9 great Gadgets for 2016

9 great Gadgets for 2016

There are tools, apps, gadgets that make our life easier, more productive and better organized. Let me share 9 gadgets that are (almost) always on me:

1. Skeletool – Leatherman’s multi-purpose tool has only a few functions, but this analog tool is a thing of beauty. I’ve rarely seen an instrument that is so well thought out and put together as this one is. The Skeletool gadget is always in my pocket (unless I’m flying). It’s masterful design is a beauty to behold, but it’s very simplicity belies the real usefulness: a solid set of multi function pliers, a strong blade, a set of 4 screwdrivers (you gotta see how the one you’re not using is stored – it’s amazing), a bottle opener / carabiner is worth carrying around 5 oz of steel.
2. iPhone 6s – Apples phones carry an insane amount of customizable apps on them, that I can almost not imagine working without one today. From shooting photos for scouting and live streaming directly from the phone, to integrating the mobile side of my business, the gadget is truly my virtual assistant.
3. Lifeproof case – has protected my iPhones since I bought the first iteration of this case for my iPhone 4 years ago. These cases are waterproof, they protect your phone from drops (the physical ones and the ones made from any liquid) and help you ensure that your phone survives the rigors of working in some pretty crazy environments. It’s the analog armor, that keeps my digital life protected. A gadget that protects another gadget, who knew.
4. LIV watch – in this digital world I love an analog time piece, that’s tough and stylish. Being on time is part of producing excellent work and there are so many other things I need to time (from long exposures of night shots to duration of time lapses) that this beauty keeps me punctual. Actually I feel bad calling this a gadget – it’s more a practical piece of Art (and one of my clients).
5. Evernote – is my digital memory. It holds electronic copies of my contacts, notes, creative briefs, ideas, … and so much more. It lives on my iPhone, when I’m not in front of the computer and is connected to my digital brain SalesForce, that also lives on my mobile device. Yup, gadgets can be digital as well.
6. Moleskine notebook – I’m a fan of writing, theres something to be said about putting pen(cil) to paper; actually there are studies out there that say you’ll remember something you wrote, better than something you typed. Drawings, sketches, scribbles, outlines, notes and so much more live in this paper notebook. Much of it is digitized and synced with Evernote. That app keeps on surprising me, especially when it actually can read my handwriting – it’s an old school gadget that’s actually quite brilliant.
7. GoalZero Switch 8 – power is something we never seem to have enough of and often we need to top off another power hungry gadget, that’s where this little USB chargeable battery comes in. It allows me to carry an extra charge for my phone or GoPro in my pocket.
8. Swiss Army cable – You gotta be able to get that power into your phone/camera/device though and carrying around a handful of charging cables kind of defeats the purpose. Here’s a cool USB charging cable, that bridges the digital generations: from the old 30 pin connection, via USB micro and the modern lighting adapter, this gadget can charge pretty much anything you throw at it.
9. BeastGrip – Ok. So this one’s not always on me, but it’s always in my bag. The beastgrip is the best gadget for your iPhone as it let’s you shoot stable video, add accessories like a monitor and an external mic, if you want to get serious. It also has a dedicated depth of field adapter, that let’s you film with your DSLR lenses. You wanna up your mobile video game? Look no farther than Beastgrip. It’s spring loaded clamp lets me use my iPhone inside my lifeproof case – a gadget inside a gadget inside a gadget – almost sounds like inception to me …

Analog and digital gadgets

I love both worlds – the break neck pace of digital, with all the productivity it offers and the old school analog world of notebooks and knives. What are the gadgets you can’t live without?

The philosophy behind riveting story telling: ASMP SB Story telling in Motion

Story trumps everything

Story is the most important part of any video. Great story trumps great visuals, amazing audio or an intricate edit every time. As a photographer you’ve been a visual storyteller for as long as you’ve captured still images, so I’m not gonna waste your time on how to craft visual content that tells a compelling story designed to change the viewers mind.

(If you want to learn more about that kind of story telling check out Alex Buono’s Visual Story Telling Tour that’s running through September 20th – don’t forget yourASMP member discount – or check out the How to Step Up Your Video talk I gave at WordCamp Miami this past May.)

3 ingredients necessary to create a powerful story

I believe the philosophy behind creating a powerful visual story is simple. It consists of three basic steps that, when followed, make your story irresistible. These three ingredients are simple to learn, yet difficult to execute. I discovered them when creating my first documentary in Afghanistan, shared them in my TEDx talk called The Art of Changing Minds and try to incorporate them into all of my video productions:

Step#1: Vision

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others – Jonathan Swift

Without vision you have no story. Without vision you are literally flying blind. How are you going to tell a story, if you don’t know how it ends, where it begins and what twists and turns there will be along the way? By the way, it was Aristotle who wrote that every story has a beginning, a middle and an end.

Your vision is imperative to transform your viewer. Without vision it’s the blind leading the blind. True vision can not be manufactured, it has to transform you first.

(As an aside, if all you have is vision – you’re a just dreamer. Someone with a great idea, who’s afraid of going out on a limb with his or her idea. You need the next step to get the driving force to help you get your dream off the ground.)

Step#2: Passion

If you don’t have a passion for what you do, any rational person is going to give up – Steve Jobs

Without passion your story is dull, boring, uninteresting and lame. Without passion your story is a carbon copy of someone else’s at best–a counterfeit clone at worst. How are you going to excite your audience, if you’re not sharing something that you deeply believe in? More importantly, where are you gonna get the strength to deal with the people who will discourage you from telling your story without having that fire in your belly? It’s easy to give up if all you hear is “No!” – unless you have passion driving your vision.

Your passion is vital to inspire your audience. Without passion you’re producing a story that’s gonna put everyone to sleep. True passion can not be faked. Passion has to inspire you first, before it inspires your audience.

(As an aside, if you have passion, without vision – you’re like a bull in a china shop. There’s a lot of noise, but nothing good is gonna come out of it. Shoot first and ask questions later does not work.)

Action

Your aspirations are in heaven, but your brains are in your feet – Afghan proverb

Without action your story is going to die. I don’t care how transforming your vision is and how inspirational your passion is; without taking action, you will fail. It’s as simple as that. Without action your story never gets told and an untold story is worth as much as an unprocessed piece of film.

Your action inspires, or breathes life into, your story. Without action your story remains lifeless and dead. It stays buried inside your head or entombed in some dusty screenplay or faded storyboard, that’s never gonna get shared. Great stories need you to get your head out of the clouds and get going.

The philosophy behind riveting storytelling

• Be a true visionary and create a transformative story, by staying true to your vision.
• Become a person of passion, who shares an inspirational story fueled by the burning passion in your gut.
• Take action! Produce an inspiring story that follows your vision, and combine it with passion to let it rip …

Pascal wins award of excellence for “On Wings of Hope” cinematography

On Wings of Hope beautiful cinematography wins "Award of Excellence"

"On WIngs of Hope" the 2013 documentary film produced by Photography by Depuhl in Afghanistan won the Award for Excellence for cinematography. 

​Award of excellence!

Videographer Awards today announced winners for the 2015 international awards competition. Videoawards.com recognizes outstanding achievement by talented individuals and companies in the video production field.

​Entrants include video production companies, advertising and public relations firms, corporate communication departments, cable and broadcast television operations, government agencies and other visual content producers.

Another award for "On Wings of Hope"

The Award of Excellence, the organization’s top honor, adds yet another award to the accolades this video production has received in the past years. On Wings of Hope was won the award for excellent cinematography.

5 Tips for Making a Killer Video From Your Phone

Craft your edit to step up your video

Editing puts the final touches on your video

So you got a story, recorded sound and captured visuals. Editing puts them all together into the masterwork you’ve been working one (oh, and you can also hide some mistakes and goofs in the edit). Learn how to step up your video from the talk I gave at WordCamp Miami a few weeks ago.

I spoke at #WCMIA as part of a MarketingHack#6: Speak to influencers that your target market trusts.

Visuals are great to step up your video

Visuals can communicate so much in video

Visuals are what we all think about when we think about video. As photographers we already know how to create them–I’ve been in the visual content creation business since high school. We need to learn to work some new tools and understand that visuals in video are not a split second in time, but we now need to create the whole moment. Learn how to step up your video from the talk I gave at WordCamp Miami a few weeks ago.

Next weeks video is all about editing

Next week we’ll dive into the last step of “How to step up your video: Edit“. Editing is were the story, the sound and the visuals all come together. This is the final piece in creating your video.

I spoke at #WCMIA as part of a MarketingHack#6: Speak to influencers that your target market trusts.

Video Lighting Workshop Move2Motion

It’s all about the light

There are many components, that go into a successful motion shoot and as photographers the one we are most familiar with is the visual portion of video. We learn very quickly that we must master story telling, audio recording and editing as well, but we often take the visual crafting of an image for granted–until we turn on that first continuous light source and quickly realize, it has very little in common with the strobes we’re all used to.

Get to know your video lights

This Move2Motion Video Lighting workshop will focus on the most commonly used lighting instruments in video production.It’s not designed to teach you how to light–we’re assuming you already know how to do that.

• Unsure of the difference between a open face par and a fresnel?
• Want to learn more about why a tungsten light renders a much better color than LED?
• Surprises that a fluorescent bulb can be have a color temperature of 3200ºK?
• Wondering why an HMI needs to be flicker free?

Then this workshop is for you. Join us and get ready to learn some theory, basic terminology and a hands on comparison of a variety of different continuous light sources. Bring your gloves – ’cause the lights get hot and your color meter – you do still have that, right?

Move2Motion Video Lighting Workshop details:

We’re working on planning this workshop, but it will be held in Miami in the middle of October. Stay tuned for pricing info, exact time and location. Move2Motion is offering 3 events in October that will all focus on video productions for photographers:

1. A panel discussion of photographers from different segments of our industry that talk about the role video plays in their space: commercial, advertising, weddings, press and corporate
2. A seminar for photographers that want to make video. Better. This is part of PPA’s Super1Day educational series. The cost for this seminar is $99. All payments will be handled via PPA signup.
3. Video Lighting Workshop – a workshop that gives you a hands on experience of continuous light sources used in video productions.

A huge shout out to our friends at Magic2Lighting, who are supplying the bulk of lighting and grip gear for this workshop. Special Thanks to BlueShape Batteries that are going to power all the portable lights. Stay tuned for more sponsors and event details.