A handy tool for journalists: Stabilize your shaky smartphone videos with Google’s photo app

Screen Grab of Google Video

Google quietly unveiled a new video stabilization feature in its Google Photos app a few months ago and it’s amazing. I discovered the usefulness of this feature when I edited video clips of our epic annual family road trip to Colorado. In between time-lapse videos of the drive, I added highlights of the main stops …

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Review: Why my trusty Sigma 17-70mm lens is always on my camera

Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Lens for Canon Mount Digital SLR Cameras

The world of camera lenses is an expensive, daunting place. So I thought I’d blog about a gem of a lens called the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM that’s served me well. I know the name is a mouthful. Translated into the way normal people speak, it means this is a versatile lens …

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Stumpy’s story: How I learned to shoot news video and edit footage

Stumpy the Zombie near the Alamo in San Antonio

Meet Stumpy. This pale zombie was the subject of a video I shot during a daylong class at the San Antonio Express-News offered by Angela Grant, our online media producer. Angela gave us tips about how to shoot video. Then she sent us out to film whatever we wanted for a few hours. After that, …

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