Yellowstone Footage

beautiful work....really fantastic. I agree with previous poster about your shot on your website though I think I saw you in a nightmare sometime ago!
 
I'm my harshest critic. I see all that's wrong with it instead of what's good about it.
I guess in a way that's good because it keeps me trying to reach the level that I think it should be.
One of these days I'll get there. :)
 
Hey Kevin I look forward to seeing it. That still is amazing and It is hard for people that have never been there to realise there is that kind of color out there it dose not need any cc. Good work keven look forward to it.
 
Kevin,

Great looking stuff there. I shot a couple of days in Yellowstone on the Border to Border Exp. Society docu with the 575WSL - wish we had the power of HVX back then.

The caribou were in rut when we were there (around September), so that was something amazing to see one buck with twenty or more does around him as he would bellow.

Have the fire-damaged areas grown back in? There was still a huge amount of barren landscape in 2002.

Again, love the footage there. Yellowstone makes it easy to find the fauna, shooting it well still comes down to skill.

Cheers,

e
 
Kevin I've got to say that was so beautiful. It was a pleasure watching that. I'd give you your own forum to upload a short film every week. I want more porcupine!

Just out of curiosity whats your process for getting good exposure and focus since I don't believe you carry a monitor around wth you. Or do you. Everthing looks spot on.
 
Erik,
I think it's going to be another generation at least before some of the burned areas are looking good. The undergrowth is good and the trees are coming back but it'll be a long time before they reach the heights of the burned trees.

Mico,
Mostly what I do for exposure is set my zebra's to 100% then dial in the exposure until they just stop showing up. Course, I compensate for certain subjects and their environment.
I know it's not very professional, but I use autofocus most of the time. It works great for me.
I'm not sure if because most of my wildlife is shot at 60fps that the autofocus updates fast enough or what.

I've done stuff where I just turn on the camera and walk away and leave it in autofocus and see what I get. Have some great shots from "remote" filming.

Some things like the fireworks I hit the infinity switch and then switch it to manual to keep it from searching in the dark skies.
But honestly, I'm almost always in autofocus and hardly ever use manual.

I do have a Marshall R70P-HDA monitor but it's been out of the box once.

I've used the HVX enough that the few times I do manual focus I can kind of tell where I'm at even though the LCD is really, really soft.
 
Kevin,
Are you serious? You're getting those images using autofocus? I was under the impression the autofocus function on the HVX was far from useful. That's reassuring. I've always been a user of manual focus... but it's nice to know that if needed you can rely on autofocus in a pinch.
Jim
 
yeah Kevin - this stuff really is fantastic, love the color and the compositions are really nice too. And I believe it is good to be your own worst critic. You never settle.
 
I have done some HVX tests recently and found some intersting results. I use the detail mode with focus assist and write down the focus number I manually set. I then press the auto focus button and record what it (the HVX) sets the focus number to. Usually they are 100% match or one number off. I was impressed personally, although I will use manual focus 99% of the time. It was a fun and positive experiment, I have faith in auto focus if I ever have to rely on it.
 
I think in Kevin's case with wide open spaces and objects as clearly defined, the auto focus works well. It doesn't work that well though when you have a busy frame and uncontrolled interiors. Atleast IMHO.


Love watching your footage. The wife and I have been thinking of taking a trip to Yellowstone with the kids after my bro got back and loved it. When do you recommend a trip? What part of the park?


Thanks so much for showing and that porcupine is awesome!
 
Justyn,
Go to the Lamar Valley if you are interested in wolves, grizzlies, coyotes and etc. This is a prime viewing area. Keep an eye out for a group of folks with spotting lenses on the side of small hill on the side of the road. They are fans of the valley's wolves and spend a good part of their lives watching them. We've had good luck there in September as well as mid/early Spring. The best wildlife watching time is soon after sunrise and just before the sunsets... you know "golden hour." Keep an eye along the shadowy edges along tree lines during this time for activity... especially bears and wolves. If you go to the Lamar... Cook City is a decent place to stay... a few motels and restaurants and easy access to the park.
Jim
 
Yep, I really do use autofocus for quite a bit of my work.

I guess it followed me from my still photography days.
Shooting with Nikon F4's and F5's, I'd let the camera take care of the focusing and I'd concentrate on composition, exposure etc.

Now with the HVX, I do the same thing. If I think it can handle the focusing, I let it take care of that and I concentrate on the framing and exposure.

I find that when I have to manually focus, I'm so busy checking focus etc, that my full concentration isn't on how to frame the best, is it exposed correctly etc.

I guess I'm just not that good at multi-tasking. :)

Justyn, Jim's right. Lamar Valley is a gold mine for wildlife.
If you go 100 yards off the road, you're where 90% of the people never venture.

I saw one guy hanging his camcorder out the window as he drove the loop road. That was his total Yellowstone experience. :)

I now take a GPS with me and mark interesting locations or game trails etc. Then when the light will be good for those spots, I come back.

I'll have to see if I can find the footage of a wolf running through the trees. The autofocus locked onto it and never let it go.
I'm not sure if because I was panning with the wolf the tree branches etc never had a chance to get the attention of the autofocus or what.

I know there are some people who scoff at the thought of autofocus but I look at it as another tool in my filmmaking toolbox. :)

The baby porcupine was awesome. I guess he or she knew nobody was going to mess with them. :)

The way I approach video with the HVX is the same way I approached still photography. I was always trying to get that cover shot. With photography, you have to get it all in one frame. So with video, I try to do the same. I just look at the HVX as a still camera with a 24 to 60 frame per second motordrive. :)
 
Thanks Jim and Kevin. I'll hopefully get the wife and kids on-board for a trip out there this year. Would be great to see that and do some camping or just plan roughing it in a Motel 6.


Can't wait to see what else you come up with. Have you done any timelapses out there yet?
 
Very very beautiful. There's 2 things I constantly dream about. The HVX200 and the G35. O sight.
 
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