Video Alfresco: A Guide to Easy Outdoor Shooting

You don't have to travel to Europe or the Amazon to enjoy the thrill of outdoor videomaking. The USA is brim-packed with opportunities to hone and display your outdoor video skills.

From a pee-wee league ball game in your neighborhood to a Buffalo herd in Yellowstone Park, from a backyard barbecue to a Civil War battlefield, the opportunities are all around us.

But outdoor video carries with it a unique set of challenges. Learning to meet these challenges in the special world of the outdoors is something every videographer should work on. In this article, we will discuss planning and techniques you can use to capture good outdoor video.

Basically, the same rules for shooting good video indoors also apply to video shot outdoors. There are, however, some important differences between the two.

Interior shots offer a lot of consistency in conditions. But venture outdoors and everything can change. A sudden rainstorm can ruin a shoot, and harm equipment. A burst of wind can destroy well-planned audio. A quick change in temperature can trigger the camcorder's dew-protection system, leaving your camcorder unusable. If your shoot is important enough, plan it with these possible conditions in mind.

First, do the obvious and check the weather before your shoot. Official weather predictions can be wrong, but are more often right. If the chance of rain is high, prepare to either cancel the shoot or work around it. If you do decide to shoot in bad weather, adapt your camera to it. Commercial rain gear is sold for many cameras. These are soft but strong plastic enclosures that protect equipment from moisture and even have hand-holes for accessing controls. Some people use an underwater housing (soft or hard) to protect their camera in downpours.

And don't forget wet gear for yourself. Get yourself an inexpensive disposable raincoat with a hood at a sporting-goods shop or the sporting goods section of your nearest discount center. These raincoats fold up smaller than an envelope, and can fit an one of the side pockets of your camera case. If you expect tougher outdoor weather, dress accordingly.

Dropping your equipment into salt water can ruin it beyond repair. An underwater housing can be a great idea, even when shooting on the water's surface.

Outdoor shooting sometimes takes you to unfamiliar territory. Don't rush. For example, when you're up to your knees in water, don't run with your expensive equipment. Losing an occasional shot beats losing your equipment.

Put together a camera kit for your outdoor shoots. Your camcorder's custom hard case may offer the best camera protection, but quick access can be a problem. And though these cases hold the camcorder well, they never seem to have enough room for accessories. A sturdy soft bag is your best bet. Keep your camcorder in the central and most protected position in the bag, but do this in a way that allows quick access for any surprise shots. Some videographers take the original Styrofoam molding from their camcorder's box and trim it to fit into the center section of the soft bag.

When outdoor shooters find a critical cable missing, there is no running into the next room to pick it up. Know what you need--and what you might need--ahead of time and bring it with you. You can integrate your outdoor survival kit into your camera bag by reserving separate sections of the bag for the camcorder, audio accessories, video accessories and power accessories.

In the audio-accessories section of your camera bag, pack at least one external mike and its associated connectors and adapters. The mike input on most camcorders is a stereo mini jack. Some external mikes have a stereo mini plug that matches this jack. But some mikes have different plugs, including XLR (or Canon) 3-pin, quarter-inch, and even micro. Mikes can be low or high impedance, balanced or unbalanced, and you must match these factors to your camcorder's mike input. The best way to be prepared is to gather the various connectors and adapters you would need to bring just about any kind of audio into your camcorder's mike input jack. Extension cables for your external mike are also handy to have.

At other times you might want to take sound from an external source, such as a mixing board at an outdoor concert. If your camcorder has line-level audio input(s), you can plug such a source directly into your camcorder. If not, you must reduce the line-level source to mike level with an attenuator cable or adapter. Radio Shack sells many of these adapters, including a handy little red 40db attenuator that reduces line level to mike level.

Finally, pack a compact set of headphones in your bag. Some of the new earplug-style headphones can really fit the bill.

Begin the video-accessory section of your survival kit with filters. Filters can open a whole new world to the videographer that is beyond this discussion. But at the very least, carry a polarizing filter. It is the single most important filter for outdoor shooting. It reduces glare from water or other reflective subjects, and in general can help manage contrast that gets to be too much for the camera to handle. Many videographers also carry a neutral-density filter to reduce light. This can also help reduce the depth of field. Some of the newest cameras include a built-in neutral-density filter. Learn when to use it outdoors.

Other video accessories you should pack include lens-care products: lens-cleaning fluid, no-lint lens tissue and a lens brush. And don't rely on one tape, even when the shoot is short. Cassettes can fail and stop the shoot; extra tape is a must. RCA cables for dubbing or plugging into a monitor are also a must. And don't forget an RF adapter for those times you may have to play video through an older TV without RCA jacks. Most new camcorders include this adapter. Also, carry a battery-operated light.

Your power-accessory section should contain batteries, an A/C adapter and battery charger, as well as a car cigarette-lighter adapter. Commercial battery companies sometimes sell adapters that will allow you to use store-bought double-A batteries to power your camera. It's expensive, but in an emergency it can save a shoot.

Other accessories you should carry at all times include high-quality duct tape, a knife, a few small screwdrivers and needle-nosed pliers. You might need to do some emergency work on your equipment or on location, and the right tool can save the day.

A final word about your survival kit: if something in your kit is really essential, consider having a backup, or at least think through a "work around" for dealing with a breakdown of that piece.

Excessive heat can ruin a camera almost as certainly as salt water. Don't leave your camcorder in direct sunlight in a car, or in a car trunk. On hot days these places can become a furnace.

Don't let the hot sun shine into your viewfinder for long periods. Some videographers have had their viewfinders warped by the heat.

"Safety first" should be your motto, especially when shooting in potentially dangerous conditions. Shooting a nice close-up of a rock climber is not worth broken limbs. Be especially careful around wildlife. There's something about a camcorder that seems to make people braver than they should be. Videographers have lost their lives trying to capture wildlife shots. Use your zoom, stabilizer and tripod rather than getting too close to danger.