Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts

Sunday, August 14, 2016

1 Completely Free Stock Footage Clip of the Perseids Meteor Shower

I was very fortunate to have my family vacation time overlap with not only a new moon, but also the Perseids meteor shower event. We were camping in a remote area in the Adirondack mountains, so I decided to take my camera along to see what I could capture.

While I enjoyed what I got, I was using a new time lapse feature that automated the capture differently than how I normally have in the past.  I was able to calculate my exposure using the ever popular "500 rule", which came out to about a 15-second exposure for each frame.  In the past, that meant I needed to set an interval that was HIGHER than 15 seconds to correctly create the time lapse.  Little did I know, this new program factored in the camera's shutter into the interval, which means I could have gotten away with setting a 1-second interval instead of the 16 seconds I had it programmed for.  The camera was also set to go dark, so it did not waste any battery life in inconsequential features.  Since the interval and the shutter time were almost identical, I did not notice that the camera was firing off every other 15 seconds.  The result, while still striking, was about half the amount of frames that I was hoping for in the time I had allotted to be outside, awake and away from my sleeping family.

Let it be a lesson though to anyone looking to go out and do the same.  ALWAYS test new methods and equipment, especially if you are going to places you can't frequent.

You are welcome to use this video in your projects you are working on or keep it in your clip library for future work.The only thing you cannot do is turn around and offer it AS stock footage. Have fun with it!

You can preview and download the video file by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




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This video was shot using a Sony A7SII and a Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG Lens with a Sigma Mount Converter MC-11 Adapter


Wednesday, June 29, 2016

1 Completely Free Stock Footage Clip Moons You

I've been looking forward to finding a suitable teleconverter for my camera packages, and at the same time, debating on the usability of my GoPro Hero 4 for the purposes of shooting stock footage.  POV and action shots seem a little too personal for general stock purposes.  Being a hobby tech-head as well, I've always enjoyed pushing my electronics to their limit and seeing what interesting things I can accomplish with them. I heard about the Back-Bone Ribcage Mod for GoPros and I became very interested in working with it.  I already have a 180mm macro lens and the crop factor on the c-mount adapter/image sensor is roughly 5.7x meaning my 180mm lens became a 1026mm f/2.8 macro beast!
Since there was a full moon the night of the modding, I had to see what I could get.  There was a slight haze in the sky, which I found pretty neat when watching the footage later.  Looking on some of the big stock sites what I noticed was many of the "moon" shots looked almost faked with a still moon image moving across a black sky.  Not to toot my own horn, the atmosphere on the clip I shot give a sense of realism to the shot. So this full moon is a full resolution HD real time super-telephoto shot for you to use in your project.  Fun fact, the movement is real time, it just looks like it is faster or time lapse-esque because of how small the frame of reference is compared to the sky.  It took me forever to realize it wasn't my tripod drifting on me.

You are welcome to use this video in your projects you are working on or keep it in your clip library for future work.The only thing you cannot do is turn around and offer it AS stock footage. Have fun with it!

You can preview and download the video file by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on Facebook, Tweet, Google Plus, Pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


This video was shot using a Back-Bone Ribcage Modified GoPro Hero 4 Black and a Sigma 180mm Macro Lens with a Fotodiox EF to C Mount Adapter with built-in de-clicked aperature iris control.


Friday, August 28, 2015

1 Completely Free Stock Footage Clip Is Not a Bad Hazing

Had a beautiful yet hazy morning in the Adirondacks when I was able to capture this time lapse.  Although the haze on the mountain range wasn't ideal, there was a lot to appreciate in this scene.  I like the way the lower clouds move over the mountains in the right corner of the screen.  The sun was coming up off camera left and casting some pretty cool rays on the clouds as well. The clouds differing intensities, from fluffy white, to ominous grey was pretty neat, and the different direction the fog on the water traveled from the atmosphere was nice.

You are welcome to use this video in your projects you are working on, or keep it in your clip library for future work. The only thing you cannot do is turn around and offer it AS stock footage. Have fun with it!

You can preview and download the clip by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!


As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pin  or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!

This video was shot using a Canon EOS Rebel T2i and a Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG Lens

Friday, August 7, 2015

1 Completely Free Stock Footage Clip Is Not Focused on Streaming

I was watching an outdoors program on television and was amazed at how often they cut to a shot like the one I have available below. Most of the time it was used when the show was thanking a sponsor, so they'd CG the logo in the center of the clip. Having a nice background like this could be helpful in your projects. Hopefully you'll find a good place for this footage in your own works. Hope it helps!

You are welcome to use this video in your projects you are working on, or keep it in your clip library for future work.The only thing you cannot do is turn around and offer it AS stock footage. Have fun with it!

You can preview and download the video file by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


This video was shot using a Sony NEX-FS700 and the Sigma 180mm F2.8 EX APO DG HSM OS Macro with a Metabones EF to NEX Speedboster Adapter


Wednesday, May 20, 2015

1 Completely Free Stock Footage Clip Blows

I had much different expectations when I tried to capture this clip.  Working again with my macro lens and it's razor thin and shallow depth of field, it became very obvious that I would need an extremely controlled environment in order to capture what I originally wanted.  What is here, while not what I planned, is the organized chaos you find in a lot of projects that wish to depict kind of "dream-like" emotions.

Honestly, I can't take credit for this one.  None of the stuff here was intentional.  The shifting depth of field wasn't due to camera work, but from the movement of the dandelion while it was being blown and held.  The shot also looks handheld, but it is on a tripod.  I discounted it the minute it wrote to the the SD card and didn't even look at it for a while after, just moved on to the next idea.  When things slowed down and I had a chance to sit down, I was very pleased at what I found.  Everything is working against itself, and you know what, it works! Hope you can use it!

You are welcome to use it in your projects you are working on, or keep it in your clip library for future work.The only thing you cannot do is turn around and offer it AS stock footage. Have fun with it!

You can preview and download the video file by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!


extreme close up of a dandelion and it's seeds, the background is heavily out of focus


As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


This video was shot using a Sony NEX-FS700 and the Sigma 180mm F2.8 EX APO DG HSM OS Macro with a Metabones EF to NEX Speedboster Adapter


Friday, December 19, 2014

1 Free Stock Footage Clip is Electrifying

I have finally released a clip that I had been hoping to get since I started this blog.  Lightning.  Am I happy with it?  Kind of.

This was shot at 240 frames per second during a pretty intense lightning storm.  What was nice is that the high speed camera was able to catch bolts that were originally too quick to see with the naked eye.  At that frame rate and shutter speed though, I was getting some severe "partial flash sync".   I've done what I can to correct that issue, by partially removing frames and also stacking concurrent ones and using some creative blending techniques to rebuilt the actual lighting condition.  It was a labor of love.  Many times when I run into a technical issue like this, I take the time to learn from my mistakes correct the initial error in post, and create a game-plan on how to not let something like this happen again.   As of right now though, I'm honestly not sure what I would do differently if another storm were to present itself.  I was happy enough with the end result to release it, considering I do not have any lighting clips up yet.  Hopefully in the future I can get you something better.

You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!


A brief still of a longer and available stock footage clip of a lightning storm.


As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


This video was shot using a Sony NEX-FS700 and the Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG Lens with a Metabones EF to NEX Speedboster Adapter


Wednesday, October 8, 2014

3 Free Stock Footage Clips Are Good for the Gander

I found myself looking for something to shoot the other day before making my way into the office.  I decided to go down to a pond that I know has a variety of waterfowl that consistently visit.  While I am happy with how these turned out, due to the side of the water they decided to gather on, I was fighting the sun for a good portion of it.  There were other clips I had captured, but between the hard glare of the sun, the tiny size of the LCD screen in relation to the glare, and my more than brisk pace to capture something nice within the time frame I had given myself, I was kind of guessing on the focus sometimes. This, in my opinion, didn't make the footage as sharp as it needed to be.  I hope to get a larger/better monitor soon.   These 3 files though, passed my personal QC requirements.

As far as my winged subjects go, they really didn't care that I was there which was nice, but that just meant they would slowly drift away from me.  I feel a little bad, because I had to keep pretending to throw bread/seeds so the birds would come closer to me and stay at least a little bit interested.  Overall it was a peaceful fun morning, I just need to figure out how to drink coffee and shoot at the same time better and I'll be all set.

One wonderful benefit to going out and shooting random videos, is you get to learn quite a bit about your subjects.  Like my friend in the 2nd clip.  What I HAD though was just a goose, might actually be a "swan goose" (I'm in the process of trying to verify this since they are native to China and Russia mostly).  I didn't really know there were that many different types.  I also didn't know that I would be so interested in finding this stuff out.  I'll be a Ornithologist before you know it.

So here you are.  3 free clips that should cut somewhat well together if you need them for a project.  If I could do it differently, I would have varied my subject placement to alternate between left and right justified, but hey,  maybe I'll go get some more to solve that.

 You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!






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These videos were shot using the Sony NEX-FS700

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

1 Free Stock Footage Clip Shore is Pretty

This clip was actually a random tack on to a much larger outing I had.  It is a very macro, super slow motion look at the shoreline of Lake Ontario.  The lake was very calm that day, but the slow motion still captures the powerful movement water is capable of.  I think this is what I love most about shooting macro AND slow motion with the Sony FS700, I get to experience the amazing strength, range and movement of some of the smallest things.  I hope to get a much more capable (telephoto) lens some time soon, to do more of this with.

You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


These videos were shot using the Sony NEX-FS700


Monday, September 15, 2014

1 Stock Footage Clip is in the Clouds

One of my favorite things to shoot, is negative space.  I love highlighting movement by including emptiness.  It took me a while to find a day that had the clouds moving the way I needed them to in order to achieve a shot like this.  I've had an idea for this shot ever since I started this site.  Luckily, it only took 3 years!  This would be a great clip to use as a title card or opening shot for your projects.  Plenty of room to add text and play around.  Hope you can use it!

You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


These videos were shot using the Sony NEX-FS700 and a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

2 Free Stock Footage Clips are Feeling Sluggish

The idea for these next two shots came up when a user in a Facebook group I am a part of called "Share Footage" requested a stock shot of a slug.

I had in my head already an plan to do a time lapse of my garden at night, but I had been putting it off for some time.  I decided to put it off a little longer to scour my yard for slugs.  I see them every day... shouldn't be too hard to pop on out and get some good footage right?  Well they must have know I was coming.  After a few failed attempts, I ended up partially abandoning my search and instead set my camera up to do this night time lapse.  The first clip was shot close to midnight with just the lighting from my front porch.  The camera is shooting at 1 frame per second and there is a little bit of in camera gain applied to get a good exposure (The FS700 holds up pretty well huh?).  After about recording for 45 minutes I played back what I had gotten and what do you know?  A little tiny slug pops out from under the mulch and travels up part of a plant in the background.  I jumped up and readied my camera again ... I ran out to where the first shot was and searched the surrounding plants.  There he was, checking out his dinner situation.  I let the camera run for a while, but he quickly moved out of focus.  I re-positioned, but by that time he had settled in and was just hanging out, not doing too much.  So there you go, hopefully this is useful to you sometime down the road.  I had a great experience shooting it.  I feel like I will be back out there very soon.


You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!

free royalty free footage of mulch
Free Royalty Free Footage Download



As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!

These videos were shot using a Sony NEX-FS700


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

1 Stock Footage Clip Bursts Your Bubble

Had some fun the other day with my kids' bubble gun.  I used what I had learned following around mosquitoes (which honestly I am still working on to hopefully have something usable to upload) and decided to try a slow motion tracking shot of a soap bubble.  It was quite frustrating, but with the very thin depth of field I was working with, I am happy to have something that is at least in focus most of the time.  The raw clip had my reflection in the middle, so with some creative matte work, feathering and blurring, I was successful in removing it.

You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!


Free Royalty Free Footage of a blown bubble in slow motion with an out of focus background with heavy bokeh


As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


These videos were shot using the Sony NEX-FS700 and a Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG Lens


Monday, April 21, 2014

1 Stock Footage Clip is Seeing Stars

Usually twice a year, the family and I travel about 90 miles outside of the city to a very small town in a valley to visit my wife's grandmother.  It is a wonderful place free of things like cell signals, which force you to be more "connected" to the people and things around you.  I've brought my camera down ever since I have started this blog in order to get star time lapses (something I cannot do in the light polluted city limits).  Since we don't go that often, rarely do i have a clear sky to capture (this was the only other one I've been able to get).  This past weekend gave me the perfect opportunity though and I was excited to employ the A/C adapter for my camera that tested so well during the "rotting banana" time lapse.  I also came this time with a much more scientific/mathematical approach to shooting vs. my previous star time lapse.

Most notably, I was able to put into practice something called the "500 rule" which is a calculation that you can perform to figure out how long you can keep your shutter open before you start to capture "star trails" instead of stars.  The formula goes as follows: 500/ (lens focal length) = max. shutter duration in seconds.  I was using my Sigma 24mm f/1.8 lens on my Canon T2i.  The Rebel line of Canon cameras has a 1.6x crop factor that needed to be included as well.  So my calculation was a followed: 500/(24 times 1.6) = 13.  So I had the max time my shutter could be open (13 seconds), I ended up dialing it back 1 second for safety.  Since I was focusing to "infinity" the depth of field did not matter on the camera, so I was able to keep it wide open at f/1.8.  These two known values allowed me to then dial in my ISO to something that would allow me a good exposure.  I settled on 800.  So for those of you interested, this sequence was shot RAW at f/1.8, ISO 800 and a shutter speed of 12 seconds.  I set the intervalometer in my Magic Lantern hacked firmware to 16 seconds, allowing my camera 4 extra seconds to write the RAW file out of the buffer to the 32GB card.  1,464 images later (or 6.5 hours) and what you see below is what I can offer you.

I plan on going back to the RAW files and trying my hand at creating a star trail time lapse by gradually stacking the images.  This is obviously something that will take a while, so I wanted to initially post this video for people who might be able to find a good use for it.  The lights on the trees are actually from trains that pass through town.  I was amazed that the images picked the light from them up.


You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!

This video was shot using a Canon EOS Rebel T2i and a Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG Lens


Wednesday, January 29, 2014

1 Stock Footage Clip is Frozen to a Point

I was able to take advantage of a free morning as well as a very crisp cold day to get this shot.  I was hoping for a completely clear day, but the few wisps of clouds you see in the background are actually quite nice.  While the sun coming through the ice IS powerful, I feel this attempt was too "messy" for my personal taste overall.

It was partially due to laziness in not getting my external ND filter and relying on the on board 1/64 the FS700 has.  This made the capture a f/40 (yes 40).  I would have much rather shot this somewhere around f/8-11.  The imperfections/dust on the outside of the window I was shooting out of came in to play a lot more that i had hoped because of it (you better believe those weren't on my lens!).  This was a somewhat selfish decision as well, since I valued the heat in my home and the "newness" of my camera a little too much to have it sitting outside for 2 hours in 4 degree weather.

I did decided to upload this, because although I feel it is somewhat "dirty", and look forward to a much more clean reshoot, I appreciate the dreamlike feeling this has, and think it would compliment some of the work a lot of you are doing.  Hope you can find a use for it!


You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!

This video was shot using a Sony NEX-FS700


Sunday, November 24, 2013

3 Stock Footage Clips Break and Crash

Had a great time out by the edge of Lake Ontairo during an especially brutal storm was passing over.  The waves were quite impressive as they hit the pier.  I also got to test the durability of my FS700 when an extremely large wave hit the stone wall and covered me and my equipment.

Once again I've included some different shots to hopefully help in editing.

 You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


These videos were shot using the Sony NEX-FS700

Sunday, November 17, 2013

2 Stock Footage Clips to Fawn Over

I had set a goal for myself to get some footage of turkeys before the US holiday Thanksgiving comes around at the end of the month.  I've been heading out to spots where they have been spotted in my area early in the morning before I had to be in to work.  I unfortunately have not had much luck, but I did have a chance to hang out with these guys for a little bit right after sunup. 

The second tracking shot of the doe with her little ones were actually done from my car.  I was on an access road at a local park and saw these guys off in the distance.  I am impressed with this shot, just because it was at 200mm out the window of my car while I was moving in reverse down the street.  They watched me while I parked and got out my tripod, and the tracking shot of the doe was done again at 200mm while she was checking me out.  I'm happy that I was able to come and go without spooking them too much. 


You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!

 

 
As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!

These videos were shot using a Sony NEX-FS700


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

1 Stock Footage Clip Rakes it in

It seems like I am building a series here with this POV leaf raking clip.  If you remember my slow motion lawnmower video, I now have 2 point-of-view yard work clips in 2 separate seasons.  I'll make sure to create a snow shoveling one and one with possibly a garden spade or hoe or a hose sprayer for spring.


You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!





As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!

These videos were shot using a Sony NEX-FS700


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

1 Clip Jumps Right In

I'm glad I had my camera with me while my family was over at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We raked up a big mound of leaves so my 3-year-old daughter could have some fun.  Nothing says Autumn like jumping into a nice crispy leaf pile.


You can preview and download the clip by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!





As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


This video was shot using a Sony NEX-FS700

Friday, October 11, 2013

2 Clips Bog You Down


I managed to stop by a local swamp area on my way to work one cloudy morning.

I love the first clip mostly because I love stock footage clips that have a good amount of "negative space".  To me these are most useful for titles, credits, etc...  I also learned a lot about the genus/species in this shot.  I thought it was tall grass with some cattails in them (bulrush, raupo, reedmace, or cumbungi depending on your area of residence).  Turns out that the "tall grass" are the leaves of the plant.

The second is very voyeuristic and would work great for anyone doing anything "spooky" this time of year.  Add some vignetting and you have an instant creepy atmosphere.

You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!



 
As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!

These videos were shot using a Sony NEX-FS700


Sunday, September 1, 2013

1 Clip is on the Line

I'm glad I had my camera on me while I was driving through the city the other day.  I thought a shot like this might be useful to some visitors who use my footage for documentary purposes.  The "shoes on a power line" shot is a nice way to depict both rural and urban area adolescent culture.  I also really appreciate having clips in my toolbox that make good use of negative space.  I find it to be very helpful if you need something for an opening sequence, titles, or credits.

In doing some research for this post, I found out the practice of throwing tied shoes over power or telephone lines is referred to as "shoefiti".  The explanation behind why shoes end up on these wires is varied based on region and culture.  The Wikipedia entry is actually a very interesting read. Feel free to check it out here: Shoe Tossing 

You can preview and download the clip by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!




As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


This video was shot using a Sony NEX-FS700

Monday, July 29, 2013

4 Clips are as Busy as Bees

I would not suggest filming busy bees with a shallow depth of field for those of you who are not patient.  Because I was trying to capture them at 240fps I needed as much light as possible which meant I needed to keep the iris open, which also meant that I would be operating with a narrow focus distance. 

These little guys were hard at work pollinating my raspberry bushes, which meant that they were happily distracted and not too interested in me.  Let me follow them around for a good amount of time, which is nice because I had to do an insane amount of takes just to have these 4 useable shots. 

My motivation for capturing them was the recent news stories about the dwindling numbers of bees.  Hopefully people doing news stories about them will find them useful.

You can preview and download the clips by clicking "read more" below.  Happy Downloading!

 


As always, please e-mail, like us or share this on facebook, tweet, google plus, pinterest or do whatever you can to spread the word about this site. Thanks!


These videos were shot using the Sony NEX-FS700