Sound Advice: Sounding it Out(doors)

Shooting outdoors is often a two-edged sword. On the one hand, you've usually got plenty of light, thanks to the sun and you usually have plenty of space in which to move. On the other hand, because you are outside, you have to contend with an unpredictable environment. Obviously, bad weather can throw a considerable wrench into your shooting situation. But there are a number of manmade audio obstacles that you might experience outdoors too.
So how do you get good sound when shooting in the great outdoors? Let's look at a series of problems that accompany outdoor shooting and discuss solutions to neutralize them quickly and effectively so can record the best quality sound possible.

The Big Blow

Problem - Wind Noise: Sometimes you may feel as if Mother Nature is playing the Big Bad Wolf; she'll huff and she'll puff and she'll try to blow your shoot down. Gusty winds can wreak havoc with your audio by introducing the sounds of turbulence to your soundtrack. As wind moves across your microphones, the turbulence that results is recorded as a loud, static-like thumping sound. Not only will it be annoying, it will drown out any other sounds you may actually be trying to record. In addition, wind noise plays games with your camcorder's automatic gain control (AGC). AGC automatically adjusts your camcorder's audio levels to the loudest sound in the environment. Your automatic gain system cannot distinguish between the sound of the wind and the sound of your subject's voice: to your AGC, wind noise is simply sound. When a gust of wind hits the mike, the system will drop your levels to compensate for the loud sound of the wind. As a result, your levels will rise and fall at the whim of the wind, and your subject's voice will be lost in the torrent.

Solution - Sock it, Block it or Move:
Fortunately, dealing with wind noise is relatively easy. First, head out to your local A/V store and buy a foam windscreen for your mike. You know, those puffy foam covers that you see on the hand-held mikes that reporters and singers use. They're inexpensive and they eliminate a good deal of wind noise. In a pinch you can grab a sock from your dresser drawer and put it over your mike. You would be surprised at how well it works to dampen the wind's turbulence. Of course, showing your tube-socked mike on screen could blow your reporter's credibility.
If a windscreen doesn't do the trick, try to rotate your setup (including mike, subject and camera) so that the wind doesn't blow across the microphone. If you are using a handheld or lavaliere mike, turn your talent's back to the wind. The talent's body blocks the wind and reduces wind noise. If you are using a camera-mounted mike, turn the camera operator's back to the wind. Re-orienting your setup may be all you need to do to deal with the problem.
In some cases turning your setup to compensate for wind direction isn't an option. The whole point of shooting at Niagara Falls is to have the falls in the shot. Rotating would ruin your composition. In cases like this, have someone hold up a reflector, some foam core or a piece of cardboard to shield the microphone from the wind's flow. Just make sure that you keep it out of the shot.<…