The Workout - Alamogordo, NM


Almost a year ago I started to re-invent my photography by adding a new tool to my kit. It was a portable video camera. The camera was the type that’s really small and portable able to be used in out of the way and unobtrusive ways. My idea was to explore the whole video making and story telling concept.

My first two efforts were reasonable successes. Using my motorcycle as the platform, I road around the region recording video on various rides I was doing. As with anything, there was a huge learning curve to tackle. Relatively small stories took hours and hours to complete. It seemed an hour for every minute of video was a good rule of thumb for taking raw footage to a complete package.

This all was going wonderfully when this last summer my camera failed. More, one of the buttons on the remote failed to work any longer. My less than a year old camera was practically useless because I couldn’t command it to stop. I could start the thing but stopping was an entirely different matter.

What’s even worse was the company that made this camera--not built in the US--didn’t respond to repeated attempts for contact. Essentially, the camera became only useful when handheld. On my helmet or my bike, not so much.

Okay, time moved by and the fall approached, then GoPro introduced their newest and greatest offering in this field. It caught my interest if for no other reason than I’m going to Hawaii via Alaska and Midway again and having a good, small video camera would be very useful.

What’s interesting is the GoPro was not my second choice then I picked my previous camera. It was simply too bulky or two wierdly interfaced to be really useful. This time, the introduced accessories and the advertised sensor capabilities made me give it a second look.

I’m glad I did.

This video was shot in the same workout session which is not saying I was moving around continuiously as this video supposes. Through the magic of editing, I jumped rope, did squats, and pushups for a half-hour. The total were merged together in this video using iMovie.

It’s a rough video, not really the best edit I’ve ever done which is saying a lot sense I haven’t done many edits at all. What I like best is the various points of view I was able to use while making this video. You definitely get to see a little more about one of my workouts from my point of view.

BTW, I hope to make at least another video before my big trip next week. Stay Posted.

Cheers

Tom