If This DP Started Over Today, He'd Only Buy These Four Things

Cinematographer Keaton Nye worked his way up the camera department, from PA to AC to camera operator and then DP. He's now a commercial DP whose clients include Visit Faroe Islands, Atlantis Bahamas, Paycom, and ESPN, and he also runs a full-service production company.

In a new video, Nye lays out what he'd do if he had to start over, including the gear he'd buy first, what he'd learn first, and more. His advice is aimed at people who know they want to be DPs, but much of it applies to anyone holding a camera. Here's what aspiring cinematographers can take from his do-over plan.

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Pick a Lane Early

When you're just starting out, you're often the whole crew, so there's pressure to learn everything at once. You're your own gaffer and grip and DP and AC and sound designer and everything in between. It's good to know a lot of that so you understand how it works, but you will eventually reach a set where some of that isn't your responsibility.

"But if I knew that I wanted to strictly be a DP, I'd stay out of the weeds on a lot of that," Nye says. "I still run my own audio on a lot of docu and corporate jobs. So, I'm not saying you will never touch it, or don't ever touch it. But what I am saying is that I wouldn't spend my first couple of years going deep on side quests because every hour that you put in on those side quests is an hour that's not going toward framing or lighting."

His advice, in short, is to protect your hours. Although there's one exception that he gets to later.

Buy These Four Things

His starter list is a camera, a lens, a powerful key light, and something to use as negative fill or bounce. For the camera and lens, he says to buy whatever leaves room in the budget for the other two.

It's important to own one good, powerful light.

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