 Hi everyone, this is a short training video for all our project staff and partners who are working on the Sustainable Wildlife Management Program. If you're not familiar with the program, please check out our web portal. In this tutorial, we are going to share the nine top tips to improve the quality of your photographs and video stories. The aim is to effectively communicate the project we're developing in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. By producing better photos and videos, we will be able to effectively share our stories and solutions to achieve a brighter future for people and wildlife. You don't need to have expensive professional equipment to make the most of this course. In fact, with these nine top tips, you will be able to turn your smartphone or digital camera into a powerful filming tool. Okay, with that, let's dive in. Our first tip focuses on how to tell a visual story. Good stories grab one's attention, they rouse emotions and are remembered. To help show what we are doing and to encourage good sustainable wildlife management practices, we need to tell engaging stories. These can combine images, video, words to become multimedia stories. So the first question to ask is what do you want to say? Or in other words, what is your story about? It's important to think about this and write down your ideas before you pick your smartphone or digital camera. Try and answer this question in your notes. Who, when, where, what, how and why? These will be the building blocks for your story. So once we have identified these elements, how do we structure our story? Think about how you would tell the story to a friend or a relative in an easy to understand and captivating way. One simple and effective storytelling approach is to use a three act structure where you plan a beginning, middle and end or an opening, challenge and resolution. For example, in the opening, at the beginning we present our characters and the place where the story is set. Secondly for the challenges, in the middle we discover what they are facing and show how they are trying to overcome the challenges. Thirdly in the resolution, at the end, we draw together the lessons learned and maybe include a call to action. Here is a simple example using video clips from our SWM project in Guyana. At the beginning, we meet our main character, Asaf. We show where he lives and find out that he is an indigenous hunter and conservationist. In the middle, we discover that wildlife populations are in decline and that they are threatened by wildfires and access roads. At the end, we see that there is hope for the futures if the conservation measures he advocates are put in place. The second tip focuses on equipment. Our tip is to keep it simple. The SWM project sites are typically in remote and difficult to access places. There may be no regular electricity supply to recharge batteries and no vehicles to carry your equipment. The two main setups we will focus on here are the digital camera and the smartphone. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Both are highly portable, easy to use and not very intrusive. On the other hand, digital cameras allow you to use different lenses and have more settings to help you control your work. You can take great photos and capture great video with both. Whichever you are using, remember to set it at the highest possible quality. For video, this means either 4K or 1080p. Your photographs shoot it in RAW rather than compressed GPEC files if you can. If you're using a smartphone, hold it horizontally when you're shooting as most TVs and computer screens are horizontal. Here are some simple yet essential accessories. A tripod. You'll need a tripod to keep the camera or smartphone stable, particularly when filming an interview or when you are taking pictures in low light or at night. Microphone and headphones. Clear audio makes or breaks a video. For interviews, it's best to use a Lavalier microphone that can be clipped onto a character's shirt or dress. This will help you capture the richness of the character's voice and reduce background sounds. Use a good set of headphones to check the audio. Batteries. Also remember to have backup batteries if you are using a digital camera and a portable charger if you are using a smartphone. Soft cloth. Remember always to keep your lens clean. A soft cloth is all that's needed. Third tip is to find the light. Light is everything in photography and filming. But if you're relying on outdoor natural light, as most of us will be in the SWM program, then you have to be mindful about when you go out to shoot. Different times of day obviously have different light and you need to try and use this light to help convey different feelings to support your story. For example, one type of light is called the Golden Hour. This is the light around sunrise or sunset. Light can help convey calm and happiness. Second, during the middle of the day, when the sun is overhead and at its strongest, the light tends to be harsh. This type of light can help you show tough reality. Third, overcast light on a dull or rainy day create flat images without deep shadows and strong highlights. This type of light can help you show sadness or create a melancholy atmosphere. Finally, there is twilight or dusk, when the sun has just set and before it becomes dark. This can be a special time in the day which can help you show mystery, emotion and magic. Finding the right light refers not only to the time of day, but also to the best or most appropriate light to show your subject. For example, for portrait shots or interviews, avoid placing your character in front of the light source. If you do, they will appear as a silhouette. Think of the sun as you would a light stand. It should be illuminating your subject, but not from behind. However, be mindful of the sun's position and height in the sky, so your subject is not looking directly into it. To improve your image, also look at the shapes created by shadows and use them to emphasize points of light. As we can see in this example, it can be interesting to have a background and shadow so that a subject emerges from the darkness. To sum up, it's important to plan your shooting day carefully, taking into account the light. It's essential that the subject of our photo or video is properly focused and lit. Often you only have one chance to get this right. Exposure is essentially how much light you allow onto the sensor. With too much light, the image will be overexposed, and too little light, it will be underexposed. Here are some good examples and some bad examples. If you are using a smartphone, you can choose the focus point manually by tapping on the screen where the subject appears. This will also adjust the exposure or how much light is allowed into the frame. On most smartphones, another way to correct the exposure more precisely is using a slider on a graduated line. If you're using a digital camera, a simple way to improve focus is by moving the small rectangle that indicates the point of focus. In automatic mode, this will adjust the focus and also adjust the exposure so that the subject is not too dark or too bright. Of course, if you want to have more control, you can also adjust the exposure manually using the iris thumb wheel. Note that changes in exposure will also affect the depth of field of your picture. This is the zone within a photo that will appear in focus. Our fifth tip is to compose your images carefully. To make your photographs and video footage stronger and more balanced, you should keep the following questions in mind. Where should I put the subject in the frame? And how best can I arrange the elements? There are many rules of composition. One of the most well-known and effective ones is the rule of thirds. Here, you divide the frame into nine equal parts using two horizontal lines and two vertical lines. The key is to place your subject along these lines or at the point where these lines intersect. Many smartphones and digital cameras have these grid lines to help you compose. So turn them on. A second rule is to use leading lines. This approach will help you to create a visual journey that leads the viewer from one part of the image to another. Leading lines should take the viewer towards your subject or point of interest. For example, you can use roads, walls or rivers as leading lines or anything that appears in rows, such as lamp posts or planted trees. But don't be tied to the rules either. Learn to experiment and see what works best for you. Composition rules are there to be broken. Tip number six is to film and photograph from a variety of angles. This involves moving around. Find interesting angles rather than relying on the camera zoom. Rather than keeping the camera or smartphone at eye level, film from the ground level upwards or from above to get a bird's eye view. Shooting from below makes the subject more dominant. Shooting from above gives the viewer a feeling of superiority. It's really important to get close up to your subjects, moving close to show important details and facial expressions, as well as actions and emotions. Use all these tips to help tell your story. It will also help give your audience a different point of view and add interest to the images. Tip number seven builds on the last tip and is about filming sequences of shots. Shooting video is different from taking photographs. You need to think about the different shots you're going to combine and edit together to tell your story. These will become your sequences, which you will be able to combine with your interviews in the editing. These shots are what are technically called B-roll. During the editing work, B-roll footage will be important to introduce your character in this country, giving strength and concreteness to the interview audio. When you are shooting B-roll, remember to ask yourself what you really need to film in order to show what you want to tell. B-roll usually includes extreme wide shots or wide shots to show where the action is taking place. Medium shots to provide more information and details about your characters and close-up and extreme close-ups of hands, equipment or faces. I can't emphasise enough the importance of close-ups of hands and faces. The more close-ups you can get, the better. Over the shoulder, this is a valuable shot to help show what someone is working on or doing. Remember, a good rule of thumb is to film each clip for a minimum of 10 seconds. One filming, you don't need to move your camera every time. In fact, it is better to keep your camera or smartphone still, ideally using your tripod. The movement or action can then happen inside a fixed frame and you will avoid having shaky footage. If you decide to move your camera, do it smoothly. And before doing so, ask yourself why do you decided to make this movement? Tip number eight is to plan your video interviews carefully. They will be a critical part of your stories. Most of the time, you will not have presenters or narrators, so you will need to rely on interviews to tell your story. Here are some basic tips to help make them a success. Plan to do the interview once you have established a relationship with your characters and they're at ease, ideally once you know them. It's so important that they're relaxed and can enjoy the experience. Plan in advance where you want to do the interview and at what time of day, under what type of light and with a background, there will not be a distraction. Don't start your interview too late in the day as you may run out of light. Make sure there are no background sounds that will disturb the interview, such as car engines or other people talking. Plan a simple camera setup for an interview, for example, using the rule of thirds composition. The subject should be looking into the open space of the frame. Compose a mid-shop from the waist up to the head. If you're asking the questions, then the interviewer should be talking and looking directly at you and not at the camera. Keep the camera at the same heights as the eyes of the interviewer. Place a Lavalier microphone in the subject's clothes, ideally out of sight, just behind the collar or buttons. Double-check on your headphones that the microphone does not scratch against them. Plan your questions in advance, but be ready to improvise and ask new questions if the interview takes you down an interesting new path. Ask people to repeat the subject of the question at the beginning of their answer. One trick is to ask them two questions at once, so they will automatically respond with the question. For example, what is your name and where are you from? My name is Cindy and I am from Canada. It's also a good idea to kindly ask them not to use acronyms or jargon. If you're using a smartphone, remember to switch to airplane mode to avoid any calls interrupting the interview. One, finally, and very important thing to remember is tip number nine, and that is to request the consent from the people you photograph and film. You should respect the identity and privacy of anyone being filmed, photographed, or named in your stories. You should always explain to them what you will be doing and how the story will be used, and then request their written consent. Ultimately, you are creating part of their online digital fingerprint. Here is the consent form we use on the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme. It shows images to help illustrate what we are asking. It has also been translated into the local language. If you are photographing children, then it's important to seek the consent from an adult who is responsible for the child. In addition to being respectful, our program donors will ask for these consent forms before they are able to use and share our videos and photographs. That's all for now, so thank you for listening to these nine top tips. So just a recap. Remember to... Plan your story. Keep your equipment simple. Find the light. Focus and expose correctly. Compose carefully. Seek a variety of angles. Think sequences when filming. Plan your video interviews. Be polite and request consent. If you have any doubts or questions, please contact us via email. Above all, go out and enjoy making great photos and videos.