Tuesday, September 19, 2006

U Kayak Tube, Mate?


I heard that 100 million people a day hit the UTube video site and of course we kayakers have been checking in there as well. Derrick's blog features a new selection from UTube each Tuesday which is worth checking out. I noticed that most of these kayaking videos use cameras which are either land based or handheld. They lack the on-board 'you-are-there' action of Justine Curgeven's TITS films which have revolutionized kayaking video work.
The answer to this oversight is in the picture above. No more drab and boring still-camera pictures! It's time to get out and make some action videos just like the big boys...err, girls! Here's how I did it...
First, I got a cheap little weather and water (read it's mostly plastic) resistant tripod. Next I mounted my waterproof Pentax camera on the tripod, then simply used the deck bungies to attach it on the foredeck ahead of the cockpit where I could manipulate the various controls. Using the camera's built-in ability to take videos, the rest was easy. I simple paddle as usual and clicked the video on and off as required. I soon discovered having a 1 or 2 gig memory card was essential!
Once home I used computer software to transform the video clips into a little movie (I used iMovie). The quality is as good as most of the stuff on UTube so Justine need not get too anxious about upstarts like me in her wake, but, hey, turning the camera around, I got myself in the action, something she hasn't managed to do yet!
So that's my fun news. Get out and make paddling videos of your next outing. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy and fun it is.
Drop me an email and I'll send you a copy of my first video, complete with a Camaron and Tomatito flamenco soundtrack (talk about a world of opposites!). Taking my lead from Justine, I'm calling the film 'Back At Long Lake Solo'. She'll die when she sees that, but she did start it, didn't she? Or wait until I get a UTube account... your choice!

4 comments:

clairesgarden said...

its great , fantastic, a natural star!!

Michael said...

Too bad I don't have a day job to give up! LOL

derrick said...

looks like a good set up. I played with that about a year ago. Got a couple nice stills but then I sort of just stopped. Anxious to see what you can do with it. :)

Michael said...

Derrick - try it again, I think you'll be amazed with the quality. I put the camera on it's video setting and left it there. When I wanted to film I just hit the 'shoot' button. I recommend a large memory card (think 200 mb per minute) and fully charged batteries...