Category: Gear

A recent study by Google and YouTube found that 84% of viewers say they’d rather watch a video with clear audio and mediocre visuals than a beautifully shot video with bad sound. So if you’re making videos, choosing the right microphone is one of the most important things you can do. But here’s the thing—there’s…

Setting up professional-looking YouTube lighting doesn’t have to be expensive. When I first built my studio, I made some mistakes and wasted money on lighting that didn’t work well. In this post, I’ll walk you through my budget-friendly lighting setup that delivers pro results for under $300—and I’ll show you how to avoid common mistakes…

Perfectionism: A Creative’s Greatest Struggle If you’re a photographer, videographer, writer, or any kind of creative, you’ve probably been here before—pouring your heart into a project, tweaking and refining every little detail, hoping to get it just right. You want your work to represent the best of what you can do. It’s your passion, your…

In mid-2024 Panasonic released the new XLR2 adapter alongside the Lumix GH7 camera. With that combination, it’s the first camera that allows you to record 32-bit float audio directly in your video files. But what if you have a different Lumix camera? Panasonic has released firmware updates that allow you to use the XLR2 adapter…

Shooting corporate documentaries and cooking videos for a number of years, I started off with a larger shoulder rig, but these days I’ve landed on a pretty minimalist camera rig with only the essential components to help me capture good b-roll. Today I wanted to share this set up with you, and hopefully give you…

For solo filmmaking and travel vlogging the DJI Raveneye can work as a standalone image transmitter allowing you to control and monitor your camera from a distance. My DJI gimbal didn’t come with a Raveneye, so I bought the standalone image transmitter kit.  In this unboxing video, I also test if I can use it…

Well, that didn’t last very long. A few weeks ago I made a video talking about my “solution” for a travel tripod. I chose to use this Ulanzi MT-33 instead of my Peak Design carbon fiber travel tripod. And to be fair, most of the features of this compact flexible tripod worked as intended, so…

I was so wrong about White Balance. I thought I could dial in the Kelvin light temperature setting on my camera, and *bam* I’d have perfect colors. It’s setting to an exact value, so it’s the most accurate way to set colors. Right? Wrong; and because of that I caused myself years of color correction…

I usually take a tripod when I travel. While it can be troublesome to carry around, sometimes it’s necessary to get the shot I want. But every tripod is makes trade-offs, so finding the right tripod for travel can be tough. Today I’m looking at the $650 Peak Design carbon fiber tripod, and the $26…

I’m not really an audio guy, but I do know that good audio is super important; and bad audio can literally ruin your video. As a solo video creator, a lot of times I’m focused on capturing the visual action that is happening. I do set up my audio equipment, but I just rely on…