Now that I've been trying my hand at shooting digital video I can honestly say that my results look like a cross between Candid Camera and The Amateur Hour. And with recorded voice you usually hear me saying, "Is it on?" or sounding like a heavy breather all too often.

I went scouting to see who had some reasonable tips to take me to the next level of competence, and most of the best tips were from news journalists.

From the UK, Jim Harring offered this advice. "Try to tell a story. Random acts of video are boring." He's also a big believer in mercilessly editing video. In terms of gear he suggests a fluidhead tripod, which I then researched further at Ron Dexter's (another industry veteran) site.

If you shoot without a tripod, Harring says you need to think like one and make sure you have three points of contact holding the camera steady. (Think elbows on table, camera on rock, preview to eyeball, etc.)

Also on his list:

• Shoot at your eye level, maybe a little above or below. Get on your knees for kids.
• The tighter the zoom, the more you need good "legs" (tripod) to stand on.
• Try not to shoot towards the sun, but always be aware of light. Lighting can make a subject look flat or dynamic.

At Berkeley, some talented professors at the graduate journalism school prepared a course for journalists who need to sharpen their multimedia skills (I can relate). They've been kind enough to post their tips as a multimedia tutorial on shooting video. Some of the gems?

• Flip-around LCD screens are nice, but beware of using the screen all the time because it eats batteries fast.
• Leave a little headroom at the top of the frame.
• Each shot should be 10 to 15 seconds.
• Let the tape (camera) run for about 20 seconds at the beginning of a tape and leave a little tape at the end as well. (Panasonic recently implemented something similar in their HD camcorder. It always captures three seconds prior to when you hit the play button so you never miss the shot.
• Get as close as you can to your subjects and shoot close-ups whenever possible.
• For online video, avoid pans (horizontal movement of the camera) and zooms (focusing in or out using the zoom feature on the camera). Not only does it look bad on the Internet, but unnecessary movement also slows down the video stream.

Thanks for the great tips, but I wouldn't worry about job security with the likes of me behind the lens.

Related links:

Upgrading Your PC for Digital Video

More Tips for Shooting Video