Why do the likes of you and I take a video camera with us when we go snowboarding?
The obvious answer, I suppose, is that we want to record ourselves and our friends/family, snowboarding, so that we can watch it back later. There's nothing wrong with that; nothing at all. But do I sometimes spend too much time on it? Do you?
A couple of things have prompted this post. First, I was sorting through a bunch of camcorder tapes, working out which ones were from last year. In doing so I watched quite a bit of the video we took. It was fun, but I didn't see a lot of good stuff, and I say that in relation to how many times we took a camera up with us. In the two seasons prior to last season, I ended up with some footage that I thought was a step forward. Some off-piste stuff, some nice natural hits, the type of stuff I'd like to get more of. But I didn't see much of that this time around.
And the second thing was an article I read in a magazine asking "Do good photos matter?" The article was asking if the average reader of a snowboard magazine is really bothered about good quality photos; would they rather see photos of their mates?
Incidentally I think the answer is "yes". When I read a snowboard magazine and look at the pictures, some of them make me stop and think how the hell do they do that? or that looks so awesome I want to be there. The relavent point here is that it reminded me that for photogaphers and video makers, it's their job. Making a video part can take a whole season. I know there are stories of riders who put things together in a really short period of time, but on the whole, it's a big job that takes a lot of effort.
If I'm shredding for two weeks of the winter and I score a couple of good powder days, do I want to be worrying about getting some footage? Or should I just be enjoying the moment?
I do think that making a video of your snowboarding matters. At least, it does to me. I love watching over my snowboarding experiences. It's good for remembering the times. It's good for analysis and similarly it's good for progression. It gets me excited about going snowboarding. And most importantly it's fun. I like making the video clip.
But I do worry that my goals are perhaps unrealistic. Unjustified. To get better footage than what I've been getting it's more compramise on the actual riding. How about just leaving the camera at home?
Who knows? What are your thoughts?
8 comments:
I'd be willing to bet that all of the professional photographers and videographers have tons of unusable frames at the end of a season.
I typically don't take a camera with me when I am snowboarding, but that is generally because I go in much smaller groups than you seem to.
I'd love to get some footage of myself though.
I got my camera with me every run but i hardly use it :P. It's hard to stay back and film a bit instead of shredding it to the max but sometimes it's worth it. I've stopped filming entire runs and only do some offpiste/kicker footage. There is another turndown, I'm the only one filming my friends don't even bother..
same sentiments as aalion. I'm often the only one capable of riding & filming at the same time, but I'm also the only one of my friends who has the balls to try anything. I hand the camera to a friend and the footage usually looks like junk...
Yesterday evening, I posted a full reply on my blog.
oh the joys of........ should I take the camera up the mountain and be weighed down all day, or should I go up there and take next to nothing up with me so I can rip up the fresh powder?
One thing is for sure if you take the camera, batteries, tripod? up with you some time during the day you'll wish you hadn't, and like wise you will pull your biggest tricks when the camera is left back in your room!
Then there is the question as to who can hold a camera still as good as you can when it's somebody else's turn to film you, can you trust them to press record? can they keep the camera still? will they turn the camera off once you've landed your 360? Will they close up the back pack or will you find a foot of fresh in the back pack from when they stacked? (with ya camera in it!) as they ride down to meet you.
For all the bad things, I wouldn't ever go away for the week (no more seasons for me!) without taking some footage. Like aalion said filming entire runs kinda gets a bit 'same old' after a while. How the pros keep fresh every year (do they?) is quite something!
Anyway rant over, enjoy your riding and enjoy your filming, editing & publishing it's what keeps me going through the summer months!
jonyfoz does have some crap on youtube! enjoy!
I think you should definately keep filming, I enjoy the afterbang movies and its interesting to see good footage of people with a fair amount of skill, but who aren't pro. I'm currently editting some clips myself (but most of the footage seems to be heavy drinking).
Thanks for all of the replies guys.
Sewm, you're almost certainly right there. Aalion and David, I agree with what you've both said, and yes, there's always the problem of some people wanting to film more than others, and some being better at it :)
David - that post you made on your blog is pretty cool! Thanks.
The first anonymous poster - I think you read my mind. Your comment is more to the point than the original post :)
And the second anonymous poster, thanks, I'm glad you like some of the clips! There's nothing wrong with drinking footage. Although I've never posted it, I do recall a pretty funny clip of myself, my brother and my sister dancing to Beat It, in Laax a few years ago... :)
Cheers
Post it, dude. The world has to see your Beat It moves... ;)
Its hard getting the balance right.
When I'm away I have more fun when we're not filming, but if I do something good I always wish I had the camera on me :)
Every year when we get home we always wish we had more footage.
Post a Comment