New Video

I recently finished up a new video and posted to YouTube.

It is a Shameless promotion for my video business. I am sure it won’t be for everyone but it came from the heart and I just started working on that format until it was done. I am thinking of other ways or formats to try. I am looking for actors!!! So if anyone ever reads this please leave a comment of your thoughts. If you don’t like it let me know! I have thick skin but mostly want to know if I am on the right track. Also tell anyone who might be interested in getting in front of the camera. I am not looking for models….just people who want to have some fun experimenting.

Canon 60D & Winter

 

   I recently Purchased a Canon 60d! I finally gave up on Pentax. I have been very unhappy where Pentax has been going with their cameras. Not enough low light capabilities and not up to speed with the video. Both of these issues became clear with the announcement of the Pentax K5, I knew I was going to have to switch and I needed a second video cam for my business. My last shoot I tried AGAIN with the K7 with terrible results. I am selling my whole Pentax kit if anyone knows someone who would like parts or all of it.

                          

Canon 60D

   Let me know if you would like a review or answer any questions. It seems on the web allot of folks were disappointed in the build quality compared with the 50D. I don't mind one bit. I am very happy with the camera and cant believe how good the low lite is compared to the Pentax. I am working hard to figure out the menu and functions so I can shoot without having to think about the camera settings. My favourite features are the video functions, the low lite capabilities and the picture quality is just amazing

Pics taken with the 60D of My Wife Maureen after the first snow of the winter and the Cogeco studio during the live Rotery auction.

I have not bought any expensive lenses  yet and probably wont for a while. the video resolution is only 1920 x 1080 so the cheaper lenses are more than capable enough for those resolutions. So I give it a big thumbs up. I will post more on this camera along with some video accessories I have just received and playing with.

Chev Duramax

Again it has been too long between posts! Things have been busy here with Video, new truck, TVCogeco , work and getting ready for winter. Cogeco had me do a story on the dog walk for the Animal Shelter, The Rotary Auction, Two Santa parades and Town of Huntsville council meetings and a story on North Words Literary Festival, I found the festival to be very Fascinating! There was a great turnout and I talked to a couple writers and looked around thinking books are not dead and I should read more.

   Oh ya. The new truck! its a 2011 Chevy Duramax diesel. I wont bore anyone with details so I will just say amazing! I did not get the fancy model, rather I got the towing and work options. The RV is heavy and the old Dodge was at its limit. I had to get a 4x4 model this time because there were no 2wd ones at all. It will make selling a truck esier with 4x4 and I have used it a few times and it is a blast.

   A long time ago Randy Mitson from Algonquin Outfitters started planning some web videos. This fall we got it done. I went out to the Oxtongue store on a partly sunny and windy day to shoot 5 videos. Everyone was all ready and we had a plan. I got my brother Dave to give  me a hand. It worked out very well with the gear and the actors and the weather even helped us ok. I had alot of fun shooting. It took almost all day and it flew by. I have been editing off and on now for a few months and now they are ready. We got 6 clips out of the footage and they are quite pleased with the results. They have not posted them yet but it will be very soon and will make another post when they are.

Mountain Bike Adventure

My latest video project was awesome and unexpectedly fun. We loaded up the RV and took off to Haliburton to get some mountain bike race footage and some interviews of local racer Samantha Brett.

 

 

This being one of my first personal video projects I was excited to get going. The goal was to get some creative mountain biking shots and good interviews.  I have found in past and this time it is very hard to get good creative shots during a live event because you just cant take the extra time for fear of missing the action. Getting set up for a shot takes time and bike racers are fast!

 

 

I got a good interview with Sam on Saturday evening after she finished a 72km race that day and a big crash where she hurt her hand. She is a tough woman!

    That night we set up the RV in the parking lot of Sir Sam's Ski Resort where the race was starting the next morning. We had a relaxing evening with some music and prep for the next day.

   Early Sunday morning I got out with the cam as Chico Racing was  setting up for the race. The fog was thick with a damp cold feel and no sun yet. One of the owners of Sir Scams “Chris” was awesome and drove Me and a crew from RideGuide TV, to the best vantage points of the 2 laps around the resort.

   I took a short lunch break then headed up to the finish line at the Halliburton forest. It wasn’t long before the faster riders started to come in. There i got some finish line stuff and a few interviews. Next was the awards that I could not miss because  Sam came in 3rd overall in the woman under 40 class.

Overall I had a fantastic time and accomplished everything I had set out to do. I will be posting more video’s from the weekend.

 

Lousy day (end of summer)

It is the laborday long weekend and we decided to try camping even though the forecast was bad. we sure will not be swimming or frolicking
In our shorts.
We recently got permission to use a small bit of waterfront on lake Muskoka for our RV and boat. We plan on using it ally. Thanks Dad!





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Location:Beaumount Dr,Bracebridge,Canada

G8 Huntsville: Wednesdays Happenings

Ok… there was not much going on yesterday except for hundreds if not thousands of OPP!!!! looks expensive!!!

There was a few military trucks and helicopters… No Protesters no excitement!!

I am heading out soon…after this rain to see whats up.

Technorati Tags: g8,#g8,huntsville,#huntsville

G8 Update

Photos of G8 preparations

News to report about the happenings in town. “A serious threatening”  Phone call  was received by McDonalds on Friday afternoon. As a result, both locations were evacuated for some of the afternoon. Unofficial word is that   it was a bomb threat

There is also a story floating around that 3 guys also had one too. Does not seem to me a restaurant would be a likely place for  something like that.

Sunday morning the entrance to Deerhurst was sealed off. Many police were there. they had the sniffer dog out also scanning a bus with an airport luggage scanner and various other electronic scanners and mirrors.

G8 Huntsville The troops are here!

Wow I have not entered a post for so long. Lots Has happened lately but I will be concentrating on the G8 happening in town. This will be my first try at real journalism. I will have pics and posts regularly from now on until the G8 is over.

If there is anything anyone wants me to report let me know….

Too much to say!

Wow, it has been a while since I posted and lots has happened. Its spring!! This spring has been my first try at maple syrup. With the purchase of the lot behind our house came a few maple trees. Off to Home Hardware to stock up on spiles and buckets and to see what other goodies there are and flip through a few books. I have seen how it is done and a couple of phone calls to my buddy who is a pro, I got set up and running!

I ended up with twelve taps going. This year I did not get a proper wood stove and pan. Next year I will be ready with a shed,woodstove and pan. I see there is enough trees to get twelve more taps going for a total of twenty four. For now I am using a propane Burner. I got the burner and pot as part of a hot oil turkey cooker. It worked awesome, clean and consistent. I do a finish boil, filter and bottle inside the garage usually late at night after a days boil. So far we have just over 2 gallons or twenty four 500ml jars. When the G8 summit is on I will put a “syrup for sale” sign up on the front yard

A Chilly Couple of weekends

It was an interesting couple of weekends in Huntsville. It was the coldest part of the year it took two weekends to fit it all in. Hundreds of Hockey players showed up and almost as many volunteers as well. It was the Canadian Pond Hockey Championships. I was volunteering with Cogeco to film the men’s and women’s finals during a cold windy snowy afternoon. So miserable in fact that the zooms froze  up on two of our cameras. We also did a few interviews for the hour and a half special cogeco is putting together.

I put some footage together on my own, using my Pentax K7 and Canon HF200. Along with a local band LAGANZA with the tunes from their new album. Hope you enjoy. Please leave comments.

The Trophies are like a Stanley cup only made from solid maple, and are housed at the hockey hall of fame.

Convergence

I just finished listening to a group of pro’s chatting about the convergence of photo and video. A year after professional still cameras have the ability to shoot HD video.

Link to conversation

It was very informative for me especially since I am embracing the whole video thing. Video is not new to me, I have had a video camera for many years now. Unfortunately I have been a terrible videographer. lately I have been converting all of my family video’s from tape to digital on my hard drive. It is terrible video  but it is all we have.

I have also been playing with my Pentax K7 and my new Canon HF200 camcorder , trying to get good quality shots. In the edit or post area, I have been learning Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects software with reasonable success.

I have been enjoying it immensely , the time flies by and my projects are getting better. I am looking for ideas or concepts to work on. Writing and scripts are not my thing and I find the ideas hard to imagine. Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated.

I do believe video is the next big  thing, if it isn’t already. All websites will soon want video. if not for product sales it will be for transparency, how to video, demonstrations or just entertainment. I would like to be part of it all. Not only for the business and money but just for the love of creativity and to take my photography to the next level. I do think photography and videography are very similar.

Another big event in Huntsville

Last weekend I went out to Help TV Cogeco produce a news story of the cross country ski race at Arrowhead Park. It was part of the Ontario Winter games that are being held in Huntsville this year. It was fun to get out and see the park in winter and see young skiers participate. They can move! very fast!

I took some photos and video for myself and put together a short video

 

I also took a bunch of photos and really enjoyed the fast action sports shooting and will try to do more and get better at it.

Click on photo to see more!

 

I love living in Huntsville and starting to appreciate all the activities and events coming to town. We have the best little place to host events of all sorts. The big test will be the G8 Summit coming this summer.

Time-lapse of Olympic Torch Relay in Huntsville

I set up my Canon G9 Point and shoot camera taped to a Cogeco tripod and set it to capture a frame every 2 seconds. I did some editing in Premier Pro and here is the result. Comments welcome.

Olympic Torch

 

I attended the Olympic Torch Relay celebration on Dec 30 in Huntsville,Ontario. I do not usually get too excited about events like this, however I was soon taken back in time to the days of 1967 and the Canadian Centennial celebrations and Expo 67 both were federal events. It was simply amazing and inspiring or just plain fun and took away the troubles of the day.

I was there to film for TVCogeco as a volunteer and to get as many photos and video for myself. The Cogeco broadcast went great and so did my personal shooting. Below are images of the day. 

Please post your comments.