A Lightweight Video Kit on Kootenai Creek

Each year since moving to Missoula I've been picking up 1-2 new outdoor activities a year. In 2009 it was mountain biking and photography; 2010, skiing and trail running; 2011, climbing; and last year, fishing. All of these have come with their own trials and learning curves, but ultimately rewards. The best being a combining of them: riding to fish, learning to photograph skiing, packing a bicycle through the wilderness, etc.

This year my focus is turning to capturing video, and hopefully stories. It's something that I've been wanting to get into for years, but have never had the ambition to go all-in. The McCall video really wetted my appetite. It was the first trip in the last 5 years where I decided to take no stills, and I had a lot of fun with it. Accidentally smashing my s95 on bike path pilon just outside McCall turned out to be a blessing. As it forced me to get a new camera.

I'm approaching my video kit as I would any other backcountry sport. Weighing in price vs weight vs versatility vs durability. The 5n falls in the newer interchangeable lens 'mirrorless' camera category. It will shoot 1080p at 24 and 60fps, and is fairly capable at low light. So, why no DSLR? Well, they're heavier and more expensive. After seeing examples of what the NEX 5n was capable of. It was a no brainer for the $500 I paid. The next step up, in my eyes, is a full-sensor 5d mkIII, and that'll run me  $3500 + lenses.

Now, I know a lot of people would focus on getting the best image quality first, and a 5d mkIII would certainly fit that bill, but my thinking has been to invest in the less glamorous stuff first. The one aspect of that McCall video that I am unhappy with is the camera shake. It makes the video almost unwatchable. To combat it, I've decided to carry 3 different stabilization options: a Glidecam 1000 hd, a Manfrotto 560b monopod (with a 561bhvd-1 head), and a teeny-tiny Ultrapod tripod, which will mostly be used to hold a Zoom H1 audio recorder. The whole kit, including a Osprey Kode 30, is coming in at a hair under 12lbs. Which, is not lightweight compared to my old s95, but it is compared to a professional kit.

The great thing about about the camera industry right now, is that it's not driven by lightweight equipment the way most outdoor sports are, and with the exception of carbon tripods, lighter equipment is less expensive.

The gear list as of late April 2013

I'll be posting more about my video kit when it's (more) finalized, but for now, I'm still experimenting what works and what dosen't, and I haven't even started to deal with recording audio or postproduction or timelapse or ND filters... It's all a huge learning curve, and one that's been enjoyable to try and pick apart. Well, when I'm not falling (watch the ending) on my ass.

On the playlist: Chiddy Bang - Mind Your Manners (monopods!)
On the playlist: Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I Am Goodbye
Inspiration: Ken Burns: On Story
Inspiration: Fly Fishing Filmmaking Tips

Summer of 1962

Today, the greatest bicycle trip in history has come to and end. It's hard to comprehend the magnitude of Heinz Stucke's journey. He left his home in Germany in 1962 to discover the world, and kept pedaling for some 51+ years, visiting around 200 countries on his way. The Guinness Book of World Records has called him the most traveled cyclist in history, and in the process he has overcome everything from bikes being stolen to being shot in the foot by rebel soldiers.

Why such a journey? In his own words:

I did not particularly like my job and I did not see why I should spend the rest of my life doing something I did not care for very much .... just to make a living. "Is this all there is to life?", I asked, "I might as well go around the world’. Perhaps, too, I had opened my mouth a little too wide about all the things I was going to do and my friends teased me about it. So eventually I had to do something about it — if only to save face! 

I came to use a bicycle on my earlier trips, partly because I felt more independent, it was the cheapest form of transportation and also because I found it to be the ideal way to see the world. It was slow enough to permit me to study each country and its people and it was fast enough to cover large distances relatively quickly. I admit that later on, most of my income came from the fact that I had used a bicycle for the tour. 

I also looked upon it as a challenge. Sometimes people ask, "Why don’t you put a little engine on your bike?" Indeed it would make it much easier for me, so why don’t I? In response to this I usually reply with another question: "Does one climb a mountain with a helicopter?" Also I found that my memory worked much better when I could associate an area or an incident with the physical hardships I had endured in each case. 

Although I never intended to travel for so long, I came to the conclusion that going into an area for a short time was simply not enough. It would be very unfair to the people who lived there. You might praise or condemn a country solely on the basis of one encounter, either pleasant or unpleasant. So I decided on a minimum of two to six months per country depending on its size. I felt this period of time would permit me to get a more realistic impression of the place. But in slowing down, time just passed by and there was always another country around the corner.

All journeys must end, but with Heinz it just seemed it never would. At 72 years old though, now's probably not a bad time to slow down. He's currently in Paris, with plans to work on a photo book of his travels featuring some of the over 100,000 photos from his years of travel.

More: Heinz Stucke's Website
More: Bike China - Heinz Stucke

photos by Heinz Stucke

Skiing The Last Best Lookout

Inspiration: Fire Lookouts of the Cascades
Book: Fire Lookouts of the Northwest

Ghost Signs of Helena

The first fire lookout tower constructed in the U.S. watches over downtown Helena.

We were out in Helena a few weekends ago to visit the Montana Historic Society Museum for Erin's birthday, and while kickin' around town, we couldn't help but notice all these beautiful old hand painted signs, and how much better they look then the ubiquitous hunkashit signs found throughout the 2013 American landscape.

Now, I'm a computer person. Everything I create, from cartography, to design, to video is based on it. So, when I see any good design created by hand, I'm in awe. Try as I might, these designers can imbed a human element that is impossible for me to recreate in a program. Which, is awesome.

It also turns out, there is a documentary coming out about folks who hand paint signs, and it looks like it's going to be a good one.

There was a time, as recently as the 1980s, when storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint. But, like many skilled trades, the sign industry has been overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper. The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape. Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade.

More: 'Sign Painters' Movie & Book
More: Ghost Sign Project
More: KPAX story on Butte's Ghost Signs (01.21.2013)