It’s that time of year when relatives like to dust off the home video cameras to capture the happenings at holiday gatherings. Typically, the quality of said videos is, well, unfortunate. And now that most mobile phones have video cameras built into them, you can expect to see more and more grainy, shaky video. Now, we realize a “home video” isn’t supposed to look like a professional shot it, but here’s a few quick tips on how to improve the quality, if just a little bit:
Lighting, lighting, lighting. Just flipping an overhead light on can make a big difference. Dark, candle-lit ambience looks lovely in person, but it doesn’t work on camera. The more light, the better the video will be. Also, try to avoid pointing the camera at a window (or pull the shades), to avoid the silhouette-effect. And when in doubt, go outside. When the sun is up, natural light rarely fails.
Slow, steady movements. When I was a kid, my mom had a habit of whipping the camera around so fast, it made you dizzy. (Sorry, mom.) Just slow it down a bit when you pan the camera from one side of the room to another. And if you can steady yourself on the back of a chair, for example, to reduce the shakiness, all the better.
Keep it short and sweet. Let’s face it. Who actually sits down and watches hours upon hours of Uncle Frank shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth? Try to edit “in camera” as much as possible. You certainly don’t want to miss a golden moment, but a table of dinner scraps probably isn’t going to be one of them. And now, thanks to smartphones, most folks have editing capabilities right at their fingertips. Learn how to use them, to cut out the boring stuff. That will help you better organize your most important moments, not to mention free up memory space on your phone.
Home videos capture life’s milestones. Why not make them look as good as possible? Good luck, and happy holidays!