Highly Commended in the Freelancer of the Year category - Bury Free Press Business Awards

I’m delighted to say I was given the highly Commended award in the ‘Freelancer of the Year’ category at the Bury Free Press Business Awards.

It celebrates business success across the district from individuals who have made a remarkable difference, to start-ups on their way to the top, and lifetime achievers who have overseen decades of success.

Video production with digital marketing in mind

Video production is an essential aspect of digital marketing. It provides a creative way to tell your story, share your message, and engage with your audience. However, video production is not just about creating engaging content. It's also about optimizing your videos to rank high in search engines and reach a broader audience.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of optimizing your website and online content to rank higher in search engine results. The higher your content ranks in search engines, the more likely people are to find it, watch it, and share it. This is why it's essential to have a strong SEO strategy in place when producing your videos.

Here are some tips for optimizing your video production for SEO:

1. Keyword research

Before producing your video, it's important to do keyword research. This involves finding out which keywords your target audience is searching for and incorporating those keywords into your video content. Keyword research helps you understand what your audience is looking for and how you can reach them with your video content.

1. Optimize video titles and descriptions

The title and description of your video play a crucial role in how search engines rank your video. The title of your video should be short, catchy, and contain your target keywords. The description should provide a brief overview of what the video is about and include relevant keywords.

1. Transcribe your videos

Transcribing your videos can improve their SEO by making the content of your video accessible to search engines. Transcribing your videos also provides closed captioning for viewers who are hearing impaired.

1. Create a video sitemap

A video sitemap is an XML file that provides search engines with information about your videos, including the video title, description, and URL. Creating a video sitemap makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your videos, improving their SEO.

1. Promote your videos

Finally, it's essential to promote your videos and get them in front of your target audience. Share your videos on social media, embed them on your website, and reach out to relevant websites to ask if they would be interested in featuring your videos.

In conclusion, video production with SEO in mind is essential for reaching a wider audience and increasing your search engine visibility. By incorporating these tips into your video production strategy, you can optimize your videos and reach your target audience with engaging, relevant content.

Creating content? Tips and tricks...

Content Creation

Here’s a few tips and tricks from a filming point of view to help you in creating videos.

• Ideas/Story/Content is always king but even better when filmed in a creative way.

• Composition and framing - Are you drawn to the subject when you look at the image? Try framing the person/subject in the center. 

•  Use something to prop the phone so its not shaky or even better buy a tripod/gimbal.

• Use natural light to your advantage - place your subject within it. Windows are a great source. When shooting outdoors…Sunrise and sunset always offers beautiful light. Midday is the worse time to shoot although cloudy days are great for shooting people. It provides a lovely soft light.

• Sound is equally as important - Film somewhere quiet and if that's not possible, make sure you can see the sounds that you can hear. 

• Explore angles.

• Try out portrait mode (photos only) its exceptionally good these days with the likes of the iphone.

Here’s a few reasons why you might want to hire filmmaker and video production expert in the Cambridge/Suffolk area -

• Make your brand/business stand out.

• Portray the idea in the best possible way.

• Engage the audience for longer, leaving them with a lasting impression.

• Keep the quality consistent.

• Create that ‘wow’ moment.

Top Gun: Maverick

TOP GUN: MAVERIC

I recently went to the cinema to watch Top Gun: Maverick - What a spectacle! Believe the hype when I say you should give it a watch... especially on the big screen.

It is action packed with a solid story and incredible visuals throughout.

Since watching I haven't stopped wanting to watch more content of the behind the scenes... It seems a few of the scenes were un-intentional, for example - sets' destroyed and actors hitting theirs heads but this is definitely what gives it an edge throughout. Real drama captured in the best possible way.

Joseph Kosinski & Tom Cruise wanted the actors to feel what it's actually like to experience the real thing - experience what multiple G's might feel like so they could portray this on screen. Each (pilot) actor went through advance training to reach this goal.

Throughout the film, apparently little CGI was used and I think this really comes across with authenticity. Seeing the hut roof blow off really demonstrates this.

Hats off to the actors and the film crew for their commitment & effort for pulling this masterpiece off. Years in the making but wow, it was worth it.

Here's a couple of videos if you're interested...

Russell Scientific Instruments

Scientific Instruments

I recently had the pleasure of photographing a unique and fascinating business named, Russell Scientific Instruments. They have been manufacturing precision thermometers, fine barometers and barographs for over 100 years. Everything they do is practically hand crafted with the help of machinery. This was my view…

Camera: 5DmkII Lenses: Ziess Contax Primes, Canon 100mm