Claudia Salomon shares her tech preferences for video conferencing over Zoom.
This is the first post for our Learning From the Best series
Katja Maas, our designer/editor picked Claudia's brains on the lighting and technology she used for her video conversation with Adolfo Jiménez on March, 2021.
Here is a little clip from her Conversation with Adolfo to remind you:
Things to notice are:
Claudia's framing within the shot (camera angle and distance)
The quality of the image
The quality of the audio
Lighting
1. Framing
The size of your head should be 2/3 the height of the screen to achieve this framing.
The height of the camera is level with the center of your face - not below looking up at you and not above you looking down at you.
Distance of the camera is enough to get your whole head and shoulders to below collar bones.
Background - Soft background that is fairly even tonally. Minimal noise of objects and clutter. You can be centered or off center.
Background lines - Rectangular shapes in your background should not be distorted. Horizontal or vertical lines should be parallel to the sides o the screen not angled or converging because the camera angle is too low or too high.
2. Technology for image and audio quality
KATJA: What equipment, (camera, lighting, audio) do you use for The Conversation.
Picture of Claudia's desktop set up. Courtesy Claudia Salomon.
CLAUDIA: I have a Dell 38 inch curved screen, https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-ultrasharp-38-curved-monitor-u3818dw/apd/210-amrc/monitors-monitor-accessories so I need to have a webcam because there is no camera in the big screen.
CLAUDIA: I highly recommend the Logitech brio webcam, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1362093-REG/logitech_960_001105_brio_webcam_90.html
CLAUDIA: The webcam is more expensive than others on the market, but it is recognized as having one of the best images, with the ability to adjust the settings, although I find the automatic adjustments including for lighting to work well. It has an incredibly clear image. The Logitech Brio webcam has a built in microphone which is considered to be good quality. That is what I used for this conversation.
KATJA: How is the webcam mounted?
CLAUDIA: The webcam can clip onto the top screen but I found that was too high, given my seat height, so I have the webcam on a stand (a desktop mini-tripod also works) in front of the screen –
CLAUDIA: With this set up, I am able to look at the camera and the person/people on the screen.
3. Lighting
KATJA: What about the lighting?
CLAUDIA: Lighting is of course key. I am in a very fortunate situation in a home office with windows on both sides and great desk lights and overhead lighting. Many people in dark spaces have gotten lights that clip onto the screen.
KATJA: Thank you Claudia for sharing your insight so generously.
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p.s.
If you don't have great natural lighting you can use the LUMEcube and ask a B&H expert for advice on best way to position and mount your LumeCube based on your specific situation.