Filming outdoors is something that any aspiring filmmaker will experience at one point or another. However, they will quickly learn that it is quite difficult to get decent videography from the outdoors. This is because it’s hard to get good shots and audio. It’s difficult to get good audio because there’s a lot of noise interference outdoors, coming from animals and the natural elements.

You’ll find that it’s hard to get good lighting as well, since it’s difficult to make use of the natural light if you’re not sure what you’re doing. It’s much easier to control all of these factors and more when you’re indoors. If you find yourself with an outdoors videography project coming up and worried about how you’re going to go about this, keep these tips in mind.

Learn how to use the sun to your advantage

When filming outdoors, the sun can be your greatest foe, or your biggest ally. Light is a very important factor in getting good looking shots, whether it’s for photography or videography. When using natural light, it’s important for you to know what you’re doing with the light, otherwise you risk overexposing your shots.

You can try tricks like using the sunlight as a backlight, which gives your videos that gorgeous “edge” shot that is popular in wedding videos. In addition to this, make sure you find out beforehand what time sunrise and sunlight is going to happen. The goal here is to catch the “golden hour”, which is typically the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, as these two hours are when the sun gives off a softer glow that would be fantastic to shoot in.

Use a microphone for better audio

If you’re having problems with audio outdoors, it would help to have a microphone that you can use, instead of relying on the microphone on your camera. If you’re filming someone speaking outdoors, you can rent or buy a clip on camera that you can attach to them, which should help improve the audio quality.

Avoid using autofocus

Autofocus helps you get a shot that is perfectly balanced and focused. However, it’s not recommended to use autofocus outdoors, as there are too many subjects. With the trees and other plant life, it’ll be difficult for your camera’s autofocus to choose which subject to focus on, which will lead to a shot that will constantly be focusing in and out.

Make sure you explore the location beforehand

Above all else, when filming outdoor videography, always check your filming location ahead of time. This will help you know what you’ll need in order to prepare yourself for this shoot.