Author Art Adams

Art Adams

Director of photography Art Adams knew he wanted to look through cameras for a living at the age of 12. After ten years in Hollywood working on feature films, TV series, commercials, music videos, visual effects and docs he returned to his native San Francisco Bay Area, where he currently shoots commercials and high-end corporate marketing and branding projects. When Art isn’t shooting he consults on product design and marketing for a number of motion picture equipment manufacturers. His clients have included Sony, Arri, Canon, Tiffen, Schneider Optics, PRG, Cineo Lighting, Element Labs, Sound Devices and DSC Labs. His writing has appeared in HD Video Pro, American Cinematographer, Australian Cinematographer, Camera Operator Magazine and ProVideo Coalition. He is a current member of the International Cinematographers Guild, and a past active member of the SOC and SMPTE.

Lighting

27 Aug 2014 Art Adams Become an Eyelight Detective: The Easy Way to Dissect Someone Else's Lighting

Since my college days I’ve been driven to learn how other DP’s light: what units they use, where they put them, how they blend them together. Behind-the-scenes photos, while immensely helpful, are rare these days, but I’ve found significant lighting hints in even the most basic closeups… the eyes say it all. Eyes are shiny and round. I know that’s…

Optical Science

15 Jul 2014 Art Adams Some Things I Know About Filters

On heels of my recent article/brain dump on lenses, here are some thoughts on filters: why they’re good, when they’re bad, and why digital filters never look the same. Filters never add, they always subtract. For example, a warming filter passes warm light but blocks/absorbs cool light. It doesn’t add warmth, it subtracts coolness. When you use glass in front…

Optical Science

15 Jul 2014 Art Adams Some Things I Know About Lenses

I don’t know a ton about lenses. I’ve always focused on cameras and film technology, but I’m slowly building a library of information in my head—partially from what I’ve learned over history, and partially from new experience. Here’s a short list. Nearly every lens vignettes, where “vignette” means the edges of the frame darken when the lens is used in…

Ultra HD

13 Jul 2014 Art Adams Gamma Curves and Exposure: Looks Can Be Deceiving

Several people commented that the base flesh tone exposures in my CineGear presentation looked “dark.” I did a little research and I think I know what’s going on… Not long after the Sony F55 became widely available the DP of a major TV series stated on the Cinematography Mailing List that he sets the camera at its default ISO of…

Sony XDCAM

23 Jun 2014 Art Adams My CineGear Presentation on the Sony F55: Part 2

Here’s part two of my CineGear presentation, in which I take an uncomfortably close look at flesh tone and overexposure… First, read Part One. Then, watch this video: I’m fascinated by over- and under-exposure. When I shot film I almost never placed flesh tones on the exposure that they were supposed to be. I ran them a little hot or…

Sony XDCAM

11 Jun 2014 Art Adams My CineGear Presentation on the Sony F55: Part 1

Adam Wilt and I put on a show at CineGear about the Sony F55. Here’s part one of my side of the talk, possibly with more information than I gave at the time. Adam focused on functionality, while I focused on what the camera looks like. These days cameras are computers with lenses attached, and it’s not unusual to turn…

Buyer's Guides

11 Jun 2014 Art Adams Owning vs. Renting: Why I Never Bought a Camera

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve lost jobs because I don’t own a camera. And I’m okay with that. Those aren’t the jobs I want. Here’s why… When I started out in this industry everything dramatic was shot on film. DPs were never hired because they worked primarily with Panavision gear over Arriflex, or shot more Kodak…

Sony XDCAM

11 Jun 2014 Art Adams Noise, Sampling, Codecs and Green Screen: A Potential Horror Story

I’ve done a lot of testing with the Sony F55, and I’ve shot a couple of 4K projects in XAVC, but until recently I hadn’t used this camera for green screen. Sony’s implementation of XAVC uses 4:2:2 sampling, which can cause a lot of problems for green screen compositing, so when I got a call to shoot a green screen…

Camera Gear

5 Jun 2014 Art Adams Come See Adam Wilt and Me at CineGear 2014

Mark your calendar: Saturday, June 7th, at 2:45pm, in the Sherry Lansing Theater at Paramount. Adam Wilt and I will spend an hour discussing “The Sony F55: Swiss Army Knife of Cameras.” We’ve got videos to show and slides to play. We’re on right after the ASC, so show up early for the star power and stay on for geeky…

Lighting

15 May 2014 Art Adams Who Wants to Take a Lighting Class?

Due to the success of last year’s lighting class Abel Cine has asked me to come back and do it again. So I am: “How to Light Faces: Hard Light, Soft Light and Damage Control” It will be held on May 28th, 2014 at the Mole Richardson Stage in Hollywood. You can read about last year’s class here. Topics discussed…

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