Avalanche documentary update
Last winter was a bit of a strange mix weather wise and a lot of Europe was affected by the snow that came in December ( I spent the weekend with my family at Geneva airport, trying to return to the UK ). But the 2011/12 winter season turned out to be far from a bumper season snow wise.
One affect of this, on me at least, was a sparse season of filming for my avalanche project. Little snow cover, meant fewer opportunities to film spring avalanches. As the winter turned into spring, the dry conditions continued and as there was a lack of melting snow, a lot of the normally high rivers and streams completely dried up. What this coming winter brings is far from sure, but I think it’s safe to say, prepare for the unexpected.
Anyway here is a small taster of last season, which should hopefully give some idea of what the project is all about. I’ve dedicated a page to this film here, which has a little more info on the subject.
The Avalanches of Mars
Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
I wrote a post a couple of years back, on my old photoblog, covering the Martian avalanches which were captured by the HiRise imager on board the MRO spacecraft. Well over the last year or so, this story hasn’t really stood still, with further images being taken during the last Martian spring.
I’m now working on the rough edit to the first of a series of web documentaries ( which I’ll post up some more info on, next week ), the first of which will focus on my views of these images and the similarities between the avalanches I’ve been shooting through our spring, here on good old planet Earth.
I’m wearing many hats to finish this off, including ones that I’m not really experienced in ie; narrator, so progress has been a little slower than if I had to just edit sound and picture. Also working with the large, but impressive .JP2 image files from HiRise has been a real challenge to repurpose for rostrum 2.5D and 3D flyovers. Fingers crossed, I should be finished with this one in the next couple of weeks.
I’ve now pushed this back until the end of 2011, with the hope that this little piece will benefit from some more time on the post. I think it will be worth it.
For more on this, visit the HiRise website
“Ripley” My solution to DSLR handheld camera rigs
The Tripod mod rig guide Pt.1
If you’ve looked all over the place for the ideal camera rig, but then you realise that you have to either a; hike with it or b; travel with it, as well as carrying a tripod, you’ll soon realise that something will have to give. This was my predicament until a few months ago, when I realised that I could simply break down a Manfrotto tripod and re-rig it to fit my needs. Up until then I’d used a tripod to steady up some shots, by either bracing the legs against my shoulders or just shooting while holding it out in front. I’d also been experimenting with using bungee or shock cord, to help stabilise and hand hold cameras for long periods. The original steadicam was based around the use of bungee cords, so this is nothing new.
It was only recently that I put 2 and 2 together and came up with 101 different uses for a tripod and had to check myself! The first and most simple option is to put the tripod on your shoulder and tilt the head until the camera viewfinder is close to your face. This works to a point but it’s not exactly what I’d call ergonomic. Modify the idea slightly and you can start with a shoulder rig that’s really well balanced for a DSLR.
So here is a very simple guide to building a handheld and modular DSLR rig that doesn’t involve going near a DIY store or welding sticky back plastic to your mums old pram.
DISCLAIMER: If the bungees snap or you use the hooked luggage straps that you can buy in the corner shop and these come loose, I can’t be held responsible for what happens. YOU POTENTIALLY COULD HARM YOURSELF OR YOUR CAMERA DOING THIS. Make sure that you check, double check that all connections you make are secure first!
Stuff you will need:
1. Tripod with removable centre column.
2. Fluid head with pan bar handle ( an additional handle will make it more versatile ).
3. A ball head and tripod end stub ( optional )
4. Superclamps ( optional )
5. A couple of meters ( or yards ) of Bungee or shock cord of at least 6mm.
6. Karabiners
7. Cable ties, gaffer tape, pliers etc…
8. Special ops vest, climbing harness or heavy duty backpack with harness ( this parts optional, but harnesses are useful )
9. Some bike handle grips, make nice additional touches and again help to make the set up more versatile.
Shoulder rig
Remove the centre column with head already mounted. Tilt the head fully back ( on this old 501 head, it’s only possible to tilt through the whole 90 degrees in one direction ). If you are using a head like this, then you will need to mount the camera in reverse on the quick release plate, so that it’s facing forward when mounted. You will need to adjust the plate backwards and forwards to suit your set up. Tilt the pan bar handle down. Add the other pan bar handle to the other side, so that you can have a pair of handle bars if you want.
Add the stub into the other end of the column. You don’t need to do this, but it does mean you can add a ball head or superclamp to this end, which helps with both the balance of the support and allows you to attach other equipment. I’ve got a ball head and Zoom recorder mounted in this picture to demonstrate.
With camera mounted on the column like this it’s very comfortable or me to bring the EVF in close to my eye, without cricking my neck. It also means you can go from tripod to shoulder mount very quickly. Nice.
The Ripley Rig.1
Invert the pan bar handle so it’s facing upwards. Attach a bike grip to the end of the centre column. You could also mount a pan bar to a clamp at the end if you want. Make up some various lengths of shock cord as shown here. 
Using bike gear parts makes for nice extra attachment points, but you can use other parts here. Attach the cord using karabiners at the front and the back of the rig. If you’ve attached a sling, then this just goes over your shoulders. Other wise attach the two cords to your harness. It’s NOT a Steadicam, but it does make long periods of handheld shooting comfortable and it is amazingly versatile to shoot with, allowing the camera to be shot both from the hip ( being stabilised by the bungee ) and shoulder mounted. Switching back to tripod shooting only takes a matter of seconds by quick release, or less than a minute if you’re repurposing one tripod head. The important part here is to experiment with cord lengths and thickness, as you need to avoid too much bounce and stretch.
This set up also allows the camera to be moved with one hand when shooting from the hip, as the bungee cord supports the rig and is stable enough to allow this, while the other hand takes care of focus/zoom/set ups etc.
Here are some stock car clips, all from the hip and shoulder mounted with mostly long lenses ( 200-300 EFL ). I’ll update this with a more comprehensive video later this week.
Avalanche Alley PT II
Over the last couple of winters I’ve been slowly working away at a long form documentary film, documenting the effect that snowfall and the subsequent avalanches have on the mountain eco system. I’ve never worked on or been involved in any kind of nature production, except my own personal films, but ever since I first picked up a film camera and started shooting skiing and snowboarding, my fascination with this subject has grown more each year.
This winter was a big snow year and ideally I would have liked have filmed more sequences than I did. But anyway I still managed to shoot some material for the film and hopefully, given good conditions next winter, might be able to complete the film in 2010. I’ve made a short teaser from some of this winters shots, which I’ve posted on Exposureroom.
View in HD Download 720p HD Version Visit Adrian Frearson’s ExposureRoom Videos Page
Shooting naturally triggered avalanches is not the easiest thing in the world to do, you need to be in the right place at the right time obviously, but having quick reactions and gear that will react as fast is probably equally important. The last couple of winters shooting for this project have really been a testing ground for me and I’m now realizing that I may need to go back to my 16mm shooting days. I’ve shot most of the material so far with my FX1, which is a notoriously slow starting camera, even by other tape based systems. I think any digital based system isn’t ideal in a situation where the camera has to stay in standby, in the cold for hours on end and then suddenly drop into instant record. So I’m considering the switch back to Super 16, purely for shooting these sequences next year, conditions allowing. Most film cameras that I’ve used don’t suffer from poor start up times, they either run or they don’t! I had been thinking of using the upcoming Scarlet, to complete the project, but as start up on the current Red One is a bit of an issue, I will just have to wait and see how this develops. In the meantime I’m keeping my eye on S16 prices, quite a few people seem to be offloading film gear at the moment, so it could be time to scoop a bargain.
Ade
Profile: Peter Thommen
This profile of board designer Peter Thommen, was produced as a promo for F2, during the filming of “The Hustlers Convention”. The profile was used to spearhead the 2003 windsurf board range videos for F2, but it stands well on it’s own as little insight to his “days work”.
