One of the obstacles I had to figure out when I got my very first and only DSLR, was to figure out how to get myself in focus when I wanted to shoot video of myself and I was alone.

Think about it, you are in front of a camera and there is no one [...]]]>

One of the obstacles I had to figure out when I got my very first and only DSLR, was to figure out how to get myself in focus when I wanted to shoot video of myself and I was alone.

Think about it, you are in front of a camera and there is no one to help you and you must get yourself focused or your video will turn out like crap.

The method is pretty easy actually and you can do it also no matter what type of DSLR you own.

In a nutshell, let me tell you how I do it and you can also watch my video and I demonstrate the method I use.

This method is especially helpful if you want to place yourself in focus and blur out your background for a good depth of field.

If you are making such a video like that, your focus is very critical.

First thing, make sure your DSLR is in the autofocus mode for taking still photos.

Yep, we are going to take a photo of ourself before we make a video.

The first thing you are going to do is to take a photo of yourself and use the self timer or a remote controller.

This action will actually set the focus of the camera for the spot in which you will be making your video.

Check your photo to make sure you are in focus. If you are, the battle is won and you can go about making your video with confidence that you will be in focus and looking great.

Now, don’t move your camera, just put it in video mode.

When you hit the record button, just make sure that you are standing or sitting in the very same spot in which you took your initial photo.

You should be in great focus and your video will look great.

Check out my video and you can see exactly how I do this with my DSLR which is a Canon 60D by the way.

Shooting HD video with my Canon DSLR is always fun and I always look for those opportunities.

I like to find things to shoot that may be a little different or from different viewpoints and angles.

The cool thing about owning a DSLR that has video capabilities, is that you are always prepared to [...]]]>

Shooting HD video with my Canon DSLR is always fun and I always look for those opportunities.

I like to find things to shoot that may be a little different or from different viewpoints and angles.

The cool thing about owning a DSLR that has video capabilities, is that you are always prepared to take photos or video.

I shoot with a Canon 60D and this camera produces some awesome DSLR video results.

You do not have to have professional skills to get great results with a DSLR.

A lot of people associate DSLR’s with professional photographers. This is not the way you should be thinking.

I think you should be thinking results. What equipment can I use to get the best photographic and video results based on my budget?

The drawback may be cost for a lot of people. My 60D set me back around $1200.

What sold me on the 60D was the articulating screen. I knew I would be able to get some great photos and video from some awkward angles.

As with everything, there are drawbacks to DSLR video. For one thing, there is not an autofocus that you would normally find on a regular video camera.

With that aside, the HD quality and the articulating screen of the Canon 60D can make for some interesting video.

Below is a video of a toad in my backyard that I would not have been able to get without the assistance of the articulating screen.

To get the shot, I simply placed the camera on ground in front of the toad and flipped the screen up towards me so I could see what I was doing.

I pressed the autofocus button and put the focus square on the toad. When it went green, meaning I had achieved focus, I hit the record button.

The results are pretty good. This DSLR produces a very good depth of field. Notice that the blades of grass in the foreground and background are blurry and out of focus.

If you own a DSLR that also shoots video, go out and practice and see what kind of results you can get.

If you want to improve all of your videos, I think the easiest way is to improve your video equipment.

You can’t go wrong if you start shooting video with a DSLR.

The more videos I shoot with my Canon 60D, the more impressed I am and in a lot of ways, it’s [...]]]>

If you want to improve all of your videos, I think the easiest way is to improve your video equipment.

You can’t go wrong if you start shooting video with a DSLR.

The more videos I shoot with my Canon 60D, the more impressed I am and in a lot of ways, it’s more fun.

DSLR video comes with challenges of it’s own. To get great video, it’s no longer simply pointing a camera and hitting the record button.

Shooting with a DSLR really makes you think and you must get to know your equipment better. I’m an advocate of learning the equipment you are using but I’m also human.

Sometimes I want to take a shortcut and just start making videos without digging deeper into how my camera works.

The video that I’m posting is from a recent trip to the park with my Grandson. When I’m with him, I usually have my 60D around my neck.

We ran across what seemed to be a pretty friendly Dragonfly lighting on the asphalt.

I used the opportunity to try and get some close-up video.

Here are the details of how I quickly set my Canon 60D to get the shot.

DSLR Video Tips

• Turn dial to video mode, this is actually easy to forget.
• I went to landscape mode
• Monochrome mode, I thought black & white would be cool.
• Manual mode, this mode allows you to focus on a subject and the background gets blurry.
• 1920 x 1080 30 frames per second. Widescreen baby!

I got the camera as close to the Dragonfly as possible. I was about 6 inches away.

Hit the autofocus button and put your focus square on the Dragonfly. When it goes green, hit the record button.

From there, you just try to hold it steady. DSLR’s usually do not have an autofocus feature so you have to maintain the same distance to your subject or you can easily go out of focus.

The best rule of thumb I use when shooting DSLR HD video, is to focus…shoot…stop. Focus…shoot…stop.

Anyway, you do not have to be a professional or have professional abilities to get the kind of results that look like you are a pro videographer. Let the equipment work for you.

Check out my Canon HD Dragonfly video. If you already have a DSLR that shoots video, I encourage you to get out of automatic mode and start experimenting with manual.

Go have some fun shooting some HD DSLR video.

If you are into photography at all, it’s certain that you have heard of Adobe Lightroom.

Lightroom is sort of Adobe Photoshop light. Pro’s and amateurs use Lightroom and I myself recently bought Lightroom at a huge discount.

You can easily do a search and find a lot of Lightroom tutorials all over the [...]]]>

If you are into photography at all, it’s certain that you have heard of Adobe Lightroom.

Lightroom is sort of Adobe Photoshop light. Pro’s and amateurs use Lightroom and I myself recently bought Lightroom at a huge discount.

You can easily do a search and find a lot of Lightroom tutorials all over the internet, especially on YouTube & Vimeo.

I want to give you a site today that offers a free Lightroom tutorial that is very comprehensive and hopefully will make you more of an expert.

Adobe Lightroom is a much simpler program to use than Photoshop.

Many pro photographers use Lightroom for their workflow and never actually take a photo into Photoshop for additional work.

One of the best ways to learn software is through a comprehensive video tutorial.

This free Lightroom course contains 11 Lightroom tutorials that takes you all the way through the Lightroom workflow.

Here is a sample and is actually the very first video in the Lightroom tutorial series.

Go now to Shutha.com to watch professional free Adobe Lightroom tutorials.

I am constantly watching movies and videos on my computer with the QuickTime player.

The Apple Quicktime player is probably the internet’s most universal video player and you will find it on Mac’s and PC’s.

It’s a great player that does a lot more than allow you only to watch videos.

Did you know [...]]]>

I am constantly watching movies and videos on my computer with the QuickTime player.

The Apple Quicktime player is probably the internet’s most universal video player and you will find it on Mac’s and PC’s.

It’s a great player that does a lot more than allow you only to watch videos.

Did you know that you can directly upload a QuickTime movie file directly to YouTube without going to YouTube?

As a matter of fact, the QuickTime player will allow you to directly upload videos to Facebook, Vimeo, Flickr & iTunes.

What is the benefit in doing this? It may be a little bit of a time-saver for you. For my example, I have QuickTime Pro version 10 installed on my iMac.

The process is simple. At the top of your browser while you have the QuickTime player open, click “share” and choose where you want to upload the video.

You will see multiple choices. For this illustration, I will choose YouTube.

Select YouTube and you will get a drop down asking you for your log-in details.

Once you sign in, you will get another drop down and you will fill out all of the information including title, description and tags.

Click the next button. This page will be mostly informational and there will be a share button. Once you click the share button, the upload process to YouTube will begin.

You can see the blue progress bar for YouTube.

It’s just that simple. You actually do not have to log into the YouTube website to upload a QuickTime video file.

Using this process, you do not have to convert to Quicktime or select a particular video format. It means if you are already watching a video on QuickTime, the video is ready to be uploaded in it’s current version.

If you do not have the QuickTime player on your computer, click here to download.

I recently upgraded one of my WordPress sites to version 3.3.1 and immediately discovered a problem with the update.

The “link” button inside my WordPress editor did not work.

When I would highlight my text that I wanted to add a hyperlink to, nothing happened.

This was aggravating to say the least.

I [...]]]>

I recently upgraded one of my WordPress sites to version 3.3.1 and immediately discovered a problem with the update.

The “link” button inside my WordPress editor did not work.

When I would highlight my text that I wanted to add a hyperlink to, nothing happened.

This was aggravating to say the least.

I found a solution to the problem and maybe this will help you also in case you find your WordPress editor not working properly after an upgrade.

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure which step fixed the problem of my link button not working in the editor so I recommend that you try what I did.

You can try these steps in no particular order to see what works for you.

I don’t think there is a right way or wrong way.

Got to your WordPress dashboard and click “updates.”

Re-install your version of WordPress. It only takes a few moments.

Now, go to a “new post” and check to see if the link button will work now.

If it works, you are done. If not, keep going.

In my case, I’m using the Google Chrome Browser. I want you to clear your browser of cookies and browsing history.

This next step may get rid of junk and bad code residing inside your browser which may be causing the problem.

• In Chrome, at the top right, click the wrench icon.
• Next, go to “under the hood.” Click, “clear browsing data.”
• Check “empty the cache” and “delete cookies.”
• Select “from the beginning of time.”

Once that is complete. It would be a good idea to log out of WordPress and log back in.

Go back to your WordPress dashboard and go to a new post to test the link button.

I have a sneaky suspicion that it will work for you now.

I want to share with you a quick and easy tip on how you can share a large video file online with someone.

Most of our first thoughts would be to just send someone an email and attach the file.

You have probably heard of a file sharing service, but even that is not necessary.

There are times when you may need to rotate a quicktime video, especially if you receive a video by email and it’s not orientated correctly.

In other words, the video needs to be flipped 90 degrees so you can view it without turning your head.

So many people have smartphones and they like to send [...]]]>

There are times when you may need to rotate a quicktime video, especially if you receive a video by email and it’s not orientated correctly.

In other words, the video needs to be flipped 90 degrees so you can view it without turning your head.

So many people have smartphones and they like to send quick videos.

You receive a video in your email and you have to turn your head 90 degrees just to view it.

You may want to save the video to your computer or share it on social media but you don’t want to post a video until you can rotate it properly.

Here is a screen shot of a video I received on email. As you can see, it came to me sideways and I need to rotate it at least 90 degrees.

I received this video on email, and I want to flip it 90 degrees.

Ok, so here is how to rotate a video in QuickTime. Only takes a few seconds.

In my case, I work on a Mac, so I right-clicked the video and chose to view it in Quicktime.

I have Quicktime Pro installed on my MacBook. The pro version gives you a lot more options and flexibility. The pro version of Quicktime only cost $29.99 from Apple. If you work on a Mac. it’s well worth the money.

Here is the video when I opened it up in Quicktime on my Mac.

Now I want to turn this video 90 degrees.

Your next step is to click “window” at the top of your browser, and click the video properties. A new window will pop up. Click the video track and you can see the option to flip and rotate the quicktime video. You can also see that you have some other options to make changes to the video.

Below is a screenshot of my video after I rotated it 90 degrees.

Now my quicktime video is suitable to watch and I can even share it on social media and no one has to turn their heads 90 degrees.

Using Google Picasa is one of the easiest ways to make and share a free photo slideshow.

No need to pay when you have access to a great photo slideshow maker.

If you do not already have one, start a free Picasa account.

If you are on a PC or Mac, you will [...]]]>

Using Google Picasa is one of the easiest ways to make and share a free photo slideshow.

No need to pay when you have access to a great photo slideshow maker.

If you do not already have one, start a free Picasa account.

If you are on a PC or Mac, you will be prompted to download a convenient application that will run on your computer.

You can work with Picasa online from your Picasa account or you can work directly from the application on your computer.

Picasa is a very decent free photo software program in it’s own right and you can do it all online.

Free online photo slideshow

For this example, I’ll show you the steps from my online Picasa account.

I have uploaded a group of pictures from my trip to San Diego. I have grouped them together in one folder.

Look to your right-hand sidebar and copy the embed code. You will use this code to embed your slideshow on a web page.

Here is your next pop-up window. This window allows you to set different options for your slideshow.

Now just copy the embed code.

Paste the embed code on a web page for a great and free photo slideshow to share your amazing photographs.

We all enjoy those apps on our smartphones, laptops and tablets. These applications have become second nature to us.

We simply go to our app stores, click an app that is either free or paid and it downloads immediately.

We start using the app that may bring us enjoyment or possibly help our business or [...]]]>

We all enjoy those apps on our smartphones, laptops and tablets. These applications have become second nature to us.

We simply go to our app stores, click an app that is either free or paid and it downloads immediately.

We start using the app that may bring us enjoyment or possibly help our business or personal life in some way.

Most likely, we never give any thought to how this app was developed, who developed it and how did they raise money for their venture?

There are a lot of software developers who have great ideas but need financial help to develop their software.

One such company is SteamKeg.

SteamKeg is a mobile application geolocation game for your smartphone and they are seeking funding on KickStarter.

KickStarter is a website built to help companies fund their projects. Individuals like you and I can donate funds to causes that appeal to us.

KickStarter funding is not loans, it’s actual donations. The owner of the projects seeking funding generally make some sort of offer to those who donate based on the amount of the contribution.

SteamKeg looks promising with it’s geolocation feature.

Check out the video below as it shows the software developers making their pitch for funding.

If you would like further details and are interested in helping to fund this project, visit their SteamKeg page.