Light up your subject! Outdoors, whenever possible, shoot from an
angle where the subject is facing the sun. Indoors, use reflectors to increase lighting on your subject area without using
spots (a white sheet, or inexpensive photo umbrella will do). A lens hood outdoors on sunny days will avoid color washout
and lens flare.
Mix it up. Don't just hold the camera in one place and shoot a long
video. Move around, get different people and angles, some closeups and some long shots, and get down to the level of your
subject (when shooting kids). And don't forget the shots that set the scene, such as outdoor footage of your home covered
in snow, introducing a Christmas video.
Use a tripod. Avoiding shaky video is easy when you use a tripod.
You can even get yourself in the picture this way. If you have to hand-hold, steady your elbow against a table, tree, wall
or whatever is handy.
Soften busy backgrounds. Make your subject pop by adding a neutral
density or polarizing filter (from one to four f-stops). This opens up your camcorder's shutter aperture and softens the background.
Get a microphone. Good sound is just as important as video. Buy a
simple microphone with a long cord, to get it as close to your subject as possible. Just about anything will be better than
the built-in microphone. You can also attach a directional microphone to the top of your camera when you are moving around.
