My ULTIMATE Desktop Set Up for Photography, Content and Zoom ( YouTube LIVE )
I'm often asked about the kit / hardware I use every day for photography , content and live streaming so in this video I'll go through the lot; EVERYTHING I use that makes editing (photography& video) and streaming so much easier.
You can see all of the kit I go through over on my GEAR page.
RØDE Wireless GO II ... A small but BIG Improvement
*Note … this article contains Affiliate Links
I love my RØDE Wireless GO II microphones but just over a year ago I (temporarily) moved away from using them for 2 main reasons …
The Clip
No Charging Case
I ended up buying the DJI Wireless Microphone set which like the RØDE comes complete with 2 x Transmitters, 1 x Receiver BUT also a magnetic clip AND a charging / storage case.
So what’s the big deal about a magnetic clip ?
Well, it’s the fact that you can mount the transmitter so much easier onto your clothing.
With a standard clip you need a lapel for it to hold onto which is fine if you have one, otherwise you need to clip it onto your neckline / collar if you’re wearing a T-Shirt.
The problem doing this is that as you move your head a little, your chin / neck can rub against the transmitter.
Having a magnetic clip means you can put the magentic block on the inside of your clothing and the transmitter on the outside, attaches to it and you’re good to go.
This along with the charging / storage case you would think would make the DJI Wireless Microphones my go to, however I’ve never been happy with the audio quality from them.
The microphones seem to have quite a bad ‘noise floor’ in my opinion (and others I’ve seen) and this gets even worse when you increase the gain, which you need to do. This ends up with you having to do extra processing on the audio to improve it in Adobe Audition, and even then the audio just never sounds as good as the RØDE.
Happy Accident
So very recently whilst browsing the RØDE website looking at some new products (RØDE NT1 5th Generation Microphone and the RØDE Caster Duo) purely by chance I ended up scrolling through the Accessories section and that’s when I stumbled upon this … RØDE MagClip GO Magnetic Clip attachment for the RØDE Wireless GO II and Wireless ME …
This is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for; in fact I’d even drawn up a sketch of the very same and was going to get in touch with RØDE to see if they would make something like it, but it turns out they already have and it works a treat!
All you have to do is to slide the metal sleeve over the clip on the Wireless GO II and then use the the magentic block just as you would with the DJI WIreless Microphones to attach anywhere on your clothing.
Fantastic!
Now you might be thinking … “ Why not just stick the transmitter in your pocket and use a Lav Mic? “
Well there’s a couple of reasons …
Convenience. Having to feed a cable through your clothing so that you can have a Lav Mic, is well, a pain in the a$$. The cable can get caught on clothing as you move, you have to keep taking the transmitter out of your pocket to turn it off and on inbetween recordings and all of this just makes it less user friendly and again being honest, less desire to use them. Just being able to quickly place the transmitter on your clothing and be up and running is so much better!
A decent Lav Mic isn’t cheap. These transmitters are superb. The audio quality is outstanding so I don’t want or need to have to buy an extra Lav Mic to fit into them if I don’t have to. Plus the quality of the transmitters being as good as they are I wouldn’t want to use a cheap Lav Mic; that would be like having a VERY expensive lens and putting a cheap ND filter on the front of it.
The MagClip GO works so well and makes these great little microphones even better, and at around £15 I totally think it’s worth it.
Needless to say, I’m back using my RØDE Wireless GO II’s and VERY happy.
Oh and the charging / storage case … watch this space 😉
Sony ZV-E1 | 3 REASONS why it's their BEST and CHEAPEST FULL FRAME CAMERA 😮
This is not a review of the Zv-E1 but a video showing WHY and HOW technology in the ZV-E1 means it's a shrnken FX3 but also means you don't need a gimbal, external microphones OR an assistant …
FINALLY got the BEST PHONE MOUNT ... no more WASTING MY MONEY!!!
I've wasted so much money on c&$p holders for my phone so that I can use it on my tripod, but I've finally found the BEST one on the market (in my opinion) for build quality, ease of use and value for money …
The ULANZI ST-27 ( LINK )
My NEW Favourite Phone Holder for my Tripod
Found my new favourite phone holder for mounting on my tripod … the ULANZI ST-27
Not exactly cheap but well worth it. VERY well made ( metal construction ). Slots straight into the ARCA mount on my tripod. Locks phone in place and separate turn knob to lock in vertical or horizontal.
Lately we’ve had few spells of high winds on the coast and I found that although the SmallRig I have been using is pretty stable on the tripod, the support for the phone itself I’ve never trusted 100%
This new holder though is rock steady on the tripod and the hold it has on the phone is VERY secure with a turn of the red metal dial The inner black metal dial you turn to lock the orientation of the phone ( vertical / horizontal )
. The fact that it is so small too is definitely a bonus!
Check it out on Amazon using the *link below …
*affiliate link
I PRINTED a 72" iPhone Photo and you WON'T BELIEVE THE RESULT !!!
Yes you read thar right … a 72” print of an iPhone photograph!
In this video I not only show ther print but also give you a look at the kit I used along with my favourite iPhone App for creating Long Exposure Photographs.
I also show what I used to upscale the original image more than 4 times, taking up to the final 72 inches!
The future of mobile photography is VERY exciting 📱😃
My Mobile Phone / Smartphone Photography Kit
With me doing more and more photography with my Smartphone (iPhone) these days, I often get asked what kit I use with it ... Phone Mount? Tripod? Trigger?
So I thought I’d share it here as well as adding it all into the GEAR Page where you’ll see ALL the kit I use for Photography and Video …
iPhone 14 Pro Max (1TB)
*To use the phone holders on my tripod, I purchased a few extra Arca Plates that screw into them
There’s also various apps I’m using so I’ll make sure to share details of those and any future kit I try out … especially as I intend to be doing some portrits using off-camera lighting triggered by my phone 😃
iPhone Photography: A Misty Morning at Lyme Regis in Dorset
The misty conditions last Wednesday were nothing short of perfect for some minimalist photography, so I popped out early morning and took the short drive to meet up with my friend Steve Healy down at my favourite of all places, Lyme Regis.
True to the weather apps, the conditions were as predicted; a wonderful misty morning, an incoming tide with the surface of the sea as flat as a sheet of glass, hardly a breeze in the air and looking out across the sea, at times it was almost impossible to see the distant horizon line.
Absolutely Perfect!
I should have sent a memo about dress code 🤣
Taking along minimal kit as I did when photographing the Prince of Wales Bridge a couple of weeks back, I stuck with using my iPhone 14 Pro Max, but this time made use of my new JOBY MagSafe Mount ( LINK )
This worked an absolute treat holding my iPhone rock steady and was so incredibly quick and easy to adjust and rotate from portrait orientation to landscape orientation …
Long Exposure Photography was definitely order of the day to enhance the calm, relaxing feeling of the light and the mist, and of course smooth out the water surface even more.
I’ve a few long exposure apps installed on my iPhone at the moment that I’m testing out to see which I prefer, but on this morning I opted again to use EvenLonger …
For the image above, I used a 60 second long exposure.
We then moved along to The Cobb, which looked incredible amongst the mist and surrounded by a glass flat high tide …
The tide was particularly high this morning, meaning the groin at the far end of The Cobb was much less visible.
In this image and the one above, you can really see how the mist made the horizon barely visible, which when combined with a long exposure worked, I feel, so incredibly well …
In each of these images you will have spotted that there were Gulls flying. To include these, once I had taken the long exposure, I then jumped back to the regular camera on my iPhone and waited for the moment when Gulls flew through the frame.
When they did I pressed the shutter a number of times using a Bluetooth Shutter Release which works a treat and only cost £3.99 off Amazon ( LINK )
99% of these images I edited in Lightroom Mobile and Photoshop on my iPad, but to add the Gulls I used Photoshop CC on my desktop as I needed to use a filter and (at the moment) that filter isn’t available in the mobile version of Photoshop.
That said though, the process was so incredibly easy editing on my iPad, and then because everything I do syncs automatically with every device I have Lightroom installed, I could then finish off on my desktop without having to export anything or import from memory cards.
Everything I do on any device be it my iPhone, iPad or Desktop, syncs across each other making it instantly available everywhere.
Oh and the text and graphics were added using Adobe Express …
So another incredibly relaxing morning out taking photographs with my iPhone.
Minimal kit. No swapping out lenses. No attaching filters. No cables.
All of this for me makes for such a wonderful experience, enabling me to relax and just enjoy being where I am and absorb the sights and sounds.
The experience of taking photographs just doesn’t get better!
The Backgrounds I use when Capturing Portraits
I’m often asked what backgrounds I use when taking portraits, and then when I say, I’m then asked which of the material choices I opt for.
WW2 Veteran Geoffrey Pulzer ( 29th Armoured Brigade , 11th Armoured Division )
Up until recently when Westcott released the Pro version of X-Drop Background Support System, there was just the choice of Canvas or Vinyl, and I ALWAYS opted for the Canvas.
Although not actually canvas, but rather a canvas effect, the material choice is way better as it doesn’t have any shine to the surface at all so you don’t suffer with hot spots when using lights.
So, Canvas was and is always the choice I go for.
Now though, with the introduction of the X-Drop Pro things have defintiely upgraded.
The X-Drop has always been a VERY portable system however if you opted for a background other than the washable material, the backgrounds themselves came in a long cardboard tube and that’s how they had to be transported.
Not now though with the X-Drop Pro as this also introuduces a new material background; the same VERY popular backgrounds but now in a machine washable material meaning you can fold it down making it very small, and like the X-Drop Pro Support Stand, VERY portable.
The new X-Drop Pro Backgrounds also come in a larger size so as well as the 5’ x 7’ , there’s also 8’ x 8’ … and you can use the X-Drop Pro Support Stand for both!
So, 5’ x 7’ is the one I use the most becuase it’s a great size forusing when not in a studio, and I use the new X-Drop Pro material version because it makes the whole background so incredibly portable.
Here’s Brnadon from Westcott showing the X-Drop Pro and how to easily fit the new foldable and washable X-Drop Pro Backgrounds …
Hope that helps,
Glyn
Note:
For folks in the UK, Carmarthen Cameras are the Offiical Westcott Stockist / Supplier, so if you give them a shout, ask for Krish … a great guy and a great friend!