Camera setup suggestions...

[veidog]

This weekend I will be filming an outdoor Mountain Biking event at a ski mountain. I would like some advise from those of you that do alot of shooting in the snow. Such as what scene file settings, shutter speeds, Filters etc. seem to work best in this enviorment. I will be shooting mostly 24pa but want to include some slow motion stuff as well. What mode do you think I should shoot at to get the best slow motion footage, that would mix well with the 24pa footage? 30P maybe? Any other tips you could give me would be great! thanks.

 

[PDX_DVX]

Well, I shoot alot of mountain biking, and have a little experience with the snow. You're going to want to have a Polarizing filter on hand, and also an ND or ND grad. This will allow you to control the reflections and intense light from the snow, because the in-cam ND's only go so far. If you're incorporating slow motion, you basically have 2 options. 1) Shoot 24pa and use your 30p with a 1/60 shutter slowed to 80% for slow motion. This slows the footage down a little, yet still retains natural fluid motion, because in fact is it shot at a higher frame rate than 24, and when slowed to 80% is actually becomes 24 fps. Option 2) Shoot REGULAR 24fps, and for slow motion use 60i with a 1/120 shutter and slow it down from there. The regular 24p recording will allow you to mix with the 60i footage as easily as possible. If you want a really shallow DOF in all of this, you're going to need to keep your iris as open as possible, which leads to using faster shutter speeds and/or filters to control the light. Snow blows out VERY easily, even on heavily overcast days. Be sure to use Zebra, and DONT use the snow as a reference for exposure. If you expose for the snow, everything else will be too dark. Also, you may want to adjust your color temp more towards the warm to offset the coolness of the snow, which will really show up in the shadows. I *highly* recommend getting a polarizer and an ND grad- you'll be thankfull you did. Check www.evsonline.com for both of these, and if you don't know what they are/what they do, use a search and you should find out everything you need to know. Also, when shooting in a cold/humid environment, make sure to allow your camera to warm up and cool down when changing temparatures, like going from a warm car to cool outside, or vice versa. Leave the camera in the case for a good 20 minutes each way when changing temps, this will allow the camera to gradually warm up and cool down. If you dont do this, not only will your lense fog up, but you run the risk of getting condensation inside the camera, which could be a serious problem. I usually leave the battery off when changing temps, as a just in case sort of thing. Hope this helps!
BTW, is the event your talking about the red-bull freeze ride?

 

[veidog]

Thanks for the info! No this is not the red bull event, just a local slopestyle event in Maine.