Overcoming Creative Block - Shoot Plan & Gear Overview

Guest Author: Joey Hubbard

Videography and photography have always been a creative outlet for me. But recently, I struggled to find the motivation to get out and shoot. Was this because of my busy marketing job, or planning my wedding? Regardless of the reasons, the result was the same.

So how do I beat a creative rut?

This was relatively simple for me, but this is just one approach. I first stopped and thought to myself, what is something I love doing for fun? For me, this was either golf or guitar. But, it is summer currently, so let’s lean into the golf to get out and enjoy the weather. There is one challenge here though, I am brutal at golf and filming myself is way too hard. Thus, I need to find some partners to make this happen.

I first started by calling over 10 courses in Calgary and surrounding areas to find the right venue to both host and provide an associate pro to be the subject in the video. While I was waiting for the venue to be confirmed, I started ideating on what kind of shots I would want to capture. I would want to shoot close to the golfer to show lots of action, so a zoom lens and an action camera would be ideal. So, I got in touch with The Camera Store in Calgary which provided me with a GoPro Hero 11 with a bike rail mount (to mount on the golf club, and Panasonic North America, who provided me with the Lumix 24-105 F4 for my S5II. At this point, Silvertip Resort in Canmore had responded and agreed to host this shoot.

The first thing I thought about with Silvertip being in Canmore (a beautiful mountain town an hour outside of Calgary) was drone rules. The town of Canmore strictly prohibits drones, so I spoke with the manager of the resort, who cleared it with the town. Next, I needed to find the right time of day. We would want sunrise, but also to get out to shoot before the maintenance staff would begin their shifts. At this time of this shoot, sunrise was at 5:30 am, and the maintenance staff started at 6:00 am, therefore 5:00 am would be the optimal time to begin. Factoring in my buddy Marcus coming and the time for driving, I left home for this shoot at 3:00 am.

I knew once we got to the course, things would move quickly, and space would be limited in the golf cart we used. Thus, I broke my gear down into three sling bags. One bag contained all my camera bodies and batteries, the next the lenses, and the final one was for my drone. In addition to this, I put all my tripods, GoPro mounts, and Ulanzi key light into a large reusable bag for easy access.

First, let’s talk about my primary camera and the lenses I used. I use the S5II for most of my shoots because it is great as a hybrid body, the stabilization is industry-leading, and the autofocus is excellent. I shot the majority of the day between 4k 24 and 1080hd 120. The iso I kept in manual, and the autofocus was set to human subject detection. I did, however, turn up the autofocus speed, and the IBIS was set to standard. In terms of the lenses, I kept the 24-105mm open at F4 the whole time. The other glass I brought was the Lumix 50mm F1.8 and Pergear 14mm F2.8. The 50mm I used in the early hours was wide open, and the Pergear was only used for a super close-up of the ball being hit, and it was also wide open.

In terms of the DJI Mini 3 Pro, I kept it set on 4K 60, H.265, and D-cinelike. The GoPro Hero 11 was set to 2.7k 240, and the Hero 7 was in 1080hd 120. Both were set on the flat profile.

While the GoPro shot I mounted on the golf club didn’t work, I did like the perspective of the GoPro Hero 11 on the chest of the golfer while he was swinging. The aerial shots were also key in getting different angles and capturing the scale of the course.

The S5II was for sure the tool I used the most, and I was amazed at how good everything looked, especially considering every shot was done free-hand.

So, there you have it. For me, this was how I overcame my creative block, and my challenge to you is to go out and take some photos or videos of something you love. Maybe you post it or maybe it is just for you, either way, get out and create. But a big thanks to Panasonic North America, The Camera Store, and Silvertip Resort for making this all possible.