I cover Cameras, Lenses, Camera Support, Audio, Lights and the Rest of the Kit. You’ll find solid, usable information about what I’ve found that works during the 30 years or so I’ve been a video producer.

You’ll find recommendations for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced shooters. Plus I make specific comments for Photographers, Video shooters and Aspiring Film Makers for each category.

Now Available on Kindle!

Previous versions of the DSLR Video Buyer’s Guide have been available as a PDF only, purchased through ClickBank.com. I made a decision to move distribution to Amazon.com and you benefit in several ways:

• If you’re an Amazon Prime member you can download the entire DSLR Video Buyer’s Guide at no cost – zero, nada, for nothing! The Guide was accepted into Amazon’s new Kindle Owner’s Lending Library program and that means you can read the book at no cost on any Kindle reader.
• The price has been reduced to almost half of the PDF version so even if you decide to buy from Amazon you’ll save more than 50% of the previous price.
• You still get all the great information, all the links to the equipment online resources, and you can read it on most any computer with free readers.
• I give you a link in the book where you can subscribe to all future updates. And you can download a PDF copy at no cost when you subscribe.

If you’re into shooting video with a DSLR camera, it’s likely that you have a dream of making a movie. Even if it’s just a short film, most people I know would love to have an entry running in the local film festival. And, from there, who knows how far you’ll go?

But you have to get started. And Jason Brubaker has put together an awesome downloadable guide about the Modern Movie Making Movement.

It’s free, just click on the link above to download the zip file. You’ll find articles from people who make movies on extremely small budgets and with hardly any crew. Not only have they’ve actually done it, they give you the real stuff about how it works and what it takes.

Like everything in life, you have to start where you are. If you’re dreaming of making movies with a DSLR, then this book is the next step toward living your dream.

The Modern Movie Making Movement book has no cost, you don’t even have to sign up for an email list. Just click, download, and start moving forward on your dreams.

To be fair, you need to know that Jason and all the other talented people who created this book have included links to their web sites and products. Yes, these are affiliate links and if you buy something they’ll make money.

Even that is a great deal.

I look at it this way. I want to be supported as a creative person, making a living from making movies. As they say, what goes around, comes around so I support other artists in their projects. Not only do you get great information and encouragement, you’re part of the exploding movement in modern movie making.

Modern Movie Making Movement

I look forward to seeing your videos on the web.

I’m very happy to release an update to the DSLR Video Buyer’s Guide!

It’s amazing how much has changed in the last six months in this industry.

• Canon released the D60 and Panasonic upped the ante with the GH2.
• Zoom’s H1 brought quality audio recording to the under $100 market
• New tripods and other support equipment designed for DSLR video

You’ll find information about all of this and much more in the updated DSLR Video Buyer’s Guide.

I’m so grateful for all the comments on the Buyer’s Guide. The response is encouraging and overwhelmingly positive.

I have to say that I really am impressed with the overall style and flow of your writing, as well as the design and layout. J. Nerenberg

I bought your eBook a few days ago and am really enjoying it! G. Lane

Your Buyer’s Guide is fantastic! It’s probably saved me dozens of research hours and a considerable amount of money! M.Heckman

I’ve been working on updating the DSLR Video Buyer’s Guide for several weeks and now it’s ready. As promised, I’ve emailed everyone who purchased the original with a link to download the update for free.

Please take a look and let me know what you think.

Most of us dream of a better life.

And most of us do not do all the things we know would lead to that better life.

Even when we’re doing well, there are often goals that can seem unreachable.

That’s why I’m excited to offer you this gift.

Becoming Unstoppable is chapter zero of “Need to Know”, a great book by Paul Myers about creating an online business. But this chapter is not just about online business, it’s about finding out what’s stopping you from having whatever your goals are for success in life. And it’s about changing that so you become unstoppable.

I’ve followed Paul for quite a while and always find his writing right to the point and full of useful information. Plus, he’s knows how to entertain while teaching valuable perspectives and skills.

You can download Becoming Unstoppable as a gift from Paul through me to you. No strings attached, just a desire to help you gain the life you want to live.

While reading it will no doubt help you become more unstoppable, the real value is in following Paul’s process.

I spent a few minutes yesterday using Paul’s process on my most significant goal for 2011. I found several significant points regarding my goal that I hadn’t seen before. It was clear that those points would sabotage my efforts. I kept moving through Paul’s process and felt something move. I became more unstoppable.

But what’s really interesting is how the process kept working in the back of my mind.

Today I suddenly realized another area where I was stopping myself from reaching my full potential. And that realization brought with it another key to reaching my goals. Cool!

I’m not sure what your goals are for 2011. If you’re an aspiring film maker hoping to mount a production, a professional photographer wanting to move into video, or a video professional looking to expand your technology into DSLR you’re sure to have projects that would make a big difference in your life. If you could just get them done…

Download Becoming Unstoppable. In less than one hour you can read it and work through the process. I’m betting it will prove to be one of the best investments in your future that you’ll make.

Thank you for your support this year, it’s been great. All the best to you and yours in the new year!

NOTE: the links in Becoming Unstoppable are affiliate links and I will benefit from any purchases you make resulting from clicking on those links.

Do you want to be excellent at video production?

I’m sure you want to be good at it. But how good do you want to be? And what would it take to reach excellence?

I just read an article from the Harvard Business Review titled, “Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything” by Tony Schwartz. It changed how I look at what I’m doing and how I want to work in this business.

I know a lot of people who are happy to just get by everyday. They want to do a good job but they are really just showing up enough to keep their jobs and feel okay about it.

I know a few people who pursue something much higher.

Sometimes I find myself looking at those striving to be excellent and put them down. I mean, really… who are they trying to fool? They’re just being cocky, strutting around with that “hey, look at me” attitude.

Then I realize what’s really going on. I’m taking them down to make it okay that I’m not operating at the same level as they are. Maybe I never will (sob, sob, sob…)

I remember turning 25 years old and feeling totally depressed because I wasn’t rich or famous yet. I was positive that I’d missed the window and it was all downhill from there.

That’s the same feeling as “maybe I never will”. Which is always followed by “so what’s the use of trying, who am I trying to fool?”

But I’ve had enough training in personal development to know that these feelings are a distraction designed to keep me from failing. Failure is painful and there’s a part of me that’s hell-bent to make sure I don’t feel that kind of pain every again.

Then I come across something like this article on excellence and another part of me remembers all the technologies I’ve mastered, all the productions that were voyages into the unknown that landed on safe shores.

And I know.

I know how to do this. I know how to be excellent at anything I choose. I just don’t always do what it takes.

Maybe that’s why this article caught my attention and why I’m passing it on to you.

That being said, here are the six keys from Tony Schwartz but I recommend reading the full article. He uses sports as a model for gaining excellence but I’m adding my own perspective using film and video production.

1. “Pursue what you love. Passion is an incredible motivator. It fuels focus, resilience, and perseverance.” What do you love about this business? What fires your passion for it? Spend some time considering what you get from it when you do it well. Here’s a hint – it’s not just money.

2. “Do the hardest work first.” Who wants to spend the time to read all the manuals, scroll through all the menu items, try every combination, push hard for more innovative concepts, do all the pre-production, learn best practices for work flow at every phase, apprentice to people who know more than you do, take everything to heart all the time? Come on, that’s just too hard.

3. “Practice intensely, without interruption for short periods of no longer than 90 minutes and then take a break.” How does this apply to production? Ever tried to keep a crew inspired and productive hour after hour, day after day? How do you treat yourself when the crunch is on? Lots of studies show that you’ll get more done when you take short breaks every hour or so. It seems most people think that’s just not true for production people.

4. “Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses.” Who do you go to for expert feedback? Who do you trust to tell you the truth? High quality coaching is hard to find but worth it’s weight in gold.

5. “Take regular renewal breaks.” What do you do to relax? What renews you? If you don’t feed your body you’ll die. If you don’t feed your soul you’re as good as dead but you just don’t know it. This is a creative business so find out what gets your juices flowing that doesn’t involve a computer, the internet or any kind of camera.

6. “Ritualize practice.” Take the time to consider how you do your work. Get intensely interested in the process you use. How deliberate is it? How much is habit? What would happen if you changed your work flow with the intention of getting lots more done with lots less energy expended? What could you ritualize so it became invisible, effortless?

So that’s it. Six keys to being excellent at production. Interesting that it has nothing to do with which camera you’re shooting.

The article is worth the few minutes it takes to read. I believe Tony’s book is also likely to be worth the read. I’ve just downloaded the Kindle version to my phone. Here’s a link to check it out at Amazon.

The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That Energize Great Performance

So, what do you think? How do you plan to be excellent and what do you think will happen along the way?

Most business people believe social media is a waste of time. They thought the same thing about the web back in 1994 when I started building interactive marketing programs.

Well, the statistics tell the story and social media is becoming a vital plank in any marketing plan.

The problem is… you can’t  just pick up the phone and order a social media campaign. But you can make a decision and invest in your future by learning. Here’s a great resource perfect for that:

PhotoShelter is a site for commercial photographers. Their tag line is “Get seen. Sell your work.” They seem to be doing a good job of delivering on that promise.

They recently created a substantial 55 page guide for photographers to help them learn how to use social media to build business. It seemed to me that you might find this information useful as a film maker.

Social Media for Photographers is packed with actionable strategies. I made notes on my first quick read and am putting them into action today. It’s that kind of a guide.

So, even if you’ve got thousands of FaceBook friends and Twitter followers, you might get something out of it. If you aren’t at that level you definitely need to get this and start working on your social media marketing plan.

Social Media for Photographers | PhotoShelter

I just released another DVD project at work. The minute that master left for duplication I turned my attention to the online versions. Every project we release has at least two different online versions. If we release the subtitled versions that number can climb to around 15.

In the old days, no one expected one person to know everything about the video production work flow, much less be an expert at every part of it. Now we’re expected to handle everything top to bottom.

I spent a lot of time trying different formulas and had things pretty well under control then everything changed. Funny how the web does that. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out someone goes and improves everything.

Here’s a link to a valuable resource that saved me hours (days maybe) and insured a reliable standard of high quality for every video released. Even for youtube.com!

Here’s what the guy who wrote this little ebook had to say:

These Recipes do not pretend to teach you about compression and encoding.

Instead they are easy recipes that will get you great results with minimal effort, whether you use Apple Compressor, Telestream Episode Pro or Sorenson Squeeze; whether your source is 4:3, Letterboxed or true 16:9, in PAL or NTSC.

Completely rewritten for 2009: updated recipes and more tips.

Includes links to web pages so you can compare the results next to each other, and a bonus section on encoding for YouTube!

I’m telling you, this will likely be the best $5 you’ve spent on improving your video quality –  Instant Expert! Simple Encoding Recipes for the Web. This is not an affiliate link, I have nothing to gain by recommending it. It’s just that good.

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