have to reel film into my camera anymore!" I took my Canon with me to college where I took some of my greatest photographs.

There is just something about a black and white photograph that you can't help but be fascinated with. I love the whole process of shooting, developing, drying and WAHLAH - your image appears. I think its the anticipation that gets to me. Once I had finished my first semester of college I decided to enroll in a digital imaging class. I had taken a similar class throughout my senior year of high school but wanted to learn more. Reading over the course description it seemed perfect except for the part where I needed a digital camera. I panicked at the thought that all I had with me was my Kodak point and shoot. That next day I went out and bought a Nikon D40, my first SLR. It felt so right. I felt like I could shoot anything and I did.

Of all forms of expression, photography is the only one which seizes the instant in its flight.
-Henri Cartier-Bresson

Now that I have briefly introduced myself, let us have some fun.