Starting out in videography is for the brave and, of course, the creative. Taking reality, or an assumed version of it, capturing it through an artistic perspective and transforming it into a video that contains all the emotions and messages you want to express is a skill that can only get perfected over time. As a beginner in the field (or intermediate level videographer), it might take you a while to get to ‘professional’ status, but no one says you can’t act like one ‘fake it till you make it’ and all right? –with excellent professional-looking videos, by using these tips.

1. Lighting 

The importance of the right lighting for videos cannot be overemphasized, especially if your aim is to shoot a professional-looking video. By creating the right aesthetic effects with lighting, you can also portray the feelings of your subjects and the pulchritude of the environment, to a better degree that will captivate your audience. Mastering lighting skills will help you understand mood settings to aid the realistic visualization of your video by the audience. 

2. Angles 

Everything about your video depends on the angle it is shot at. For a professional-looking video, you need to aim for the right camera angles that will display your ideas appropriately and make sure you have a firm balance on the camera to avoid a shift of angles and/ or focus. This gives a deliberate sophistication to your work as a videographer.

3. Equipment 

In order to achieve the best quality of videos, you need to improve your equipment. While high-tech development allows you to record relatively high quality on your smartphone, you need to make sure the pixel is up to a standard high enough for a professional-looking video. You can invest in external microphones to make sure the necessary sounds are caught with a close precision and save yourself the cost of re-shooting scenes due to lost sounds.

4. Cinematic techniques

Applying cinematic techniques while shooting any video gives the finished work that obvious artistic touch and aesthetic deliberation which was involved in the production process. A typical example is an extremely long or close-up shot. In either case, you need to have a steady grip on the camera and make sure the focus is on the primary subject.

5. Act like a videographer, think like an editor

Lastly, while shooting, keep it at the forefront of your mind that the video will still be edited so, look out for cuts and scenes that would make the editing easier and give you a better-finished product. 

Practice and consistency with the right tips will help you become a professional videographer.