Are You A Photographer Shooting Video? Go to NAB.

NAB is a huge three letters in the film and television world. However, most photographers will never have heard of it.

It stands for National Association of Broadcasters, which is the film/tv industry lobbying organization and they throw the annual NAB tradeshow which gets about 100,000 people. Yeah, 100,000. It’s massive. Everything you could think of needing for shooting a film/video production is there. From hdmi cables to helicopters.

So what’s this got to do with photographers?

caveat: I realize this is going to sound like a sales pitch for NAB. But bear with me. 1) it’s free and 2) I really believe if you’re just getting into shooting video you’ll benefit from going.

If you’re a photographer that’s getting into shooting DSLR video, it’s a worthwhile tradeshow to go to, just so you can see what you’re getting yourself into. You can get into the tradeshow for free by using this VIP code: NV2118C when you register. There is also the Post Production World conference that’s $1000 or so… I’m not sure if it’s worth that. You’ll have to check out the sessions and decide for yourself. But the tradeshow is a good place to see the range of products that are out there and many companies, like Adobe, have great free training seminars in their booths.

DSLR video has become a huge deal. And as many photographers are discovering, just because you’re a great photographer does not mean that automatically translates into being a great videographer. The great thing about going to NAB is that you can play around with a lot of the new tools, both hardware and software, that are available for folks shooting DSLR video. It’s a good opportunity to talk to vendors and other users that are trying to do the same thing and get a better understanding of what’s involved and the challenges your going to face.

Redrock 'video' rig for a DSLR camera

The challenges of shooting video could cover many long hours of training and I’m not going to go over them here. But whether you need to understand how to keep the camera from shaking or just how to get your video up on YouTube, there’s a lot of resources under one roof at NAB. And a lot of folks that have been doing film/video for 25 years that you can learn a thing or two from. So if you’re serious about using your DSLR for video, whether it’s personal projects or adding video to the list of things you offer your clients, you’ll probably benefit from attending NAB at least once. And, again, it’s free if you register with the VIP code ( NV2118C ).

Of course, if you do go, stop by the Digital Anarchy booth and say hello! Booth#: SL3927

Click here to go to the NAB site and register.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *