Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Recent Videos

In addition to the usual suspects among our pilots, we have recently been lucky to have a very talented cameraman and documentary maker in our midst. Some of you have already met him - he's the guy with the NZ accent, and his name is Mike Hinchey. He knows Larry Mac, and he might be around this weekend for Doug and Shelly's party. A few weeks ago he asked me about the possibility of shooting footage of the Koolau mountains as a tandem passenger, for a project he's working on, and I was happy to donate some time to make my favorite mountains the star of a film!

The first time Mike came out to Kahana, the conditions were a bit strong and east, and it was late in the day. I didn't think it was good for tandem, but I was going to sneak in a solo flight. Mike followed me and Sharky up the hill, and hung out there to shoot some gorgeous video of our launches and of me buzzing around him, and coming in for my trademark hand slap. Dorothy says that should be my nickname: High Five. I don't think so! It sounds like a recycling initiative! Mike's camera is a Canon 7D with the firmware hacked to increase the bitrate to a ridiculously high level. I'm embedding his two videos below - but I highly recommend you click on the link below the thumbnails of his videos, to see them in high def.


Aloft at Last from Mike Hinchey on Vimeo.

Finally, this past Thursday looked good for a tandem, and I took Mike up into the air above Kahana, to fly alongside Mad Dog and Gaza. We were hoping for a chance to fly downrange, though it seemed a bit strong for that. After almost a couple hours above Kahana, we finally decided it had backed off enough to consider venturing downrange, and we headed over to the next couple of ridges to take in a view of Sacred Falls, before landing at Hauula Beach Park, while Mad Dog and Gaza continued on to Pounders.


Learning to Fly from Mike Hinchey on Vimeo.

As an interesting and fun comparison, I shot a couple of videos using my new phone with its improved video camera features. Nothing special, just a chance to practice various types of angles and approaches. The resolution is now 1080p, and I've uploaded both videos in full high def, although I don't actually have any device in the house capable of viewing at that size! I am also still on a quest to figure out a more stable hand position while shooting. There is now some built-in image stabilization, which definitely seems to help, but not enough to counter the jiggles I get when I'm holding the phone one-handed, which I often need to do. The first video I shot was on the same day Mike hiked up with me and Sharky. Sharky's first launch attempt was very exciting, but I missed his actual launch - luckily, Mike captured it in the first video above. As the sun sank behind the mountains, we ended up landing in Punaluu because the airflow had become too east and swirly over the bay.


Sunset Session from Alex Colby on Vimeo.

My second video was shot this past Saturday, on a day when eight pilots flew downrange, for some epic milestones and personal bests. Mad Dog matched his furthest distance by landing at the far end of Malaekahana Bay, Bill flew his furthest flight to Hukilau beach, and Sharky flew his furthest to land at Hauula. I landed at Pounders, as did Berndt and Harvey, and Joey and Jim landed with Sharky at Hauula.


XC Bonanza from Alex Colby on Vimeo.

2 comments:

Thom said...

Awesome vid Alex.

Makes me want an IPhone.......NOT


I am sure you'll find a way to mount that but its way more stable than the last model.

Sharky said...

Cool video's Alex! Still like your swooping action in Aloft...looked like you were having way too much fun.

@Thom, suck it up dude..you already got a Gradient, get the iPhone and you can join the cult...lol