Recording videos while you’re traveling is a great way to capture some of the amazing sights, interesting people, and unique aspects of your trip. However, often people find that the videos they record fall short of their expectations, and don’t really look all that good.
The fact of the matter is that there are many factors that can affect how your videos turn out, and while you’re traveling you won’t have much control over most of them. By focusing on the areas that you can control, however, you could start recording travel videos that have a much better quality and look far more impressive:
- Dial up the frame rate
Photo ©Doug Bardwell – all rights reserved
As a rule, you should increase the frame rate of your video camera to its maximum (i.e. 60 frames per second) when recording travel videos. A higher frame rate will produce smooth and clear video footage, even when there is a lot of movement in the frame – as is often the case in travel footage.
Just keep in mind that a higher frame rate will result in larger video file sizes, and take steps if necessary to ensure you don’t run out of storage space.
- Use the rule of thirds
Every time you start recording, you should take a moment to frame your video using the rule of thirds. On most video cameras you can enable the ‘grid’ feature that will overlay a 3×3 grid on the frame, and you can then use that grid to align the subject and other elements.
Photo ©Doug Bardwell – all rights reserved
By lining up the subject along a gridline or at one of the intersection points, their position will be off-center and more visually compelling. Additionally, other elements will stand out more in their own right while not distracting too much from the subject if they’re spaced out using the gridlines as well.
- Mind the light
If you want to record high-quality videos that look good you will ideally want lots of soft and evenly distributed light. Natural light is preferable in most cases, as some other types of lighting such as fluorescent lights can cause ‘flickering’.
It helps to always be aware of where light is coming from at all times, so you can frame your shots accordingly. The last thing you want is for a light source to be in the frame, as it will cause the foreground to be shadowy and lacking in definition.
If you feel you’re going to be recording videos in low-light conditions it may be a good idea to look at portable lighting options for travel.
- Spare a second for the audio
When you’re focused on recording videos that look good, it is easy to forget about the audio. If you intend to keep the audio (and not replace it with background music or something else), it is important that you take a beat to consider it.
In most cases, the built-in microphones on video cameras aren’t that great, and investing in a good external microphone could be just what you need to record crisp and clear audio. That way you can not only capture the sights that you see while you travel – but also the sounds.
While all these tips should help you to record better quality and more impressive travel videos, editing them a little bit will help. At very least you should know how to use MP4 cutter so you can trim and compile videos, and maybe tidy them up a bit. Overall, however, you should notice a marked improvement in your videos as soon as you start to focus on these areas.
Guest post by Karl Segman