Andrew Ford is a Florida-based digital strategist and video producer. His career has spanned the sports, news, and corporate realms, but his true passion is medical video production and digital marketing, where he is considered a leader in the industry. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys traveling, cooking, gardening, nature photography, and creating industry tutorials. He is an Adobe Certified Professional in Premiere Pro and After Effects and also a forum guru for CreativeCOW.
It’s a crazy time right now and your clients may be canceling upcoming shoots. If you find yourself with some free time, there are simple things you can proactively work on to help your future business. Branding First, further develop
Fractal Noise is a loaded effect within After Effects that creates grayscale noise, and can be used for numerous things, such as creating patterns and textures, transitions and effects, and displacement maps. I’m talking amazing textures ranging from rocks to
It may seem daunting to learn the robust interface of After Effects — Adobe’s visual effects, motion graphics and compositing application. But if you are a designer or photographer familiar with Photoshop, you’ll already know some aspects of the program.
If you aren’t doing the little things to optimize your YouTube channel, what are you waiting for? Google (YouTube’s parent company) is the largest search engine in the world and YouTube, as a separate entity, would actually rank as the
There are two great ways to stabilize shaky video footage in After Effects. One way is to use the Track Motion feature, while another is to apply the Warp Stabilizer effect to your footage. Both options work well but can
A green screen kit is handy for many video projects, but you may not own one because it seems costly to purchase or a pain to setup. Â I thought the same thing when starting out, but after the expense of
After Effects allows you to write expressions. Expressions are kind of like code, but don’t be scared! I’ll show you one of the simplest yet most useful expressions there is — the Wiggle Expression. This expression can be applied to
Track Motion is a powerful and useful feature in After Effects. You can track data from part of a clip and then apply it to another layer so that it follows the motion of the tracked layer. During this short
Engagement is my favorite metric to track, as it represents the overall performance and health of your video. Unlike so-called vanity metrics such as Views (which show the reach of your video), metrics like Audience Retention tell you the percentage
(Editor’s Note: We welcome this guest post from Andrew Ford, an award-winning video producer with 20 years of experience. Based out of the Tampa Bay, FL area, he specializes in medical video production and has partnered with numerous surgeons from
There I was, making pictures for the athletics department to use in their marketing materials when suddenly, a soccer ball soared straight into my lens and smashed my camera into my face. See, the plan was to make action pictures.
If you’re new to film photography, you’re guaranteed to run into some disappointments that may discourage you from shooting more of it. Maybe you’ve seen another film photographer’s work that has led you to have some expectations, but your results
For years now, I’ve seen Topaz ads while scrolling social media. At conferences, I’d see the software demoed, and it would always get large crowds. But I wanted to take a run at it myself. Was the sharpening technology that Topaz
This week we’re getting to know community member, Ujjwal Mistry. Ujjwal lives in Kolkata, India and enjoys practicing his photography and post-processing skills. Haven’t joined the Photofocus Community yet? Sign up for free today! How did you get started in
The WANDRD FERNWEH backpack is on sale, at 15% off! Perfect for whether you’re hiking in the snow or enjoying the warm sunshine, the FERNWEH gives you ample room for all your photography gear (and then some). Save over $50
This morning, Sigma announced the 28-70mm f/2.8 Contemporary lens, available for L-mount and Sony E-mount. With a design based off of Sigma’s Art line, the 28-70mm offers the same uncompromising optical performance, in a lightweight and compact body. Featuring a
I love getting out in nature and capturing terrific photos of wildlife. Due to location, distance and travel requirements during Covid-19, that’s not always possible. I find the next best thing is a wildlife sanctuary or zoo. We have some
Once you know what types of goods and services your photography business will be offering, you can develop a pricing structure for them. What do you need to consider when determining the price of your services? In this chapter, instructor
Anyone who takes up photography does so with the intention of being good, if not the best at what they do. It will definitely take some time and practice, but with hard work comes the reward of being better, one
I’m going to get this out of the way first: I don’t like watermarks. I use them, but I don’t like putting them on my photos. Oh sure, I can name all the reasons that many of us put watermarks on
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