Things Everybody Knows About Except Me, Part 1

Ordered a beer with my room service salad in Portland OR, and it was delightful (a locally-brewed IPA). But the room service – guy? – suggested next time I order a super-chilled Shock Top® in a frosty mug with a slice of orange. Couldn’t get it out of my mind, so when I got back home I immediately made one (that’s right, even before unpacking).

I later mentioned it to a buddy who gleefully informed me I was the last human on earth who knew about this.

ACTION ITEM: Try it.

More Face Care, Less Place Care

This might be a sort of longish post but bear with me – there’s some pretty good info at the end.

I just returned from capturing a video interview in Portland, Oregon in 4K (as opposed to the more standard 1080p – also too, h/t to the day’s Director of Photography, Luke Buckley). I was applying some pretty heavy concealer on the speaker’s prominent cheekbone where Luke was seeing some over-exposed patches in the viewfinder. As I sponged on the pancake, I was constantly checking with Luke to find that perfect “sweet spot” where the shine was gone but the man’s face wasn’t smothered in cake.

And that’s the thing. Shooting in 4K can render amazingly sharp and detailed images, but that also means it picks up every inflamed blemish, enlarged pore, and loose collar thread. Or makeup spackled on carelessly. You have been warned.

It wasn’t always like that. A couple of months ago the fam took an all-too-brief Seattle vacation where we checked out the Museum of Pop Culture. On display were fragile and aging sets from the original Star Trek series, cardboard and plywood held together by gaffers tape and a lot of wishful thinking. For the technologies of the day, of course, that was sufficient. But not a thing you’re going to get away with today. At the same time, today’s large-sensor 4K cameras mean that we can create a look where the main focus of the image is in sharp relief but the background is super blurry. It’s a very popular look at the moment:

So here’s your takeaway – take extreme care with the images that will be in sharp focus: get a haircut; shave cleanly, be sure you’re wearing crisp, freshly-pressed clothing. Worry less about the details of the background: the pictures on the wall, the furniture stacked against the wall, the dark smear on the back wall.