PHOTOGRAPHER, CINEMATOGRAPHER & YOUTUBER
1
image source: Instagram
Peter Mckinnon If you’ve spent any time on YouTube in the past year looking at photography or videography tutorials, you’ve likely run across Peter McKinnon’s channel at some point. This Toronto-based vlogger has absolutely exploded onto the scene, amassing over 1.1 million subscribers in less than a year. He has worked for eighteen years doing product photography and other odd jobs for various companies before he finally became a full time youtuber in April 2017. He lives with his wife and family, is an absolute coffee addict. His profile was raised in 2009 when his The Plaid Chair Series received significant media attention. The Canadian photographer educates viewers about photography and cinematography He has been featured in Magic Magazine, Popular Photography Magazine and more. He also owns his own blend of coffee and other merchandise. He sells a LUT pack, a Lightroom Preset pack and a recently launched Sound Effects pack.
1
2
image source: Google Images
3
Before Photography In his video ‘life Changing decision’ Peter talks about his life before Photography. He shares when he was younger he never liked photography. He was never interested in it whatsoever. He didn’t take any classes in high school, never was formally trained in it. It was something he had zero interest in. He was obsessed with skating and ironically he was horrible at it. He says he that he has had a number of jobs in all these past years and all of these have shaped the person he is today. He started working when he was only eleven. He used to wash elephants for a circus. He has worked at a lot of weird places, with bad managers and terrible colleagues, but in the end he won’t change a single thing about it. He borrowed his dad’s cameras while he was just starting and tried to record he love for skating and tell a story; and this was his introduction to photography.
4
image source: Instagram
Starting Youtube When he first started his Youtube account. He had 800 subscribers, 6989 views, 1600 watch time minutes and his estimate revenue was 55 cents when finally decided he’ll give Youtube a shot, as hard as he could, to it being his full time career. He isn’t doing Youtube for the money, but he is there because photography is his fashion and he wants to share it with the world. He believes that, those people who are in the race for the money are going to thin out first. He shares, the best part about Youtube isn’t the money, but it’s community. Meeting new people, being inspired watching them work hard and thrive at what they love is the best part. Be consistent, be driven , be motivated those are the things that are gonna bring you success.
6
7
image source: Instagram
image source: Instagram
8
Filming Process It’s interesting to see how organised Peter is with his gear throughout shooting a video. For each section, when he needs a piece of kit, he pulls it out, sets it up, shoots that bit, then packs it away again before carrying on. I can’t do that. I lay out everything I need right at the beginning. Then I’ll shoot it all, and put everything away together at the end. Otherwise, I know I’ll forget something. Peter uses multiple cameras to shoot his videos. Typically that means a Canon C200 for the office and studio stuff, and a Canon 1Dx Mark II for when he’s out and about. In this video, he also shoots some timelapse with a Canon 5D Mark IV. Now, of course, you don’t need all these fancy expensive cameras to get the job done. Sure, it helps, but you can do it with just one. It might just take a little longer to get the job done, but it can be done. For lights, he uses a tungsten balanced long strip bar light and a couple of Aputure LED lights. The light in his gear closet is gelled blue to get rid of some of the stark whiteness. The key light in front of him sits inside an Aputure Light Dome. A thick acoustic blanket over the window performs double duty, blocking out stray daylight as well as helping to prevent room echo. With the B-Roll shot, and the lights all on, it’s time to shoot the main content. When everything’s recorded, it’s time to move to the editing. Peter starts by organising his footage from each of the cameras. Then the editing is done using Adobe Premiere Pro. There are some more technical details of Peter’s editing workflow in the video, delivered in typical McKinnon style. 9
Peter says that he’s not trying to tell people that this is the level of production they should aim for. Nor is any of it even required to make good content. When Peter started out, he had none of this gear. He had to hand all his gear back when he left his previous job and started over with one camera, one lens, an old lavalier microphone and window light. But he’s asked often about his YouTube workflow and gear, and thought it would be interesting for people to see. He wants people to take little bits of information and hopefully it’ll help somebody improve their own content, just as seeing how others work has helped him improve his. Peter’s process is pretty involved, but that’s not uncommon. It might seem a little overwhelming, but figuring out your own workflow happens over time. It’s not going to be perfect from day one. Just take the bits from the workflows of others and stuff that you figure out for yourself a step at a time and let it build up. When you’re starting out, it’s a lot easier to build up a good solid workflow when you do it gradually over time.
10
11
image source: Instagram
Nighttime Photos Great nighttime shots—the ones with crystal-clear stars and the Milky Way or cityscapes practically jumping off the screen—are always a big hit on Instagram.
12
13
image source: Instagram
image source: Instagram
14
Product Photos Product photography is a branch of commercial photography which is about accurately but attractively representing a product. The principal application of product photography is in product catalogues and brochures, of product images also being used in advertising. 15
Architectural Shots Its the photographing of buildings and similar structures that are both aesthetically good and accurate representations of their subjects. 16
17
image source: Instagram
image source: Instagram
18
Wildlife Shots It is a genre of photography concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat. It is one of the more challenging forms of photography. 19
image source: Instagram
1 RASTOGI KANISHKA
GROUP-A