Made last Christmas for Fort Erie Race Track to wish Happy Holidays to their social media followers. There where slightly different versions made to fit different platforms but, this is basic 16:9 HD version.
“Birds in Flight” is a program at
the Canadian Raptor Conservancy that offers photographers (&
videographers) the opportunity to capture images of some fantastic
birds outdoors and in flight.
I had a good day despite the
cold and even got to stop for a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper on the way home.
There where lots of different birds and plenty of time and
flights of the birds that flew & a few that where stationary. I ended up with so much footage
it was hard to trim it down to 3 videos of reasonable length.the hard part was comparing 5 or 6 flights of the same bird trying to find the one to use, when really any of the 5 would work fine.
As usual I brought too much gear that never got used. What I did use was a new set up with rails and matte box configured as a shoulder rig with a quick release plate on the bottom to easily switch from sticks to shoulder. It worked pretty well. Maybe a bit bulky but, the weight & size did have the benefit that the tracking shots where smoother than I could have gotten without it. It's the 1st time I could go from shoulder to tripod easily & I really really liked it.
There's a bit of Slow motion but I could have easily put in a lot more. Every flight clip I slowed down looked so nice. I tried not to go overboard, just enough to catch the eye.
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The Mega-Lapse Project, sounds impressive, but it's just what I called it to distinguish it from other time lapses I was working on.
The various pieces (time lapses, footage & hyperlapse) where shot from November 2013 to May 2014. After preparing the individual lapses & bringing them into one "mega" project & getting started, I soon got side tracked by more urgent projects.
So, everything sat on a hard drive & sat & was basically ignored for a long time.
Until this spring when I came across the project & opening it up. All the files where there and the time lines where all in place & all the different lapses worked fine. They just needed assembling and a bit of finishing.
"I've come this far, I can finish it off quick" was my thought. Well, it wasn't exactly quick but, it is done & (at least to me) it doesn't look too bad.
BTS
In the mega project I also found some BTS (Behind The Scenes) footage. Once again "waste not, want not". I put the together to go with the main project. The BTS was mostly shot in one day, One windy, snowy afternoon. First I went out with a camera wrapped in plastic and put the camera & tripod where it could 'watch' me make the trip to the track to shoot that day's part of the hyperlapse (moving timelapse). once it was set & focused & running, I trudged back to the building, got the camera & tripod I was using for the taking pictures (5 different locations) each day, all winter. With the standard tripod & camera I set out to get the days shots shooting bits of live action along the way.
More to Come
I have other unfinished projects that range from a folder full of footage to others that where nearing completion before they put aside. I just might take a few,finish them off and post them.
New project sometime seem a bit more attracting, they're well, new and exciting. But, I've never brought a project to completion without learning something, usually a lot of somethings,
So, when I have a bit or extra time or need a break from my current projects I'll take a look at an older project & see what I can learn.
I'm busy working on a series of projects that won't be finished for a while and I've finished one smaller project that I'm sitting on until after the official release by the client.
With all the longer projects on the go I don't have much to put in the blog. So I'm posting something small, mostly because I haven't posted in a while.
One of the projects that's going to take a while to finish is the Canadian Raptor Conservatory.
It was was more fun than I expected and I'd do it again. I'll be writing writing more about it later and there will be a video at some point too. For now here's a short bit of footage from that day.
As I said, it's early days and as I post this I'm looking at it and making notes about things to do different for the final video. But, that's part of letting other people look at things, it makes you look at it different. Things that are easy to over look are more prominent when someone else is looking.
In movies & Christmas cards snowmen are large & round and invariably white, completely white from head to toe.
I've been making snowmen on & off for 40+ years and as often as not they look more like this than the "ideal" snowman of tv & advertising. Especially if you live in the city & particularly at the beginning end of the winter, which is usually when the most enthusiastic snowman propagation occurs.
Sunday Morning in Niagara Falls. I left early that morning so I 'd have time to relaxe with a coffee before work. I forgot the coffee shop opens late on the weekend so, I took a bit of detour to find a coffee & some breakfast.
Sunday Morning in Niagara Falls. I left early that morning so I 'd have time to relaxe with a coffeebefore work. I forgot the coffee shop opens late on the weekend so, I took a bit of detour to find a coffe & some breakfast.
