Newbie to GoPro - Holiday vlogging
Discussion
Hi,
The wife and I have a big holiday coming up in March, a cruise around several Caribbean islands, and with neither of us getting any younger I want to try and get a bit more of a record of the trip than the usual rushed phone pictures we normally come back with.
I’ve always enjoyed travel blogs and so ordered a cheapo action cam from Amazon but since doing that and watching several YouTube footage comparison videos, I’ve ended up buying a GP Hero 9 from the GoPro site as there’s currently 15% or so off.
So now I’ve got a camera on the way with approximately 2 months to learn how to take a decent clip or 2. It will only be for me and the wife and close family to watch, I’m not trying to be the next YouTube sensation but would like to make the best effort I can.
So reason for my posting is for any tips/hints, as I said I really am a newbie so anything would help. I.e, What resolution should I be using, leave most settings to auto, when away do I need extra batteries, sd cards etc? Any recommended reading/you tube channels.
Where do I start? Any help would be appreciated, thank you
The wife and I have a big holiday coming up in March, a cruise around several Caribbean islands, and with neither of us getting any younger I want to try and get a bit more of a record of the trip than the usual rushed phone pictures we normally come back with.
I’ve always enjoyed travel blogs and so ordered a cheapo action cam from Amazon but since doing that and watching several YouTube footage comparison videos, I’ve ended up buying a GP Hero 9 from the GoPro site as there’s currently 15% or so off.
So now I’ve got a camera on the way with approximately 2 months to learn how to take a decent clip or 2. It will only be for me and the wife and close family to watch, I’m not trying to be the next YouTube sensation but would like to make the best effort I can.
So reason for my posting is for any tips/hints, as I said I really am a newbie so anything would help. I.e, What resolution should I be using, leave most settings to auto, when away do I need extra batteries, sd cards etc? Any recommended reading/you tube channels.
Where do I start? Any help would be appreciated, thank you
Cracking little camera.
A few things to invest in that will help improve what you shoot:
A gimbal (just search GoPro Gimbal and take your pick). These will smooth your clips beyond what the camera is capable of (the 9 version does have very good internal stabilisation but I find mechanical stabilisation to be nicer to look at).
A microphone - the internal mic on all GoPros are awful. Rode make some really good external mics that are specific to the camera.
A couple of spare batteries and a battery charger.
A little tripod.
I've also got a Scenelapse device - a little clockwork turntable that rotates the GoPro over a 30 or 60 minute period. You get some lovely timelapse panning shots of sunsets and cloud movement.
Might also want to get a second GoPro. Doesn't have to be the 9 - a second hand older one is fine and useful for capturing secondary scenes of the main shot you're going for that you can the edit in to the final film.
As for shooting, I'd leave it on auto. Unless you're a master at exposure or have specific creative intent, you could end up with a lot of work to do in the edit and/or unusable clips. I've often found that the GoPro works out the same exposure to what I'd get manually and any of the main editing platforms have the capability to tweak if the highlights or shadows are a little too much.
Don't record higher than 4k. In fact, you may well find that 1080 (HD) is perfectly sufficient and less memory hungry. Talking of which....
If you're taking a lap top, then you can offload clips as and when you need to from the card. But if not, then you'll need a couple of decent cards with decent memory. A couple of SanDisc 256GB V30 SDXCs should see you alright. You can also pick up additional one locally if you need them.
And a tip for shooting.... just because it's an action camera, doesn't mean every shot has to action like. If you're filming a beach, stick it on the tripod and let the scene move, not the camera. I see a lot of travel vlogs where the camera is constantly moving which becomes wearisome to watch after a short while.
Here's a couple I shot using the GoPro 6 - same thing you're looking at doing for inspiration: https://vimeo.com/293851644
And our trip to LeMans: https://vimeo.com/343067416
HTH - have fun!
A few things to invest in that will help improve what you shoot:
A gimbal (just search GoPro Gimbal and take your pick). These will smooth your clips beyond what the camera is capable of (the 9 version does have very good internal stabilisation but I find mechanical stabilisation to be nicer to look at).
A microphone - the internal mic on all GoPros are awful. Rode make some really good external mics that are specific to the camera.
A couple of spare batteries and a battery charger.
A little tripod.
I've also got a Scenelapse device - a little clockwork turntable that rotates the GoPro over a 30 or 60 minute period. You get some lovely timelapse panning shots of sunsets and cloud movement.
Might also want to get a second GoPro. Doesn't have to be the 9 - a second hand older one is fine and useful for capturing secondary scenes of the main shot you're going for that you can the edit in to the final film.
As for shooting, I'd leave it on auto. Unless you're a master at exposure or have specific creative intent, you could end up with a lot of work to do in the edit and/or unusable clips. I've often found that the GoPro works out the same exposure to what I'd get manually and any of the main editing platforms have the capability to tweak if the highlights or shadows are a little too much.
Don't record higher than 4k. In fact, you may well find that 1080 (HD) is perfectly sufficient and less memory hungry. Talking of which....
If you're taking a lap top, then you can offload clips as and when you need to from the card. But if not, then you'll need a couple of decent cards with decent memory. A couple of SanDisc 256GB V30 SDXCs should see you alright. You can also pick up additional one locally if you need them.
And a tip for shooting.... just because it's an action camera, doesn't mean every shot has to action like. If you're filming a beach, stick it on the tripod and let the scene move, not the camera. I see a lot of travel vlogs where the camera is constantly moving which becomes wearisome to watch after a short while.
Here's a couple I shot using the GoPro 6 - same thing you're looking at doing for inspiration: https://vimeo.com/293851644
And our trip to LeMans: https://vimeo.com/343067416
HTH - have fun!
Edited by StevieBee on Tuesday 3rd January 07:46
Edited by StevieBee on Tuesday 3rd January 07:50
StevieBee said:
Cracking little camera.
A few things to invest in that will help improve what you shoot:
A gimbal (just search GoPro Gimbal and take your pick). These will smooth your clips beyond what the camera is capable of (the 9 version does have very good internal stabilisation but I find mechanical stabilisation to be nicer to look at).
A microphone - the internal mic on all GoPros are awful. Rode make some really good external mics that are specific to the camera.
A couple of spare batteries and a battery charger.
A little tripod.
I've also got a Scenelapse device - a little clockwork turntable that rotates the GoPro over a 30 or 60 minute period. You get some lovely timelapse panning shots of sunsets and cloud movement.
Might also want to get a second GoPro. Doesn't have to be the 9 - a second hand older one is fine and useful for capturing secondary scenes of the main shot you're going for that you can the edit in to the final film.
As for shooting, I'd leave it on auto. Unless you're a master at exposure or have specific creative intent, you could end up with a lot of work to do in the edit and/or unusable clips. I've often found that the GoPro works out the same exposure to what I'd get manually and any of the main editing platforms have the capability to tweak if the highlights or shadows are a little too much.
Don't record higher than 4k. In fact, you may well find that 1080 (HD) is perfectly sufficient and less memory hungry. Talking of which....
If you're taking a lap top, then you can offload clips as and when you need to from the card. But if not, then you'll need a couple of decent cards with decent memory. A couple of SanDisc 256GB V30 SDXCs should see you alright. You can also pick up additional one locally if you need them.
And a tip for shooting.... just because it's an action camera, doesn't mean every shot has to action like. If you're filming a beach, stick it on the tripod and let the scene move, not the camera. I see a lot of travel vlogs where the camera is constantly moving which becomes wearisome to watch after a short while.
Here's a couple I shot using the GoPro 6 - same thing you're looking at doing for inspiration: https://vimeo.com/293851644
And our trip to LeMans: https://vimeo.com/343067416
HTH - have fun!
Nice video and good advice. How did you take off in the day but when in the plane it was night A few things to invest in that will help improve what you shoot:
A gimbal (just search GoPro Gimbal and take your pick). These will smooth your clips beyond what the camera is capable of (the 9 version does have very good internal stabilisation but I find mechanical stabilisation to be nicer to look at).
A microphone - the internal mic on all GoPros are awful. Rode make some really good external mics that are specific to the camera.
A couple of spare batteries and a battery charger.
A little tripod.
I've also got a Scenelapse device - a little clockwork turntable that rotates the GoPro over a 30 or 60 minute period. You get some lovely timelapse panning shots of sunsets and cloud movement.
Might also want to get a second GoPro. Doesn't have to be the 9 - a second hand older one is fine and useful for capturing secondary scenes of the main shot you're going for that you can the edit in to the final film.
As for shooting, I'd leave it on auto. Unless you're a master at exposure or have specific creative intent, you could end up with a lot of work to do in the edit and/or unusable clips. I've often found that the GoPro works out the same exposure to what I'd get manually and any of the main editing platforms have the capability to tweak if the highlights or shadows are a little too much.
Don't record higher than 4k. In fact, you may well find that 1080 (HD) is perfectly sufficient and less memory hungry. Talking of which....
If you're taking a lap top, then you can offload clips as and when you need to from the card. But if not, then you'll need a couple of decent cards with decent memory. A couple of SanDisc 256GB V30 SDXCs should see you alright. You can also pick up additional one locally if you need them.
And a tip for shooting.... just because it's an action camera, doesn't mean every shot has to action like. If you're filming a beach, stick it on the tripod and let the scene move, not the camera. I see a lot of travel vlogs where the camera is constantly moving which becomes wearisome to watch after a short while.
Here's a couple I shot using the GoPro 6 - same thing you're looking at doing for inspiration: https://vimeo.com/293851644
And our trip to LeMans: https://vimeo.com/343067416
HTH - have fun!
Edited by StevieBee on Tuesday 3rd January 07:46
Edited by StevieBee on Tuesday 3rd January 07:50
StevieBee said:
Here's a couple I shot using the GoPro 6 - same thing you're looking at doing for inspiration: https://vimeo.com/293851644
And our trip to LeMans: https://vimeo.com/343067416
HTH - have fun!
Edited by StevieBee on Tuesday 3rd January 07:46
Edited by StevieBee on Tuesday 3rd January 07:50
What’s the best software for editing, just stick with the GoPro Quik app?
It’s only for 10 days so wasn’t planning to take a laptop, just a few memory cards. I’m sure the wife wouldn’t take too kindly to me hunching over a laptop every evening!
Richtea1970 said:
StevieBee said:
Here's a couple I shot using the GoPro 6 - same thing you're looking at doing for inspiration: https://vimeo.com/293851644
And our trip to LeMans: https://vimeo.com/343067416
HTH - have fun!
Edited by StevieBee on Tuesday 3rd January 07:46
Edited by StevieBee on Tuesday 3rd January 07:50
What’s the best software for editing, just stick with the GoPro Quik app?
It’s only for 10 days so wasn’t planning to take a laptop, just a few memory cards. I’m sure the wife wouldn’t take too kindly to me hunching over a laptop every evening!
You'll probably spend most on the cards.
Editing.... If you have a Mac (or access to one), you will have iMovie which comes free with every Mac. Easy to learn, use and has some really neat tools and tricks. (Despite me spending most of my time these days on the pro-end of editing on Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve, I do still sometimes revert to iMovie for the speed and simplicity and the two videos I linked were both done on iMovie).
Not familiar with the GoPro Quick app but they all do basically the same thing in much the same way so give it a go.
I'm sure there will be a few who will suggest the free version of DaVinci Resolve - and with good reason, it is very very good. But I wouldn't start there if this is your first foray into video editing.
And if you do shoot in 4K, you'll need to have a decent chunk of RAM free on whatever computer you're using to edit.
The greatest talent of the beginner/amateur on holiday is to hose out miles of s
t footage, or at least repetitive footage. 'Here is a sunset, here is my wife standing next to a rock' etc. Think ahead to what you want the end result to be, and shoot accordingly. It's good taste to end each shot with the camera still, not to cut from a pan. Every shot should have a beginning, middle and end. Then when you come to the edit, you don't have 20 hours of crap that doesn't fit together.
PS Have a great holiday
t footage, or at least repetitive footage. 'Here is a sunset, here is my wife standing next to a rock' etc. Think ahead to what you want the end result to be, and shoot accordingly. It's good taste to end each shot with the camera still, not to cut from a pan. Every shot should have a beginning, middle and end. Then when you come to the edit, you don't have 20 hours of crap that doesn't fit together.PS Have a great holiday
All good advice again, thank you.
Yeah, I think that is one of my worries, that ill have 10 hours of footage and struggle to put together a 5 minute video! But I’m going to throw myself into it. As I said I’ve got a couple of months so I’m going to try to do some day trips here, get used to using the camera and setting up shots etc. I’m also a keen mountain biker so will be using the GoPro a lot for that too.
Yeah, I think that is one of my worries, that ill have 10 hours of footage and struggle to put together a 5 minute video! But I’m going to throw myself into it. As I said I’ve got a couple of months so I’m going to try to do some day trips here, get used to using the camera and setting up shots etc. I’m also a keen mountain biker so will be using the GoPro a lot for that too.
Richtea1970 said:
All good advice again, thank you.
Yeah, I think that is one of my worries, that ill have 10 hours of footage and struggle to put together a 5 minute video!
Don't sweat it. Just shoot. The more you have, the more options you've got to make the film with. Yeah, I think that is one of my worries, that ill have 10 hours of footage and struggle to put together a 5 minute video!
The Holiday Video has been a thing in our house for decades - from back when I had huge Panasonic M100 full size VHS camcorder! I look forward to trawling through what I've got and splicing something together - it sort of extends the holiday.
The one bit of advice is to get your wife to film you as well. My Mum recently had a load of tapes converted onto DVD and we spent some time watching them over Christmas. My Dad's been gone 12 years and was lovely to hear him again giving a running commentary on whatever he was filming along with his terrible jokes but would have been nicer still to have actually seen him on screen!
Have fun!
StevieBee said:
Don't sweat it. Just shoot. The more you have, the more options you've got to make the film with.
Or the more crap you have to wade through and delete... you may be the exception but I suspect most holiday videos never get edited or see the light of day because the shooter can't face working through all the footage.StevieBee said:
The one bit of advice is to get your wife to film you as well. My Mum recently had a load of tapes converted onto DVD and we spent some time watching them over Christmas. My Dad's been gone 12 years and was lovely to hear him again giving a running commentary on whatever he was filming along with his terrible jokes but would have been nicer still to have actually seen him on screen!
This is lovely. The good thing about this generation is that with everything being saved virtually, hopefully our family will be able to look back on our adventures with a similar fondness Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff