New Design.

Learning more photoshop stuff...

New Videos

Local Flint Michigan Artist Rebekkah Joy's demo video. Actual music video coming soon!



Manic Productions Logo Animation, Created by Luke McKay



Hope you guys like these, I'll keep you updated as these progress along.
-Luke

Better Encoding Process and a New Player

Maybe I'm a bit behind the times, but I never checked this out because I assumed it was subscription based or required "coding" knowledge. Regardless, you should check out blip.tv

First Short of our Mexico Trip

Mexico Highlight Video from The Freedom Center on Vimeo.

Photography Class

Dark Dark.. Its Dark I can’t see! That is exactly what I was thinking, as I had to feel my way around getting the film out of the casing. The dark room is really well dark. They really should call it the pitch black room. I did fine but for a good while I was stumbling around trying to find the edges of the film roll. I finally found the edge to then pry the cap off the roll, and take the film out of its case. It was a really cool experience but really long. When I say long I mean it took four hours to get this single picture. This is my first 5x7 off of my first self developed roll of film. I hope you guys like it!


Soli Deo Gloria

Luke McKay

5 minutes with the new Canon 5D Mark II

5D for Dinner. Another boring 5D video test. from Tony Cece on Vimeo.

I just got my Canon 5D Mark II in the mail yesterday and quickly unboxed it to grab some footage as my wife and I prepared dinner. I briefly scanned through the manual and figured out how to record video and quickly started filming. With my limited knowledge about the features or best settings, I was surprised at how good the footage looked when I got it on my computer. I left the White Balance on Auto which didn't do a super job. The video is untouched except to compress for the web.

With little to no effort, people will be shooting amazing video on these things. I've already seen should mounts that have matte boxes and follow focus knobs/mechanisms. There are a lot of benefits for low budget film makers: great low light capabilities, low cost, availability of fast yet fairly inexpensive lenses, low rental prices. One drawback is the ability to follow focus. While you can use an external monitor through the HDMI port, the 1080i feed goes to 480p when actually recording. I found that it still helps, but when focus is critical you may have to do multiple takes. Audio isn't great, but that can be overcome by using a portable audio recorder to capture sound.

I still haven't spent a lot of time with it, but can tell that it will suit my current video needs. If you get a chance, find someone that has one and try it out.

****UPDATE****
After spending more time with the video mode on the 5D, I take back most of my comments above. You basically have no control over the ISO, Aperture, or Shutter Speed when shooting video. There are a few tricks to try to get what you want, but it is far from precise...and you lose the settings once you stop recording and have to try to get the same settings again. While you can get some amazing video on the camera, it will not meet most needs without other adapters and lenses that have aperture control built in. This still doesn't guarantee that you will get the shutter speed you desire. Until Canon releases a firmware update or a new model, this camera may or may not give you the shot that you hope to capture.

However, it is still great for people that need to grab a quick video and happen to have this camera. Photojournalists would fall into this category. When you need precision, stick to dedicated video cameras.

Here's more good reading about the video mode on the camera.  READ

While the video mode isn't perfect, the camera takes superb still photos.  The quality at high ISO 3200 & 6400 is astoundingly good.  For the first time, I am comfortable putting the ISO on Auto and setting the Aperture and Shutter I desire.  

Invite.

Just letting everyone know that our website is finally taking shape. Check it out and send some feed back. Thanks.