chapter 570

10/24/2020

Going GoPro

be a Hero

I have always wanted to do a video of the trail at Thacher Park. It's sort of a magical spot, a short very rewarding mile walk just a half hour below Albany. Apparently the Indians used to climb through here on their journeys using some sort of tree ladder. Colleen loaned me her GoPro 7. Such a compact efficient high tech video device. It's fun to use. I shot it at 1081i 30fps superwide focal length. But then I dumb it down to 720p for smaller file size on Youtube. Cell phone video will yield great results if you work at it. Became cloudy during most of the hike so I didn't get all the good color I wanted and didn't take time to adjust the settings. Just a trial run. The shot above was from my Canon pocket cam however.

I used music from a native American Indian I had met a couple decades ago at the Round Lake Antique festival. A young guy named Wayra was performing solo on flute with his synthesizer recordings of himself playing other instruments filling a rounded out sound. Bought his CD on the spot. The two singles I chose were appropriately enough called Trails of our Ancestors and Rainbow Canyon. Very spiritual.

Completed my photo shoot and on the way back to the truck I noticed the scaling team going over the edge to check for loose rocks that could come down on the trail. Brian here rappelling down near the spot below that was temporarily roped off where we used to be able to stick our heads into the caves. He was a big framed guy heavier than what you usually see as rock climbers. But imagine what a great New York State Parks & Recreation job he has rather than sitting behind a desk.

Members of the Capital District climbers club were there for backup and holding the ropes.

Family came out for a hike on the trail. You gotta get low to go through this first section. No problem for Lucas but my video got glitchy when my back pack got stuck hitting the over hanging ceiling rocks.

You can't get this frog photo back in the caves unless you have a gopro on a selfie stick that extends back into there. Had no idea he was back there until I probed.

link to my Autumn Motorcycle Ride video

I mounted the cam on a chest strap high up near my neck for this trial video. Set on 1080i 30fps super wide angle field of view it brought in the color contrasts of the trees and sky nicely. There is more distortional bending but achieved the desired results. Simple wide angle or linear focal length gives a more correct orthogonal perspective but is more boring. The video actually achieves a greater sense of the color than your natural eye perspective sees. If you are aiming at the horizon line you minimize the unwanted unnatural curvature distortion. A helmet mount would be nice for looking to side views but could be more jerky.

Youtube banned my first version with the Van Morrison music I wanted but allows me to use my local musician's tunes. (Sometimes I'm just talking to myself, but I like to hear what I have to say. When you go into silent mode you can hear yourself think.)

link to my Baker Mountain Winter Climb

We did this climb in February but I didn't get a hold of the video footage until now. A lot of the climb was simply redundant- trees & trail, eg boring. So I eliminated or sped up most of it. Editing is essential to creating a palatable outcome.

link to my $1 Million Winnings

The GoPro is small enough to fit in tight spots. Lots of applications for sporting videos, check on Youtube. I've only scratched the surface of potential applications.