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the success of your video does not depend on the camera you use
UPGRADE YOUR SKILLS
Video Camera Training
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cinematographer • photographer • filmmaker

PIETER DE VRIES ACS

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Video Camera Training

Call 0418 169 955

Video Cameras

Still to Motion

For Business

For Journalists

Find out more

One-to-One & Small-Group Training

Cinematographer Pieter de Vries ACS will teach you the skills that you need to shoot stunning video. If you want to learn the technical and creative essentials and prefer learning at your own pace, then One-to-One is for you - it's the ultimate shortcut to the skills you need at a time that suits you. Training for small groups can also be arranged. Based in Sydney, training can be organised in other centers  READ MORE 

  

Structured for

Multi-Media Producers producing video for their company
Journalists keen to shoot their own news stories
Photographers wanting to port their skills to video
Shooter/Producers who plan to shoot documentaries
Video Bloggers using affordable equipment
Cinematographers needing an update on a camera

sbscadets

Matters of Depth and Mood - Tips

A number of recent visitors have enquired about what they see as a certain "depth" and "mood" in my regular "Good Morning" series of sunrise images. Do I use software filters? It's a question that often pops up. So that you can acheive this, I can break it down into three key practices:


1. Using Manual settings, adjust the exposure level for the brighter regions of the composed image - the brightest cloud for example. Close down the aperture or increase the shutter speed to bring detail and colour saturation into these often blown-out regions of the image. Allow other areas to appear under exposed - don't be afraid of the dark! These shadowy areas can be lifted later, and besides, that's how it is when the sun sits low in the sky. This is how I can convey "mood".


2. Seek out reflections and muted highlights and consider framing the scene from a low angle which additionally can bring depth-giving foreground objects into play. Wet sand and glistening rock surfaces offer subtle and not so subtle bright spots that are truely helpful. This is how I can convey "depth".

3. Importantly, if making adjustments in your editing software (that’s Adobe Lightroom for me), keep the overall brightness level down. Early morning light is different from mid-morning light. Under exposure of the image is far more effective at this time of the day. You won't need software filters.

Please see more of my Good Morning series here

Whale Beach sunrise

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Window light

I took this photo recently in a farmhouse not far from Saigon. I wanted to make the point of how a single window as a light source can works so beautifully for your cinematography and photography.

I loved the way the soft window light wrapped around these everyday things. Depth and the perceived sharpness of this image is defined by the shadows that light creates.

A single, ultra-soft light source set at some distance is a way to achieve a similar look. In lighting for the moving image too, you can learn more from looking at a shadow than you can by looking at the light.

A small window is best. Only a narrow shaft of soft light falls on the the table leaving the wall behind in beautiful deep shadow. Setting your exposure based on the lit areas of the composition means that these dark backgrounds and foregrounds stay as shadow, bringing the eye to the sweet spot in the image. Perfect for video sequences also.

 

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Singapore, Vietnam photography lecture series

I have been delivering a series of cinematography lectures on board Silversea Silver Shadow. Sailing from Singapore with port stops in Ho Chi Min City, Da Nang, Ha Long Bay and finishing in Hong Kong.

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Africa, Indian Ocean and Asian cinematography lecture series

I have been delivering a series of cinematography lectures on board Oceania Nautica. Sailing from Cape Town with port stops in Maputo Mozambique, Da Es Salaam, Mombassa Kenya, Zanzibar Tanzania, Seychelles, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and wrapping up in Singapore.

Please visit my gallery for more images from this assignment.

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Still to Motion training at top Sydney Ad agency

Some of the finest pro photographers at the BMF agency's amazing Sydney studio, this week took part in my Still to Motion course. BMF took home more awards than any other agency at the 2017 Australian Effie Awards. They also won the Effective Agency of the Year Award. BMF collected one Gold Effie Award, seven Silvers and one Bronze. I'm very proud to be training their staff photographers on ways to further improve their video production skills.

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Foxtel production gets the latest camera info

I’ve had a busy schedule these past eight weeks. Assignments in Japan, South Korea, China, Finland and Holland. Now back in Sydney, I'm taking reservations for training sessions into the new year.

Recent activities at my space at the National HQ of the Australian Cinematographers in North Sydney have been a mix of One-to-One training with a number of photographers and cinematographers plus one of my regular camera technical updates for the production unit at Foxtel.

This session featured Sony F65, F55, FS7Mk2, Sony A7R Mk2, Canon C300 Mk2 cameras and the brilliant new Sony RX0 miniature camera. There also was a selection of drones and gimbals. Contributions from Angelo Boutsalis from Dragon Image and Sony Australia's Anthony Kable.

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Pieter de Vries Captures the Antarctic with the Sony PXW-FS7 4K

Earlier this year I returned from Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego after participating in a twenty-day expedition to Antarctica. The Homeward Bound Project has gathered the first 76 of a targeted 1,000 women from around the world, all with critical science backgrounds, to undertake a year-long state-of-the-art program to develop their leadership and strategic capabilities, using science to build conviction around the importance of their voices.

This article for Content and Technology magazine looks at the range of camera technology used on this assignment.

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Assignment Helsinki: Presenting IMAGO Best Cinematography award

awardwinnerOctober 2017: It was a brilliant night in Helsinki. I had the pleasure of presenting the award for Best Cinematography Documentary Films to Polish cinematographer, Lukasz Zal for his work on "Ikon" This is a feature-length documentary portrait of a provincial psychiatric hospital population. For the first time in the history of one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Siberia a film crew could see the daily life behind high walls.

Our other winners on the night were Fabian Wagner BSC ASC for TV Drama, "Game of Thrones – The Winds of Winter" and Seamus McGarvey BSC for the Feature Film "Nocturnal Animals".

Congratulations to the winners and to all the nominees. There was some extraordinary cinematography up on the screen.

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IMAGO winners

Assignment: Japan, Sth Korea & China cinematography lecturers

September & October 2017: I have been presenting lectures to guests on the US based Silversea cruise ship, the Silver Shadow. The talks centred on my photography and cinematography. This three week assignment included Tokyo, Hiroshima, Shimizu and Ishikagi (Japan) Seoul and Busan (South Korea) Beijing, Tianjing and Shanghai (China).

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"Framing the World" Photo Exhibition in Poland

I've been selected to exhibit two of my images to represent the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) at an international photography exhibition in Poland.imagophotoexhibit To help celebrate the 25th anniversaries of the Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography and IMAGO — the Federation of European Cinematographers — a selection of images taken by members will be showcased during the upcoming festival, held November 11-18 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Creating images is the art and profession of cinematographers and many cinematographers are also creators of still images.

This exhibition will showcase how cinematographers from all around the world work with visual artistry in artistic composition, visual motifs, contrast, colour or black-and-white when it comes to still images. https://theasc.com/news/asc-imago-joint-photo-exhibition-to-be-must-see-at-camerimage

 

Raju Baba Pieter de Vries Tribal Dancer Pieter de Vries

Assignment: Antarctica

November/December 2016: I have returned from Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego after participating in a twenty-day expedition to Antarctica. Homeward Bound has gathered the first 76 of a targeted 1,000 women from around the world, all with critical science backgrounds, to undertake a year-long state-of-the-art program to develop their leadership and strategic capabilities, using science to build conviction around the importance of their voices.
The inaugural program culminated in the largest-ever female expedition to Antarctica with a focus on the leadership of women and the state of the world. A ninety minute feature length documentary is being produced by Glacial Productions and it's the reason we were onboard. Our crew: sound recordist Gary Lacroix, second camera and drone operater Dale Cochrane, gimbal camera operator Kess Broekman-Dattner and director IIi Baré. Filming for Homeward Bound (working title) will continue in 2017.
 

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Cinematographer & drone pilot Dale Cochrane
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Expedition ship MV Ushuaia, Paradise Bay Antarctica
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Bailey Head, Deception Island Antarctica
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Homeward Bound Antarctica team, Paradise Bay

 

Assignment: Myanmar & Malaysia

October/November 2016: The face of a new generation in Myanmar is this young market girl. Such generous and welcoming people make up this still desperately poor nation. It is a wonderful place to roam with a camera.

 
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