The South Side Streets

For this week, I decided to highlight my neighborhood. The streets that I live on have a 'melting pot' style of living that I've never encounter in any other part of the city. If you walk the main strip long enough, you start to spot the many differences, and I've learned that it took many years to get to where we are today. So, let me share some findings while I include a few street photos that I snapped.

According to the history, the foundations of South Side Pittsburgh started way back in 1763, when King George III gave John Ormsby about 2400 acres along the Monongahela River as payment for his service during the French and Indian War. The 2400 acres were divided into South Pittsburgh, Birmingham, East Birmingham, and Ormsby. [South Side Facts]

In 1862, those four boroughs were annexed into the City of Pittsburgh, at which point, it became the beginning of South Side. The area became known for its glass industry in the first part of the 1800s. However, by the 1920s, most of the glass factories moved away from South Side, thanks to high taxes and limited real estate. [South Side Facts]

In 1854, B.F. Jones and James Laughlin began American Iron Works, which became the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company in 1902. J & L would use the rivers to bring the raw materials and ship the final products of the steel company. [South Side Facts]

In 1873, steel began being manufactured at the J & L South Side Works. Materials were transported across the Hot Metal Bridge. By 1949, J & L spanned 100 acres of the south shore of the Monongahela River. [South Side Facts]

In 1986, the last J & L South Side Works facility shut down and all the buildings were demolished. However, the area soon became the location of new businesses, homes, jobs, and recreation. [South Side Facts]


Now, South Side is the location of about 10,000 people and home to one of the largest Victorian
streets in the United States: East Carson Street. The entire street is, in fact, designated as a historic district. In recent years, it has become the home of large student populations because of the easy commute to the large universities in the area. [Wikipedia]

Living here today, it feels like a meld between the young and the old. The historic locations and buildings feel as if you're walking through the late 1800s and early 1900s, however the attraction of the younger population has helped to create a younger vibe among the businesses and residential areas.

More images can be found in my gallery. Sorry for not having more. I'd like to do a follow-up and explore more of the historical aspects next time.

Until then.

Escape to the City: Part 1

I believe I mentioned before that I made it my goal this year to try my hand at a little street photography in my spare time. Well, that's exactly what I've been working on here and there. My first round of photos are still in the final stages of being edited, which will hopefully soon go up on my website, along with some updates to the format of my photography portfolio, which is much needed.

I took to the streets as an exercise to clear my mind and some toxicity that I had been feeling. Just doing a little sightseeing can really do some good when you are in a bad place. There's something about the downtown when the sun goes down and the artificial lighting everywhere bursts into a character of color and expression.

Observing the lighted paths, ambient noises, night crowds, lingering traffic...something about it stimulates me. Through a camera lens, a new life is formed and observed in ways that a naked eye could not perceive and the unassisted mind could not comprehend.

I didn't really have any particular pattern or technique as to how I was shooting the buildings or streets around the city. I simply walked a predetermined path downtown and found what looked visually appealing.

So, maybe I'm not the person to ask what determines street photography. According to a quick Google search, street photography, also know as candid photography (in some respects), have no determined conditions met within a public place. It is defined by chance encounters in the urban environment. Actually, street photography doesn't even have to take place in an urban environment to be considered street photography. To sum it up to the best of my ability, it is simply a result of a public record in a natural situation. [What is Street Photography?]

It cannot, in any part, be staged. Otherwise, it is no longer something that is candid by nature. Everything is real. These are pictures that capture a reality in its rawest form. With that, there is a sense that we could see the best and the worst in humanity in just one instance. You've those images that capture significant moments in our history, such as The Burning Monk, by Malcolm Browne. How does that make you feel? That moment happened. That man was burning alive. He died in that very spot. This is the raw energy that can be felt in the unstaged moments of candid photography.

Granted, anything that I captured isn't nearly as dramatic, but that example was used to drive home

the idea of the possibilities of street photography.

I hope to continue this adventure through the seasons this year. If you like what you see, let me know. If you don't, tell me how I can make it better.

More selections from the streets can be found in my updated gallery:
https://www.secroner.com/-street-photography

Until the next excursion.

The great photo migration of 2018: RIP Flickr account

Flickr is dead to me. No, really. As of this year, I cancelled my Flickr Pro service and began migrating everything off of the platform.

This is the end of an era, as I've been using Flickr since I purchased my my Canon T2i back in 2010.

While the service has definitely served its purpose, I am trying my best to unify the tools and resources that I use as a creative. So begins the migration to another platform. While it is definitely going to be a bit of a difficult process, I have pulled all of the images from my Flickr account and plan to dump them onto my personal website.

Now, you might be thinking, "why didn't you back up all of your raw images on on a hard drive?" Well, I tried. And then I moved. Several times. And packed my things. Which got separated. Several times. And files kept shifting around. And computers got updated. And hard drives crashed (that was a nightmare). So, I basically could spend some time to gather together the files I want from various locations, or I could just download them in bulk off of Flickr and be done with it. I chose option B. If I ever need the original quality images, then...I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Anyway, Flickr is not what I remember it used to be. It forced me into a paid plan, then gave free accounts the same perks to entice newer users, so then I stopped paying for it. By that time, I realized that I had better resources at hand. Google slowly became the place where I kept a majority of my images, and that's not even counting professional photography. Plus, I had the option to make any albums public, essentially making it another photo portfolio. And now, I have my personal website, where I in the early stages of creating my own photo portfolio (web design is love/hate for me). So, I'm dropping Flickr. And taking my pictures with me.

It took some digging to discover how the process of exporting photos is handled on Flickr. I found the option to export my albums under the Camera Roll tab.

Under that tab, it gives you the option to select each album in your account, and with that, the ability to download those albums, each into a designated ZIP file.

In hindsight, Flickr does give you some analytics to monitor, if you're into that thing. Numbers aren't really that important to me. At least not now.

The next step for me will be to get everything dumped onto Google Photos and my personal website. The website is a constant work-in-progress, so that will also give me the opportunity to update some things.

Oh hey, is that my film reel on the front page that I haven't update in probably three years? Maybe that will be my next project. I will definitely have more to come on the management of portfolio items.

The art of game capture: my 'Let's Play', four years in the making

Since I discovered this form of media existed, I have slowly cultivated the idea to produce something to call my own.

I believe it was around 2013 that I stumbled upon the world of Let's Plays. Although they've likely been around since the availability of capture technology, it really seemed like 2013 was the year that it was becoming mainstream. It was the first time that it garnered my interest.

Sure, YouTube celebrities like PewDiePie and Markiplier were at the forefront of the Let's Play movement, but it was a growing company known as Achievement Hunter that introduced me to Let's Play.

I remember stumbling upon my first Let's Play video. Two men were operating the stiff hands of a ridiculous game called Surgeon Simulator while commentating on their flubs as they attempted do heart surgery. It was absolutely hilarious. Since then, I've been following the Achievement Hunter troupe and taking notes on the technology that they use to create these wonderful videos.

The first iteration of my video game project.

Now, I have no intention of ever making a career out of this. I simply wanted to do this because it combined many aspects of my passions in digital media. Video games? Check. Recording? Yeah. Video editing? Yup. The creative development process behind producing a video? Many of the elements are there. From that point on, I was sold on the idea of creating my own Let's Play channel.

But then life happened. In 2014 and 2015, I was moving around a lot in a whirlwind of work and living. I was also more heavily involved in the filmmaking community, meaning that I had to put this project on the back burner. I hate when I'm forced to do that, but there is only so much time in the day.

Around late 2014, I recorded my first Let's Play test run with my now ex-girlfriend. We played together in a world that we created in Minecraft. It was my first taste on how difficult this process could be. Tensions were high as technology was failing. It was definitely not a success. So, I decided to, once again, put the project on the back burner.

Then more moving happened and more fell on my lap, consuming all my spare time. It was 2016 and I was living in a tiny apartment in Pittsburgh. My budget was tighter than usual, but my passions remained the same. My friend came to me with the idea to start a podcast, being one that never shies away from new opportunity, I agreed to work on back-end of the podcast, handling the hardware and software that would record, edit, and release episodes of the podcast.

I found that my aspects of the process could be incorporated into recording for a Let's Play. Once ,
again, I felt the urge to make a Let's Play. This time, I used the knowledge I had gained from recording a podcast.

I started with something simple. I tried capturing a mobile game off of my phone using software that was already built into into my PC. It's a very simple setup for capturing. At that time, the Miitomo app by Nintendo had just released. This hybrid game/social app was perfect for my experiment. I event tried adding a facecam (webcam recording me while I capture my audio and the screen). The results were satisfying.

Unfortunately, I had to shelve my second attempt before I even got around to editing it. This time, it was for more personal reasons. Life really has a way of throwing some curveballs.

The most recent iteration of my gaming project.

Halfway through 2017, life was finally settling down. Again, I wanted to scratch that itch of recording a Let's Play. On a late Saturday evening, I sat down at my desk and booted up the game 20XX on my PC. Without any script or guidelines, I recorded a playthrough.

I was highly satisfied with the results, though pretty amateurish by nature. My next step was to work on the back end and prepare all of the resources necessary to edit and publish my video. After a lengthy process of trial-and-error, software testing, and workflow testing, I was satisfied with my results.

Here is the final product:


Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and thanks again if you gave the video a watch. There's still a lot to improve on. My philosophy has always been that everything has room for improvement. Feel free to pass along any of your own input. I love constructive criticism.

Until the next time.

Cheers!
Steven

Adobe Premiere Pro: A few efficiency tips, assembling your clips

Today, I'm doing something a little different. I'm creating a guide that is not only something I wanted to share with you, but also as something that I can reference myself.

Recently, I've been jumping back into editing. Although it is something that I love doing, post-production is also something that I can go months without doing. However, with the new wave of projects I'm working on, I'm finally able to jump back into editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects.

I've been an Adobe user since I began working with their software back in college. When I began photography as a hobby, I started with the basics in Photoshop and Illustrator. Through that, I was introduced to many of their related programs.

From a video editing perspective, I was "classically trained" in Final Cut Pro. This was when the software was a fantastic and powerful editing too. Not the stripped down Final Cut Pro X that was released a few years later.

However, when I was working from my dorm, I had no access to Final Cut. My solution was to test out the alternatives. I found Adobe Premiere Pro to be a very effective editing tool for the jobs that I needed done.

After graduation, Premiere Pro became my primary tool for video editing. It wasn't until I started diving deeper into local video projects that I was able to heavily utilize this tool. Unfortunately, there came a time that I had to step away from post-production.

Which brings me to my point. When I haven't used certain software in a while, I tend to just forget all of the shortcuts and tricks that make my job a little easier. I've decided to go back and refresh myself on some of the basic shortcuts, not only for me but also for any new or amnesic users.

Let's start with the basics. I'm sure I'll touch base on some more advanced techniques in the future. For now, let's look at the simplest commands and organizational methods associated with assembling video clips in Premiere Pro.

Storyboard those clips:

For any project that requires organizing a variety of clips into a coherent story (through the power of editing), it might be beneficial to separate those clips into a storyboard WITHIN Premiere Pro.

How? Basically, if you look on the bottom left of your screen, you'll see all the clips for your session. There is also the option to create Bins (Folders) for your clips in order to better organize them.

Editing clips in the Source Monitor

In terms of organization and pre-Timeline actions, I just wanted to provide a quick rundown on some of the commands available for editing in the Source Monitor. These are the ones that I discovered to help with my efficiency.

Key	Command Name	Description
I	Mark In/Set In Point	Mark the beginning of your clip selection in source
O	Mark Out/Set Out Point	Mark the end of your clip selection in source
Shift +I	Go to In	Move to In marker in source
Shift+O	Go to Out	Move to Out marker in source
.	Overlay Selection	Replaces current position on Timeline with Source Monitor selection
,	Insert Selection	Inserts Source Monitor selection into the current place in the Timeline

With these tools, you can make selections from the Source Monitor. These selections can help to trim down a particular clip without any editing in the Timeline.

These buttons associated with the shortcuts are available right below the Source Monitor.

Once you have your selection, you have your Insert and Overlay tools to place your selection into the Timeline.

Assembly for screen real estate!

And in case you couldn't tell from the previous screenshot, there are various ways to assemble your workspace. If you happen to be working on a small display and can't quite cram the Source Monitor in with the Program Monitor, there is also a very nifty Assembly tab at the top, which will toggle the layout to only display the Assembly monitor, freeing up some space for any preliminary clip management and trimming before jumping into the Timeline.

So, those are just a few items I learned with clip and time management in Adobe Premiere Pro. Of course, some of these could also apply to any nonlinear editing tools, so hopefully this information can be a learning experience for all just jumping into editing or needing some productivity tips.

As I learn (or relearn) more, I'm hoping to return with some more items in the future. Thanks you for stopping by!

Until next time!

Cheers!

Steven

"5 Minutes to What?!"

So, I worked on a film this summer. It was a bloody mess. Just an absolute bloody mess. It was absolutely horrifying...oh, let me clarify. I'm talking about film CONTENT, not the film itself, nor the production. The shoot was fantastic. The cast and crew were fantastic. The overall experience was fan-freakin'-tastic!

What started out as a three day contest evolved into something greater. We signed up for the 48 Hour Film Project, not knowing what we would be getting ourselves into.

The project had to be written, shot, edited, and submitted within 48 hours (hence the name of the contest). We began our weekend of filming on a Friday night, where our team, Suture Films, arrived at Chatham University, the central hub of this weekend event. There, we drew our film genre from a hat, noted the requirements of the short film, and went on our merry way.

Equipment test!

We ended up drawing horror. Though this was my first horror film, I embraced the opportunity to try something new. We went back to our set, where our team of writers cranked out a script, while the rest of us prepared the set for the shoot. By the end of Friday night, all the preparations were complete. We were ready to start filming, and the title of the film was chosen: "5 Minutes..."

The shoot officially kicked off the next day. Drenched with special effect goodness, we shot and
experimented until we were all bloodied (all fake, of course) and sweaty (it was HOT on the set). Though we were pressed for time, due to a few scheduling conflicts, we were still able to get what we needed and wrap by the end of the day. Things were looking good. Really good.

Then day three came. Sunday was dedicated to editing. We did run into some trouble with the process, but we were still able to submit something by the deadline that day. Unfortunately, we decided that the final product still needed some work, so we decided to pull the film from the 48HFP screening.

 We figured that everyone worked so hard on the project, we wanted to release the best possible product. We wanted our contributors to be proud to say that they worked on this production. So, we decided to take our time and spend the next few months recutting the footage until we had something that we could all be proud of. Several days ago, our latest edit went live (embedded below).

I am very happy with the results. Since it is the perfect season for the horror genre, this is the perfect time to unveil a project that all of us put a lot into.

With the release of our film, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was involved in the film. You guys did a great job and showed a level of passion and professionalism that I have never seen before. I would also like to give a shout-out to all my Juniata colleagues that assisted in the production. You guys did a fantastic job and made the production a wonderful experience! That goes for the rest of the cast and crew! You guys made it possible to make a dream come true: to produce my own film! You have all my appreciation and respect. You are all a very talented group and I hope to work with you all again!

Physically and mentally preparing for the next shot!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters of this project! You guys helped us to move forward with this project and strive to make something that you would all love. We hope that you all enjoy watching this film as much as we enjoyed making it!

A handful of the people who helped to make this possible!

Next, we will be looking to polish the film and begin screening it in a few festivals and contests. Stay tuned for any future updates! Thanks again for all of your love and support! Cheers!

And here it is folks! It's the moment you've all been waiting for:

5 Minutes...: The Director's Cut

GoPro Studio 2.0 Now Available

Though not a personal update per say, I do own a GoPro Hero 3, so to hear the announcement that GoPro had just released an update for their studio software, I was rather giddy. I haven't had a chance to test the software myself, but from what I've read, it is exponentially better than the previous version, which has gotten quite a few complaints.

I guess you could say that the GoPro developers actually listened to their end-users and made the requested changes to their editing software. Hooray for the power of listening! While the software package isn't anything special to begin with, it provides the tools that are necessary for some quick cutting and publishing of GoPro footage.

The software includes templates, which allow the user to drop their own footage in, automatically syncing the footage with the template music and effects. This is perfect for somebody looking to make something a little more professional without spending all that time to do it. Of course, this process still requires the user to review and select the footage they want to drag and drop in, but the process is still rather simple.

Now, if you have the time and the editing skills, I would still recommend using your choice of higher-end editing software to cut together your GoPro videos. However, if you don't have the required time or skill, then I would recommend using the GoPro Studio 2.0 for quick editing and a decent looking end-product. I'll check out the software in its entirety and possibly post some of my footage with the use of the software. Check back soon!

SOURCE: http://gizmodo.com/gopro-studio-2-0-hands-on-easier-awesomer-videos-upd-512879804

Taking "Quick" Detours

Well, I've had some good news over the past few weeks. It seems like good and bad things come in consecutive groups for me. Luckily, it was a number of good things this time around.

Image from http://www.adobe.com

I was able to get both my PC motherboard and Nexus 7 back from my repair shop. Meanwhile, after installing the PC hardware and Windows 8 (I swear it's not as bad as they say), I went straight to work on obtaining the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. For a cool $50/month, I get the latest versions of the entire Adobe Suite, plus additional features and support not available with Creative Suite 6. Do the math... for a constantly updated, industry-standard software package with cloud support and the newest features, you're getting a lot more than you would to pay a lump sum (about $1500, depending on the package) for the Creative Suite, which, in the past, usually only lasts about a year until they come out with a newer version, forcing you to shell out more cash to keep up with the current industry-standard version. Considering the options, I think subscribing to Adobe CC is the smarter route.

Anyway, this means that I have a quality PC and quality editing software to finally start working on some serious projects! First up, my film reel. I might also post some test footage, including some GoPro footage that went on the back-burner until I figured out my whole post-production situation.

In the meantime, I will be providing full reports on new hardware and writing projects that are in the works. Stay tuned!