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I'm A Passenger

It was hard leaving home today. Harder than it has ever been. I guess it's being part of my own little family. Not someone else's family, my own. Weird.

Yesterday was spent packing and repacking, I am a bugger for taking too much kit. The trick is to pack and then ditch half of it.

The problem lies with having a gadget for everything and not a gadget that can do everything. Then there's the issue that many of my gadgets take power. Which tends to come from batteries.. that need chargers ..and cables ..and adapters so those cables can work off a foreign supply.

Anyway, despite all this I am packed into two bags. A backpack with laptop and all the tech i need in order to work. And a holdall with clothes, tripod and non essentials.

I may go into more detail as to what I am carrying as sometimes I am amazed as to how much a person can do with so little. Technically I am playing the part of a videographer, producer, sound engineer, interviewer, archivist, photographer, live blogger and my own general dogs body. I am sure I can rustle up a few other job descriptions like coms expert, secretary, writer etc but I don't want the Union on my back.

Some jobs require a different way of doing things. As a vlogger who loves to travel and has done so to some random parts of the world before, I guess on this occasion I'm the perfect choice for The British Council who need a fast turn around on some important media, from multiple locations worldwide. It's great working for an organisation that is not afraid to experiment in new ways of capturing and distributing multi-media. As an organisation centred around communicating and educating cultural relations internationally, it makes perfect sense to be moving with the times.

What used to take a team, can now be done by a well equipped individual. I guess I will come to find out how well equipped I am over the next week as I grab interviews photos and video, travelling across Asia.

Should my trusty Vodafone data sim manage to get some content out, it will no doubt pass through my Twitter account @Documentally

To find out what the British Council are all about you can visit their site and follow @BritishCouncil on twitter.

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Filed under  //   asia   bc75   british council   gadgets   photo   tech   train   travel   vlogging  
Posted January 16, 2010
// 5 Comments

Panasonic Lumix GH1 (Quick Test)

This is a small test with the Lumix GH1. It's a 'hybrid' camera I have only just bought, initially with the intention to videoblog with.

I know this may seem like a bit of overkill but as I normally take a pro SLR and a video camera out on assignments I was thinking that this may finally be the device that takes decent photos and video while at the same time is reasonably compact. By consolidating my kit I have fewer cables accessories and can travel lighter. there is no reason why with the additional microphone I cannot use the GH1 for pro audio, video and stills. As it records to an SD card I can pop that in the side of my mac and do away with a card reader too.

I am still getting me head around the AVCHD format. Files have to be imported and not simply dragged and dropped, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to take for the extra quality.

As well as being able to auto focus the Panasonic will of course record video at 1080p but in this test I wanted to have a quick look at what 720p 50 fps looks like at half speed (25fps).

The camera was set to intelligent auto (IA) and continuous auto focus.

Please keep in mind that this was filmed indoors, with little window light, in one take, using the internal microphone. I edited it in iMovie in about 5 minutes.

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Filed under  //   apple   avchd   camera   gh1   lumix   panasonic   review   test   video   vlog   vlogging  
Posted January 8, 2010
// 6 Comments

Putting Towcester On The Map

@BennyCrime has blogged here.. And in great social media fashion I stole the video and posted it below..

If you want the background as to why he was in my area and still managed to spell Towcester wrong.. read his post.

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Filed under  //   bennycrime   canon   Documentally   towcester   video   vlogging  
Posted December 21, 2009
// 1 Comment

Samsung ST550 - Nearly a good camera

When i first saw the TV add for the Samsung ST550 I thought it would be a top vlogging camera. It's duel screen would mean you could monitor the composition of your video as well as your photos.

(Here is a short clip from the camera that cut off as tha memory card was crap.)

I was wrong. The front facing screen although very cleverly hidden behind the plastic body and perfect for composing your cheesy self portraits in front of tourist attractions, for some strange reason is not activated during video recording. I figured it must be just 'off' as the default and could be turned on but no.. At least I think not. Neither me of the friendly shop assistant could find out how to turn the duel front facing screen whilst shooting video. This was pretty disapointing as as soon as I saw the camera I thought about it as a vloggers camera. I imagine this is a simple firmware upgrade that's needed so Samsung, if you are watching.. You really have missed a trick and I would have certainly considered your camera over the Canon Ixus 120is I eventually bought. Although saying that, your audio was nowhere near as good as the Ixus so if you get the chance, please sort that out as well. ;o)

So very nearly a great blogging tool. Hi-res photos and HD video in a device that has a front facing screen. It appears only half thought out. I am certain if the camera companies spoke to more of the users out there they'd sell more devices to corners of the market still waiting for someone to do it right. There were a few interesting features on the camera but I havn't gone into detail about these or the other things I didn't like I don't think any person that reads this blog would buy it anyway. As it stands the screen is more of a gimick for taking self portraits.

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Filed under  //   camera   review   samsung   tech   video   vlogging  
Posted December 5, 2009
// 2 Comments

The Death Of King Chun Chung

I have no idea who King Chun Chung was. Just that he is sadly no more.

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Filed under  //   death   funeral   video   vlogging   VloMo09  
Posted November 23, 2009
// 0 Comments

Zoom Q3 out of the box

I got home to find @ZoomUK have sent me the Q3 to review. Feels sturdy, really well made. It would be nice if the standard def video was HD but this is just the first incarnation.

I'll check it out over the next few days and report back.       

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Filed under  //   video   vlogging   VloMo09   zoom q3  
Posted November 20, 2009
// 2 Comments

Cold Mountain


It's VloMo09 - National Vloggers Month 2009. The idea is to post one video every day in November.

I have somehow managed to post 14 videos over the 12 days so far. I am amazed I have managed to get this far. I am exhausted though.. With all this work and play there is not much time for rest.

This video reflects my mood at the end of the day today. The end of a hard but very satisfying stint of work.

I shot this on a Canon Ixus 120is and manipulated the clip in imovie.

The Musician is a friend of mine.

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Filed under  //   blogging   documentally   lone pigeon   video   vlogging   VloMo   VloMo09  
Posted November 12, 2009
// 1 Comment

Hungerbytes!

The UN World Food Programme are looking for vloggers to take part in their international video competition entitled Hungerbytes! 

They hold the competition every year in partnership with Youtube. It's open to all but you have to be 18 to claim the prize of a trip into the field to witness the work that's being done to help chronically hungry people. (Last year 3 girls travelled to Ethiopia and visited one of the agency’s largest food assistance operations.

If you feel you can create a hard hitting, provocative youtube video that makes people think about hunger issues, check out the information at: Hungerbytes! to enter.

This year, for the first time ever, the number of chronically hungry people crossed the 1 billion marker. The chronically hungry have stunted growth of both the body and the mind. Many will die.

If you don't feel like entering why not just spread the word? I think this is a great use of social media to raise awareness of Hungerbytes! and ultimately, hopefully change lives for the better.

The Youtube channel with submitted videos can be found here: Hungerbytes! Youtube

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Filed under  //   charity   documentally   hunger   poverty   social media   third world   un   video   vlogging  
Posted November 5, 2009
// 1 Comment

Yeah Toast!

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Filed under  //   family   minimentally   video   vlogging   VloMo09  
Posted November 2, 2009
// 0 Comments

Why the iPhone alone just isn't enough


If you want to make mobile media on a single device throughout the day the iPhone is lacking two important things.. Decent battery power and a good connection. I show you what I do to overcome this.

(This video was recorded on Quicktime on my mac.)

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Filed under  //   blogging   documentally   iphone   mifi   mophie   novatel wireless   power   video   vlogging  
Posted October 19, 2009
// 3 Comments